(this was written there, and is just now getting posted) We have been very busy, and there has been little time to write, and even less time to type out entire papers on my cell phone’s virtual keyboard – let me say, that tapping out lots of text with my thumbs is slow and I lose my train of thought.
A few things I missed.
1) During the greeting ceremony, the local church members sang for us. The singing led to clapping, which led to foot tapping, which led to dancing and, ultimately to Bob, Nell, Eliot and I joining the dance and the chorus, which we later learned used the word “akbe” (spelling uncertain), which means “thank you.” it was a very joyous occasion all around.
2) during the ceremony, Nell (Sister Ama) got up to talk and was greeted with cheers and applause. Eric translated for her, as  she gave greetings and expressed her joy at being back to her second home, and she talked about the computers and the ongoing partnership between Ashfield and Mafi Dove. She also reminded he people of the shared commitment, a theme we will see so much of in the coming week, that it was an important lesson. She reiterated ground rules for the partnership that she had laid out in all here dealings with the development of Dove: we will help (computers, tools, expertise) , but the village has to do its part (teach with them, make them avail to the students, maintain a secure and clean environment). If the computers were locked up and not available, or if they were destroyed, we could not bring any computers back, next time. While it felt a little squirmy, I knew exactly why this is necessary, and how this was an integral part of her success with the earlier devlopment projects when she was living in the village as a peace corps volunteer.

(back at the school)
We had an opportunity to meet a number of important people in the village. Some are on the development committee, others are part of the school system ( the village provides the building and some funds for maintenance, and the government provides the teachers and some basic supplies), village elders, the retired regional education director, and other Dove ‘alumni’, many of whom are extremely excited to see their village’s education get a step forward. When I get settled back home with he list of names and roles, I will refresh my memory of who’s who.  We looked around the room, talked about the placement of the computers and issues of security and access and protection from dust and moisture.
After we had finished, we walked back to the chief’s palace to continue our discussion, meet with he chief and to have dinner.  We sat at our places on the couches surrounding the main room of the chief’s palace. In one corner was the chief’s chair. Nell sat next to  the chief on his left and we sat on his right side.

(PS, this is going more slowly than I hoped )