Today I got completely drenched on my way back from Kamfinsa, cycling through water which most of the times touched or covered my peddles and lightning literally striking metres from me, but once again it was well worth it! The kids in the class (a mix of grade 3 and 4) are making progress and certainly know the sounds and actions that go with S A T P I N M D but blending the sounds is still tricky. Today, Enoch (who teaches grades 1,2,3 and 4!) was really happy to see the new resources Gemma has been making for us to use (she's the expert) and how well the children did at identifying things that begin with the different letters they have been learning. The challenge these kids have is that they have to learn the new vocabulary as well. While we are teaching them in English, we are still finding that we have to use the Bemba word for some things to make it clear. Typically, however, words like "sweets" don't take much explanation!
The children are really keen to learn and I think having a Muzungu to impress may help motivate them, despite not receiving any "sweets" from me as yet. Today was also a success in that I was finally able to interview a second teacher for the school. She, Violet, has been teaching since 2005 and obviously has a passion for the children. She even brought her teaching certificates with her to show me which shows how seriously she is taking a position in the school. It will be good to have another experienced teacher around and I'm sure Enoch will appreciate being able to focus on just 2 grades after the Easter break!
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