I didn't think you'd come

My title comes from the words of one of my students today when I met him at his school. He's in Form 4, the last year of secondary school. It's an intense year for students since they spend most of the year preparing for the national exam that will take place in late October to mid-November. They won't find out their results until next February or March, to know whether they will be one of the lucky few to get government sponsorship to attend the university.

I had just seen him (let's say his name is Zach) on Saturday, when he brought his younger brother to our workshop for students in primary school. I was surprised to see him, since he's one of the students who is difficult to trace. His story is not too uncommon for a middle child of three boys who were orphaned by AIDS. His two brothers live with two different uncles in two different areas. Zach has stayed in the family home to make sure that it remains theirs. Land rights are not respected, particularly in an urban area, where traditional mud houses like his get knocked down when someone comes in with money to build something new.

He told me on Saturday that he's hoping to bring his younger brother "home" to live with him next year. Both he and his older brother are finishing secondary school this year and they want to live together in the simple home built by their parents - which I understand & admire, knowing that they will struggle to find casual labor jobs to put food on the table.

In the meantime, I told him today - it's game time. Now is the only chance he has to improve his results. He was inconsistent in going to school last year - which isn't uncommon for kids left on their own. As a result, he's far behind in his math skills and performing poorly in other subjects, in spite of being bright. We have a volunteer tutor set up to meet with him on Saturday & I'm not sure how much ground can be made up, but I want to encourage him as much as I can.

From what he said to me today, I wonder how many other adults have let him down. I know I'll never know his whole story, but today was a good reminder of the importance of just showing up.

Speaking of showing up ... we had a few new neighbors drop by our kitchen window

Busted! We realized that it wasn't the neighborhood crows that took a loaf of bread from the kitchen a few weeks back and left the bag outside.
The getaway ... down the drainpipe ...

and down the alley ...

... to the coconut tree. We had quite the stare down. I outlasted them, possibly because they were more entertaining to watch than I was.