july 14 updated

July 14, 2016

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 clotheslines or fences outside.  The water comes from boreholes so if one runs out someone won't have water in their house.   The water is heated here by building a fire underneath it and heated- so basically you either have a freezing cold or scalding hot shower.  And there is not hot water available all day.  There are only certain places where we can drink the water as well.  The reason for this isn’t because of the water coming from the ground, but after it sits in the reservoirs there is blue-green algae that grows.  If you were to fill up a glass of water from the pipe as it comes up from the borehole, It would be safe to drink.

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 can potentially 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, grabs my fingers, and then sniffs his hand. 

Today I went to Siphezini primary school - a local school down the road from the orphange.  

There is no free education in Zimbabwe- at either government or private schools.  Students have to pay between $40-60 per term (at a government school).  There are three terms in a year.  This is a lot of money for people in this country.  There are some families that cannot afford to send their children to school at all.  Also, there are many families who have multiple children.

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 with chalkboard paint.  

There is no running water or electricity in the school.  There are holes in the roof so when it rains the classrooms leak.  They have to get water from fairly far away and they have a system with jugs of water rigged up so the students can wash their hands.  

Nicky demonstrated how they wash their hands.

There is a house with electricity next to the school where student teachers live  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.  

This is what the bathrooms look like from the outside.

And this…is the toilet.  Yes, that 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 and other empty containers for the students and teachers.  These can be used for art projects as well as for lessons in math and home economics.  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.  

All 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 comprised of students about 5 years old and  also the 5th and 6th grade classes.  

Some of the teachers put a lot more effort into decorating their classrooms.  Kudos to the teachers who are so creative and develop materials since everything has to be made from scratch.