20 Feb 2025

Right after breakfast I attended for the first time the girls' morning assembly.  Thursday only the genders hold their own separate assemblies.  That began what turned out to be an event filled day.

I conducted my first class of the day in Grade 11 South looking at social intelligence and the workshop worked really well.  Then I headed to Grade 11 North.  Yesterday that class was cancelled leaving me with no choice but to work a double.  The class covered two exercises which worked very well.  Then what happened next was a 30 minute surreal experience with this same class.

I invited them to pose for pictures and you see the results below.  They were organized, loud, laughing, took my camera so they could put me in the photo.  They love to make fun of each other and me, and they were unihibited.  I have rarely laughed so hard.  

Then the next thing I knew a group of very talented young men wanted to sing songs and that started them on a parade of singing.  They put me in the middle of the class and the front four led the class who provided backup.  The sensation of being surrounded with focused young laughing singing people who should not be even alive was overwhelming, a mystical moment when time stood still, the light changed colour and my ears were filled with Christian music that they had written themselves.  It was the same four from the other day leading the class choir.  They did not want to stop.

Then they encouraged a couple of others to show off their "rap" style expressions.  I found myself a couple of times singing at the top of my lungs words of the chorus in their last song.

It took me nearly an hour to recover my composure I was so happy.  Raw joy of youthful voices embracing me with authentic affection and found in the backwoods of this African Country.  How cool is that!  Voices that belonged to youngsters who by necessity had to do anything just to eat.