First days in the schools

On the week beginning 11th of January, the schools officially began again, although in these schools at least that's not always the sign that all the pupils will be back. With many students living on farms or visiting family across Zambia, there won't be as many students as they would like to be in school this past week and maybe for a week or so yet, they come in dribs and drabs. And so because of that the Beyond Ourselves team went to the three schools over the course of three days and did some more teacher days. On Monday we were in Janna Community school which is just 15/20 minutes away and this was the first day I got to try Nshima. It looks like mashed potato and I think it is made up of maize and water. It was surprisingly nice although very hot which makes it difficult to eat when the norm here is to eat it with your hands. But as I knew it was going to be something I'd be eating almost every weekday for the next three months I am very grateful that I didn't hate it! 

In all of the schools we did group reflection on the year just gone and then the hopes and dreams of the year to come for their school. It was really interesting hearing all the things that they were hoping for for their schools as it was slightly shopping list but still included hopes for the good of the children and their results in grade 7 and overall safety of the pupils. After lunch we had some team building which was great because the teachers all got quite competitive and it was really fun getting involved and being part the teams in Kawama and Greater Joy, both the teams I was in won which I think was a triumph!

It was definitely a day that you could tell the staff learnt from and it was lovely to get to meet them more after the first staff training day on the Friday before.

xx