English School update

Here is one of the signs pointing the way to our new and improved location.





For the past year I have been teaching English classes a couple nights a week, and I love it!   The school was started a few years ago by some people here, and it has really grown.  Today there are 10 of us involved in some way as staff, and we represent 5 different organizations.  I love that it is a cooperative effort between groups!  There are now 100 students spread out in the different classes, usually 10-15 students in each class, plus there is a conversation café night once a week that brings another 25+ students to the center.

The teachers are not paid, we do this work as volunteers.  Beyond teaching English, we hope to build friendships with the students. 
The students pay a low fee to take classes, but it is enough to cover rent and utilities for the building, and for books.
WE RECENTLY MOVED TO A NEW BUILDING!  We were in a house in which we used the living room as our classroom.  The location of that building was great, especially for me as I could walk there, but there was not enough space for any more students or classes.  It also was having some issues with a leaky roof, so it was time to find a solution to these problems.
The building that we have moved to was used before as a small elementary and high school for missionary kids up until the coup d'état happened. After the coup and up until we moved in, the building was not being used, so we were happy to move in and put it to good use.  It is possible that in a couple years the kids' school will be able to start again, but for now this is a great solution.
The new place is in a different neighborhood, so I have to take a taxi to get there, but that is the only negative and there are many positive things about it.

You can see some students in the 2 classrooms I teach classes in.  The new building has more rooms so we can hold multiple classes simultaneously.  The rooms are brighter because of more windows and they get more air circulating.  When the power cuts (as it often does), there is a generator we can start up so we can continue class with lights and fans on.  It is also at the end of a quiet street, so we don't hear noisy traffic like we did in the old place.