Days seem extremely long here...but then when it's time for lights out, it's a little hard for me to believe that another day has passed.
This morning Alisha and I went through the Primary level students school reports. They receive a report card at the end of the term which includes the number of points gained, their class ranking, teacher comments and tuition fees. While we were going through these reports, it was hard evidence as to why Kikulu's purpose is so important ("It's important" is what Kikulu means anyway)! Lets take a child in level P-4. The possible points they could earn in a term is 500. The amount they gained was only 190 - which is 38%. In the US, that is obviously failing...and not just failing...like were-you-even-present type of failing. Here is the kicker. This student who received 190 out of 500 for their end term grade was 10th in their class out of 40. That's the reality. And it's not just for P-4, it's for all grade levels. The higher the grade level, the lower the percentages. I don't care what country, no matter how rich or how poor - if a nation's education is this deficient, how could they ever expect to improve overall conditions without prejudice? There are many pointsb to address that contribute to the issue, like quality of schools, quality of teachers, financials, training, and the list goes on. Hopefully will touch on that later.
This afternoon was spent at the orphanage playing with the kids and doing some house keeping. Doors were cleaned and painted. Walls were prepped for painting. Building additions continued. As for myself, I did a little painting and then spent time playing with the kids. Reality hit me like a ton of bricks when I was walking by a girl who was tossing half of an old corn cob up in the air. So I had her toss it to me, which then led to seeing how far we could throw it, which then led to moving out to the front court yard and involving more people and throwing it even further. We literally played with half a corn cob for about an hour. There's no magic formula here - the kids just want interaction. As one of the helpers at the orphanage said, it's great for us to play with them because it takes their mind away from focusing on the fact that they don't have a mother or a father or they don't know where their siblings are. For a moment, we are their mothers and fathers and siblings. And that's what makes it all worth it.
This is Paul
