Second Day at Uyoba School

Only about half the kids were at school today. They have three terms per year and tomorrow, Friday, this term ends. So, like the Lander kids at the end of the year, many have checked out. Today we taught the 2nd graders, probably aged 8-12, how to hold and open a book. First we passed a towel around to wipe dirt and dust off hands. Then we taught them how to gently grab the top right corner and turn the page. Zambians are used to turning pages by pinching the page with their thumb and index fingers. There were. couple of kids who struggled holding the book and turning the pages. I've been told it's their 1st book. The books we used, called My ABC, are from the same Happy Reader series. We went through each page of the colorful little picture dictionaries saying the letter and reading some of the corresponding words. The kids are like parrots, so I don't say much. For example if I say, "Turn the page," rather than turning the page they will say, "turn the page!" H is for hut, V is for Village, C is for crocodile, and so on. It was an amazing feeling introducing these colorful little Zimbabwean picture dictionaries to the students. All of them were engaged, even the obvious class clowns.