Class Picture

My first year as a primary school teacher ended at the end of November (the school year here runs from February-November). It had its challenges, for sure, but overall it was a great year--I can't imagine not having had the privilege of teaching the 29 kids who made up my class. How I thank God for giving me this new assignment as well as the grace day by day to carry it out! I'm also so grateful to all who were partnering with me in this adventure by upholding me in prayer.

It wasn't easy to get a class picture because the few months of school it seemed there was always at least one student absent. Finally, one day in mid-November, they were all there, so my teammate Emily stood up on a desk and snapped some pics. Hard to get so many kids to smile, when most are not used to having their picture taken, plus a few weren't feeling well. Here's one that turned out pretty well, though.



My class, class 1B, was somewhat the equivalent of grade one in North America. Class 1A is the first level at the school; the kids learn how to read in Dinka, their mother tongue, and start to learn oral English. In Class 1B, the main goal for the year is to learn English phonics and how to read in English. They also do some Math and Social Studies. There were 17 girls and 12 boys in my class, ranging in age from 7 to 15. Here's a more relaxed shot of them.



 I'll end this post with a close-up of quite a smily bunch cropped from another of the pictures taken that day.

New School Building Construction - 7

I'm out on a break for the next month so am no longer on site, but my teammate Daniel is keeping me supplied with pictures of the building progress. This past week, the walls were finished and work began on the ring beam that goes around the building and forms the top of the window and door openings.

I'd like to give a shout out to Canadian relief and development ministry Word and Deed (wordanddeed.org), which is funding the cost of this new building. Word and Deed's mission is to address the spiritual and physical needs of people in the developing world in accordance with biblical principles. W&D is involved in a wide variety of projects including child sponsorship, Christian education, orphan care, disaster relief and vocational training. We're so grateful for their partnership in this project so that the school can grow and impact many more children during the coming years. 

Thanks so much, Word and Deed!

New School Building Construction - 6

The building is really taking shape! Here's where the work was as of the end of this past week.

New School Building Construction - 5

School is now over for the year, so I haven't been at the site much in the past week. I went by this morning and was impressed. Things are really moving along. The building slab and veranda slab are finished, and work has begun on the walls. :-)

Shoe Repair Boys

The other morning I came upon some industrious young businessmen working in the shade of a friend's home. They were repairing a pair of flip-flops, the most common footwear worn here.

Unfortunately, the flip-flops available in our local markets are generally not good quality, and since most people wear theirs all the time and walk everywhere, they break within a matter of two or three months.

Having to buy a new pair of flip-flops didn't used to be too big of a problem, but during the past months prices have risen sharply due to the deteriorating economic situation. Most things--food, clothes, soap, shoes--have tripled in price since the beginning of the year.

A basic pair of flip-flops that cost 8 South Sudanese pounds (SSP) ($1.33) in January now costs 25 SSP ($1.47). In dollar terms, the price is not much higher because the exchange rate has risen from 6 SSP per 1 USD to 17 SSP per dollar.

But for the majority of my neighbours, who are dealing only in SSP, this is a huge increase. I estimate that the average weekly income for many of my women neighbours who are the sole breadwinners for their families is only about 50 to 60 SSP.

The most common problem with flip-flops is that the thong that goes between the toes detaches from the sole of the shoe. The boys charge 2 SSP (12 cents at the current rate) to sew the thong back on to the sole--much, much less than the cost of a new pair.

Tools of the trade

It was very encouraging to see these boys' initiative and work ethic.

New Building Construction - 4

Last week most of the slab was poured. Unfortunately the workers ran out of cement on Saturday and weren't able to finish it. More bags of cement should be arriving today. The two pictures below show how the site looked this morning.

Here's a video that shows how the slab was poured, spread out and tapped down.

A few stills of the work:

New School Building Construction - 3

Last week the workers poured a ring beam around the base of the new building. They also continued to fill in the foundations and pack down the fill in preparation for pouring the floor slab this week.

Tuesday: ring beam partially framed and poured

Filling in the foundation involved countless wheelbarrow loads of gravel and dirt.

Once the fill had been levelled and packed down, water was poured on it to help it settle and be as firm as possible.

Worker transporting 20-litre jerrycans of water from the handpump at Weer Bei radio (next door to the school property)

By Saturday afternoon, the ringbeam was finished and the foundations were almost entirely filled in.

Saturday afternoon: view from the northwest corner of the building

Saturday afternoon: view from the southwest corner

Monday Prayer

At Cush Christian School, we've been taking time on Monday mornings before classes start to pray for the construction of the new building. This is the only time the children are allowed to come right up close to the actual building site.

Here are some of the things we've been praying for:
- safety and stamina for the workers
- that the contractor would oversee the work well
- that the workers would work hard and do good work
- that the supplies necessary would be available when they are needed
- that the building would be finished by the start of the next school year (early February)

Please join us in prayer!

New School Building Construction - 2

This week's work involved the brickwork for the building's foundations, which was pretty much completed.

Monday 9 November, view from southwest corner

Friday 13 November, view from southwest corner

Saturday 14 November, view from northwest corner

Bare Feet

Most of the kids in my class slip off their shoes (composed almost entirely of flip-flops) when they arrive in the morning and don't put them on again until they go home.




I had a good chuckle a few months ago when teaching the word "toes." My teacher's manual suggested having the students "take off their shoes and socks and count their toes."

The manual is written for an African context, but obviously a more developed, and a cooler, one!

Anyway, accessing their toes was much simpler for my students. :-)









Turquoise seems to be the most popular colour for girls' flip-flops these days.

Notice the chalk art on the legs and feet of one of my teenage girls. :-)

New School Building Construction - 1

Construction of the new Cush Christian School building began in earnest this past week. What an answer to prayer! We all look forward to seeing the work progress during the coming few months. Lord willing, the building will be ready for the start of the new school year in February.

View from the northwest corner of the new building looking towards the current building

View from the southeast corner of the new building towards the current building

Two weeks ago, workers dug the trenches for the foundations of the building. The new building will run parallel to the current one and be similar in size. However, the division of the space will be different. There will be four classrooms, a storage room and an office. And there will be a veranda running the whole length of the front (west side) of the building.

Last week, trucks began arriving bringing sand, gravel, rocks and bricks to the site. This was pretty exciting for our students (and quite a distraction at first) since they don't often see such large vehicles up close and in action, particularly dump trucks.

The kids also enjoy watching anything the workers are doing.



The school walls will be built of bricks and covered with a layer of cement.

On Thursday of this past week, workers lined the lower end of the foundation with crushed rocks (the terrain slopes down). What back-breaking, bone-jarring work! Fortunately it was a cloudy day.

On the right is the foundation for the veranda/roof supports, on the left that of the west wall of the building.

Friday was a very busy day of making concrete and pouring the bottom layer of the foundations. This included workers filling countless jerrycans of water at the hand pump near the radio station next door and transporting them by wheelbarrow to the site. Mixing the cement with sand and rocks is very tiring, so the workers spelled each other off.

I plan to post weekly updates on how the work is progressing, so stay tuned!