Sabbatical Day 26 (19
August)
I
sleep in! Woke early to the usual dawn chorus of cock competing as to who can
crow the loudest to welcome the dawn, followed by the chirruping of other birds
growing increasingly louder, then at 6 the drums marking the children beginning
their morning devotions, and the occasional braying of donkeys. But I must have
been fast asleep when my watch alarm went off at 7 and missed it and when I
next looked at the watch it was just after 8. As I arrived for breakfast at
8.14 Stephen said he was giving it till 8.15 before he came to look for me.
Madam
Melissa Matu, the Secondary School Principal drops in to talk over some things
with Stephen. She doesn’t see that keen when Stephen suggests I might call with
her later in the morning for her to show me round the school. We’ll see. A
quick call to Lynda on the satellite phone before she goes to work and then I
think about what to say at tonight’s meeting. Then write up the blog.
Take
some photographs for a presentation on the Youth Camps Kasoni has to make
sometime then go down to see the Principal. In fact she is keen to talk. She
and Stephen are in the same league when it comes to talking and both have a
very determined personalities.
We
talk in the Principal’s House in the company of her children, Patience and
Lemwel.
The
house is very sparsely furnished. Melissa has a very clear Christian commitment
and feels called to be in Tuum and bring the school up to where it should be.
What follows in italics is what Melissa told me, again filtered through my
brain!).
The school was built by
PCEA with help from PCI including Stephen and has some of the best plant in
Kenya. It was handed over to the Government who appoint and pay the teachers
and the church has the status of a sponsor. There are many challenges. External
ones include:
·
Competition
from other schools which receive greater funding
·
Poor
state funding due to low numbers
·
A
poor reputation outside
·
A
weak and divided Board of Governors and a lack of people of community standing
on the board (a neighbouring school has a Provincial Deputy Governor on it and
another an MP)
Internal ones include:
·
Damage
to the plant
·
An
infestation of snakes
·
Much
of the grounds reverted to bush
·
A
demoralised and apathetic staff
·
Theft
by staff members
·
Ill-disciplined
children
·
No
school transport
·
A
disconnected generator and several solar-powered batteries not working
·
Most
of the girls don’t pay fees and some of those who were meant to didn’t and had
to be sent home
In her first year she has been able
to have much of the damage repaired, clear the bush, clamp down on theft,
restore discipline. At one point the snakes went virtually overnight – she sees
this as an answer to prayer. Although the challenges she faces are formidable
she is not despondent. She has a vision for what can be done in the 4 years
remaining here, and says that her faith is vital. She could not carry on
without God.
She is in a process of replacing
the teaching staff. Some of them actively hate the school, and she believes
that when she has teachers who want to be there and who are not part of the
previous set-up that things will improve. None of the teachers are local and
any new ones won’t be either. This means they have to lodge in town. She hopes
she can get accommodation built for the teachers on site. Females will get
first call. At the moment of the 9 teachers only 2 are female (not counting
her).
She has no school secretary or
bursar as there is no one living locally who can do this work, she she has to
do it herself.
What help could be given by PCI?
·
Books
·
Transport
– a school bus is badly needed. On reason the school closed late was that it
couldn’t close until the girls could get transport home. With no public
transport and some of the journeys like that which C took, it takes a long time
to do. In addition the teachers have to be taken home and they live far away,
one near Mombasa on the coast. A school bus would also help increase the
enrolment. [Comment – she talks about a 51 or 62 seater.
I don’t know how this would work in Tuum – one journey would shake it to pieces
unless there are buses built like tanks. I would have thought maybe 3 sturdy
minibuses would be better and that would mean if one was off the road things
didn’t grind to a halt. But after 1 week here who am I to give an opinion?
Maybe there are buses built like tanks. Anybody know?]
·
Money
to help clear a massive debt (approaching 1,000,000/-) left by the previous
administration.
Our
conversation lasts most of the afternoon and I assure her that I’ll give some
thought to how we might help, without any promises. The following are some
photographs taken round the school.
Principal’s Office
Laboratory
Dormitory (45 beds)
Washblock for dormitory
Laboratory, classrooms and admin
buildings from dormitories
Dining Hall – that’s as furnished
as it gets
Kitchen
Banana
trees. These trees are only 1 year old. You can see a flower coming on the left
hand side of the left-most one. If you look at the lower leaves there is one
pointing directly upwards. The flower is near the top left of this leaf. These
are in the ‘Shamba’ which is where they grow a lot of the food that is used in
the school.
Last
evening of the Junior Youth Camp. Part of the Revival Meeting includes a time
of open prayer. This is enthusiastically taken up, including by the children.
While some weren’t interested, most were engaged. There was that lovely sound
you only get in a large prayer meeting as many people pray at once and you
can’t make out anywords, just a sound. I’ve never been at a meeting at home
where children pray unled like that. Beautiful. An earlier part of the meeting
had included a film of Solomon and his wisdom over the disputed baby. It takes
a lot of ingenuity to get a video projector and sound working in these
circumstances!
I
speak more on Peter, re-capping on what I said on Saturday morning. Some show
that they have been listening by answering my questions correctly. I take it on
from where in Matthew Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ and thereby becomes a
Christian, but we see also in the next verses where Peter tries to persuade
Jesus not to go to the cross that he is a sinner. From rock to stumbling block,
from felling tall to feeling small. From something revealed from God the
Father, not from man (that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God) to
thinking thoughts that come from man, not from God. I went on to challenge the
children to think about they thoughts they think – from God or from man. Are
they tall or small in their thoughts? Are they a rock or a stumbling stone.
Jesus is the Son of God – only God himself can show us that, we can’t work it
out. Are you, like Peter, a Chrsitian, someone who trusts Jesus as the Christ,
the Son of the living God, but also a sinner who needs forgiven. I led in, I
hope, suitable prayer.
Taking
Peter on, we read in Like of how, despite Peter’s protests Jesus told him he
would deny him three times. We then read that passage, counting out the
denials. Then we turned to John where by the lake Jesus asks Peter three times
if he loved him and three times Peter says you know that I love you.
Establishing the connection between the three denials and the three questions
and affirmations of love, we saw that were there is sin, there is always the
opportunity of repentance, return and re-commitment. We noted how at the
lakeside Jesus had shown the disciples where to catch the fish, just as he had
done in Luke when he first called them. Jesus’ conversation with Peter ends
with him saying Follow me just as he
had said when he first called Peter. So this was a new start for Peter. I then
applied this to the children, enabling those who wanted to to call out their
love for Jesus, and affirming that if they had denied Jesus or let him down
they could make a new start with him. I gave the opportunity for anyone who
wanted to come up to the front to be prayed for in that regard to do so. No one
did come forward, and as Stephen advised, I didn’t prolong the time. I then led
in prayer that all the children might know Jesus loves them and that they might
love Jesus, with a particular prayer for any who had let him down and needed a
new start.
I
felt there was good listening, and quite a few by their responses, were
understanding my English rather than depending on the translation. And no one
got caned!
The
evening ended with the children from each area coming up to the front and being
prayed for by the leaders who stood round them in an arc. While they were being
prayed for, the rest of the children sang songs. I think they were songs about
each area. Certainly when the children from Seren were up the song used the
word ‘Seren’ several times. I thought this was a great way of making all the
children feel included, especially the ‘outsiders’ such as those who were
Turkana rather than Samburu.
Time
for a last cup of Milo – a malt chocolate drink made by Nestle and saying
goodbye to Kasoni.
Jim
