Back to school week! What about school in Africa?..

 Well, COVID continues. Don't know about you, but I'm getting sick of it. I want to go back to "normal" when I could plan things and predict what life will look like in a month, 3 months or a year from now. But, I know that's not reality, so I continue my "Trust" theme and a new "One day at a time" motto.

This is a big week - school's back. I'm sure many of you are frazzled, relieved, worried, all of the above... so many nuiances and things to consider. You're not alone. School in Africa has changed too. 

For some countries, like Burundi, they basically have kept business as usual, maybe living in a bit of denial that there even is a global pandemic. I'm thankful Villages of Hope Burundi is connected to us and the other villages so they can apply safety precautions and social distancing for the children in their care. All the children are safe.

Tanzania opened the schools a couple of months ago and life is almost back to "normal". Thankfully, they haven’t seen a big wave of illness either.

In Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia, school is opening with limitations, such as opening the grades where there are national exams. The other grades are still closed for the time being, and return dates are uncertain. Just like in Canada, they are busy making plans for the reopening as the new normal. 

While social distancing is still a great challenge, many measures have been put in place to prevent spreading the virus. As one director said, "We are optimistic all will be well and the children will be safe." It's not just wishing thinking. It requires alot of hard work and creativity. Thought you'd enjoy hearing from Matt, the Director of Mongu in Zambia, of some of the unique challenges and the solutions they have put in place to make sure the children will be safe. 

Here's his report:

"In Zambia, exam level classes, grade 7, 9, 12 are back in school, but have to follow social distancing. Previously 2 children were seated per desk, now 1. The desks are double desks, but the kids have to be spaced, and we only have 15 children in a class, where we used to have 30. We have had to make quite a few adjustments – cleaning the classrooms every day, taking the temperature of the children and staff everyday, so it’s definitely changed the school, like before we had one class of 30, but now we have 2 of 15, so we have had to hire more teachers. 

For those kids not in school, we are printing big homework pacs, about 100 pages each and taking them out to the children in the communities every month, along with food packs, so it has changed a lot. 

There’s a lot of uncertainty of when the other grades will open – maybe next month, or in the new year. Hard to plan. Some of the people are pushing for the schools to open, as children are stranded, but in the local government schools – some have 60 to 100 children in a class, so there’s no way they will be able to follow social distancing. The teachers and teacher’s unions are pushing back saying it’s not going to be possible, so there’s a bit of tension at the moment as to whether schools will open this year or not.

Funny how some things are the same, whether in Canada or Africa, eh?! 60-100 children in a class. Wow. (And our unions think they have it bad!) Thankfully, he reported there hasn't been any outbreak in the school and, even though there is little testing, there has been no serious illness reported so far. 

Anyway, you get the idea. It's not easy. And with limited resources, innovation and creativity is even more critical to ensure the children are safe, still have a chance to learn and have food to eat.

What are the key takeaways?

• We can be thankful that COVID hasn't hit hard yet, but we need to keep praying for the safety of children and communities in African countries with limited testing and healthcare systems
• VOH is working so hard to ensure the children are safe and social distancing is in place
• For children not in school, we are doing everything we can to help them continue their learning .. and still giving out food packs, to ensure all VOH children are cared for
• VOHA schools have high quality education, and processes, including much smaller classrooms in comparison to many government schools and coming up with innovative solutions to enable the children can continue to learn and grow
• This is tough for everyone. But, we continue trust and know God is helping us.

As we go this week wrestling through our unique challenges, here at home, let's be grateful for our wonderful country with all our safety nets and support, and let's not forget the most vulnerable, who don't have such a priviledge, keeping them in our thoughts and prayers.

Will you help me spread the word? If you know of others who have a heart for the poor and care that children have a chance to go to school, please tell them about my mission, share this blog, and ask them to subscribe, as well as pray and give (and/or send me their contact information so I can reach out to them!)

And if you have not already done so yourself, please join me as well by becoming a monthly donor or giving a special gift.   Click here to sign up now.

Thanks. Stay safe. Keep trusting. And keep living one day at a time!

Blessings

Jeanette

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