Kids

 Did I mention that I teach some great children? 

Below are the two classes who I have been working with: Seven East and Seven West.

Class 7E with Mr John.

Girls from Class 7W

Lads from 7W: Jamal diving in. 

Lads from 7W: Galah Lito and John

The Speech

The Speech

Imagine you are about to sit the biggest exams of your life. You need to calm your mind, but you can't. You are so incredibly nervous. Now imagine that one of your classmates stands up and gives a speech...

This week, that's exactly what Chulayo did, minutes before his KCPE Maths Exam. 
Stirring stuff, as he shared his thoughts to encourage his classmates. 

If you're not able to view the photo, this was Chulayo's plan for his speech:

Be Strong and Courageous

1.When we are weak or discouraged how does God help us?
Romans 8v26 > Spirit helps us

2.When we are fearful and very anxious, how does God help us?
Isaiah41v10 > Always be with us to strengthen, help and hold us up.

3.How does God help us when we are weary and burdened?
Matthew 11v28-29 >God gives us peace.

4. Like No.1 >2 Thessalonians 2v16-17


Chulayo backs up all of his confidence in the words that come from God himself, as we find those words in the Bible.
(Check out those Bible verses - they're great!)

Inspirational stuff!

Chulayo is on the right - only a young lad!

Youth

You know the next time you complain that it's a bit squashed with three sitting in the back of the car? Check this picture out...

Off to church

The AIC church in Korr is thriving. Recently, I accompanied about a hundred youth, on the back of this truck, as we headed for the nomadic church for the Sunday service. Great trip, good times. 

It was great to see a good friend of mine, Abel, stepping up and preaching in Rendille. 

Abel

Nomadic Sunday service, in the school hall

We had time in the afternoon for lots of discussions and speeches. Abel was a busy man, co-ordinating various items.

Abel, chairing the meeting

For those who pray: please pray for these churches, the young people and leaders like Abel. 

Snow in the desert

Not been there. 

Not seen it on TV (I don't have one). 

Never even heard of it. 

When you are teaching children who live in the desert who have no television, few opportunities to travel, and almost no access to the library of photographs we see throughout our lives, it can present some challenges when you're attempting to explain things. 

Like snow. 

Try explaining snow to a class of children who have never seen snow. Never made a snowman. Never had a snowball fight. Never felt that cold. 

The other day, we were talking about the correct terms for homes in an English lesson and got to the word "igloo." 

"Some people actually live in houses made out of snow."

"Teacher, no... No!" 

"Really, they do!" 

It's funny trying to convince children of the seemingly impossible, when you know that it is a fact.

"But surely the snow house is too cold? Surely the house melts?" 

I thought I'd throw the newer phenomenon of 'ice hotels' into the conversation, just to really make them wonder. For these kids, there is a huge world out there, out of reach. 

(Will any of them make a 'snow angel' in their lifetimes?) 

As the lesson progressed we moved on to bears.

"So, where does a bear live?"

"What's a bear?" 

Stupidly, I hadn't expected that question.

"Hmmm, good question." Bears in Africa. What is a bear? Who took all the bears from Africa?

Eeee, I love my job!

Raw

With regret, this is a follow up to my last post.

What happened to the boy in question?

On the last day of September we buried Lopir Kiambati. His grave may be unmarked and a simple pile of stones, but I'll never forget him.

The second teenager to be lost to us in a month. Needlessly. In the land of no hospitals and no doctors, the tragedy of teenagers moving on to the next life just becomes part of life.

How I would love to see just one qualified doctor in Korr. 

It's hard to believe it's really true. His passing had been announced to the school staff just after 11am and by 6pm he was committed to the ground, with his shell-shocked classmates shuffling home.

I grieve for the loss of a warm-hearted lad who I've been teaching for over a year. I can't just shrug my shoulders and pretend that his death means nothing to me.

I'm comforted by the words of Jesus:

“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.” (John 11:25)

I was looking for a photo of Lopir and found this one of him in happier times. He's in the middle, holding the cup with his right hand. One of the lads! 

Where you live should not decide whether you live or whether you die

You hear stories of places where there is no doctor. I used to imagine places where huts cling to the edge of a forgotten volcano and yes, there's no doctor. Why would there be? Only a few people. Insanely remote. 

But what about Korr? 

There are a few thousand people here. They have mobile phones, education, churches and can even watch the English Premier League at the weekend... but there's no doctor. It's a ready-made situation for a skilled physician. The people are waiting. And they're dying.

Just over a year ago a child passed away due to not having the basic medicines for diabetes. 

This month a teenage girl died of tonsillitis in a nearby school. How is that even possible? Dying from tonsillitis. Let me paraphrase the local procedure. 

"You go to an old man who cuts your baby tongue (tonsils) out at the back of your mouth. Then you have to sit inside your home for a month or so. Don't socialise. You must drink no water."

Why did the girl die? Apparently because she drank water. 

But it doesn't end there. 

There's a boy in my class who hasn't turned up this month. He's had his 'baby tongue' cut out. And he's sat in his home, in the desert heat, under the instructions, "Don't drink water." He's weak. He's scared.

And I wonder if you can hear him today? 

In the words of Jesus:

"Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."

Uncomfortable with your own culture

A wise man once said:

“If you don't like the way the world is turning out, then there's no point shouting at the TV. Try this instead: Go and live in a major city and start to exercise some kind of positive influence. Cities are culture factories. Culture is made in the large cities of this world. Do what you can to influence the culture around you by living in a city. Raise a family. Create a legacy of culture-changers who influence media and politics.”

So what's that got to do with Korr?

This may take a little while to explain...

Let me take you to one of my favourite places in Korr – the TV cottage (okay, I don't know what to call it). There is a small rectangular building in Korr that regularly houses some fifty or so passionate football fans, for the latest offering from the English Premier League. Ahhh, the wonders of television. For ninety minutes each week I have a window into my own culture.

Last weekend, with Manchester United 3-0 up at half-time, I sat back on my plastic chair, looking forward to more of the same in the second half. Ali Abdi, the proprietor of the establishment, likes to flick through the channels at half-time and on this night he settled on a Hollywood blockbuster for fifteen minutes.

Not such a comfortable half-time break for me.

The blockbuster in question played out the usual kinds of scenes:

-sleazy moments, where a man makes sexual advances on a woman and she provides little resistance;

-swaggering 'bad guy' who makes evil appear like a whole lot of fun;

-a wide variety of gruesome ways to die, in glorious technicolour;

I was the sole representative of Western culture in the room. Of course, no one turned around and blamed me for the film, but I couldn't help feeling a little ashamed. Guilty by association? After fifteen minutes of squirming (watching 'my' culture), the football was back on and the film was forgotten. But I wonder what people from Korr must think when they consider my culture, when they see the Hollywood approach to life. Sure, the special effects were impressive, but the morality?

To your average Englishman, I know that I'm sounding prudish right now, but keep in mind, most people in Korr go to the mosque or church where purity is preached and they may see very little or nothing of the world of television, magazines and the Internet from one day to the next. I heard a guy comment on this once,

“The majority of teenagers in Korr are a bit like clean cotton wool. They are not corrupted by mass media like we are.”

They say that plastic bags are one of the great evils that the West have shared with the world, and I'm not denying that, but consider the effect of the 'entertainment' Western culture shares with the watching world. 

Maybe it's time to go and live in the city after all...

I do take heart from the words I find in the Bible that we can make a great difference wherever we are. Check out the words of Jesus, from the book of Matthew. 

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth... 

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."