RISE International

Team to Angola
Jan. 17 - Feb. 10, 2008

Lynn Cole, Exec. Dir., RISE International,
     Team Leader
Nancy Anderson, RISE Board Member/volunteer

Not pictured: ITC! Training Team -
Jennie Cerullo, Ph. D., Co-Founder/ Exec. Dir.,  
     Kerus Global Education
Dr. Jim Judge

Two, four-day It Takes Courage! (ITC!) conferences took place, in Bocoio and Lubango, with about 260 participants in attendance from 8am to 5pm each day. These were followed by debriefing meetings with the group of 16 Angolans in training to become certified trainers, to assess, understand and learn...then preparation for the following day. Each of those "in training" presented elements of the workshops, devotions, lessons and activities throughout the training. They are now part of a national Angolan ITC! team that is qualified to hold conferences to train teachers and leaders to teach the ITC! Youth Curriculum. They will be able to multiply the impact in ways visiting American teams never could.**

Following the trainings, Lynn and Nancy remained in Angola another week. Hours of meetings with RISE leadership teams were interspersed with hours spent on bumpy roads and paths, crunched in the back of a land rover, traveling to very remote places to miraculously discover RISE schools. At the village of Cubal Koyayo in the province of Benguela, 6000+ bricks had been made down at the river, accessible to sand and water. The bricks will be hauled to the school site and the walls will begin to rise. Privileged to participate in the dedication of a school at Cakua in the province of Huila, villagers expressed their appreciation with singing, dancing and celebration.