Africa The journal

Getting the hang of it...

 

Journaling has been fun and therapeutic.  These are journals that I sent while in Africa with my impressions and reactions to what I experienced.  I hope you enjoy them.

 

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Be the change you wish to see

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They are starting to smile at me as I pass.  Kids.  Some recognize me from visiting their houses.  Not homes, the school is divided in to 4 houses just like Hogwarts school of magic.  But they are names after one of the countries having other Christel house schools.  USA, Venezuela, Mexico, and India.  Every morning each house meets where they are given some of the details of the day, lectured at to improve this or that, laugh a little, recognize someone’s success and get ready to start the day.  More than a homeroom these houses have all 4 grades in them and are small families.  Gangs are a real issue here so the hope is that this ‘home-group ‘gang’ can replace or compete with violent gangs on the outside.  On Friday there is an all school assembly.  As a part of that one student from each house is selected as the student of the week.  They stand to the cheering of their house and after some introductions one of the four is chosen as the school’s student of the week.  That house erupts in cheers and applause, then all the houses join in as the student walks to the front of the whole school.  Standing there next to the Principal ALL the students break out in to song.  They are singing to this chosen student.  They are standing, waving their arms and singing “Follow your Dreams  Young one,  Follow Your Dreams”  He stands there as these few minutes pass by bathed in the Light of joy and the song of Grace.  For whatever path he chooses he will remember this moment of unconditional love for his whole life.  What a gift.  This kid who comes from the shacks… this kid who was an attendance problem… this kid who almost dropped out… A success in the eyes of his peers and in his own heart.

Earlier that day I made a few new friends.  Two little girls came in to see the social worker.  They come at least once a day coming in to the office during break.  I guess they are in the third grade and they always chewing on their snack.  They find Ms Eunice and give her a big hug.  Today Ms Eunice was busy with another student but I was in the group room working on the anger management class.  Cautiously they crept in to see what this big white stranger was doing.  Their faces lit as they looked at my tiny net book, my 10” computer.  I invited them in and showed them the wireless mouse.  Now that is something they have not seen before.  I invited one to try it.  She moved the mouse and squealed as the curser magically moved on the screen.  The other one jumped!  “Oh my gosh I have never seen that!!  Does it have any games?”  Boy they got over that shock in a hurry I thought.  ‘Well I don’t know”, I said,” let’s see”.  And they did find a favorite…  Now I get the hugs tooJ

I’m ending my first week and I feel like I haven’t done anything yet .  I sure have learned a lot, met some wonderful people and been struck by both the beauty and the poverty of this fine city. But haven’t worked with many kids.  I have gotten several invitations from staff to attend a rugby game in their new stadium, an invitation for dinner,  one to be taken to just tour the sites.  People are very friendly and willing to extend themselves.  I have been a big cheer leader here.  I am so impressed with this place and what they are doing I can’t stop telling them what a great offering this school has become.  Teaching dignity,  manners, motivating parents to stay involved, changing the lives of these kids.  We sometimes have our heads down in the day to day grind of our work and we forget what it is we are trying to do.  Lesson plans, discipline, student challenges, administrative requests, funding… all those millions of pieces that are important to make this place function soak up the focus until there is little time to look up to say… look what we have done!.  So I find I am serving staff… by reminding them of how successful they are.  We all get lost in the detail of our lives now and then.  Sometimes a  little a ‘gold star’ is what we need to remind ourselves that we’re really doing OK.  Glad to help…

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