Today was all about anger. Not my own, thankfully, but dedicated to teaching others about managing anger. I talked with the headteacher at Lechwe shortly after I arrived back from home leave and told her about my idea to do mental health education in schools. She was very interested and said there was a “Discussion Time” every Monday morning for 20 minutes built into the primary school timetable. Of the list of possible topics, she chose anger management as the place to start. I went home and got to work building an eight week curriculum on managing anger. I discovered that I really enjoy writing curriculum, even though I felt pressed for time. This morning I spoke briefly at the assembly, introducing the topic that they would study for the rest of the term. In an effort to make my short presentation memorable, I started off by trying to take off my sweatshirt in front of the kids and getting frustrated. It got stuck on my head and I couldn’t get it off. I became more and more angry, screaming and yelling, until I finally was able to get it off. I threw it on the ground and stomped on it and kicked it and threw a bit of a tantrum. There were nervous giggles at first and then the audience realized I was pretending. The funny thing was that yesterday I was in our study practicing how I was going to do this and I looked out and saw a MEF gardener working near the guest wing. He had a very concerned look on his face, seeing this muzungu struggling to take off her jersey and really losing it!
Then in the afternoon, I led a workshop for the teachers, basically giving them an overview of the eight lessons so they would know where I was going and get a sense of the topic as a whole. That seemed to go well even though it was hot and teachers were tired on a Friday afternoon after a long week of teaching. They were eager for me to offer this training to the parents as well since teachers often are on the receiving end of parental anger. Several parents have also expressed interest directly to me so we will see if we can get something arranged.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Praise God from whom all blessings flow . . . the mouse is dead!
We were back at St. Andrews church for the first time in several months. The people there are really lovely and we were warmly greeted. The pastor’s wife was especially glad to see me, so much so that during the time when we pass the peace, she asked me to teach Sunday School that morning. I was a bit bewildered and replied, “And what am I supposed to do with them?” I sat through the praise and worship time wondering how I should respond. I didn’t think it was fair of her to dump that on me in the middle of the service, on our first Sunday back, when I had told her last June that I wouldn’t be teaching Sunday School anymore when I returned. When it was time for the children to go out, I saw her get up and go so I just remained seated. Perhaps it was passive aggressive, perhaps it was a “Zambian No,” but I didn’t teach at any rate. After church, I reiterated to her that I wasn’t going to teach Sunday School again because we would only be coming once a month or so. She replied that whenever I was there I could just teach then so I’m thinking she didn’t really get what I was saying to her.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Remember when I asked what was next? Well, I got my answer.
Last Sunday evening I started to feel a tightness in my chest and a fever came shortly thereafter. Monday and Tuesday I was hit hard with the flu. I had to do a bit of grocery shopping on Tuesday and felt like I was going to pass out in the checkout line. By
Wednesday morning I was feeling mostly better but then it was Brendan’s turn. He suffered for Wednesday and Thursday and started to feel better on Friday. Then Peter came home from work on Friday feeling miserable. He was out of commission over the weekend and is still not fully recovered. We think Jason was the one that actually started it all off but he only had a cough and a headache and didn’t slow down for one second. So at least we all took turns and one could cover for the other.
The big bummer was that this was also a big birthday week. Peter’s birthday was on Tuesday when I was feeling lousy. I managed to get chicken in the oven, make cupcakes, and boil potatoes and eggs for potato salad, in between crashing on the couch. By the time Peter got home from work, I had little power so the poor birthday boy had to finish making the potato salad himself. It was a feeble birthday celebration but better than nothing. Jason’s energy and enthusiasm carried the day!
Saturday was Brendan’s ninth birthday. Hard to believe our bouncing baby boy is this old already. He is curious about how things work, especially enjoying history and science. He is naturally talented at so many things and has a bright smile when he is amused. He’s a keeper!
Brendan had been eagerly anticipating a sleepover party with a few friends but we had to postpone that due to the sickness being passed around in our family. Jason had been keenly working on making gifts for Brendan and could hardly wait to give them to him. Thankfully Brendan was feeling better by then so he could accept Jason’s gifts graciously and with minimal eye-rolling. We started a tradition years ago that on each of the boys’ birthdays, the birthday boy gets one gift and they both receive a “brothers gift.” This is usually two of the same thing, like an African drum or a model car or something like that. This year, we gave them one gift to share, a used ipod nano. They were thrilled as they love to listen to music and we only have our computers to play music on. They have done a good job sharing it so far and sometimes they plug it into the speakers so we can all “enjoy” the music together. Too bad Jason is obsessed with a single song that plays over and over without ceasing. “Hey now, you’re an all star . . .” and he loves to sing it out even though he only knows a quarter of the words and mumbles the rest but his crazy dance moves more than make up for it.
The perfect gift? A rope and pulley.
Showing off Jason's homemade jack-in-the-box gift
Yesterday morning I attended the Kitchen Party of a Lechwe teacher’s eldest daughter. A few months back, Mrs. Chirwa had asked if I would be willing to give a little talk at the kitchen party on stress. Since she had all these ladies in one place, she wanted it to be educational instead of just dancing and eating. So I prepared a few words on stress and tried to ignore my own stress. With no car available, I was able to arrange a ride with a few of the other Lechwe teachers. Start time was supposed to be 9:00 so we arrived around 10:30. We still sat around for another hour with music blaring through the speakers making any kind of conversation a screaming match.
The bride was less traditional than others that I have seen and she looked up the entire time and even smiled a bit. Traditionally, the bride must keep her eyes down for the duration of the party and remain serious to show respect to those who have come to give her advice on marriage. Since the bride lives in Lusaka, we were asked to bring money instead of gifts so we didn’t have to present our gifts and dance in the usual way. The preacher started off the morning by preaching on Abigail and arguing that a wife has to cover up the sins of her husband. OK. Then a lawyer got up to talk about property rights and how all property legally is jointly owned by a couple which should eliminate property grabbing by the husband’s family in the case of his death. Needed information here. Another woman talked about the stress of unemployment and how it is a blessing from God because you don’t take things for granted anymore. Interspersed between talks, people were asked to perform traditional dances from different regions of Zambia. I was sitting at a table with ten or so lovely ladies who all work at Lechwe. One of them was being pressured to dance by the others but she argued that she didn’t have a chitenge to wrap around her waist, as is the custom. Nobody around the table had one so she thought she was off the hook. Leave it to the muzungu to be the only one prepared! I pulled out a chitenge out of my purse and they all laughed. No excuse now! (I have been trying for two hours to upload these pictures but it just isn't happening. Sorry!)
In the middle of the party, the groom is led out by his family to come and greet his bride. There was a minor uproar at our table because of the song they were dancing in to. They translated the words for my benefit, something about a man who didn’t know where he had gotten HIV from and so he was asking all the women whom he had slept with if they were the ones that gave it to him. It had a nice strong beat but the irony of a new groom coming in to those words was lost on some. When the groom reached the bride, everyone started to laugh. The groom was actually the matron (head of ceremonies) dressed up as a man. The groom was unable to attend because he was in Lusaka so they continued with the ritual anyway with this twist. The matron hammed it up and there was much laughter all around. We finally left a bit after 14:00 making for a long day. After resting a bit, I made hamburgers and chocolate cake for Brendan’s birthday meal, checked on my sick husband, and crashed.
Monday, October 5, 2009
The last two weeks have included several “firsts” for me. In an effort to do something with our bountiful tomato harvest, I canned spaghetti sauce. Not having the right tools or equipment or knowledge of canning, I have relied on my freezer for most things but it is packed full. So I decided to do some makeshift canning and it seemed to work. I also learned how to make popcorn on the stovetop. OK, this wasn’t technically a first because I did try it once before and scorched the whole batch. So I guess this qualifies as the first time without burning it. I know it is a simple thing but I always just used my microwave. And then our Sri Lankan missionary friend gave me a gift of a container full of strawberries. Our garden produces about 10 strawberries a day which we divide up over breakfast and enjoy. But now I had enough strawberries to actually make jam. I’ve never made freezer jam completely on my own, start to finish, but now I can say that I have. And I have several jars in my freezer to prove it!
Another first this week is that it RAINED! It has been so hot and dusty but the rains are not supposed to come until the end of October. Much to our surprise, tonight it rained and boy did it! It wasn’t just a sprinkle but a full on downpour with lightning and thunder included. Jason ran around in it to celebrate and Peter and I savored the cooler temperatures and the delicious smell of rain. Rain this early is unheard of, no doubt the effect of global warming. The weather here has always been so predictable so I’m not sure what this means for farmers who have set patterns and procedures based on when the rains always come. We will probably pay for this early rain with more mosquitoes and humidity but it was wonderful in the moment!
Monday, October 5, 2009
While I was busy with all my “firsts” Jason demonstrated that he was not in need of “firsts.” First grade that is. In the few weeks that he has been back in school, we have realized that the work in Grade 1 is not going to be very challenging for him. In this British curriculum, the learning that is done in the US in Kindergarten, is spread over two years, Reception and Grade 1. This may be helpful for children who need more time to learn the basics of reading and writing but there are no allowances for children who have mastered that and are ready to move on. So we decided to have Jason assessed by the head teacher to see if he should skip Grade 1. Ms. Lubamba was very surprised to discover that Jason was reading at a much higher level than she imagined. He should be reading at a 6.5 level (his age) but he was assessed at an 8.10 level. He is very proud of himself, as you can imagine, and is eager to skip Grade 1 just like Brendan did. He has developed a nice group of friends in his class that he will leave behind but at such a small school, it is not hard to find those friends at break time. And he already knows many of the kids in Grade 2 so he is not worried about that. While he is very excited about this move, he is even more excited that he played in a football “friendly” against another school and Lechwe won 4-1.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Peter’s health is not improving and since Saturday afternoon, he has had a lot of diarrhea. We had assumed that it was the flu since it came right after ours and he may have had a touch of that. But it now appears that there was something else going on. A week ago Saturday, his students led a peacebuilding workshop at a local secondary school as part of a class assignment. Peter went along to supervise and evaluate and now remembers that he drank a glass of water. This morning he went to Company Clinic to get tested for malaria and giardia, two illnesses that are rampant these days. Turns out that he has giardia so he is now on medication. The side affects of the medication are not pleasant, including a metallic taste in the mouth, but if it gets rid of the giardia, it is worth it! Unfortunately, Peter is teaching this week while feeling lousy so you can pray for him and for his quick recovery.
No comments:
Post a Comment