Kea Leboha!

Roof On

Kea Leboha (Thank You).  The Grant for our new building was fully funded by last week.  It took under one week to raise close to $3500 towards our new classrooms.  People are so generous.  Thank you so much everyone who donated.  I know some people wanted to donate but didn't make it in time, sorry, but there are soooo many other good causes in the world that will happily use your money.  In lesotho there is Sentebale and Friends of Lesotho that also help children in this community.
   As you can see our building is moving right along.  This week they are working on the roof and next week we will start with all of the electrical work.  Later today I am headed to the hardware store to do our first big purchase of electrical supplies from the money that was donated.  Next week my prinicipal will be gone for the week and I will be responsible for overseeing and purchasing materials on my own!! I am a little nervous, but I think there are plenty of people around to help me.  I wish Dan, my brother in-law, was here!

Playing Dress Up

  Over the last few weeks I have noticed many children dressed funny on Fridays.  Apparently the schools here have dress-up days sometimes.  On these days kids can dress up in any way they want, some where nice clothes, some where costumes, etc. The point is to have fun and raise funds.  For the privledge of not wearing their school uniform they get to pay 1 Maluti (about 15cents).  It has been fun to watch them and see how creative they can get.  On the right is my host sister, age 12, dressed up as a lady.  She is wearing her monther's dress and has stuffed a winter coat in to give her a funny shape.  My other neighbor, 16 year old boy, dressed up in a girl's school uniform.  We have been laughing a lot, it is well worth the 1Rand.
  At school this week I have been pretty busy working on reports and plans with my principal.  She has to report next week on the progress of the centre and work on the budget for next year.  She is pretty good at using excel for budgeting, but she had never used powerpoint.  We had fun creating a powerpoint together about the successes and goals for the school.  She was so excited about the photos and videos that we incorporated and she is convinced that she will have the best presentation at her meeting.  She was actually jumping up and down and hugging me when we finished.  I have also been preparing for a presentation on our Get Ready To Learn yoga program that we have been using.  Sentebale asked me to present about it to 12 organizations that serve vulnerable children at a meeting next week.  Too much time in the office this week and not enough time with the students.
  I have had plenty of time at home with the kids.  For the most part I have had a sort of unstated rule that the kids don't really come in my house.  For one it is important for me to have a tiny bit of my own space, and two it is just more fun to play outside nobody really hangs out inside here.  BUT I often break the rule and let kids come in briefly to look at pictures, etc.  Well this week I broke the rule too many times and now the little ones think it is a game to just stand at my door and yell.  They actually try to fit through the bars, it is really funny.  I love it because they are so cute, but it makes it hard to get my cooking, etc. done.  I know I will miss this time in a few months.
 

Let Us In

Maybe we can reach the keys