Everything with the preschools is going fantastic! I am so surprised at how amazingly well it has been going. The teacher trainees have been showing up every day and sometimes when we get there, we will find them already teaching! They seem to be realizing the importance of the education of their children and that is wonderful. There is a slight problem, however, and that is the village people. They don't want to be paying the teacher trainee at all. In fact, they laugh at the trainees and tell them they are wasting their time and that they look foolish teaching for free. They are refusing to help them in any way, even though they are sending their children to the preschool. That was to be expected, so none of us are surprised. What we are surprised about is the fact that the teacher trainees are still coming! They said they don't care if they get paid or not, they will still be coming and learning how to teach. We are so amazed and thankful for their attitudes toward the situation at hand. Without even getting discouraged by the other parents, they press on. They want to teach the children and they aren't wanting anything in return. It's so awesome to see!! Maybe in time their attitudes will spread and more and more people will start to take responsibility for their children's education. This could be the beginning of a big change in the Kaonde people.
The bible curriculum I have been teaching to the teachers has been working wonderfully. Every time we complete a lesson together, I go with them to the preschools and show them how to implement it with the children. They seem to be enjoying the new curriculum as they learn how to use it. They are taking pride in the lessons that we finish together and that's important. The children also seem to enjoy it. They know when they see me coming that it's bible story time! They listen intently and participate nicely in the telling of the stories. I love to watch their faces as they listen and learn, absorbing what I tell them. Last week I told them the story of Jesus walking on water and I used hand and body motions I made up which they were to imitate. They REALLY enjoyed that one, and they were smiling and laughing as we did it together. After the story when we were asking questions, they would use the motions while answering. It was so cute to see and we knew it was a good method to help them remember the stories. We also taught them a song to go with the story and they loved it! It does my heart good to see children learning about Jesus and enjoying it. To transform the worldview of a people, you must start with the younger generations.
