Mwanzo ni Mgumu II

The Start is Difficult II. Almost all our students have arrived -- some stragglers, however. The start this year is smoother than last, but there have been some small difficulties to contend with. It was an unnecessary rush to get things completed at the last minute. Thank God for Kizito, SJ, who really pushed the contractor's workers to get the job done.

Our new faculty members have arrived -- I think we'll have some stellar teachers among them.
The laboratories are almost complete -- I think they'll be the envy of many schools.
Our chapel is not any further along than it was 3 months ago -- I think its' unfortunate that a chapel that was originally to be dedicated June 2011 and then September 2011 will probably not be completed for Easter 2012.

What are the bright lights these days? First have to be our extraordinary volunteers (and I'm not writing that just because their parents read this blog!). I can always depend on Sean and Laura, and sometimes I take their generosity for granted. They've been so helpful. Cristina, the other American volunteer from the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, is digging right in. And Roland, our Jesuit Missionary Volunteer from England, provided a great service by setting up a scheduling program. In fact I downloaded the same program from the Internet but didn't have a clue what to do with it -- he managed to make it work for us.

Another light is the rain -- if that isn't a contradiction. The rain has come right on time each time things begin to dry out. Last night's started with a huge downpour and moved to a gentle, soaking rain. Keep it coming, God -- and the nighttime storms suit us just fine, too. As we say here, mvua ni baraka. Rain is a blessing. As we are wont to say here: Mungu ni mwema: Kila wakati! God is good: All the time!

It was the Tuesday of the first week of class last year that I came down with malaria. Let's hope I stay healthy during these coming weeks.

Pictures later, I hope. (Laura's camera broke, so I'm letting her use my not-used-enough camera with the understanding that she shares snaps with me). Among the pictures I hope to share is one of a dead cobra -- a huge one has been seen around (I tried unsuccessfully to run over it with the car at night last week) and Victor, SJ, killed a small one (in our courtyard!) last weekend.

That's the news that's fit to print.