what a busy week...

Greetings from a hot and sunny Mzuzu (with the odd shower of rain). I have had a really busy week and am glad of today to have a rest!

Last time I was talking about training in Viyele - I went again this week to talk to the committee of the nursery school, together with one of the trainers. I was impressed to see that they have started a school garden so that they can supplement the plain maize porridge which the children receive every day. Here you can see the head teacher standing in front of the garden where they have planted soya beans, This is a real encouragement as maize porridge on its own gives little nutrients to a child.

Here you see Enala talking with some of the nursery school committee.

We also went to Zolozolo nursery school to do some in-service training and the photo at the top of my blog is some of the kids from that school.

Rumphi was on the agenda this week too. When we arrived to begin the workshop at 7.30am there was no one there but gradually they came and we had a really successful day with caregivers and committee members. We were really well looked after. Here you see some of the participants doing an exercise.

I really enjoy teaching the caregivers - the knowledge we give them is very basic as really early childhood development has had no foundation in people's lives, and when we talk of playing with children it is a new concept for many people! Here you see me leading one of the sessions.

The minister in the congregation has a new baby called Favour who is a delight and I spent a lot of time getting to know her!!

And while all this is going on, our school in Mzuzu keeps moving forward. Mrs Msowoya, our head teacher is sick and will be off for some time - please keep her in your prayers. She has very high blood pressure and also a very painful hip. We miss her a lot.

In the 3-6 years class this week there was a lot of fun. The theme was continents and the kids were learning all about the continents. One of the teachers drew a map of the world on the floor and the kids were blindfolded (thanks to South African airways blindfolds), and playing a game of jumping from one continent to another. They had such fun and yet learnt so much in the process.

Another day, the kids were marching around the room, singing and playing various musical instruments - makes me want to be a child again!

The weekend has also been busy. I had visitors from the Church of Scotland for supper on Saturday night which was lovely, and today after church (which only lasted two and a quarter hours) I had a friend over for coffee.

Now looking forward to putting my feet up and reading a book. The coming week is also a busy one with parent/ teacher meetings all week. We have prepared a parents booklet which we are going to share with them to encourage parenting skills at home. In church today, we had a nurse encouraging parents to give their kids plenty of fruit and vegetables as many chidlren have a vitamin A deficiency. Together we hope to improve parenting skills and see a change in health and education of our children.

Wishing you a great week.

Blessings

Diane