Projector Finally Works!

Today is "take three" for trying to teach about how to use the projector. We now have the generator fixed, we have all the extensions and adapters needed, and the projector is ready. The moment has come....we turn everything on.....and IT WORKS! Everyone is cheering! We spend about an hour with all the teachers showing them how it works. Each teacher goes through the steps of plugging it in, setting it up, doing a small lesson using the overhead sheets, and then taking it back down. It is so hard to imagine that this is the first time any of them has ever seen an overhead projector. It was fun listening to them come up with ways they saw on how the projector could be an advantage for their teaching.

Now its time to show the students. We were going to use the overhead to show them how to use the MP3 players we brought them. We move down to the classroom and set everything up but we didn't have long enough extension cords to reach from the generator to the projector. So it took a few minutes to figure out that all the students will need to move from this classroom into another one. So we crammed all the students in one room next to the teachers lounge. We finally got everything working. I talk about the projector and showed them what it did and why teachers would want to use it. Then I showed them how to use the MP3 players. We had a student come up and deomonstrate the players to be sure they understood how to change chapters and make it louder. The teachers were all excited about having such technology brought to them. The headmaster was telling the students they go to a good school and they have good supporters who care about them. I ended my time at the school talking to a group of students. They all wanted me to take their picture and they wanted to know my Facebook address. It is so funny how they all know about email and Facebook.

After we left, we went back to the family we visited that had no roof on their house. Over the weekend, we paid a young man to build the roof. We also brought a new mattress and some blankets. When we got there, the young man who had done the work, greeted us. He lived real close to this family and he did not know she was living there with no roof. At first, he didn't even believe it, so he kept watch the night before and found out that it was true. She was cooking the rice we brought her family and then sleeping in the house. He felt so bad that he did alot more than just fix the roof. He added more bricks to make it level, a window, two doors, put extra tin over the children's part, and he built some benches outside the house. We were quite impressed with the work he had done. He told us he gathered some neighbors to help so it cut down on labor and he didn't charge much. He was concerned about the children because they were actually sleeping in the animal pen. So after some negotiating we decided to add a small room on so the children could have a safe place to sleep. The young man said he would gather the children in the neighborhood to help make the bricks so they wouldn't have to buy them and he would build the room this week. 

I think the mother was overwhelmed with the generosity shown to her. The nurse with us said that she has never seen her look so good. She said her face was fuller and she had cleaned up the area, herself, and the children. The nurse said that the mother finally felt some hope in her life.

As we were leaving, we found out that the neighborhood children came in and stole her rice. We decided to give her some money so she could buy a little food each day and no one could steal it. Her daughter was so overjoyed that she kept hugging us. It was like she couldn't stop hugging us all the way to the car. It was so sweet how happy she was. 

I can't wait to see the house in the final stage. Even though I have the seen the place twice, I still cannot fathom living for five years without a roof. It is inhumane! We know that coming to Africa made a huge impact on this family!