We were scheduled to visit the Mphanda School on Monday and Tuesday.  When we woke up on Tuesday to a torrential downpour, which apparently is quite common during the rainy season, though we saw none of it during the first half of our trip, we decided to spend Tuesday at the center with the plan to go to Mphanda on Wednesday. We weren’t sure, given the fragile structure, whether or not the children could go to Mphanda in that kind of weather.  Since the center is in a brick building, we assumed all would be fine and the children would be there.  We were wrong.   Instead, the doors were locked and no one was inside.  In a country so accustomed to the rainy season, I couldn’t believe it would keep students from going to school in their sheltered classroom.  Although some of the children live far away, many of them live a few minutes, some a few feet from the center.  There didn’t seem to be any logical reason for their absence.  Deena and I walked back home and immediately expressed our concerns to Mama and Papa.  Though not necessarily surprised that no one showed up for school in the rain, they, too, were dissatisfied.  When Thursday came and we were back at the center again, we spoke to Elaine and Metze about this and learned that Elaine was there first thing in the morning but left after an hour of waiting for the children who never came.  We did our very best to explain that rain or shine, school should be opened daily.  As the sole teachers at this school, they could expect this to be their reality. If any one has the ability in the village to inspire children not only to come to school but also to want to be there, it’s the teachers.  And we know, there is much they can do to work with families to make that happen.

The following week, when a much lighter rain kept children from attending school again, we realized our initial conversation regarding attendance wasn’t sufficient.  We needed to brainstorm ways to get the children there, so we had an impromptu meeting with Chief Mkongamira, Elaine, Mama, and Diana, who as per usual, translated everything for us.   We were told that two factors likely led to this problem – the first being the rain and the second being that all of the primary and secondary schools were already on break, which probably led the younger children to assume their school was closed as well.  A break-down in communication is not something new.  There are no phones, no letters sent home, no efficient system to disseminate announcements, so how else would families know that the nursery school was following a different schedule?

It became clear that there is more that could and should be done village-wide.  We thought the first, most obvious remedy would be to make the daily porridge the consistent feeding program it is supposed to be.  Since we’ve been here, the children have been fed only a few times.  Not only do these growing bodies need nourishment for their health and well-being, but I also know that the porridge they are supposed to eat would help provide the incentive to get the children, many of whom are starving, to school.  The Chief also committed to assigning men in the community to go door to door to remind parents that their children should be at school everyday.  The other suggestions we had – to enhance the energy and inspiration from the teachers not only to encourage attendance but also do even more to keep the kids coming – was something we would address at our weekly professional development meeting with them.  Mostly, I was relieved to see that no one engaged in this conversation was okay with the attendance situation; they just needed to organize themselves and brainstorm solutions.  And that’s what we tried to help them do.

The fact is that school is not a routine.  It is not an expectation built into children’s minds early in life.  They come and go as they want and far too many drop out in primary or secondary school.  One of the hardest parts of being here for such a short amount of time is the knowing that something as large and systemic as the attendance challenge is too great to sufficiently address while we are here.  We made suggestions – the best we could devise – and I can’t help but wonder if things will change.  We won’t be there to know.  Thoughts like this convince me that one day, I will feel the pull, the need to return.

I was sad to miss a day of school, so we spent time with others after school.

In other news, though, we introduced new activities this week - making things out of pipe cleaners and putting puzzles together.

The girls made bracelets that they then wore proudly for days.  Below, Elaine is helping the babies put together a puzzle for the first time in their lives.