Travelogue 6: Bart is Awesome

Our Zambian students jump right into construction.

Bart and I have been married for almost 27 years. We met in our early teens.  We are one of those gaggy couples who love to spend time together. In all our years of marriage, we’ve slept apart, maybe, 5 nights. I thought I knew everything there is to know about Bart. Even though, for the duration of this trip, we are sleeping in separate bunk beds, this trip is teaching me new things about my spouse.

My husband is a diplomat. I should have known this by the way he answers my question of “Do these pants make me look fat?” Here is a better example:

We kicked off a training session with a review. The students were asked to craft a question to pose to the class. They were also to prepare an answer to the question. The goal was to address the technical components of the course. S., one of our more challenging students, took this as an opportunity to take on the community development model utilized by Lifewater.

Note; Lifewater is a teaching organization. Our goal is to work with in-country partners in equipping community organizers to promote behavioral changes in their local communities.

S.’s question and the tone in which it was asked immediately put my heart to racing. Bart, un-phased, politely thanked S. for the question.  He was wise enough to pose the question to the rest of the group. They immediately set their co-hort straight. I was watching Bart the whole time. He didn’t even blink.  At the first break, Bart went immediately to S., and initiated a dialogue with him. He  heard S.’s concerns for his community but he made no concessions. He was the picture of diplomacy.

Bart is a kind and patient teacher. Today was the first day of construction.  We have 14 students with a wide range of abilities. Many are completely new to construction. Although English is the official language of Zambia, all of our students are ESL. This was taking the prior 2 days of technical, theoretical information and applying it in one marathon session.

Bart had them all engaged; Cutting boards, measuring & squaring the forms, mixing and pouring the concrete, and finally hand finishing it. We had to work quickly as the concrete was drying quickly under the African sun.

As an aside it is getting HOTTER every day. The hot dry season peaks in October.

When the concrete slab was completed, the students sang a song in Bimba. We asked for a translation. The song is about children who go to their father asking for sorghum and the father gives sorghum. The children return again and again asking for more. The father continues to supply the need. One of the students said “This song is for you. We needed more knowledge. God sent you here to give us more knowledge.”

Bart is awesome. Most people who meet him know it. This trip just helped me see it in a whole new way.

Bart Instructs Construction Class

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