Mrs. Nyrenda's Guide to Success!

       This first full week of working with the children and the wives has definitely been one filled with trial and error.  Initially Melanie and I were planning on splitting up the children based on what grades they were in - Melanie working with the older group and myself working with the younger group.  After a few days of working with the kiddos we quickly realized that the grades they are in is just a number.  The system of education for the children we are working with only allows them to go to school for a couple of hours a day.  With class sizes at their maximum, most of the schools our children attend host three sessions of classes a day.  So while an eight hour school day seems to be completely normal to me, here it is more like a three hour school day. 

      Set aside the time constraints and there are definitely other challenges Melanie and I are noticing.  The children we work with go to schools where the language spoken is English.  Most of the households the children come from do not speak much English if any at all.  This Melanie and I have noted definitely correlates with a child’s English speaking and reading abilities.  As we have noticed glancing through the kiddos homework and worksheets, it seems as though a lot of the work is read, copy, repeat.  As we have been told by the missionaries, and are noticing for ourselves, the rote memorization capabilities the women and children have are phenomenal but if we ask them a question about comprehension or meaning, all we receive are blank stares (for maybe more reasons than one).

Taking a step back and really starting with the basics seems to be our plan of attack in the weeks to come.  Although ages range from seven all the way to thirteen, we are convinced that starting with the alphabet and letter-sound recognition is the best path to take.

Mrs. Nyrenda’s guide to Nyanja…

      As we finished up our last tutoring session for the day, Melanie and I heard a voice coming from the guest house as we passed.  It was the voice of Mrs. Nyrenda, a well-renown cook on the seminary grounds and known to Melanie and I as the sweetest lady ever.  Mrs. Nyrenda, a very well-versed English speaker, came out with a single notebook sheet of paper.  The paper was divided into two columns, one titled “Nyanja” and the other “English”.  The paper was filled with different translations for us to use every day!  Just in case you are curious about the mouth full of sounds Melanie and I are trying to spew out to communicate with the kiddos/wives at times here’s some suggestions for the books:

             Tsiku la bwino   …………………………………..  Good day!

             Muli bwanji ……………………………………..  How are you?

             Ndibwera ………………………………………..  I am coming

             Mmwamba ……………………………………… Heaven or sky

             Cing’ono ………………………………………...   large

And the teacher’s edition… :D

             Otsa panga chongo …………………………….   Don’t make noise

             Khalani cete …………………………………….   Keep quiet

             Wanvera, wanva ………………………………..  Do you hear?

             Mvera ……………………………………………  Listen

             Bwera Kuno …………………………………….   Come here

 

      Another beautiful (rainy) day in Zambia and to God be all the glory.  Please continue to pray for the missionaries and the work that they are doing here.  Please also pray that the seminary pastors and their families as they continue to grow in God’s word so that they can be strong leaders in their community.  There is so much love, joy and passion here that Melanie and I get to see each and every day!  Soli deo Gloria!! 

With love,

Kelsi and Melanie