June 17

                   

Sunday, while Angelina primped for a party, I had a surprise visit from Crispin’s sister Winnie. Surprise because her school in Morogoro has three more weeks until break. But all the students (as well as students from numerous schools around the country) have been sent home because the government has run out of funds and has not bought food for the schools. Tough to run a boarding school with no food. So Win is home and must listen to radio daily to find out if students are called back to classes.

Realities like this sometimes make me question the avant garde stuff we are doing. But our vision is to provide a model for the future. I always compare us to the R&D department of a company. We are working on tomorrow and letting the others get us to that tomorrow. But if someone does not do the R&D, there won’t be anything waiting there if they make it.

Monday’s high point was a look-see at the new Global Outreach office which is nearing completion. This has been a truly amazing project. We are less that one month from when we broke ground and it looks like we will relocate before I return in a week. The facilities are perfect for our needs. Asante sana (many thanks) Diocese of Iringa! 

Tuesday I convened my newly created Advisory Board for the first time. It is composed of the heads of school from Ifunda, Iringa Girls, and Image. It will provide input and advice on making our programs more effective and valuable. They will also assist in formulating policies and procedures to ensure that this program becomes more and more self-sustaining as we enfold more schools and activities.