What Do You See?

When I was teaching my students about my upcoming trip to Zimbabwe, the students decided they wanted to make something that they could give the students at the Matopo Hills primary schools. After learning about classroom life, my students planned to make a book! We titled the book "What do you see?" and each child wrote two pages in the book!

Check out some sample pages below to see how these authors and illustrators brought their book to life!

Pierre and Rentia Visit!

Pierre, Rentia and their son Pieter, visited our school while they were in the States! They will be our hosts while we are in Zimbabwe. (See earlier posts to find out more about them.) I (Melissa) was their tour guide for the afternoon. It was a very humbling experience to take them around our lovely facility. They pointed out many differences between our school and the school we will be serving in Zimbabwe. One in particular was; their schools are about the size of 4 or 5 of our classrooms, and each have almost 400-500 students! Each teacher can have as many as 50 students in one classroom, with only one or two textbooks to share among all the students. As we walked around the school I was reminded at how fortunate I am to be able to work in such an amazing school with the amount of resources we have, even here in the States. It also makes me more excited to go and partner with the schools in Zimbabwe. On the tour Pierre was so excited that our school is sending us to Zimbabwe to potentially partner with some of their schools.

On another note, Pierre was amazing with the students. First, he met with the 6th graders. They are learning about several countries in Africa, so it was a treat for them to met someone from Zimbabwe and South Africa. They asked so many good questions about life in Zimbabwe! One student asked Pierre to describe the typical day of a Zimbabwe child in the Matopo Hills area. He told about the dirt floor hut where they live with no electricity. They sleep on the ground, sometimes next to their chickens. The hut is very smokey because there is a fire and they have no ventilation so all the heat is trapped in the hut to the family warm at night. A child will get up early in the morning, boys tend to the cattle or livestock, and girls carry water to their home in jars on their heads. Then they walk two to three miles to school, barefoot! Once they get to school, they stay all day because all their supplies are at the school. Then they walk the two to three miles back home. What a different life they have! They also met with the 2nd graders. They had a lot of good questions too and Pierre shared the same information about a Zimbabwe child with them. It was good for all the students and teachers to hear examples of how other people are living differently from us around the world.

Afterwards Pierre, Rentia, and Pieter were able to meet up with several group members they have not met yet. That was very fun! Seeing and talking to them made all of us even more excited to go!

We are still in need of funds for our trip. If you have not made a donation please consider donating to help us. Remember, it's tax deductible, just click on the pay pal "donate" button. If you would like to write a check, just contact one of our group members. Thank you in advance!

-Melissa

Movie Night at the Austin's

Tonight a small group of us got together to hang out, eat pizza (Grant Central Pizza is the best!) and watch a documentary about a family of white Zimbabwean farmers...an eye-opening look at this complex country. We'd also like to welcome Paige (far left in the above picture), who will be joining us on the trip this summer!

New Video!

Hey you! Check out our new video to learn more about our upcoming trip! :)

Pen Pal Letters

The second graders at our school had the fun opportunity to write pen pal letters to the students we will be visiting in Zimbabwe. Our friend Jonathan took and distributed the letters when he visited Zimbabwe a couple of weeks ago. We were so surprised to receive letters back from the students in Zimbabwe when he returned! Our second graders had a great time reading about their pen pal and discovering some similarities and differences between them! We hope to bring more letters with us when we go in July and continue their pen pal relationship! Check out the pictures of some of the letters we received. (And there is a picture of me dressed up for Book Character Day as Ms. Frizzle going to Africa on the magic school bus! Just getting in the spirit!)

-By Melissa Walker

Dinner with Pierre and Rentia

This past Thursday, we had the opportunity to meet Pierre and Rentia, the couple we'll be staying with while in Zimbabwe. They're visiting the US for a few weeks, meeting up with friends, and we were lucky enough to get to sit down with them for some good conversation. Eager to share stories and hear our concerns, Pierre and Rentia entertained all of our questions, and it was instantly obvious that they are amazing people! Their warm, easygoing nature gives you the feeling that you've known them for years, and we felt like family by the end of the night.

Meetup at Meehan's

On Friday, March 25th, some of our group met up with Jonathan, who has spent a great deal of time in Zimbabwe, and who is helping to organize our trip there this summer. He answered many of our questions, and gave us lots of great advice. We're all getting more excited with each meeting!