School Update

School Update

Last week the Japanese Ambassador came by to see our school pertaining our grant. Before coming to us he visited other schools in Upolu. I was surprised to hear that our school building is in a lot better shape than the other buildings that he saw. (One of the women with him said she was worried the whole time that the ceiling was cave in while they were there.)

On their observations they told me that the condition of the school building could be learned just be knowing if the principal was a female or a male. Apparently females take better care of their buildings. (Which is good for us because one of the things that worries them is helping to provide money for a school building that is not maintained.)

The building’s structure was in good condition, but they saw the many problems we had with our school.

I think the meeting went well and I will keep you updated on what happens next.

The other issue with our school is the bathrooms. There is no running water in the school, and so all of our water comes from the water tanks. There is a barrel in the bathrooms for you to bucket water into your toilet to flush. Hopefully soon this will change. Yesterday some of the staff members from my school traveled to Salelologa to find out about piped water, and it looks as though it will be turned on here. Today I saw PVC piping coming into the school, which is an amazing sign.

On an even brighter note, I started loaning out the “special” books to my students. The special books and the ones I have bought since living here, the ones my family has sent over, and the ones from Darien Books. The kids I opened up the library to went wild with excitement. The excitement will continue as I heard a rumor that our school will be getting a librarian to help take care of the books. (Something I feared as I have seen many write in books and cut apart books for their pictures.)

In other words school is going good, and a lot of improvements can be seen here.