The kids started school at African Bible College Christian Academy (ABCCA) on Monday. After two weeks of running all over town with mom and dad trying to set up a new house in a new country the kids were definitely ready to get into a routine and have something of meaning to call their own. All four kids have great teachers. Jack's teacher is the mother of Charlie's teacher. Jessie's teacher worked in Dzaleka last year setting up the special needs program in the camp. Casey's teacher is in her second year at ABCCA.
All four kids start their school day at 7:15. So the kids are up and out of bed by 6 am. We leave for school around 7 am. Jessie gets out of school at 12:00. Charlie gets out at 12:30. Casey gets out at 1:00. Jack gets out at 1:30. So we need to figure out a system for pick up. A lot of the ABC families have after school activities and their children just stay and play and run around. Monday Steve and I arrived early to get Jessie. Today we decided that waiting around at the school for 1 1/2 hours was not the best use of our time. So we gathered Jessie and Charlie and went home. Steve helped them with lunch and homework while I went back for Casey and Jack. Casey and I worked on our homework. (I am trying to learn Chichewa). This seems to be an alright system, other than it wastes some gas. We'll have to decide what is more valuable...our time or fuel.
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| Charlie's classroom |
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| Jessie's playground |
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| Lower elementary corridor |
We have a language helper that comes to the house at 2:00 every week day to help us learn Chichewa. Her name is Jacinta. She is Malawian, of Portuguese decent. She can speak English perfectly, as well as Chichewa and Portuguese. She also attends Capital City Baptist Church in Lilongwe, the same church we have been worshiping at. We are thankful for the time Jacinta takes with us, especially while the kids are milling about after school.
We have slowly started integrating ourselves into work. Steve is busy building shelves and planning for an "office remodel" as There is Hope is adding 3 new staff people and potentially more. I have been helping with Kibebe projects. This Saturday I plan to bring the Kibebe books, shopping bags, picnic blankets, Christmas stockings, Christmas cards, and Christmas oraments to a Farmers Market in town. This will be our first go at this type of venue. I may even have a chance to teach Sunday School next Sunday at a refugee church here in town.
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| Shopping for school supplies with our friend and neighbor Diya |
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| Hanging out with Uncle Inno at the church picnic |
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| Church picnic |
The other exciting bit of information is Thanksgiving. Many of you are planning a big spread, and so are we. We will celebrate Thanksgiving with the Torngas and Magambis on Saturday. Our menu is as close to traditional as we can be: Chicken and ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, rolls, green beans, veggie tray, pumpkin pie, apple crisp, and ice cream. It will be a feast for sure. We'll miss our family and friends in Michigan! But not the snow, cold, and black Friday mayhem.
