January 14, 2011
Christmas has past and a new year has begun. Yuda has returned to school, Beatrice has returned to the hostel, and Aggie and Fidesta are home. It was a good holiday, one that I am sure Yuda will remember for many years. I remember the day I hiked up the mountain (into the bush) to greet Yuda at his homeplace. I remember how his lip trembled and his eyes overflowed with tears as I questioned him about his life. Now when I look at him, I see hope in his eyes and joy in his sweet smile. He is loved.
Yuda is fifteen, or at least he thinks he is. He looks much younger to me, but inevitably, he will soon begin to mature. I am not very comfortable talking about adolescent issues in English; how would I manage to discuss these things in Swahili? However, our time together is limited and I am the closest thing he has to a parent. I knew we needed to talk. I gave him a set of small booklets written in Swahili about many of these topics and told him to read them. Then one night as we were studying, I reminded him that I would be returning to America and I would not be around to encourage him to work hard or to redirect him away from trouble when it comes. He would have to be strong and disciplined in order to do this on his own. We talked about avoiding drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes. Right now he says these are all “mbaya” (bad) but we talked about how there would be times when he would be pressured by his peers to experiment with these things. That is why it is so important to choose good friends. We also talked about girls. In this culture, maybe in this tribe, many women are not respected. In fact, many are abused and exploited. Domestic violence is quite common. I warned Yuda that he was never, ever, to beat his wife or any woman, nor was he ever to beat his children. It was not “his right”. Violence begets violence. We had a good discussion and he assured me that he would not abuse anyone. Finally, I asked him about his plans for the future. What did he want to be when he grew up? He said, “I want to be a priest.” I was surprised for a moment, and I said, “Why Yuda?” He said, “Because God saved me.” (Of course!)
One of my students, Beatrice, also stayed with me for the holidays. Her parents are very poor and did not have the money for her to come home. I offered to buy her a ticket, but she preferred to stay with me. She told me her family had many problems. It was nice having her. She cooked, cleaned, and kept Yuda company. She studied when she was not working. As a treat, I took them both to Moshi to eat at a restaurant and to see a movie (Wall-E). It was a wonderful day. However, that evening, the night before returning to the hostel, Beatrice told me her story. She talked for almost two hours and she told me the most heartbreaking tale about physical and emotional abuse inflicted by family members! Not her real parents but the extended family members with whom she lived. Beatrice is now 16 years old and is finishing form 6. Most form 6 leavers are between 18 and 20. She is young but she is one of my top two students. As she told her story, I could only imagine how painful her life must have been. What would cause a 13 or 14 year old child to want to end her life by drinking rat poison? However, once again, God intervened. A student flung open the door to the classroom as she was preparing to drink and she dropped the cup. She did not have money to buy more and that night she realized that this was not God’s plan for her. No matter what her family said about her and no matter how much they hurt her, God knew her heart. He had made her wise beyond her years. She knew what was right and wrong. She would trust Him to help her. She vowed to study hard so that she could overcome her life of poverty and help her parents too. It breaks her heart to hear them cry because they cannot give her what she needs. (Please pray that Beatrice succeeds).
On a lighter note, I have spent the last week in Dar for Peace Corps training and medical check-ups. When the nurse asked me my age, I told her I would be fifty in a couple weeks. She said, “That cannot be true. You are joking! (Yes, I always lie about my age and make myself older) Really? You are 50? I am 57 and I did not look like that when I was 50. I think you are 40. Where are you living because I want to live there too?” Apparently the environment in Mkuu agrees with me and I am becoming younger. Even my country director commented on it when she saw me. I know I have better definition in my arm muscles, but that is either from writing on the blackboard or from riding on the bus. Last time I rode the bus in Mkuu, I came home smelling like someone else’s body odor. Yes, we are packed pretty tightly. We ride like bananas.
Things are shaping up for a pretty busy year at school. At our most recent staff meeting, the head master announced some changes in staffing. The teacher in charge of the lab (the one who is not so nice) is no longer chemistry department chair. The young serious teacher who I recommended now has that position. The academic master who asked a temporary teacher to fill in my students’ grades on my behalf is no longer academic master, but he seems very happy about it. Now he is in charge of field trips, clubs, and debate. A physics teacher has been shifted from a nearby school to our school. He will teach A-level physics and form 5 chemistry. I will remain with my form 5s as they become form 6s and help the new teacher with form 5. This will give me more free time for my other positions. I plan to conduct a series of teacher workshops to help teachers improve their practice. I have moved into my new office and will soon assume my role as school counselor. ( English only please!) I have also been named as head of the new computer department. We are getting 10 computers through a grant with V-Africa and we hope to open up an internet café at our school. I am supposed to work with another teacher to organize that and to conduct workshops on computer skills (for teachers and students and possibly community members). We will see. Often we have big ideas but they are never implemented for a variety of reasons.
New years are always exciting for me because of the possibilities they bring. I pray that this one is a good one.
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