We arrived in Johannesburg at about 10:45 a.m. South African time on Friday morning. We were able to get a connecting flight that left Jo’brg at 4:30 in the afternoon and arrived in Harare at 6:00. Albert and Basil were there to meet us and collect the luggage. Basil had brought his trailer because he knew we had a lot of bags. You guessed it, no luggage. We went to Basil’s for the night. It was 3:00 Saturday afternoon before our luggage caught up with us. The HCOC truck was loaded and we were ready to travel to the rural area. We made a grocery stop before leaving Harare. By the time we finished shopping, it was dark and so a treacherous trip out to the mission.

Albert had moved out of our house the day before we arrived. All of our things that had been in storage were sitting in the middle of the floor when we walked in the house. Of course, there was no electricity. We managed to find air mattresses and get the beds made. All of us were ready to crash. It was 11:00 the next morning before anyone stirred. We are just now beginning to recover.

The past two days have been spent getting things unpacked and put away.

The teachers from Nyamashato Primary came to visit us before class on Monday morning. We saw many familiar faces and some new faces. They were happy that we had finally arrived. Early afternoon, the teachers and Mr. Chivava, the head master, visited us from the Secondary School. There was a large group of teachers. The school is fully staffed with 30 teachers. Mr. Chivava informed Ralph that the pass rate had improved. It is not nearly what we might wish but it does show significant improvement. Ralph encouraged him to keep up the good work.
Late Tuesday afternoon, Albert took us to the new site to see his new house. It really is nice. As is frequently the case with new construction, there are still many little things that need to be finished.

This morning Joan and Amanda are visiting in one of the first grade classrooms. The teachers were called into a staff meeting. Amanda entertained a class of first graders for an hour and a half. When she came back to the house, she was really tired.

In His Service,
Ralph and Roberta