August 15, 2011

“Some people come who live 2 Km away, others who live but a few feet from the school do not come at all.” ~ Mr. Haran

Spencer and Stephanie returned to the primary school and I joined Moses at the kitchen. It seems there was no water at the spigot we had been using closest to the job site. I took buckets down to the pump at the teacher housing. The morning proceeded apace.

At tea/faculty meeting Mr. Haran spoke of how he had especially asked the teachers to attend some of the events like morning prayers to support the students even though they did not have duties then. Thus the above quote. Things seem to be the same everywhere.

At the end of the faculty meeting Mr. Haran began to speak to the faculty in Kiswahili. Afterwards he explained that the students often do not respect traditions and that the younger teachers do not instruct the students in the traditions and themselves do not support the traditions. Mr. Haran was trying to explain to the younger teachers that it was their responsibility to uphold the traditions and standards of behavior that they wish to see in the students. I mentioned that it was the same in the U.S.

Later after lunch when I returned to the kitchen I found that Moses had come up with an ingenious way to make a form for the corners of the buttress wall by using two benches. The second piece of good news was that the water began working close to the kitchen by the boys dormitory. The third piece of good news was that Spencer had joined us to help with the flinging of the cement.

The three members of the team met up again after work having enjoyed a successful day.