Peter Returns
Peter returned from the U.S. on Tuesday night. He was raising funds for our student sponsorship for most of the month of October. He hit the ground running! He was at our house early Wednesday morning for breakfast and didn't really slow down until about Friday. We hadn't played squash for the entire time he was gone. Then, less than 48 hours after his return, there we were Thursday night swinging and running and sweating away! It was as if he never left.
Digging the Pit
For the second Saturday in a row we worked on the water catchment pit at school. Again, I was amazed at the number of students who turned up. We had around 20 students again. I was free to help a bit more this time so I set about swinging a pick-ax. I thought I was "hardened in" from working in the garden and other things around school. But, after only half an hour of swinging that tortuous tool, I found myself panting, sweating and well blistered. My students, on the other hand, had no problem with the work. One, in fact, kept referring to himself as a machine. Based on his abilities and apparent lack of blisters, I had to agree with him.
Pre-Form Woodworking
I began working with 12 pre-form woodworking students two weeks ago. Last week we built a shelf out of scrap wood. Wow they had a lot of enthusiasm! It had rained that afternoon, so we moved our operation to one of the school sidewalks, hopefully avoiding the mud. "OK guys, we need some shelves three feet long." "Whack, crash, bang!" "OK teacher – finished." Cramped on those narrow sidewalks we banged together a six foot tall shelf in 45 minutes. Was it the most beautiful masterpiece created by human hands? Well, not quite. A few of the pieces were a bit wider than others. Nails jutted akimbo from multiple sides. And, it's possible, that many of the pieces used were infested with termites ultimately spelling a really short life for that shelf. But those guys built with gusto. Or, like my mom likes to say 'like they were killing snakes.' We'll work on finesse later.
Girl's Football (Soccer)
Our girls soccer team played in a league called Future Stars on Saturday. Apparently they are pretty good. They tied Saturday to a team called the Black Mambas. Don't you think the other team deserves one goal just for the name alone? Anyway, it just reconfirms my belief that our girls are some tough mamma-jammas. If you want to get something done, you ask an Orkeeswa girl. They're tough, smart and apparently not to shabby at scoring goals.
Upper respiratory, please – for all!
Well, it's cold season. Or, it sure seemed it this past week. Cripes! It seemed as though everyone was hacking and coughing and sneezing and wheezing. I'm hoping everyone went home this weekend and was magically healed and will all be healthy next week. Please…
Big week coming up
This coming week is bound to be busy. The chairmen of the IEFT board is coming to visit along with our associate director. It's going to be good to have them here and share some of the good things that have been going on at the school. Personally, I'm hoping to introduce both of them to the business end of a pick-ax and see if they too are machines down in that water pit… only time will tell.
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