Thursday, January 15, 2009

Clinton

This is Clinton. He lives with Ben & Christine who run Gilgal High School. I met him when we first got here and had a sleepover at Ben & Christines back in August. Hes the quietest, cutest little kid. He grew up in the village but his mother passed away when he was young. His father was killed last year in the clashes and his grandmother not long after. All that to say he is a total orphan at the age of 11. Ben & Christine have taken him in and say hes a great addition to the family. He's kind and respectful and helps out around the house. Ive loved this kid since the night we had dinner at their house.

Christine told me how after he got his last marks from his previous primary school, they were concerned because they were very low. They said the primary school he attended was poorly run and Clintons education was suffering so they wanted to move him to a better school where he could recieve extra help in his schooling to catch up.

This is his first day at Greenfields Primary. Its a beautiful school and from talking to the head master and some of the teachers it looks like Clinton will get the attention he needs to perform well.




One of my favorite moments was when we were in town getting his uniform and he was just standing by himself staring off into space. I told Ben, "I wonder what he is thinking." Ben asked him and Clinton said he was watching the activity of the street in the reflection of the cupboard glass. He said it was like watching a movie. I think this kid is dam cute.

Gilgal

Today was our first day back at Gilgal High School. They closed back in November so we havent seen any of the students since then.
The first week of school usually fills in slowly, because the students might be coming from far away or not have all their school fees or books. Yesterday there were only about 6-8 students, more will show up throughout the week. Some are coming from as far away as Sudan.
I have missed the school and was definitely excited to be back and see the students

The girls and Christine


The guys...Edwin, the one with the tie around his head, is Head Boy...He takes it seriously



Tobias pretending to be revising


They really werent working that hard,it was all for show of the camera...


The class was pretty relaxed so the neighborhood kids joined us



This is about the extent of work that was done...quality picture-taking



This is one of my favorite students Silas. I call him "nini" with in Swahili means "what", because he says it all the time instead of actual words... I found out yesterday he wont be coming back, but instead going to a high school closer to where he is. I was really sad that I had to say goodbye, but at least I got to see him.


The girls wanted to show us the river where they get their water from. Its not an actual river, but a pipe that pumps clean water




Chumba...


Some of the neighborhood kids