A Saturday at Tumaini
Today was a great day! It was a relaxing day with no schedule, so informal conversations and taking in life and normalcy with the people here. I had time to do a little studying as well as going over my sermon in the morning in preparation for tomorrow. I took a walk and interacted with the students and some of the staff who live here and were doing chores and hanging out on a non-school day. I was shown around by Moses and shown some of the projects we helped support, like the completed library with new books. I watched a “football” match on their pitch outside the wall and gate to the campus grounds. It was between two different grade levels. The younger boys beat the older ones. I don’t know that the girls kept score, for when I asked no one could answer (though it may have just been a communication problem – on my part). I came back and had dinner and informal conversation with some folks, and now writing my nightly blog prior to going to bed early before preaching tomorrow. We will go to the early/big service in the town’s parish, then come back to Tumaini to preach here for the students, faculty, and staff.
One of the things that impressed me today was watching them play “soccer.” Most didn’t have shoes, yet were running and kicking on this “field,” or pitch, that was like a mowed prairie. Some of the few who had shoes would take one off and share with another so that there were more who had at least one foot (their kicking foot) with a shoe on it. I don’t know that I could tell if that helped – they all seemed very capable with or without shoes.
The other thing that impressed was the sincere gratitude for the library and improvements at the school (books, a dedicated library space, a wall that isn’t completed – which I’ll talk more about tomorrow). The next project that they’ve just started is rebuilding a science classroom with laboratory. They have now put electricity into the room and started building some bench height tables. The teachers are thrilled with the improvements. The kids seem grateful (and I’m assured they are), but they really want a couple more “footballs” (soccer balls), for they only have two for the whole school. A wall is nice, so is a library, but if I was a kid, I’d want more soccer balls too! I’m seeing what I can do about that.
“Football”