Day 12

Day 12
Monday, September 29, 2008 (Again written after the fact.)
Mporokoso, the School for the Blind, opened in 1962, now has 68 students, grades 1 through 9, class size 5 to 10, 14 teachers, four dorms, 2 female, 2 male, large meeting room, staff room, library.
Now, how about the depressing picture first?
They have a well but the pump is old. They have a bore hole but there is not sufficient water. They are able to get water from the public water supply only from 5:30 to 7 a.m. but the storage tank leaks. There is a hand pump for water (undrinkable) for washing, toilets and gardens. There is no fence around the property so the place is not secure. They could make the bricks themselves but they have no sand and cement for the mortar. The classrooms and meeting room have broken windows. There are no Braille textbooks, only two Braille typewriters, Braille typing paper costs K500,000 a ream and the teachers have to transcribe all books and lessons by hand. The kitchen has an electric stove but only one burner works. The Home Economics classroom depends entirely on a charcoal burner because the electric stove doesn’t work.
Is there anything positive? Of course: A positive attitude and point of view determine everything. The Sisters and staff supply that in abundance. When you hear the children playing, singing into the evening you believe that miracles are being accomplished with very little. The school motto - Break the Barrier to Thrive! Their focus for the children: train them to be self reliant. Could they use some help? Certainly! But where to start? Try these on for size: sand and cement to build a wall; a better water supply system; a bus to transport more children here for school – many blind children are totally unserved because they have no transport to the school; a new dorm; canes for the children; a laboratory so they can expand up to grade 12 (when the children go on to high school they have less attention than at Mporokoso becaue there are no special education classes and so they do not thrive as well); a couple of commercial stoves; Braille typewriters and paper; Braille writing styluses and hand frames for the younger children; a Braille press. Is that enough???
It was here, as I lay abed for 36 hours, that we changed plans and decided we needed to forgo the trip to Kawamba with its orphanage, school for the blind and high school, and head back to Kasama. That also meant missing Victoria Falls and Livingstone. There just wasn’t the time or energy to do the full schedule.
Paula’s note : During the time that Bruce was really sick, worrying us all, we had no running water (getting water from a barrel in a bucket) and part of the time no electricity. And malaria is messy business! But we were so lovingly and prayerfully cared for, as we have been this whole trip. We are more grateful than words can say, and count our blessings every day.