Frances Hoffman

Today’s update: finished painting the second coat of the two of the three classrooms. After two days of hard labour, and fine carpentry work, 4 warped doors have been shaped and scribed to fit the irregularly shaped frames. Teachers’ desks and bookshelves are well underway. Tom’s a very experienced carpenter but has learned some new tricks. It was productive to say the least. Tomorrow, May 1st, is Labor Day—a holiday across Europe and Africa but we, the Sweat Equity team will be laboring on site. Some of the teachers offered to come to the school as well to help tomorrow, which is beyond required.

The flies are beginning to drive Rhonda CRAZY; it’s probably more appropriate, though, to say that they have actually succeeded.

Tonight, we are looking forward to hearing from Steven Carr, an Englishman who has lived in Africa for over 60 years. During his time here, he has worked in agriculture from a hands on field officer to a policy specialist/adviser to the World Bank on agricultural policy for Africa. He has worked in Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda and is currently a resident of Malawi. He has written a number of books including his most notable book “Surprised by Laughter”, which is about social structures within African tribal communities.

Frances Hoffman

So this is what those windows we were talking about look like.