The End...

Well, the end of my journey in Africa (and hence the blog) is here, but I wanted to write one final time to thank you for your support this past year. It is surreal that I only have three days left in Zambia. What has made this year truly beneficial for me is not only that we were able to develop a sustainable program but that I was also able to learn and grow so much in the process.

Teacher Training

At the final tally, we were able to train 32 teachers in our teacher education curriculum this year while also being able to train 2 instructors who will guide the program once I depart. Based upon our rubric scoring of exemplary teaching traits, the teachers in our pilot program were able to make a 46% increase of those traits over the 8 months in which we mentored them. We were also able to note substantive changes in many teaching practices such as increases in experiential learning techniques used.

Back in the USA

It is time to move onto a different phase of my life though. For your information, I will arrive back in the USA next Tuesday, July 27th, and I will be speaking at two churches in Thomaston, GA, on Sunday, August 1st, if you are around and want to hear about my experiences. I will be preaching at New Life Church for the morning service and at First Baptist Church for the evening service. Feel free to contact with me if you want more information about those services. Also, feel free to contact with me when I arrive back in the USA as I will have approximately three weeks before I start school at Duke. During that time, I will be traveling around the Southeast but feel free to email or call me.

Thank you for making this program possible. It has truly been a blessed year, and I thank you so much for your encouragement and support. I truly believe that without your support we would not have been able to accomplish all that we did. Thank you!

Jonathan Hoffner Photography

Do you like the pictures above. Well, I did not take them, but Jonny Hoffner did. Jonny and Michele are my friends who traveled the world and visited me during Christmas. They have finally put their pictures from their trip on their website. You can purchase any of their photos if you click on their store, or you can just view their really cool photography.

http://www.jonathanhoffnerphotography.com/fineart.html

Take a look. You may find something you like.

A Glimmer of Hope

Sickness is apart of Africa. It seems like every other day someone is not at work because they are sick. Recently, two of my good friends were diagnosed with malaria. I can comprehensively say that I never want to get malaria. Luckily, I have yet to be sick while in Zambia. I have a week to go, and I am knocking on wood like it is my job

From my experience here, I can say that there are many depressing things such as sickness and poverty that you encounter daily. The amazing thing though is that right next to the depressing situations there are also glimmers of hope. For example, while sickness is prevalent in the communities in which we work, there is also hope in the water projects the Jubilee Centre is starting because by bringing clean water we are able to fight water-borne diseases like cholera.

When telling the story of Africa, you have to tell both sides of the story. There are some amazingly sad situations, but there are also glimmers of hope. All is not lost.

On the funny side of life, two members of a team from the UK recently developed allergic reactions after they ate caterpillars for the first time. They were able to laugh about their sickness which is good because I was definitely laughing at them. I don’t think that they are going to need to worry about that allergy when they get back to the UK. “Excuse me, are there caterpillars in this dish?” Imagine if you asked a waiter that. Try it next time you are out to eat.

Dr. Chiluba I Pressume

Yesterday, my friend, Dan Weber, and I were sitting at a meeting at our favorite coffee shop when who decides to show up but the former president of Zambia, Dr. Chiluba. We did not recognize him, but we realized that he was someone important because he had body guards and drove a Mercedes.

As Chiluba was leaving, a Zambian told us who he was. Immediately, Dan and I ran after him with our camera to get a picture. After we talked to his body guards, Chiluba got out of the car to take a picture with us (we presume it was because we are white.) Anyway, as you can see from the pictures, the man is short! I had to lean down to put my arm around his shoulder which makes the experience all the better.

For a little history lesson, Chiluba stole around $75 million dollars from Zambia but was acquitted of the charges last August before I arrived in Zambia. There was major disappointment regarding his acquittal because Chiluba's reign was notorious for corruption. His wife was convicted of stealing money from the Zambia government, and there still is a civil suit in England against him for stealing $57 million from a secret Zambian account. I say $75 million, but no one really knows how much was taken.

To say that he is hated/disliked by some Zambians would be an understatement (the Zambians we were with refused to get their picture taken with him.) But his party is still in power; therefore, they will probably try to shut down my blog in the next couple of days. I just wanted the picture because I thought it would be funny to stand next to him...

Why I Love the Jubilee Centre

Someone recently asked me, "Why do you love working at the Jubilee Centre?" Therefore, I decided to write a blog detailing not only why I think the Jubilee Centre is a great organization, but also why I believe I was able to be successful this past year. Without further ado, here are my four reasons...

1. The Chance to Start Something New: The Jubilee Centre (Lawrence Temfwe) believed in me even when I did not believe in myself. Yes, Lawrence and I saw a vision for this education program, but in reality we had no idea what it would look like. Even though we saw a need and a vision that could meet that need, who is going to trust a 24 year old with that vision?

Lawrence gave me the freedom to run with the vision, but let’s be honest that was a risky decision in many ways. The Jubilee Centre is an established network, but Lawrence had the audacity to allow me to start something new. Not many organizations would allow that to happen.

2. Relationships: Relationships are the most important thing in Zambia. I would not have been able to start something new as quickly as I did without the relationships of the Jubilee Centre. JC has deep connections in the communities in which they work. I was given instant credibility in the communities because I worked for the Jubilee Centre. It would have taken me at least a year to form relationships deep enough to start a new program. But the Jubilee Centre had already built those relationships; therefore, I was able to hit the ground running.

3. Indigenous Leadership: I believe very strongly in the power of indigenous leadership. I think that there are specific areas that outside leadership can be very useful. At the same time, I love the fact that there are only two Westerners working at the Jubilee Centre at the moment. Yes, it can create some very interesting working situations, but over the long haul, I believe that indigenous leadership is needed.

4. Strategic Location: The main reason that I love working for the Jubilee Centre is that I believe it is in a very strategic location. I don’t know of many churches, organizations, or people in the West who could work effectively with the people in the compounds. Because of cultural differences, etc., I believe that it is very hard for a Western church to partner directly with a church in the compounds. I believe that these partnership can and should take place, but I think they are very difficult to form.

Given that situation, I believe that the Jubilee Centre is in a strategic location to help form these sorts of partnerships. In terms of examples, think of Jubilee Centre like a power convertor. The voltage from the American church comes in at 220 volts to the Jubilee Centre, and they help form the partnership with the compound church by reducing that voltage to 110 volts. Then, the Jubilee Centre also performs the opposite transformation by increasing the voltage.

In conclusion, I just don’t think that the compound churches and the Western churches speak the same language (literally and figuratively). The Jubilee Centre facilitates so that the churches can work effectively together while both groups benefit. To put it bluntly, the Jubilee Centre reaches where white people can’t while also having access to resources and credibility.

Mapalo Data

Sorry that the chart is so small (click on it to make it bigger), but this is a chart measuring the impact of the Jubilee Centre Teacher Training Program on each of the teachers in the pilot program. We rate our teachers on 12 skills that we believe make exemplary teachers in Zambia. We gauge their skill ratings based upon a rubric that was developed. In each of the skills, the teachers can be rated as novice, beginning proficient, proficient, or exemplary. A point value is assigned to each rating with an exemplary rating being worth 10 points. On a 120 point scale our teachers, on average, made a 17.8 point increase on the rubric which is representative of a 46% change.

Some people connect better with stories of teachers appreciating the training and changing their practice while others want substantive data. I am here to provide both for you. (There is also a graph of each teacher's progression for the visual learners.) For full disclosure, we have taken parts of this rating system from other sources. It is not our original design, but we have modified a lot of things to fit our situation in Zambia.

Who Is the Jubilee Centre?

If you ever wondered what the Jubilee Centre staff looked like, here is your chance. The other people in the picture around the table are my family, and the other white guy in the middle is a guy named Dan Weber who has worked for the Jubilee Centre for the past four months. There is also a picture of the Jubilee Centre with their families at a picnic and a picture of the Temfwes and I. Enjoy!

New People and New Training Sessions

With the months of June and July come a new group of people to Zambia: the summer missions teams. You see them all over town, and they are so easy to pick out. This summer we have two such teams at the Jubilee Centre. One group is from Wheaton College in Chicago, of which I am an alumni, and the other group is from a church in England called Holy Trinity Evangelical Church. The Holy Trinity group arrives today and stays for two weeks, but the Wheaton College team is working with the Jubilee Centre for two months.

I love observing these groups because I have been in their situation many times before. The first weeks of your trip you are constantly questioning, “What I am doing in this strange land? What do these people at the Jubilee Centre think that they are doing?” Though the students may not say it, the questions are written on their faces. I do love the student’s questions about poverty and the way the church should deal with these situations here. I also love when the students experience something that rocks their world. It is hard to see an orphan for the first time. Even if you have a cold heart, I am confident that talking to an HIV/AIDS patient or an orphan will affect you. Those are the difficult issues that you have to wrestle with when you come to work with the Jubilee Centre, but our goal is to help people process those experiences and what it means for them.

Part of my job for June and July has turned to helping coordinate the activities of these groups so that they can experience the ministries of the Jubilee Centre. For example, last week the Wheaton College group taught in one of the community schools in Mapalo. I trained briefly them before they started teaching, but the overwhelming response from the group members was that teaching is a lot harder than they expected. Spending time with the Wheaton team also allows me the opportunity to tell all of my Wheaton stories. After my story times, they probably think I was some sort of heathen who only goofed off at Wheaton. That conclusion is probably an accurate one...

In regards to teacher training, we just finished a training session for another community school in Mapalo. For this session, I just supervised as Emmanuel and Samson, my two instructors, ran the entire training. It has been very fulfilling to watch them take over the training sessions. I think the program is in very good hands as I prepare to leave Zambia. Over the next couple of weeks, there are still things that I need to do to ensure that the program is on firm footing when I leave, but I am very confident in the future of the program. I have attached two pictures of Samson, the one with his eyes closed, and Emmanuel, the one standing behind me in the yellow shirt, so that you will have an idea of who will be running the program once I leave.

World Cup = Loss of Power

Sorry about the absence from the blog. So on Friday, the whole country of Zambia was without power. This was definitely a first and got my mind thinking about what would happen if the USA lost all of its power. Everyone in Ndola was postulating about the cause of the power outage. Some days I think that Ndola is a small-town because rumors spread around this place like wildfire.

The most frequent rumor I heard on Friday was that Zambia sold all of their power to South Africa so that South Africa could effectively run the World Cup. Whether this is true or not, I do not know. If it is, I kinda have to laugh. If the money Zambia can get for their power is greater than the money the entire country of Zambia can make in one business day, why don’t we just sell our power every day and close this country up because there are many African countries that are desperate for power. O.k. maybe we did South Africa a favor or maybe there was a premium on the price for electricity. I don’t think that the rumor was true, but it would be ridiculous in my opinion if it was.

Yes, with the power outage, I did miss the USA vs. Slovenia World Cup match on Friday. It was a bit upsetting, but on another note, the World Cup has definitely provided a change of pace for Zambia. EVERYBODY talks about the World Cup games. It is the topic of every conversation and the “thing” to watch every night. It is definitely very fun to be in Africa while the World Cup is going on.

Future Plans

Many of you know that I committed to work for the Jubilee Centre for one year. My plans were to come to Jubilee Centre, to help set up the teacher training program, to help strengthen their policy initiatives, and to learn as much as I could within a year. Well, at the end of July my year will end; therefore, many of you may be wondering what is the next step for myself and for the training program I helped developed.

Let us start with the training program. As I wrote in my last update blog, I am training two of the Mapalo teachers, Samson and Emmanuel, to continue the Jubilee Centre program once I leave Zambia. During the final training sessions in June and July, Samson and Emmanuel will teach every session under my supervision. Also, we have already scheduling more schools to be trained in August and beyond. This program continues to expand and in my opinion that expansion will continue after I leave.

What about me then? Through my work with Teach for America in Washington D.C. and the Jubilee Centre in Zambia, I have realized that systems need to change to adequately care for the poor. I can train one thousand teachers, but if an education system (and the administrators of that system) continually overlook the needs of the poor and disadvantaged there is only so much that can be done. That is why I believe policy and advocacy work is so important.

To be effective in my efforts to help transform systems and society though, I need further training on the policy front; therefore, starting in August I will be attending Duke University to pursue a two year program for a Masters in Public Policy. Because the focus of my studies will be poverty policy, I will have the opportunity to study many issues I have experienced first hand the last couple of years. I am very excited for this opportunity and for the chance to further my education in this area.

More Pictures from Family's Visit

Pictures from the Family's Visit

To Livingstone and Botswana with the Family

After my family visited Ndola for three days, we traveled down to Livingstone to see Victoria Falls, and then we went to Botswana to go on a safari. Highlights of the trip:

Victoria Falls: If you remember, in December when I visited the falls, we able to walk on the edge of the falls. That is when the water level was low. I cannot even begin to describe the difference now. The rainy season has ended, but all the water from Northern Zambia is now flowing through the Zambezi River and over the falls. When standing on the observation decks, all you see is a white cloud of mist. It is very hard to get a view of the falls. Plus, with all the mist coming up from the falls, it is as if you are walking in a shower. I am not exaggerating when I describe the amount of water in this manner.

Safari at Muchenje Lodge in Botswana: After seeing Victoria Falls and spending a night in Livingstone, my family traveled over the border to Botswana for a three day safari in Chobe National Park. As with my other safari in Kenya, it was a remarkable experience. Chobe is very different from the Masai Mara in Kenya though because Chobe consists mainly of the bush whereas the Masai Mara consists mainly of the savannah. This creates two very unique safari experiences. The animals have more places to hide in Chobe, but the movements of the animals also differ depending on the land formation.

Our lodge in Chobe (the Muchenje Lodge) was simply amazing. The lodge sits upon the cliffs overlooking the Chobe River and Namibia. The Chobe River flows from the Zambezi River; therefore, all the water coming over Victoria Falls spills into the flood plains of Botswana and Namibia at this time of year. That is why the river resembles a lake in our pictures. During the months of September through February, that “lake” is a small river. It is impressive to see all the water and to know that it is usually just a small river.

The animals in Botswana: The most impressive thing about Chobe is the large herds of animals. For example, it was not uncommon to see a herd of 50 elephants or 25 giraffes or 200 water buffalo. This is something that I did not experience in the Masai Mara.

We are also able to get “dangerously” close to the animals. There were definitely a few times where my mother told the guide that she did not want to be that close to the animals. I mean who wants to be 10 feet away from a lion and her baby cub. I do, but unfortunately my mother does not.

The highlight of our safari was seeing a LEOPARD though. Leopards are very rare to see because they are very shy animals. Our guide said that the last time he saw one was in September. We were not even looking for a leopard but just happened upon it while on a boat cruise on the Chobe River. The leopard is very elusive though; therefore, we had to track him for 20 minutes along the shore of the river just to get decent pictures of him. Even though we knew he was there, it was extremely difficult to find him. They blend in very well and are spooked easily. Seeing a leopard was my one wish for the safari, and it was granted. Chobe=Success!

In total, it was a great vacation with my family. It was amazing to be able to talk to them in person and for them to experience Africa with me. Lots of memories and lots of fun was had by all. The vacation is over for now though. It is time to train more teachers!

The Family In Ndola

My family has been in Ndola for the last three days. Tomorrow, we leave for Victoria Falls and then onto Botswana. My family has throughly enjoyed seeing the communities in which the Jubilee Centre works while experience life in Ndola. We have also had some time to just relax and enjoy life together which has been good since I have not seen them in nine months.

Two notable things have happened since they have been in Zambia. First, I am still evidently a terrible driver because I received two more traffic tickets this past Thursday, one for speeding and one for careless driving (two separate incidents. Who gets two different tickets on the same day?). That is 4 tickets since I have been in Zambia versus 1 ticket for 9 years driving in the States. Really? Has my driving changed that much over the past nine months? I think that they are out to get me.

Second, this morning (Sunday) we thought we were just going to church at one of the Jubilee Centre network churches. As we walked into church, the pastor asked me, “Who is preaching, you or Lawrence (Temfwe, the executive director of the Jubilee Centre)?” I responded, “Well Lawrence is not here, and I cannot get in touch with him on his phone.” The pastor then says, “Great! You are preaching in ten minutes then.” Five minutes of preparation and then I gave a 45 minute sermon. To tell you the truth, I am not surprised by these things anymore. For five minutes of preparation, I think the sermon went well. Now, my family is onto Livingstone, Zambia and Botswana. More updates will come..

(The pictures of are my family with the orphan they sponsor in Mapalo, at a friend’s house, and one of Brittany being swarmed by the children.)

The Family Is On the Way

It is time for more visitors! (Visitors are one of the best parts about living in Africa!) My family (dad, mom, brother, and sister-in-law) leaves today from DC to come to Zambia. In total, they will be in Zambia for 10 days. I am super pumped to see them! It has been over nine months since I last saw them. I am traveling down to Lusaka tomorrow to pick them up. If you care, here is the itinerary for their trip:

Friday-Monday: Visiting Ndola and the Jubilee Centre

Tuesday: Traveling down to Livingstone, Zambia and seeing Victoria Falls

Wednesday-Friday: Safari in Chobe National Park, Botswana

Saturday: Leave for the United States

Yes, it is time for another safari. I absolutely love safaris! That is probably the reason I love visitors so much. They always want to go on a safari, and I will always obliged. Alright, I will be sure to keep you posted on all the fun things my family and I do.

Zambian Newspaper

In the Zambian newspaper on Sunday, there appeared this memoir. I have come to realize that there are some things that I will never understand about Zambians. If I lived in Zambia for 20 years, I still don't think I would understand why someone would write a memoir containing the words "savagely murdered." If you want to write a memoir, why not just say died or even just murdered.

I come back to my original point. Because of my upbringing, I don't know if I can ever understand why someone would write this. I am sure that people have their reasons, but for once in my life, I am o.k. with not knowing. Even though I have become very comfortable in Zambia, there are definitely days where I stare into the sky and say "Where am I again?"

Who You With?

I think one of the biggest surprises for me since being in Zambia has been the lack of freedom within the “democracy” of Zambia. Every couple of years, The Economist produces a ranking called the Democracy Index. The Democracy Index measures the democracy of each country based upon a series of questions and then ranks the countries based upon their respective scores. While living in America, I understood the basics of this index, but since being in Zambia, this ranking has taken on new meaning for me.

The fact remains that there is a lively debate on how and if one can measure democracy. My goodness there is even a debate on what constitutes a democracy. But living in a place like Zambia, that is not classified as a full democracy, for an extended period of time has provided me with the unique opportunity to see the differences in “democracies” and to understand how a systems can be rated as full democracies, flawed democracies, and hybrid regimes.

For example, I heard a rumor last week. Remember that this is a rumor. I cannot substantiate this information, but I do think that this information is credible. Presidential elections are to be held in Zambia next year, but in order to vote, one must possess a National Registration Card (NRC). Most people have a NRC, but those applying for new cards are supposedly asked one question: “Which party are you with?” If you answer the ruling party (MMD), you are allowed to obtain a NRC. If you answer the opposition party, you are turned away and cannot obtain a NRC. Not having a NRC means that you cannot vote.

If this is the case (again I call it a credible rumor), then it is very easy to predict who will win the election. Little maneuvers like this add up over the long haul to stall the progress of democracy.

One major issue though is the fact that Zambia is constantly comparing itself to its neighbors, and therefore, overlooking their own issues. They say, “We are not as bad as Zimbabwe, Angola, or the Democratic Republic of Congo.” My goodness China rates better than all of those countries on the Democracy Index. It would be like the Georgia Bulldogs comparing their football achievements to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. My goodness Tech plays in the ACC! Who wants to lower themselves to those standards? Next, we are going to be comparing ourselves to North Korea (or the Big Ten, Big 12, or PAC 10) (Yes, I just made a college football and foreign policy comparison!)

I am not saying that the Democracy Index is law. Zambia, by the way, is rated as a hybrid regime and 97 out of 167 in the 2008 results. I just wanted to add a little credibility to the index. I guess that is assuming my opinion means anything.

Stealing Hymnals

I have a confession. I stole a hymnal from my church this past week and fell asleep in church. The falling asleep part was because my church starts at 7:30 a.m., I was tired, and the sermon was boring. I know those are just excuses, but I stole the hymnal because I heard this hymn for the first time and really liked the theology behind the hymn. I did not have a pen to write down the words of the hymn; therefore, I had two options. I could either steal the hymnal or tear the page out of the hymnal. What would you choose? I decided to steal the hymnal! (it is pictured below) Here is the hymn that I loved:

Hark, my soul! it is the Lord;

Tis thy Saviour, hear his word;

Jesus speaks, and speaks to thee,

‘Say, poor sinner, lov’st thou me?

‘I deliverd thee when bound,

And, when wounded, healed they wound;

Sought thee wandering, set thee right,

Turned they darkness into light.

‘Can a woman’s tender care

Cease towards the child she bare?

Yes, she may forgetful be,

Yet will I remember thee.

‘Mine is an unchanging love,

Higher than the heights above,

Deeper than the depths beneath,

Free and faithful, strong as death.

‘Thou shalt see my glory soon,

When the work of grace is done;

Partner of my throng shalt be:

Say, poor sinner, lov’st thou me?’

Lord, it is my chief complaint

That my love is weak and faint;

Yet I love thee, and adore;

O for grace to love thee more!

This hymn is sweet because first it makes you think you are in a Charles Dickens novel. Second, it is sweet because I love the theology behind the last stanza and specifically the last line: “O for grace to love thee more!” It is only by God’s grace that we are able to love him. That is good because I stink at loving God. My love is many times weak and faint. Maybe you don’t want to hear a “missionary” tell you that, but that is just life. There is hope for me though, and it is not through my actions. It is through understanding the grace of God and his actions toward us and responding to that love. I really think that we are the most “spiritually healthy” when we admit many times that we don’t truly love God and we are honest about our beliefs and feelings. So many times though I have been in churches that don’t encourage us to be honest about the fact that often times we don’t love God. Maybe ya’ll are better than me though. Maybe you can just will yourself to love God. I honestly can’t say that I can do that. I can only love God when I have properly understood the grace and love that has been given to me (see Romans 6:14). Actions should flow out of that knowledge, but without that knowledge actions are useless in my opinion.

(Stepping away from the pulpit) Maybe there is no hope for me though because I stole the hymnal. Ha ha! Don’t worry I will return the hymnal next week.

Empowerment

Training in Kitwe is officially done after four very tiresome days of work. I forgot how tiring it is to teach for a whole day. When training in Ndola, the longest I had taught for was an hour and a half, but when training in Kitwe, I had to teach six hours a day. Teaching for six hours is very tiring. No wonder I took naps in the afternoon when I taught kindergarten. Some days I would fall asleep while the kids were in class. Just kidding!

Anyway, as mentioned earlier, I took Emmanuel and Samson, two of my teachers from Mapalo, to train teachers with me. Emmanuel and Samson absolutely loved the opportunity to train other teachers. It was a great learning experience for them, but it was also a great learning experience for me.

I learned that to empower people I have to give up control! I always want to be in control to make sure that things are correct; therefore, giving up control is hard for me. But releasing control is necessary when training people. Whenever Emmanuel and Samson were teaching, I was constantly having to control myself from adding too many comments. Yes, if material needs to be communicated clearly, I need to step in and make sure the teachers are trained properly, but that was not my problem. My problem was that I wanted to micromanage the presentations and wanted everything exactly like I would state it. Who wants a boss like that?

At least I realized this tendency in myself early. Emmanuel stated that his goal was to present a session without me adding a comment. Ouch! Of course, he did not mean it as a knock against me, but instead meant that he wanted to cover the material adequately enough so that I would not comment. Anyway, one of my goals is to empower these teachers and Emmanuel and Samson to make a difference. I can’t do that though if I micromanage and don't allow them to lead. I will still hold myself and our project to a high standard but that can be done while allowing others to lead. The process may not be as pretty along the way, but the end result will be a lot better.

That Is Just Life

I had dinner this weekend with an American couple who recently moved to Ndola. The couple is volunteering for an organization that works in communities similar to the ones in which the Jubilee Centre works. The couple has only been in Zambia for a week; therefore, they were sharing their initial impressions of the communities and what has stood out for them. After being here for over 8 months, it was very interesting to hear them share.

They continually said things such as, “I can’t believe all the naked children. There are so many children everywhere. They just burn their trash in a whole. The poverty is so vast. People just use the bathroom wherever they feel. The smell many times can be very pungent.”

These are all very true statements. The truth of the statements is not what struck me. What struck me is the fact that I don’t really notice these things anymore. Going into the compounds has become so much apart of my life that I am not struck as much by the depravity as I once was. It has just become life to me. It is almost as if I just expect to see a child eating a dirt pie on a daily basis.

One of the joys of being able to live and work in a place like Ndola for an extended period of time is that I am able to understand the situation and the problems to a greater degree than if I just spent two weeks in a place. I am able to become comfortable in this setting, and therefore, am able to experience the place to a greater degree.

At the same time, I don’t know if I want to become comfortable with the state of life in many of these communities. I don’t want to become comfortable with the fact that people live in mud brick houses that could collapse with the next rain storm. I don’t want to become comfortable with the fact that people defecate near their water source or do not have access to a quality education. I don’t want to become comfortable with the lack of medical facilities or the inability of the church some times to grasp its mission.

But how does one truly become comfortable in a place while still desiring and believing that the place can make changes for the better? One of the things that I dislike about many Zambian’s attitude toward poverty is that people say, “This is Zambia. We are a third world country, and we will always have people living in the slums.” I think when someone constantly sees poverty of this nature that attitude that can develop very quickly. My hope and prayer is that my heart and mind stays sensitive enough so that I never accept the “status quo” or “inevitable.”

Life Update

OK. I realize that I have not been posting recently; therefore, I have a little bit of a life update for you.

Teacher Training

As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, the teacher training in Mapalo is finished. After eight enjoyable months, we had our graduation ceremony on April 1st. The teachers were very appreciative of all that we had done for them and even gave me a gift in appreciation for all my work. It was definitely a moment of pride for me to see them finish the course.

One set of teachers down but another set to go though. Tomorrow, I will start training teachers in Kitwe for four days. Kitwe is a town approximately 45 minutes away from Zambia. (See posted map) This course will be shortened, but will cover 70% of our curriculum. In Kitwe, I will be training 25 school teachers who all teach in community schools. Schools are off during the month of April; therefore, for these four days, we will be having full day sessions to cover as much as the material as possible.

I will not be the only one training teachers though. For these sessions, I will take along two of my brightest teachers, Emmanuel and Samson, who I trained in Mapalo. With my supervision, they will be presenting half of the sessions. The goal is for Emmanuel and Samson to continue training teachers once I leave Zambia. I will not be in Zambia forever; therefore, part of my focus has turned to training others on how to train teachers.

Rest and Relaxation

After all the hard work over the past eight months, I have taken time over the past few weeks to relax a little. At the end of March, my cousins, Andrew and Kristin Timm, visited me for a couple of days after they climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. It was definitely a joy to be around people who have known me for longer than 8 months. I personally feel like I can relax more when I am around someone who knows me well; therefore, Andrew and Kristin’s visit was definitely a time of relaxation.

Highlights of Andrew and Kristin’s Visit

• Going to a 4 and a half hour church service. I thought the service was only going to be 3 hours long. After that service, I am evermore convinced of the grace of God because it was truly only by the grace of God that we made it through the service.
• Bargaining for souvenirs at the market. At the markets, you have to bargain, but Kristin did not understand this concept like I wanted her too. After she was ripped off the first time she bought something, I took her money away from her and bought everything else at a fair price. Kristin was not upset with me for that, but she was embarrassed by me because I will get the price that I want. I refuse to pay “white man” cost at the market; therefore, I am not the most loved man at that market. I have made such an impression at the souvenir market in Lusaka that they even recognize me now. Needless to say, Kristin was a little embarrassed with my techniques and quietly disowned me three times under her breath. But she got everything she wanted at a fair price.

Other than those highlights, our time was spent relaxing, catching up, and seeing the sights of Ndola.

Then last week, Lawrence Temfwe and I went away for a while for a time of resting, reading, and writing. We were preempting burn-out. You have to be careful about that around here. Needless to say, with training sessions, celebrations, times of relaxation, and all the traveling involved, I have not been around the office a lot lately. Life has been good though, and I am very excited to start training teachers again.

Policy Article

Lawrence Temfwe and I recently wrote an article about policy changes needed for community schools. The article was published in the Zambian Institute of Public Policy Journal. I have decided to paste the article below. Enjoy!


Community Schools: Hope for Poor Urban Children
In Zambia today many children in low-income communities have no access to conventional schooling. In some urban districts up to a third of the children in primary schools attend what are known as community schools. These schools are operated by unpaid and untrained volunteers who teach in community buildings which are of very inadequate standards.

In recent years, “the number of community schools has grown exponentially from 883 in 2000 to 2,129 in 2005.”[1] More recent figures are not available, but the number has only continued to grow. In 2007 the Ministry of Education issued The Operational Guidelines for Community Schools, which promised to provide, among other things, “equitable financial and material resources to all community schools.”[2] But this undertaking has not been met, and, most disappointingly, the Education Act remains silent on community schools.

Community schools play a vital role in most urban districts. In Ndola they educate 33,964 children, which is 29% of primary school enrollees. Though most of these community schools have registered with the District Education Office, resources and support are still not provided. The two most pressing needs are teacher training and equitable funding. If only the Ministry of Education will attend to these, the quality of education provided by community schools can be greatly improved
First, First, teacher training. The main reason for the success of community school teachers, despite difficult situations, is their impressive commitment to the education of the children in their community. Because of this, the Ministry of Education does not need to bring in trained teachers from outside the community, but instead to provide training for the existing teachers. Such training could be a short but intensive course covering basic pedagogy. A four month course, combined with continuous assessment, would impart the basic skills needed to provide a quality education. Hitherto there have been few courses of this nature. But presently the Jubilee Centre, a Christian NGO in Ndola, is running a pilot training course for twelve teachers in three community schools in the community of Mapalo. These schools serve 632 children with an average class size of 40 students. Before the course, their teachers were largely untrained. During this course, all teachers have demonstrated improvement in the skills taught, i.e., setting goals, thinking critically, planning purposefully, investing in children, increasing effectiveness, and employing best practices in the classroom. The Ministry of Education should now provide serious training to complement the remarkable commitment shown by community school teachers.

Second, equitable funding. The Ministry of Education must put in place a clear and transparent grant process for the distribution of community school funds. There have been countless stories about the misallocation or disappearance of these resources. There have even been stories of them being given to schools which do not exist. The Ministry must provide guidelines to make sure that funds are distributed in an equitable manner. The guidelines must include a rating rubric that explains how the funds are distributed. Only when a clear and transparent grant system is operational, will it be practicable for the community schools as a whole to ask for additional funding.
.
Once these challenges have been effectively tackled, it will appropriate to turn to the question, ‘Should Zambia’s community schools become either private schools or government schools, or should they remain as an independent category?’ We believe they should be given a choice. If community schools meet the requirements and want to become government schools, let them be absorbed into the system. If they want to continue to operate as community schools with support from the government, they should have that option. However, in order for community schools to receive government support, they should have to enroll a minimum of 70% of their students from low-income families. This stipulation will provide a clear distinction between private schools and community schools.

There has to be an educational hope for the poor. But it may not lie in government schools. It may just lie with community schools, provided they receive sufficient support from the government to make this hope possible.
[1] National Implementation Framework pg. 41
[2] Operational Guidelines for Community Schools pg. 10

Small Video

Ok, I just realized that the video I posted is small and you cannot read the writing at the beginning. My blog will not allow me to make the video bigger; therefore, I have posted the words below for your enjoyment.

1. Teachers are attempting to be developmentally appropriate in their instruction.

2. Long-term plans are now written by the teachers.

3. Teachers are now teaching in small groups.

4. Teachers are now using games to review and teach concepts.

5. Experiential learning techniques are now used in classrooms.

The End of Mapalo Teacher Training

Well, it is over. After eight wonderful months of mentoring teachers in Mapalo, our training program has come to an end. It is kind of sad, but it is time to move on and train other teachers. Yes, there definitely were difficulties while running this pilot program (one school quit), but I could not realistically ask for better results given that this was our first time training teachers. To cap it off, I have attached a video detailing the changes we have seen in the schools. Enjoy!

Reckless Driving and Corruption

Yesterday, on my way back from Lusaka, I was stopped by the police for reckless driving at which time I received my second ticket since being in Zambia. Good thing they don’t keep track of tickets because if I continued at this rate I will have my license revoked.

Let me paint the scenario for you. I am following Lawrence Temfwe from Lusaka to Ndola, and Lawrence is what we would term a “speed demon.” On the road from Lusaka to Ndola, he averages 80 mph. That is totally fine with me, but I was not cited for reckless driving when I was going 80 mph. I was cited for reckless driving when I was driving 35 mph!

While following Lawrence, we came upon a truck that was going 20 mph. Lawrence passed the car right before a curve, but I said to myself that it would be reckless and dangerous to pass on the curb. When we came to the next straight away though, I did pass the truck. Unfortunately for me, the police officer who saw me said that I passed on a solid white line. Who cares that the lines are not visible on the road or that the car was going 20 mph on a road where the average speed is 65 mph.

The point of the story is not to prove my innocence because technically I was breaking the law. The point of the story is to illustrate my first encounter with corruption. While paying my ticket (you have to pay on the spot), the lady told us that we could pay half the amount of the ticket, but that we would not get a receipt. That means the money would go into her pocket, and that there would be no record of my wrong.

It was very tempting to just pay her the money and move on. The way they said it made bribery feel innocent and harmless. I internally debated what to do for about a minute. I finally decided to pay the full amount for two reasons. First, I knew that it was the right thing to do. I could not contribute to a corrupt society. I wish this was the main reason that I paid the full amount, but it was not. The main reason was that I would much rather have more of my money go to the Zambian government than some of my money to a corrupt policewoman. If she had been nice to me, maybe I would have decided to pay her the pocket money.

Before this experience, it was so easy for me to look down on people that feed the system of corruption, but until you are in that situation, do not judge. It would have been so easy for me to pay that woman and drive quickly on my way. No one would have known. Moral of the story: don’t judge until you have experienced it yourself. Next moral of the story: I have a disdain for authority. Immediately after I was given the ticket, I began to drive more recklessly. The ticket did not curb my behavior because I thought to myself, “If you are going to charge me for a vacuous offense, I am going to make sure I get my money’s worth.”