Chocolate 9/7/13

In Burundi, chocolate is a luxury.  Although cocoa is exported from Africa, I haven't seen it for sale.  So, I brought some cocoa with me this trip.  The chocolate I have seen is expensive.  A couple stores sell large chocolate bars for about $4.30, which is more than most Burundians can afford.  As a gift to my friends and coworkers, I brought small bags of plain and peanut M&Ms.  I've never seen M&Ms sold in Burundi, but I have seen a Snickers bar. 

I wonder if chocolate is more expensive here because it's not sold in large quantities.  Also, it's tough to ship and store.  Where I live, the temperature stays between 65 degrees and 85 degrees.  But, the areas surrounding Burundi can get very hot.  When you ship chocolate or import it, you need to make sure it doesn't melt. 

I thought about it some more.  Why aren't M&Ms sold in Burundi?  The whole point of an M&M is that it melts in your mouth, not in your hand?  Would there be a market for M&Ms in Burundi or Africa? 

One thing that has helped the economy and people in Burundi is micro loans.  There are non-profit organizations that give out loans to people for small businesses.  Loans are granted for creative ideas that may have potential and a promising future.  In Burundi, one of the problems is that the propositions have not been unique.  So, occasionally I think, "Would this be a good micro loan idea?"

When the French teacher was eating his plain M&Ms, he laughed and said, "Is this candy or quinine?  It looks like quinine."  Quinine is a medicine used to treat malaria in Burundi.  M&Ms kinda look like Burundi IB Profen too.  Hmmm...I don't think I will be seeing M&Ms sold in Burundi the near future.



 

Above is a picture of Jackie in the store with the chocolate.  Jackie is new to Burundi and will be teaching English at the primary school to the 4th, 5th and 6th graders.  The primary school is mainly taught in French.  Jackie is from Idaho.  She'll also be teaching girls sports and typing at the secondary school I'm at.  She's best friends with Hanna, and is a kick to be around.  She's recently served 6 months teaching English in Tanzania.  Jackie brought chocolate chips.  Yum!

Boards 9/7/2013

Registration day, I wrote on a whiteboard in the office, "Welcome to school!  Go to the Rice Student Union [the cafeteria] for registration and check in."  Unfortunately, two days later...I couldn't erase it!  The whiteboard didn't work well last year, and we had trouble erasing it.  It was dirty, so...someone painted it white.

We have new larger black boards this year.  It helps.  I've had some trouble erasing them, so sometimes I use a wet rag to erase them.  One student asked me, "Do they use water in America to clean the board?"  I thought about it.  My high school had white boards, and when I was a teacher, I mainly used transparencies on a projector.  I was honest with my reply and said, "We don't use a lot of black boards.  I think we mostly use white boards."  Without hesitation, another student shouted out, "'Cause you're white!"

Registration 9/1/13

School registration has been completed!  Our school went from 91 students to over 170.  It will be a challenge.  I will have two more classes, twice as many papers to grade, and I better learn the new students names quickly.

For registration, I ran around doing various tasks, and ended up checking bags.  We go through all the students bags not just to make sure they didn't bring in prohibited items, but also to make sure they have everything.  Most kids are in a similar situation to us missionaries...they live out of two bags for four months.

Hanna checking bags.

The tailor taking measurements for uniforms.

Main registration table with Peter on the left and JR on the right.

 

Main registration area.