Papers to grade, grades to submit, bags to pack, so much to do and only four days in which to do it. Everyone is so busy that when we happen upon each other in a school hallway, at Case House, or around town, we share a sheepish smile of commiseration - how will we be ready in four days??? But of course we will. It's a sprint to the finish line!
Thanks for visiting this blog, and please do return. We will do our best to keep you informed of our progress, but bear in mind that internet access is not always a given, and intermittent power is an added complicating factor. We will do our best to keep our loved ones and friends abreast of all that we do. Wish us luck!!
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OK, how does one do this?
Well, the preschoolers had a big party to present the murals of the very hungry caterpillar and the butterfly that I'm taking to decorate the preschool classrooms once they are completed. They also used stickers to decorate lots of little notebooks for the new preschoolers.
I tried to pack some legos and a book they made of their favorite things and the notebooks so they could see and hopefully understand. But the bag was too small and now the kids just think I'm a terrible packer.
Clearly there are things they understand better than I do.
Buddy, the stuffed bear from the Buddy Bear classroom wants to come, but he's so fuzzy I can't even imagine what might live in the fuzz by the time we leave Africa. We're still negotiating.
We've raised enough money (just under 12K) for the Kasiisi Project to build a preschool so I'll be taking pictures of the dirt where it will be. (Maybe I could take a picture of Buddy with a shovel).
So that's preschool getting ready for the Africa adventure.
OK, I still can't figure out how to post.
But comments, hopefully I can do.
Africa was a place that was dark and scary to me when I was younger. All I had was cartoons and some pretty bad documentaries along with Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness". Russia was scary too and I thought things would get really bad someday since Krushchev threatened to bury us and we were better "dead than red". But now I have Russian friends and neighbors. Lots of them.
And so it's the same with Africa. I've met some of the people I will see. I've seen photos and I've seen the children play. Now Africa has light and is full of children who lean toward that light just as the children here do.
We are bringing a lot of stuff. Stuff that is desperately needed. And stuff, we have.
But what we are learning from Africa has no material value. People are excited to help, excited to learn. Children and adults are finding their open hearts. Africa becomes a part of our days and it is no longer the "other", but it is a part of "us". Middle Schoolers write and perform a play about Uganda and Preschoolers get out their play mobiles and "play uganda".
We're not even there yet, and so much is happening.
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