Today started off pretty well and we were really excited because we were going to have our last HIV/AIDS class with Tionge. We went to the office and got copies of our HIV/AIDS final questionnaire and review sheet to give the kids. We also bought cookies to give out at the end of class. After getting all our papers we went to Fountain to do some more work on the website. When we got there the computer was being used, so instead we hung out with Chris and Shazeda in the library for a little while. Then, as we had promised him the other day, we sat down to talk to Steven, one of our favorite people at Fountain. He grew up at Fountain after living on the streets himself. Now, he runs all of the sports programs there for SIA and is such a great role model for all of the children. He is super friendly, personable, organized, and responsible, so we trust him a lot. He had asked to speak to us before we left, telling us that he really wanted to make sure we had a clear picture of Fountain Of Hope.
Steven basically explained that there have been a lot of organizational challenges at Fountain in terms of who is reliable and who can be trusted. He gave us some unique insight on some of the “darker” happenings at Fountain and gave us explicit instructions who to trust and how to continue working with FOHA in a way that will ensure our aid actually reaches the boy. Jackson, another one of our friend who is equally as capable and admirable at Steven, joined us and reaffirmed everything we’d just heard. We were a little bit surprised to hear that not everyone at Fountain is reliable, but it certainly did help to explain some strange phenomena that we’d noticed over the last 7 weeks. We were really happy that Steven and Jackson were comfortable enough to confide the truth in us. We feel much more equipped to work with Fountain effectively from the United States.
Chrissy and I then left because we had to go to Tionge to teach our last HIV/AIDS class. We were so excited because we were going to see how all our hard work paid off by measuring the improvement on the questionnaires. As soon as we walked through the entrance gate at the school we had a bad feeling, though neither of us wanted to say it. The school seemed pretty deserted other than a few kids walking around. We thought that maybe they were in the classes or maybe they had gone on a short break. Sadly we found out that the students had all been sent home already because their exams start tomorrow. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! We have come here every single Wednesday to teach the Anti-AIDS Club except last week. We met with them twice last week and reminded the class. Last week we met with the head teacher and teacher in charge of the club and reminded them we would still be meeting next Wednesday – aka today! We even saw the head teacher write it on her calendar and we told her it would be our last day. Damnit this country can sometimes be so dysfunctional and disorganized. First, we were really pissed off, but then just really upset and disappointed. We had prepared so much for this class and were so excited for it. However, no matter what we said or thought, there was nothing we could do to change this situation. We immediately called our contacts at Chipata to make sure that they were still expecting us tomorrow. I guess this is just one more situation that we can learn from.
Chrissy then went back to the office but I couldn’t because I had to coach in a few hours. Chrissy did a lot more work on the Fountain Of Hope website as well as additional slides for our Powerpoint presentation for this Friday. I stayed in the library at Tionge and planned out a full practice schedule and then headed over to the courts a little early. Practice was great and there were 17 guys there! That’s the most I’ve ever had so I was able to run a bunch of drills, as well as make them run a ton. I was yelling a lot, and I had been starting to feel sick that day, so I could feel my voice slowly starting to go. After practice when I back at home my voice continued to get worse and I knew from experience that it would be completely gone by tomorrow, mehh.
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