Our very last country visited was Zambia. I don't know about you, but I didn't know anything about this country before going there, besides that it was in Africa! Well, Zambia is located close to Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique. Zambia became a British colony towards the end of the 19th century and remained so until October 24th 1964 when Zambia declared it's own independence. The people in the country are very nice and as our guide told us, it's very peaceful living there. They have a population of around 13 million and the official language is English.
We had the opportunity to visit the Ding Dong school, which is a private primary school located in Lusaka, the countries capitol. We were given a tour of the school and I was so impressed to see how hard the kids were working and how happy they were! Smiles smiles smiles! I found a back room and went in to greet the kids and they were so excited to sing for me, and answer all of my questions.
Webster, the owner of the school, explained that some of the children were orphans and many of them had lost their parents to AIDS. Some of the children have very little support at home so they enter the school as young as age one. Webster was so disciplined, kind, and determined to give these kids a good education. He taught them songs about safety, eating good food, loving your home, and learning. I loved to see the joy that came to them as they sang these songs.
One of the main things that I noticed was how few books they had at the school. They shared the few textbooks that they had. I'm so excited to send them our books about colors, numbers, families, and cultural diversity so that they too can learn of the beautiful world around them. I know they will love the books!
This video was taken as the children were saying their group prayer just before having their afternoon lunch break. It is so cute. I know you'll love it and I hope that it gives you a good glimpse into the lives of these precious children!
No comments:
Post a Comment