Sorry no post last night.... Basically spent the day traveling back from Victoria Falls and was so tired and had a headache and after dinner I went to sleep.
So the houses here are very interesting... Most of the buildings are not entirely closed in and they usually have thatched roofs. I don't think anyone has a washer or dryer as most houses have clothes hanging in clothes lines or fences outside. The water comes from bore holes so if one runs out someone won't have water in their house. The water here is heated here by building a fire underneath it and heated. There are only certain places where we can drink the water as well.
I love the vervet monkeys. There is one male named Terrance and the other day I had just put hand sanitizer on and he grabbed my hand and tried to pull it into the cage- which you can't let them do because they will bite you- but then he sniffed his hand- I think because of the hand sanitizer. Now every time I walk by the cage he reaches out for my hand and then sniffs his hand.
Today I went to Siphezini primary school - a local school down the road. There is no free education in Zimbabwe. Students have to pay between $40-60 per term, there are three terms in a year. This is a lot of money for people in this country. Books are shared usually by at least 3-4 kids and the teachers cover them in whatever kind of plastic they can find to help protect them and make them last as long as possible. The Blackboards are smooth concrete painted w chalkboard paint. There is No running water or electricity in the school. They have to get water from fairly far away and they have a system w jugs of water rigged up so the students can wash their hands. There is a house next to the school where student teachers live and there is electricity in the house and they have one computer to share.
They don't have bathrooms either- instead they have something called a Long drops- which is a big hole in the ground. Behind the School they also have A Culture hut - which is a round hut, and is used as the kitchen. Most homes have a culture hut so that the people do not forget how they used to live.
We brought cardboard boxes and cereal boxes etc for the students. I was also able to leave some of the lessons that were prepared by Teacher Academy and Early childhood education students and was able to distribute some of the pencil cases full of things for the students. Any posters and decorations in the classrooms must be made by the teacher. They have so few supplies. I don't think I will ever complain again if I don't have money in my budget to purchase something at school.... It was incredible to see what these teachers could do with such limited supplies. The students are so polite. When we walked into the classroom they all stood and in unison said hello how are you today. We visited a class that was students about 5 year olds and then also the 5th and 6th grade classes.
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