Jan. 18. 2018 – Last week at this time I was finalizing my packing for my travels – The time goes by fast!
Yesterday was a lighter day at the office and in the evening, I went to a local Rotary Meeting with Rose. She’s very involved and has missed being with this group of people during her illness. Ritah also attended (my neighbor and the finance person at PCAU). Rose is encouraging Ritah to develop her interest and to eventually join the club. I think she will sometime during this year.
The conversations at the lunches at PCAU has been to eat meat or not to eat meat! That’s not a question for me, because I usually stay away from meat when I travel. It seems that many of the butchers are spraying the meat with chemicals to keep the flies away, especially those who hang the meat outside or behind an enclosed window along the road. They jokingly say they now look for flies for safer meat!
Today I stayed home from the office. Rose had some meetings away and I wanted time to look for some secondary schools for my friend, Joel, from the village. He showed me his certificate from primary school and scored a level 2, which is good, but the school he wanted to go to informed us today that they only take level one, the highest. Joel’s certificate indicates he is “well behaved” and a “hard worker.” You can’t want much more than that! We walked a lot, did some errands and returned to the village early afternoon. He is accepted at the school his sister attends, High Tech School, but we didn’t “officially” register. He still has time. He continues to be a help to me – walks me in and out of the village, reminds me what side of the road I should be on, and cautions me if he thinks I’m paying too much for an item.
Tomorrow is the last planning meeting for the Empowerment Retreat that PCAU will offer to the older children in the Road to Hope Program. It takes place next week and is the main reason I wanted to return at this time. The agenda is to focus on self-esteem, leadership at their schools and in the community, clarifying personal goals for their future, and to talk about the importance of financial savings as they move out of school systems. Adults participating will be available for individual counseling and support. There are 14 teens attending – a small group – but it’s the first time we are offering this “retreat,” and we’ll be better able to focus on them individually. They arrive on Tuesday and leave on Friday. I am looking forward to being with them!