To Infinity and Beyond (or to Kitwe)

Well, as expected, our little education program at the Jubilee Centre is expanding. Today, I went to Kitwe, a major town approximately 45 minutes from Ndola, to talk to a school administrator about training her teachers. Lawrence and I had already talked briefly to her about setting up the program, but today we had a very productive meeting in which we outlined the training she wanted. During the month of April, we are going to train her teachers and maybe the teachers from three other schools in the area.

I am very excited but hesitant about this training. First of all, I am very excited to be able to help these teachers and for a chance to expand the program. At the same time, I am hesitant because we are changing the format of the sessions. Because the schools are located in Kitwe, I can not give the individual attention to the teachers like I have done in Ndola. This is difficult for me to let go of because I feel like the success of the program has stemmed from the fact that I have been able to walk beside the teachers as they attempt to change their practices. With Kitwe being a distance away, I will not be able to do this. Instead, I will do a few site visits before the training to chronicle the teaching practices. Then, I will teach four days of intensive sessions. Finally, I will do site visits afterwards to chronicle any change in practice.

I am not saying that it is not going to be successful. From my visit today, the teachers seem eager to be trained and to grow as educators. It will be a different from the present structure, but we will have time to analyze the effectiveness afterwards. Maybe, I am wrong. Maybe, we will see that the effectiveness of the program is actually due to the curriculum instead of my individual attention. We will see come May.