CAM is moved and running

29 August 2011

I promised to update our blog after we moved and I never imagined that it would be such a busy time of moving and how long it would take to really get settled.

Moving into our new duplex apartment on the OMS Compound

More of moving in

Unpacking the 92 boxes of A Beka curriculum

We moved to our new home on the mission campus the third weekend of July.  We had lots of help and were able to get everything moved here in three days.  We did have one more load at the house that we got the next week, but we were living out here by the end of July.  Just as we started loading up our personal things, Larry received a call from the Port of Maputo letting us know our CAM textbooks had arrived and we needed to pick them up.  It was an answer to prayer to have the books before school started, however, the timing was not the best.  We were able to hire a truck which brought the books out to the new site, thus saving us the effort of moving them twice. 

1st of 3 large containers to move the school out

The new school wasn’t quite ready for us to move on Monday, August 1^st, but on Tuesday the 2^nd the big moving truck arrived at old CAM and the packing began.  What a job.  We were so thankful that we had hired a moving company to help.  If we had done it ourselves, we would still be moving things, one truck load at a time.  All the boxes and equipment came through the move in good shape.  The only bad thing that happened was that the truck backed into the new fence and totally knocked out a post.  The moving company took full responsibility and discounted the price to pay for the repair of the fence. 

 The move took two very long and busy days.  The teachers and school workers were on hand to help with the unloading.  We directed the moving men where to unload the things.  On Thursday and Friday we started to get the classrooms organized and things put in place.  What a job!!!  We were so fortunate to have Gary and Diane Gray here to help through the entire process.  They have been such a great blessing to us.  We thank the Lord that they are here to fill in for us while we are away for our home assignment.

Teacher Orientation August 8th

The next week was the teacher’s orientation.  It was a combination of training and continuing to get the rooms ready.  We had already delayed school for 7 days and we didn’t want to delay it again.  It was lovely to see the classrooms take shape and the teachers did a great job of decorating them.

The bathrooms are still in process of completion.  There are still things to finish off, but what is finished looks great.  For the first week of classes we were able to use some of the bathrooms.  I think everything will be finished by this week.

Golden with his third grade class

First day...rather rainy...kids gathering at the rondovel

The first day of classes for the secondary students was the coldest and wettest day I had ever experienced in Mozambique.  The busses arrived in time, but we had to hurry the students to their classrooms to keep them out of the rain.  The next day when the elementary joined in, it was a little better, but still windy and cold.  But in spite of the rain, the children were happy to see each other and the new school, but probably not as happy to have to get busy and study again.

Cynthia with her second grade class

We praise the Lord for sufficient staff for the year.  We are starting with 66 students and believe that it will grow in numbers once people realize that we are here.  We still have not advertised, because we wanted to make sure that we were able to make the move and that everything would be ready in time.

The busses are working out and it is so convenient for the students and teachers to have a ride to school now.  There are still some bugs to work out, but we praise the Lord for a positive beginning to our 16^th year of CAM. 

Last weekend was our annual Field Council meetings where the team gather and plan for the next year and beyond in all the ministries.  Although we were all very tired, the weekend was productive and we PTL for all He has done this past year and we look forward to what the next year will bring.

OMS Mozambique Team during Field Council meetings: August 2011