Tuesday

Tuesday, the 25^th

“We are the smart and organized students of Primary 2. We welcome you,” sweet little voices call out as they seat themselves back onto the dirt and rock floor of their classroom.  Each classroom was similar – happy eager faces awaiting our arrival, welcoming us in unison, announcing their class and the time or feeling.  “We welcome you to Primary 6. Thank you for visiting us here today!”

I am in love with this school.  I have seen many beautiful schools, but this one has my heart.  The owner of the school built it up on the land that he inherited from his father.  Arthur is a product of Father Michael’s system of faith and work and love.  Father Michael befriended him, they learned from each other, Fr. Michael supported him throughout his journey, and Arthur came into adulthood, and wanted to support and love people in the same manner.

So Arthur owns and runs the school New Red Star, but he does so much more.  He is creative, warm, smart, organized.  All of his people are divided up into rooms, some rooms housing 3 grades.  Out of all of his many students, h was 36 orphans, up from the 24 he had last year.  He even houses and cares for 8 orphans himself – they sleep in rooming quarters right there on the premises – a boys room and a girls room (as you can see here, they decorated pictures for us to see when we toured their rooms.) 

Their kitchen, which was destroyed last year, was rebuilt with funds from Nap and Jeff and I, as well as tuitions and salaries paid.  It is amazing what this man can do with so little money.  His needs are extensive; a new boda boda, a new row of classrooms, money to help with teachers saralies to cover the number of non-paying orphans.  He showed me a book where he keeps track of debtors – rows of names of people who he allows to attend his school even though they are behind 2 terms worth of payments.  He understands the value of education, the necessity for it in the lives of the people in his village, so he chooses to struggle financially instead of emotionally.

Montgomery Catholic has been raising money for this school, the Butebere school, and Father Michael’s ministry and work for an entire school year, and now I get the pleasure of handing it out to the schools and watching the amazing work that Arthur can do with his donations.  I started out by giving him the $3000 in schillings and told him how proud of his work we were and how thankful we were that he had such a big heart.  He was so excited for the gift, and the encouragement, and I hope that this is a partnership that can continue.

We were supposed to be out there first thing in the morning so that I could help Arthur teach some classes.  I was truly excited about this project, and had designed two curriculums to teach – one on Saints and one on Lent.  But alas, the very sweet man who was supposed to bring us all of the way out there got a flat tire, and by the time we arrived, it was almost noon.  I explained the two lessons in detail to Arthur, left him with all of the supplies, beads, string, papers, markers, flash cards, pencils, sharpeners, erasers and more. 

The children performed many welcoming songs and dances, and Paul was shocked I think by the amazing rhythm and dance and the boys one the drums.  Michael ran around like a wild child, tried to hit the drums in the middle of songs, and kept trying to steal candy from my bag, but all in all, it was ok.  After the songs, Paul addressed the group and was translated.  We passed out pencils and candies to every child, and then we passed out special cross necklaces to the top performers in each class – the children with the best grades, behavior, etc.  This was something new that I wanted to do, and I think it was successful.  They were all very proud of their award, and the kids might just be envious enough to work hard and to get one the next time a muzungo from Anawim comes to visit.

We went home for Michael to take a nap, which meant that Paul and Michael get to go to sleep for a few hours.  It is in the quiet time of being here, when Paul is asleep with Michael in the midafternoon that I read sweet messages from my children, when I can depart from my brave face, and crack open the gates to let the trickles of sadness seep out.  My children are truly the only thing that I have and do during the day that keeps me focused and energized – every group I’m involved with, board I sit on, or organization I volunteer for is for them and Him.  Without this direction, I feel a bit lost.

Notes from my prayer journal:  Today, after having been to Arthur’s school again, I want to take a moment to thank God for the school we have at Holy Spirit.  Nothing is perfect, but I cannot imagine my children being in better hands while I am way, and they are in school.  Where else could I email the teachers, explain what was going on, and feel confident that they know my children well enough to provide help and support to them if they were having troubles coping.  I am not worried about them being upset at school, because I know that if they are, there are people there who can identify that and give them a hug or pat on the back and love on them.  There has never been a place where I have felt that amount of safety.

“In everything, give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Soundtrack song of the day: San Francisco, The Mowglis

Consecration to Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Should we really give Mary everything, Day 6