Today we had a fantastic day on board the Bookbus in
Livingstone. This morning we went to Simoonga Primary School and as usual we
worked with the 80 children in grades 5 and 6. Normally the children take home
whichever crafts they make. The teachers have been trying, in vain, to make them leave
their things to brighten up the classrooms but the children always wanted to take them
home to show their families. Even though Simoonga school is a government
school, the classrooms are still very bare and the teachers work without any resources. So today we
planned a day to please the teachers. We decided on making wall friezes and collages
to decorate the classroom, which each child doing a section and basing them on
facts we learnt from some of the Miles Kelly donated books.
We started with a
class quiz, where the children had to find the answers in the books. The competition
was fierce but lots of fun was had by all. Then we all worked on the collages.
The end result was amazing and completely transformed the classroom, leaving
lots of facts on the walls for the kids to learn.
Then they got to keep the 2
books we had worked with to take home. So much excitement in one morning!
Then this afternoon we visited 2 new community schools which
we are hoping to work with in the holidays. These are villages where the
Bookbus has never been, about 25km from Livingstone. There was much curiosity
amongst the villagers and the teachers are really enthusiastic to have us come.
It is amazing to see the difference in the colour of the soil from the
villages we work with nearby. There the orange soil produces terracotta houses,
here the grey earth makes ash coloured houses, what a contrast! One school is
quite a way off the tarred road and is in a small mud walled building but right
next to the Zambezi River, a stunning location and certainly worth the long, bumpy
and dusty ride. We are really looking forward to working in these new villages
very soon.
Kelly. 1st August 2013
