Eastup August 2020

“Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains” (James 5:7).

We are back in school! As I predicted in my previous newsletter, it was a great day of rejoicing when teachers and students returned. As of the time of writing this newsletter, we have started our sixth week of school since the reopening. I am very thankful to report that everyone is healthy and working hard to make up for the time away. Our Distance Learning Program was a nice way to keep students engaged and connect with families, but it simply cannot replace in-person education. However, we are keeping our WhatsApp groups for each class as a way to better communicate with students’ families and so that we can continue to send out the Rafiki Bible Study each week, in both English and Swahili.

Of course, school does look slightly different now in order to implement some safe practices. We have hand-washing stations for each classroom. Students, teachers, and staff are wearing masks. Chairs in the dining hall are spaced out. Everyone gets their temperature checked before school. And our school day has been extended by forty minutes as an effort to make up for lost time during the school closure.

While not required, many of our youngest students have still chosen to wear masks, at least for part of the day. Notice also in the previous picture, Sara in the background checking temperatures.

Our primary school prefects setting a good example as student leaders of the school; the one not wearing a mask is exempt due to asthma.

Standard 4 students sporting some stylish kitenge fabric masks and hand-washing in the background.

But by and large, school is proceeding as normal. Teachers have jumped right back into engaging lessons. Students have fallen right back into their routines and procedures. Soccer, basketball, and tennis practices have resumed. In some ways, it seems like we never left.

Standard 3 enjoying some extra reading time at the end of the extended school day.

Two of our soccer players in front of the new soccer pitch, looking forward to the day when it is green and ready for playing.

During the school closure and isolation, many of our oldest children began projects to develop entrepreneurial skills. Even with schools back in session, the projects will continue. A majority of them have started garden projects, which will be great experience for them as you think about all that can be learned from gardening—patience, care, hard work, diligence, and much more. We were thankful to be able to take twelve of our aspiring gardeners to a nearby agricultural education center. The manager was very knowledgeable and gave our kids valuable tips for improving the quality and quantity of their harvest. I am pretty sure they are all trying to figure out how they could build their own nursery and green house now. They were all quite interested and especially happy to go home with a zawadi (gift) of cabbage.

Learning about the nursery construction.

Explaining the importance of giving certain types of plants the chance to get a strong, healthy start in the nursery.

Cabbage for everyone!

The tricky water crossing got a little trickier while also trying to carry a cabbage.

We look forward to seeing all that they will accomplish with their garden beds, which will not only give them valuable experiential learning, but also directly benefit the Village and staff members who will be able to purchase their fresh produce.

While there is no doubt that this has been a very challenging year in many ways, I continue to see good in the midst of it all. For example, because conferences were not able be conducted in person, many of the organizers opted to move to an online venue. That has opened up the opportunity for us to enjoy recorded videos from two classical education conferences and Rafiki Enrichment right here in Tanzania. Sessions that noone from our school would have been able to attend are now being shared with every single teacher and even our teachers in training. We are able to sit together while watching the videos, then discuss afterwards, and implement the learning right away in classrooms. I can only imagine what this is adding to our students’ experiences and learning opportunities.

Speaking of Rafiki Enrichment, some exciting information was shared that I want to make sure you are aware of too. Rafiki is now making their classical Christian curriculum from the Rafiki Education System and also materials for the Rafiki Bible Study available world-wide. I see firsthand every day how effective the curriculum is for students, and I am thrilled to think of it spreading to more schools and families. Curriculum has been developed all the way from the three-year old preschool level up to grade 12, and kindergarten through grade six are currently for sale. If you are looking for homeschooling curriculum or curriculum for a private school, I would encourage you to check out the Rafiki website (https://www.rafikieducationsystem.org/). I also benefit daily from the Rafiki Bible Study. Lessons are available for certain books of the Bible and written at different levels and for different audiences—preschool, primary school, secondary school, adults, Sunday schools, and Bible study groups. Again, I encourage you to contact Rafiki if you are looking for a Bible study for your church or a Bible study for a group.

I want to close by saying thank you for your continued support and prayers. It is a great comfort and encouragement to know that people around the world are lifting all of us up in prayer and joining with us in the amazing work that God is doing here at Rafiki Tanzania. Please continue to join us in praying for the registration of the secondary school; we do believe it is getting very close. Also pray that our students would continue to grow in excellence in all that they do and that they would walk in the light to produce a precious harvest of godly men and women. I send you my love and appreciation from beautiful Tanzania.

We are patiently anticipating a good harvest of this precious Tanzanian staple, which will help many survive during this challenging time.

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