Music

On the way to fetch water

Last blog I talked about our water shortage.  Well I made a trip down to the spring area with the girls from my neighborhood to fetch some water.  Unfortunately I could only carry around 10 litres and not on my head.  It was fun to go with them though, they all screamed a lot in the high grass because everyone here is very scared of snakes.  At the river / spring area they did some wash and ran around playing in the water.  They all carried their water back on their heads and laughed a lot at me when I tried.  I was exhausted after one trip and decide to just not use anymore water, but they all made several trips back and forth.  Luckily the water came back over the weekend and has been off and on since.

We also go a few rainy days over the last week.  This is great, because it has been so dry, but also very messy.  Most roads and paths here are dirt, which means when it rains a lot they are mud.  It makes for quite a commute to work.  Although I have been wishing for rain, I am now hoping it is not too much.  Last week we finalized plans for a new classroom building for our school and I don't want it to be delayed for weather.  We are adding 3 additional classrooms and trying to make them better equipt to teach vocational and daily living skills.  I have worked on getting a peace corps partnership grant to provide plumbing, electricity, etc.  People from the US can donate to this specific project until we have enough money.  If it gets approved I will write about all of the details in case people want to contribute.  Anyway we really want the building to be finished before I leave, which is less than four months away!  Crazy!!  So not too much rain please.

Way home from the water fetching

    Well my week of model teaching that I mentioned last week worked out pretty well.  This week I stayed out of the classroom, but watched to see what was going on and was very happy to see some of the things we worked on being implemented.  Next week I will focus on a different teacher and spend the week in her room, hoping for the same effect.  School has been very active lately.  We had visitors on Friday and the staff and students were busy all week preparing.  The visitors are a family from england that over the years has made donations to the school.  The students and teachers sang for them and made them some traditional clothing.  It was very nice and my favorite part was the singing.  I tried to join in but I just don't know how to sing.  People here spend their lives singing and can harmonize and sound amazing with very little practice.  I wish I could put a video clip on this blog so you could hear them, but I don't have enough juice from my wireless modem.  You just have to trust me.  I actually just read the following in a novel that really explains it well:
"Africa is too crude a stage for the small scratching of the violin, too majestic for the piano  Africa is only right for the drums.  The drum carries its rhythm but does not steal its music.  Timpani is the background, the music of Africa is in the voices of the people.  They are its instruments, more subtle, more beautiful, infinitely more noble than the scratching, thumping, banging and blowing of brass and wind and vellum, strings and keyboard."  This is from Bryce Courtenay's book The Power of One.  

Students practicing Singing for visitors

My commute to work with kids in the rain