A great day at school

I'm racking my brain, trying to think if I've ever had a better day at school here. It's tough to think of anything... at worst, I could count those days on one hand. Today was great. I'll explain.

The day started off well when I overslept but still got to school on time thanks to some leftover dinner that served admirably as an instant breakfast (usually I make this weird hot cereal thing called Morvite which takes more time). I got to school in time for morning assembly, after which a student of mine, Tlalane, approached me.

[Some back story before I can continue. I've recently been able to obtain scholarships for nine of my brightest students at school through the Lesotho RPCV community. Tlalane is one of the nine. She's new to the school, she's in Form D at only 16 years old which is on the young side. I came to be close with her early in the year, after realizing she was smart but that she had fallen in with slacker-ish students. I could tell it was affecting her work in Maths and Biology, so I challenged her to do better. She responded full force, becoming one of the top students in the class. She also began seeking me out to chat on a daily basis. I soon found out that she had a little baby. I decided she ought to be a scholarship recipient, because a little extra cash would surely go a long way for a 16 year old mother. I submitted the scholarship money to the school yesterday, and told all the recipients they should write letters of thanks to the donors ASAP.]

Tlalane said to me, almost in a whisper, "Sir, I'm sorry that I have not yet finished the thank you note for those people." This was no problem, though, because no one else had either. Then she added, "But this one is for you," and she handed me a folded piece of paper. It was profoundly gratifying. I won't write the whole thing, but here are some excerpts...

"It has been a while not knowing what to say. I am extremely delighted to write this letter to you, Sir."
"My family and I was over the moon when I told them that the scholarship you promised before was approved. First of all I thank you for showing your hardworking job as a volunteer teacher at this school keep it up! :)"
"I did not write the exams of June very well because my mom was very ill at that time, so we did not sleep at night..."
"My dream is to go far away with Biology because that's my favourite."

Such acknowledgments are few and far between for PCVs, and as such they carry a lot of weight. So the day was off to an excellent start.

In Biology class, I moved speedily through a short lesson, then gathered everyone around to watch a movie. I always loved movies in class when I was a student. But it's even better here, because honestly, I believe this is the second time it's happened in my students' lives. We just got electricity at school, meaning I can bring my computer to class. I've been teaching all about plants, so we watched the episode of Life about plants. It's incredible, and they loved it as much as I did. Fun, and educational!


As I left class, some boys followed me out to tell me how much they enjoyed the show...

[More back story: Yesterday when I was out running after work, I ran past a student of mine, Tsepo, who was also running (this was a first, Basotho don't often run for exercise). We chatted for a while, and I noticed he was wearing tons of sweaters, coated by a rain coat and rain pants. I asked why he was wearing them, and he told me he wanted to be thin. Extremely unusual, and also, not healthy. I told him we should talk tomorrow, ie today.]

...one of them was Tsepo. We began talking about why running in a coating of plastic is unhealthy. This led to a very enjoyable conversation about how to eat and exercise to be healthy and (hopefully) also look good. I demonstrated lemon squeezes on the dirty ground, which drew laughter from female passersby. But the boys were eager to brush off my backside for me. It's a testament to how long I've lived here that I didn't find it unsettling. 

Later on, my principal pulled me into his office. I was unsure what it was about, but he just wanted to take a moment to thank me for getting those scholarships. Odd. Those who've spoken to me know have surely heard about the sort of person he is, and how uncommon it is for a teacher at his school to be treated with dignity. But alas, he liked that I brought in nearly $1000, and I appreciated the gesture.

And finally, maybe the best thing that happened today. Actually it warrants its own post, so I'll do that.