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"We want to welcome him," said Veronica Muz, a local journalist. "And I really want to know what shoes she's wearing."
For the record, she descended the steps of her plane in heels, but she was wearing flat shoes just as she crossed the school service yard during her first stop. It was a public school, where some 8,554 students share 77 teachers and 22 inner classrooms.
A fact sheet produced by the White House's advanced team made the brutal calculation: it is a pupil / teacher ratio of 111: 1.
"Thank you for inviting me and for your warm welcome," Ms. Trump told students and teachers. "I wanted to see a successful program that the United States offers to children."
The Chipala Primary School, made of hand-made bricks and lit by natural light, was just a cluster of buildings around a central courtyard.
"We have 15 outdoor classrooms," Maureen Masie, director, said in an interview. "The largest class has 318 students."
When it rains, these outdoor courses are sent back. "It's very difficult for our teachers to finish their program," she said.
"For us to have the first lady, it's really a great honor," she added. "And we think that some things will change in our school."
A poor education system is one of the reasons why women leave school too early and give birth too early.
This leads to a pregnancy rate of about 40% among 15-19 year olds, according to the United Nations.
More than 70% of the population lives on less than $ 2 a day. The electricity grid is capricious. Most grocery stores, hotels and restaurants have emergency generators.
In front of the school, carpenters chiseled furniture by hand, working under the hot sun, without any power tools in sight. At the height of the HIV / AIDS crisis, coffins were an economic activity.
