Girls Basketball Tournament

Today we hosted a girls basketball tournament of teams from 4 other surrounding schools.  The girls had a blast!  We know that our gym is a gift from God, so it's nice to be able to share it with the community as much as possible.  It was fun to see our girls really learning how to work as a team.  I think they're improving their passing, shooting, and rebounding skills.  It was also great to see all the teams showing good sportsmanship toward one another, laughing and chatting after playing hard against each other.  Here are a few pictures and videos from the day.

Our girls in light blue

Our girls won two out of their three games, which is an even bigger deal when you consider that most of our girls are in primary school and all the other teams were from secondary schools.  It's just friendly games, so there's not a bracket or champion team or anything.  But there was kind of a closing ceremony at the end with some pep talks from the coaches.  Unexpectedly, I was even called up for a short speech.  "And now a few words from our headmistress..."  Haha!

And then every team received a framed certificate from the local basketball association.  It was like the icing on the cake!

Aren't they a good looking team?! :)

S2 Bones Lesson

When I was reviewing teachers' lesson plans for the week and came across a science lesson that requested a chicken from the kitchen so that the class could learn about bones, I knew that would be a lesson to see.  I dropped in to see how it was going.  As a school administrator, this is the kind of teaching and learning that you hope to see in every classroom.

These are 2nd graders and they're learning in their second language.  They were naming off terms like cartilage, skeletal muscles, tissue, scapula, ribs, vertebrae, spine, ulna, femur, and tibia.  I was so impressed!  I am thankful to have teachers that have high expectations and believe that their students can do hard things.  Who knows, there might be some future doctors and nurses in this group!

S6 Plant Biodiversity Project

Thanks to a teacher friend in the states, our Standard 6 class has been able to participate in a global science collaboration.  We have paired up with a class in Taiwan to do research on biodiversity in our respective locations and then share our findings.  It has been a blast for our students and for me!  Not only are they learning what biodiversity is and its importance, but they are also learning about Taiwanese culture, how to communicate globally, how to research, how to work with a group, how to prepare a presentation, and so much more.  This is the kind of learning that students remember, increases their love for learning, and applies to their everyday lives.  Exciting!

We split the class into four groups and assigned a teacher to each group to serve as a guide and mentor.  I am so thankful to be one of the assigned teachers, giving me the opportunity to work more directly with students than I typically would get to.

The Science Explorers

The groups were assigned to rope off a square area of their choosing somewhere on the school campus.

Before going out to the field, the class learned about the four plant types: trees, shrubs, grasses, and flowering plants.  You can see that my group found a lush little patch with all four types of plants.

Did you happen to notice that we have a bit of a comedian in the group?!

They then had to identify the plants in their square and research their purposes and how they contribute to the biodiversity.  They're still working on the research presentation, but these are the four plants that they chose to focus on:

Tree

Grass

Shrub

Flower

I am greatly enjoying hearing their conversations about the various plants and what they are choosing to focus on to include in their presentation.  They're definitely having to learn what it means to put things in their own words instead of just copying straight from the source :)

The same week that they began their research, the whole school was studying Psalm 111.  It begins with:

Praise the Lord!

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,

in the company of the upright, in the congregation.

Great are the works of the Lord,

studied by all who delight in them.

Full of splendor and majesty is his work,

and his righteousness endures forever.

He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered;

the Lord is gracious and merciful.

What a delight to see these students studying God's great work of creation with awe and wonder!

Impromptu Piano Lesson

On Saturday morning, I will often walk down to the music room and spend a little time playing the piano.  It is very relaxing for me, but I knew it would only be a matter of time before one of the kids found me.  Sure enough, last Saturday I was discovered.  While playing a song, I suddenly became aware of a little head peeping through the window.  Then I heard, "Madam Laurie, can I come in?"  I said, "Do you want to come in to just watch and listen?" He said, "Yes."  Well that lasted all of about 1 minute.  He quickly moved from a chair watching to being right on the bench beside me with hands on the keys ready to play his own song.  My personal playing time was clearly over, but it became a fun opportunity to give a little private lesson.  He also quickly discovered my phone sitting nearby, and before I knew it, he was taking pictures and videos.

My 1 minute of playing with the bench to myself :)

How is it that kids around the world are able
to work cameras so quickly and take selfies? 

Videoing without my knowledge:

Here's our future piano player:

It was fortunate that I was discovered by one of the most pleasant, outstanding kids.  Just this past week he was elected by his peers as the new head boy of the primary school.  I think that they chose very wisely.  He may be small in stature, but he is a mighty leader.

Just another little something fun from the same day...I ended up in the dining hall in the afternoon because one of the kids had asked me for some math help.  Saturday afternoon is also when some of the kids are typically in there playing games.  Of course, as soon as we were done with math, I was talked into staying and playing a few games.  Why not?  As we played, one of the other kids illustrated.  Can you guess what game we were playing?

Battleship!  

 Mary is quite the artist, as you can see.  But what she didn't include in the picture was that I actually had two kids beside me "helping" me sink my opponent's ships and another kid on the other side trying to get me to play Sequence Jr. at the same time.  Because why shouldn't I be able to play two games at once?!  Gotta love 'em!

My fellow Battleship players:

She sunk all my ships!

One of my "helpers" ;)

 When you live in a village with 60 kids, there's always something fun going on!

Kili Half Marathon 2019

Today I got to run in my very first Kili Half Marathon!  It is an annual event that is looked forward to by locals and international runners alike.  The event actually includes a full marathon, half marathon, and a 5K fun run. I really enjoy events that bring out the whole community whether they were running or cheering us on. They reported this year that across the three events, there were nearly 10,000 runners.  There were probably just as many lining the course to spectate and cheer us on.  It seemed like I got a few extra cheers and waves from the kids; I can't imagine why I would have stuck out in the crowd ;)

First step was to pick up my race number in town, and it became official that I could run!

So close to 4321, but I like it because 12 is my favorite 2-digit number

Phil was very kind and drove me to the start to drop me off so that I wouldn't have to deal with traffic and parking.  I got there in time to see the sun rising over the finishing area.

Gorgeous morning

 I made my way to the starting area, which was teeming with excited runners.

All eager to start and thankful that Kili decided to show her peak
for the start of her race ;)

 Amazingly, the race started promptly at 7 AM.  I was impressed! I didn't take pictures throughout the run because I was a little too focused on running and taking it all in.  Here's a brief description:

• The first 10K was up, up, up because we were heading towards the mountain
• At the 9K marker we left the tarmac road and ran up a dirt road for a while, which made for a nice change of terrain
• We made our way back to a tarmac road with about 10K remaining, and it was mostly downhill from there with a few hills thrown in
• We ran through little towns, at times the road was completely lined with banana trees, we ran past fields that will soon be planted for rainy season, and we finished in a college stadium
• One of the local water bottling companies was a sponsor, so they provided water stops and even had a few misters that we got to run through
• There were enough people participating that I was always with other runners, which I find very motivating

I pulled my phone out for the finish and captured the mountain coming out again to cheer us along the last bit.

Part of the race entry included free downloads of the pictures they took on the course, which was a nice perk!

The finish line!!!

I think they found the perfect place for the finish line with the namesake right in the background.

We all received a bottle of water, a medal, and a t-shirt at the finish.

The whole field of the stadium was set up for the post race. There were tents all around with many different drinks, a variety of snacks, and even an assortment of grilled meats for purchase.

I found my favorite stand...

A mound of fresh fruit!

The man chopped everything up right there one
plate at a time to make a beautiful fruit salad

 I got to watch the first marathon finishers cross the finish line, which is always just amazing. I'm not sure how they do it so fast and on such a hot day!  I think I'll stick with my half :)

It was hot, it was challenging, it was a blast!

February Happenings

February seemed to fly by!  I must be having fun :)  Here are some of the things that took place throughout the month.

I had my first visitor! My friend from Colorado Springs, Brittany, came out to climb the mountain with a team. After a successful climb, she had one day to come stay with me before moving to her next work location. It was a short but sweet visit. What a treat to be able to give her a tour of the school, introduce her to my teachers and students and teammates, and share the stunning beauty that God has blessed us with here.  And then we also had time to go into town to visit a few of my usual places.

Taking her on an adventurous drive around town

The picture every visitor must get

Waiting at the station...

for a train... 

that will never come ;)

Finishing off the visit with a trip to our
"central market"

Our girls' soccer team was invited to play in a tournament at the local international school. They pretty much dominated every team they played.

On the 24th of February, I got to co-hare my first Hash. The person who sets the course for the Hash is called the Hare. The Hare is responsible for going out ahead of the Hash and putting out the flour to mark the path. A doctor who lives nearby has been a long time friend of our village and is considered one of the Hash experts around here. I was very excited when he asked if I'd like to set a Hash with him. He taught me all the tips and tricks.

One of the tricks you can do is make a false
trail, marked by the F, so that the lead runners
have to go back and find the real trail. We were
nice and only made one false trail :)

My co-Hare expert leading the way with his
bag of flour

The trail went down into the river valley and
back up twice, so it was a bit challenging but
beautifully lush

The mountain came out for a nice view

The flour going down into the river was a joke;
we kept to the bridges for crossing this time

I've got my bag of flour to mark the trail too

We made it back to the start in time to set up chairs and tables
in the yard and then...

welcome all of our Hash friends

 A couple of the friends that I've made at church came out to do the Hash, so I decided to go do the trail again with them. It was fun to have set the trail and then to go do it as a participant to get peoples' reactions.

 

Based on the comments, I think the two climbs out of the river valley were a good challenge and everyone really enjoyed the course. Then we all enjoyed bites together, which are always a highlight when my teammate, Sara, is in charge.

I ended the month with a wedding send-off. It was for one of our workers who has been living here as a mother of one of the children cottages. It's sad to see her go, but we were all quite happy for her. I decided it was about time that I have a proper outfit for a send-off, so I went to a local shop and had a kitenge skirt made.  Isn't the fabric here beautiful?

 Since the send-off was for a cottage mother, the 8 girls who had lived in her cottage were invited to the party. Having them with us made it even more fun!

Don't they look nice dressed up in their Sunday best?!

 There were 12 of us all together, so we hired a dala dala (15 passenger van).  It was the best decision! It meant that we didn't have to take multiple cars and we didn't have to worry about driving back in the dark.  Total win!

We got very close to the location of the party, but had to pull
over on the side of the road for some directions at the very end :)

I didn't mind because it gave me time to get a different view
of the mountain

 We still made it with time to spare because these things always start 2 hours after the time printed on the invitation. Everyone knows that, so it'll probably never change because if it did start on time no one would be there.  Our invitation said this one would start at 6 PM, so it was right "on time" when it started at 8 PM. Haha! It was a very nice send-off.  The hall was nicely decorated. The pace of events was very efficient. I would say it was probably my favorite one yet.

Beautiful lighting

The real treat for the kids is that they get SODA! You can see
that the orange and yellow Fantas are the favorites.

 And no send-off would be complete without the...

Keki ndafu (roasted goat decorated with cucumbers and carrots)
That was the biggest one I've seen; it even had horns!

Funny side note: even though we had all the girls go to the bathroom right before we left, we still had to have to dala dala pull off on the side of the road for a quick pit stop.  Like I said, having the kids with us made for a much more fun and entertaining evening.

And there you have it - the random happenings of February.