It's hard to describe what we experienced today. In all of my visits to St. Thomas Moore School this was perhaps the most gratifying. And we received a goat--but I tell you about that later.
We arrived at the school around 10:30 am. We were greeted by about 10-15 students where we turn in to the driveway. Because today the government was taking the census for the school, most of the students had not yet gathered. Over the next 20 or so minutes students and teachers continued to arrive and we began the event. The headmaster, Alex, had one crutch with which he walked. When I inquired about what had happened, he told me that he had been in an accident in May of 2012. While riding his motorbike, he slammed into a car ahead of him and broke his right leg. He says he still has some pain, but that it is healing slowly.
There were many introductions as usual, and most many of the same people were there. The only person that I missed was Father Philip, the priest of the local parish who is the chair of the board. I like him and was sorry that he couldn't be there.
The first time that I visited the school, there were a total of 47 students, 12 of which were girls. Today there are 353 students, 150 of which are girls. The are expecting well over 400--perhaps as many as 600 students next year! The sense of heaviness has left the school several years ago, but there is an incredible sense of hope and "can do" attitude. The atmosphere at the school has completely changed.
The campus has changed remarkably as well. It has some of the most beautiful buildings in the district. So many schools still have run down buildings, but this is no longer the case at St. Thomas Moore. The few decrepit buildings still stand in stark contrast to the new ones. The new boys dorm that we paid for is complete and has 100 boys in it. When they are able to acquire bunk beds, they will double that number. We are paying for another duplex for teacher housing. Because of what we have been able to do for the school, the government has taken notice and has built two or three classrooms, two teacher duplexes, and has now paid for a science building.
Another thing that surprised me was they now have electricity. They don't have electricity from a power company yet, but they now have a generator, and some of the new building are wired for electricity and they have lights in the rooms. I was really stunned to discover that the government has purchased 21 computers for the school that Alex showed us. I would never have dreamed that the school would have computers this soon!
At one point in the early afternoon, we broke into two groups and attended a class. Blake, Katie, and I attended and English class with S-4s (seniors) and Charlie, Michelle, Cindy, Emily, and Patty sat in on an agricultural class with S-3s (juniors). Blake, Katie, and sat in on a lesson the teacher, Bosco, was teaching and we thought he did an excellent job. At the end, he invited the three of us up to share a little, and it was mostly Blake and Katie sharing what school was like for them.
Part of the celebration included planting trees. All of us had an opportunity to plant one at different places on the campus. The last tree we planted was an Umbrella Tree in front of the Boys Dorm. We took a lot of pictures of the plantings and afterward we took pictures in front of the new teacher housing they are constructing.
Of course some of the students did a demonstration of two tribal dances. We all jumped in and tried during the first dance and the student body laughed and laughed at us as we tried to dance. The second dance was more than we dared attempt, but enjoyed watching the students dance it.
After several speeches were given, my being the last, the art teacher presented an oil painting to us. He explained the meaning of it and gave us a written copy of what he told us. We're trying to figure out how to bring it back on an airplane.
After lunch we reconvened and said our good-byes. We were presented with a fairly large goat which we graciously accepted. The WVU drivers tied up its legs and put it in the back of one of the pick-up trucks we were riding in. (After we left, I told the Koro-Bobi manager that he could determine what to do with it, and he responded that they would give it to one of the poorest families. I thought that was a great idea and only asked that he give me the name of the family.) We said good-by and I gave a closing prayer, and we were off to visit the women who make beads.
All in all it was an incredible day.
We arrived at the school around 10:30 am. We were greeted by about 10-15 students where we turn in to the driveway. Because today the government was taking the census for the school, most of the students had not yet gathered. Over the next 20 or so minutes students and teachers continued to arrive and we began the event. The headmaster, Alex, had one crutch with which he walked. When I inquired about what had happened, he told me that he had been in an accident in May of 2012. While riding his motorbike, he slammed into a car ahead of him and broke his right leg. He says he still has some pain, but that it is healing slowly.
There were many introductions as usual, and most many of the same people were there. The only person that I missed was Father Philip, the priest of the local parish who is the chair of the board. I like him and was sorry that he couldn't be there.
The first time that I visited the school, there were a total of 47 students, 12 of which were girls. Today there are 353 students, 150 of which are girls. The are expecting well over 400--perhaps as many as 600 students next year! The sense of heaviness has left the school several years ago, but there is an incredible sense of hope and "can do" attitude. The atmosphere at the school has completely changed.
The campus has changed remarkably as well. It has some of the most beautiful buildings in the district. So many schools still have run down buildings, but this is no longer the case at St. Thomas Moore. The few decrepit buildings still stand in stark contrast to the new ones. The new boys dorm that we paid for is complete and has 100 boys in it. When they are able to acquire bunk beds, they will double that number. We are paying for another duplex for teacher housing. Because of what we have been able to do for the school, the government has taken notice and has built two or three classrooms, two teacher duplexes, and has now paid for a science building.
Another thing that surprised me was they now have electricity. They don't have electricity from a power company yet, but they now have a generator, and some of the new building are wired for electricity and they have lights in the rooms. I was really stunned to discover that the government has purchased 21 computers for the school that Alex showed us. I would never have dreamed that the school would have computers this soon!
At one point in the early afternoon, we broke into two groups and attended a class. Blake, Katie, and I attended and English class with S-4s (seniors) and Charlie, Michelle, Cindy, Emily, and Patty sat in on an agricultural class with S-3s (juniors). Blake, Katie, and sat in on a lesson the teacher, Bosco, was teaching and we thought he did an excellent job. At the end, he invited the three of us up to share a little, and it was mostly Blake and Katie sharing what school was like for them.
Part of the celebration included planting trees. All of us had an opportunity to plant one at different places on the campus. The last tree we planted was an Umbrella Tree in front of the Boys Dorm. We took a lot of pictures of the plantings and afterward we took pictures in front of the new teacher housing they are constructing.
Of course some of the students did a demonstration of two tribal dances. We all jumped in and tried during the first dance and the student body laughed and laughed at us as we tried to dance. The second dance was more than we dared attempt, but enjoyed watching the students dance it.
After several speeches were given, my being the last, the art teacher presented an oil painting to us. He explained the meaning of it and gave us a written copy of what he told us. We're trying to figure out how to bring it back on an airplane.
After lunch we reconvened and said our good-byes. We were presented with a fairly large goat which we graciously accepted. The WVU drivers tied up its legs and put it in the back of one of the pick-up trucks we were riding in. (After we left, I told the Koro-Bobi manager that he could determine what to do with it, and he responded that they would give it to one of the poorest families. I thought that was a great idea and only asked that he give me the name of the family.) We said good-by and I gave a closing prayer, and we were off to visit the women who make beads.
All in all it was an incredible day.
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