Day 12 - Lesson observations, church service

School bell

We were up with the sun and cockrels after a slightly restless sleep. Before going to bed, Hannah and Charles were explaining why they had a cat (they had  a rat problem previously). Well, half way through the night, Mary suddenly wakes me up calling my name.  She then tells me she thinks that she has heard something and I tell her not to be silly. She wasn't silly as a couple of minutes later, I heard a rustling too! Yikes. Took about an hour to get back to sleep but eventually we both fell asleep again (we were sharing the bed).

We watched a few lessons that day and again saw the same style of lessons as at Kapalamula.  Nakoma School teachers follow the same curriculum and generally the lessons follow the same format of rote learning and repeating back.  They were also just completing end of session exams so some of the classes weren't in all the time.  As with our other school, we found the teachers to be quite nervous while we were in class and we did our best to make them feel at ease and help them out with marking when we could.
The school day started with the bell being rung at around 7:15. Learners arrived and began sweeping out their classrooms and the playground.  Assembly was at 7:30 with a short reading from the Bible and songs.  At around 10:30, the feeding programme kitchen was ready to serve the phala or porridge.  Nakoma School is not part of the Mary's Meals programme but the World food Programme .  Run slightly differently, the pupils there all use plates provided by the programme. The volunteers then wash the plates each time a class is finished using them.  Unfortunately, the programme did not provide enough rocket stoves for the kitchen and the one they had has broken.  I have just sent an email this evening to the WFP to see if we can get more rocket stoves sent out to the school.
In the afternoon, there was a special church ceremony for our arrival. Both Mary and I did readings from the Bible (thankfully in English).  A few more speeches (;-) and then a session meeting before we finished for the day. 


Daily assembly



We had a much better sleep that night.  No visitors in the room with us.  A lovely long chat with Charles and Hannah before going to bed.  They are so kind and welcoming!  Real friends and kindred spirits for us both

No rocket stoves to help with the cooking

Senior class with desks