Another week passes!

Another week has raced by. Time seems to be passing really quickly at the moment. It's been rather a bitty week as far as work is concerned. In fact I've had to think hard to remember exactly what I have been up to since last Monday when we sorted out the staff rotas for the Children's Centre. I certainly have been busy, I remember that much! Sue is keen to programme into the business plan for the Children's Centre a training plan for a second cohort of students, possibly beginning next March, so I have been giving that a lot of thought. It was easy to write a course outline as some of the students have already asked me to prepare a document that will show future prospective employers exactly what material has been covered by our course. Sue's request stimulated me to finish this document and then it was the work of a very short time to adapt it into a course synopsis for the next time round. I have also written a draft advertisement for the course, a plan for at least some of the stages of making it a reality if we get the go-ahead, and a job description and person specification for a volunteer to teach it. It will be a very different job from the one that David and I have done as the class size is likely to be smaller and of course the tutor will have access to all the lectures and materials we have prepared this year. We have also been thinking about how to maintain the momentum with the students if the Children's Centre is delayed and have started work on a programme of short courses to keep up their interest and broaden their learning in the mean time. What they need is practical experience, but I think it would be good too to do a lot more activities, so we are thinking along the lines of a brief themes and planning course for each age group, which would give the students who are working with a particular class a chance to begin to know each other as a team. Then it will be good to do a lot more art and messy play. We have a lot of other ideas too. The rather cramped office that David and I share with Sue and Brian is apparently needed for someone else so we are on the move on Tuesday to a classroom in the IT college. I can't say I shall be sorry as David and I have had to sit at the end of the desks, which means that there is no space to get your legs underneath so we have been sitting at a slightly unnatural and therefore uncomfortable angle. We shall need a teaching room if we are to do the courses discussed above and we finally moved out of the Library at St James' this week also. I shall miss being at the school, but it makes a lot more sense to be on the same site as the Children's Centre and the facilities are much brighter, cleaner and more modern in JPII.

On Tuesday evening Sue, Brian and I went to the bus station to pick up Marc and Sarah from the last stage of their long journey from Heathrow via Addis Ababa and Lilongwe. On Saturday Sarah and I went to Chileka Airport (Blantyre) to collect Hugh and Linda, so numbers are increasing at Mitsidi again. It has been a good sociable weekend. On Friday we went straight from work to the Liquor Garden, and rather to my surprise I found myself still there at nearly 10.00pm, slightly more than several Greens later! There was dancing, talking, chicken and chips and a good time was had by all. Saturday was party time. David is getting a name for giving a good party, and we had to say 'Goodbye' to Melvin and Zoe and welcome the four newcomers. It happened also to be Melvin's birthday. By an hour or so after dark the party was winding down but most people ended up in the Liquor Garden again so it was another late night. Nevertheless I was up at a reasonable hour. Today I had two breakfasts as I treated myself to Cheese on toast with the last of the cheese Dave and 'Ona brought from England, and then texted to find out if any of the Chilomoni contingent fancied a walk at Michuri. This resulted in an invitation to come round for a sausage sandwich. Giacomo and I had a good walk around one of the trails at Michuri. We saw quite a few birds and a single antelope but were disappointed not to see any monkeys, however from the car on the way home we were treated to close up views of about thirty yellow baboons; several families, feeding on big reddish brown seed pods which I was unable to identify. The day continues lurching from one meal to the next. Giacomo provided lunch of tomato risotto and a glass of red wine, and when I eventually got back to Mitsidi Sue had cooked an excellent lasagne and apple crumble. I shall have to watch out or I shall be putting on all the weight I have lost since I got here!