from joy to despair!

So, I went this morning to one of the primary schools attached to our church in Lundazi.  I was there to observe the Early Childhood class and give some advice to the teacher if necessary! 

Now bearing in mind that this teacher has been trained, I was shocked to find no play materials and the children sitting at desks as if they were in primary school.  These kids are 3 and 4 years old!  The teacher taught them from the blackboard and then they had to write in their books - while some of them could not even hold a pencil properly! So the joy of seeing the kids and interacting with them quickly went to despair when I saw how they were being treated in the classroom!  The extra photo is one of despair!!

Thankfully the head teacher is willing to accept help in his school and I hope I will have a workshop with all of the teachers I am meeting in the next 10 days, during the next school holidays!

I am thankful to be in Lundazi for another reason!  Its a rural town in Eastern Zambia and yet it has electricity most of the day thanks to the neighbouring Malawi where they tap electricity from!