This may not be of huge interest to anyone who is not involved in teaching (and may not be of interest to teachers either for that matter, so do stop reading here if you wish!) I just thought I would record a few thoughts on the teaching so far. As I think I have already said the girls have huge drive and a great capacity for hard work as they know only too well that they are really lucky to be here. A place in an EFA boarding house is now so sought after t...

I have just come back from a glorious four days in Imlil and Tamatert. I have rarely seen such a cloudless blue sky and we had four days of spectacular walking. We set off from Asni in the public minibus which in itself was quite an adventure as two goats and one sheep were loaded onto the roof - and the only thing done to prevent them from falling off was to tie their legs together! So with a certain amount of bleating we set off. (And at the time little did...

Furniture has been arriving all week - both chairs and flatpack office stuff; the carpenter has virtually moved in; photos and information have been posted on the new notice boards; Khamissa has been baking solidly for at least four days and huge plates of cakes, biscuits and snacks (even chocolate ones!) have been arriving from all the other EFA houses; Sinead, with the girls, has produced a lovely painting of butterflies taking flight; and on a more mundane lev...

I'm shaking the sand out of my sandals having just returned from a WONDERFUL weekend on the coast in the lovely fishing port of Essaouira. The alarm went off at 6.15 on Saturday morning and I woke to the sound of rain falling steadily outside, so, putting on anorak, socks and trainers (rather than the planned sandals and light sweater), I plodded down to the taxis through puddles in pitch dark to meet Sinead and Amy, another volunteer from one of the other hou...

Have just had a great weekend - I had hoped to go to Essaouira, a town on the coast but unfortunately Sinead could not get the weekend off so have had to stay in Asni, BUT the payoff has been a visit to the Saturday market, a 'New Year' party at Dar Asni 1, the house for the younger girls and a great run this morning and a walk this afternoon. The only challenge has been a massive wind which seems to have howled through the mountains for the last few days, which...