Ojara Geoffrey Ojiri

THERE ARE 3 NEW POSTS TODAY. I would suggest to you that when you read this blog. You page down to where you left off, and then start reading. I think some of the stories will be much better in chronological order.

So this morning, I woke up again and jumped into a nice cold shower. It really is a delight to wake up and take a cold shower. I am thinking of this tonight because we currently do not have water, and I have played basketball and volleyball today. I am really hoping some time in the next 10 hours we get water. If not it will be shower by baby wipes tomorrow morning. So what did I do today. Good things, so keep reading. Started this morning again, with assembly at Awere. Nyeko Alfred and I started working on some problems students have brought us. So we did not make anymore progress on grading their midterms. Grades are different here because they get progress reports, but the entire year is based on the end of year exams. So it was just kind of a regular morning. I was about to leave but then I showed Alfred my Sudoku in an old USA Today, and we worked together to solve it. The afternoon was to be spent shadowing one of the mentors that work with the Gulu students who are on scholarship with IC funds. Being a mentor is a highly competitive, and it is a job where Ugandans want the position. So the quality of mentors is quite strong. I had some extra time, so I walked to the IC office which is about a 22 minute walk. Along the way, the Crested Crane school was letting out for lunch, and so was another school with thousands of young kids. It was amazing, there were so many kids walking and laughing. I had a crew of about 20 kids following me. They were laughing and talking in Lwo the entire time. We all had a blast just walking down the street. Then I met up with Ojara Geoffrey Ojiri (Geoffrey), we hopped on his motorbike, and traveled for a while on the major streets out of town, until we started riding down paths that I thought were too small for a motorbike. This was a village of traditional huts, just like Awere, circular walls made out of mud bricks, and a thatched roof. We found the one where Denis, his student was staying. Denis has been suspended for two weeks for several offenses the most serious one having a small amount of alcohol with him. Denis invited us into his house. I had to duck quite severely to get inside. Once inside, there were handmade chairs he invited us to sit on. They were low to the ground, and I was thinking they might break, considering I was a “man of large mass”. I not only fit, but it was surprised about how solid the chair was. It was made out of what looked like twigs and several small branches, but it looked nice and it was solid. Geoffrey allowed me to listen to him mentor Denis, and I told him about kids that I knew in St. Louis, and East St. Louis who had also overcome obstacles to achieve. As the conversation, progressed it was obvious that Denis was embarrassed about his behavior and was slightly embarrassed that I was there, but I had the feeling that he was a pretty good kid. They both laughed when I told him that because although they use the word kid, it usually refers to the small ones. Btw, while we were inside there were 5 or 6 kids giggling outside of the door. This family had done a pretty good job of making the small circular space home. It looks like they had divided the circular floor plan into three rooms. There is a space underneath the thatch roof and it actually had pretty good air flow. I was able to tell Denis that we both believed in him, and that I would check back with Geoffrey about his progress. He will have to study for his mid-terms(not quite the same) over the next week or so at home. I believe in him and hope he will succeed. It has been a bad week for Denis as his brother went to the hospital and died. I do not think he has other siblings. He has an aged mom and an even more aged grandmother. Geoffrey described Denis as a very bright student when he first went to school, he was a clever learner. He was abducted and spent time as a child soldier, until he was able to find his way back. Then he did not go to school for two years. So this is the struggle for Denis, does he have enough strength and personal resolve to overcome the enormity of these obstacles. You all know that I believe he can do this, but maybe tonight you can include him in your prayers, and also a man named Ojara Geoffrey Ojiri, he is certainly fighting the good fight, and the other 21 students he is mentoring. I know that is what I will be doing, seems like a more worthwhile prayer than praying for the water to come back so I can take a cold shower.

john

ps and today I remember that after the enormity of suffering I saw in the Awer camp, that the world will be saved by thousands of little tasks and great people helping one person one at a time. Thanks Geoffrey