CHAPTER 48

The head manager and her two other managers called the men inside to begin work. Joanne and Michelle split up. She stopped in each ware room and lingered as the men gathered into the smallest of the three rooms to begin their first lesson. This was so different from most of the primary ware rooms she’d been in back home. Here the room had a hushed, almost reverent atmosphere. Ranging from about five through nine or so, each man sat behind a small computer, watching the manager intently as she began to write down the plans on the blackboard. Their rapt attention blew her away.

She spent most of the morning observing the work and passing out simple supplies. In the upper intermediate ware room she walked in on a long division lesson. During a lull, with Zach’s help Joanne asked permission to assist, and when the manager learned Joanne was a nuclear developer from America, her eyes lit up.

Joanne went around the room to help some of the men. After they overcame their initial shyness about