Quishi Misha

NOTE: The internet went down last night and this morning, so I couldn’t post this. I have been scoring tests and planning for tomorrow until very late, so no blog tonight (Friday). I really do need to tell you about the “bus” we rode in down the mountain today—later.

The Inspiration Assembly

The Project LIGHT students are changing and accepting every challenge we give them. Today we had the entire student body in an assembly (500 students) and our PLR students led them in an exercise called quishi misha which gets the whole room laughing. Then they demonstrated how it takes unity and cooperation to make things happen through a skit. These are young people who have had no resources or opportunities, and often no food or lodging. They have been victims over and over, and to see them leading 500 students, smiling and laughing, willing to look silly in front of them was heart-warming. Two of the girls and one of the boys could barely be heard when we started, even just to say their name. The assembly was to tell everyone what the plans are for helping them heal and never have a week again like last week, and to inspire them to see how much they have already healed. The energy and atmosphere at the school is palpably lighter. We found out another factor that helped trigger the trauma incidents. Two of the girls and their friends were having significant conflict, so the school called in the local constable to talk to them (Police were the first and large portion of the perpetrators in the genocide). While he was there one of the girl’s beds collapsed with a loud bang. That started the incidents.

We have only one more day of the wonderfully organized transformational leadership training because Richard has to go back to Tanzania. All of the exercises take much longer because not only does it need to be interpreted, but the students are just learning to think about things they have not memorized, have never heard of many of the concepts nor the words for them, and show the memory effects of trauma. Finally on Saturday Lori will do the individual interviews with all the students to hear their genocide stories—the plan was to have her do that on the first Tuesday, but you know about plans in Africa.

Shauna and I are loving the craft group. They are younger students (16 to 18) and wide-eyed about new ideas and the opportunities being given to them. Our interactions are so joyful. Nineteen of the 21 came today with bracelets they had finished. Not only did they create designs we had not thought of, but for most of them their handiwork was superior to ours. They all enthusiastically agreed to continue making bracelets and talk about partnering with a new company in Santa Barbara to make a business for the school. They agreed to give their bracelets to the company to sell for only the promise of getting to keep one at the end of next week. The PLR students will join them on Saturday. I took pictures of them in the classroom which seats 44 students. I also took a picture of the blackboard eraser—a piece of torn foam mattress.

I think I should explain why the students are older than the usual secondary school students. First, during and for about a year after the genocide there were no schools open. Many of these students could find no family and had no real place to live, so could not go to any school. They definitely did not have money to attend what we call a private school. So, they have missed years of education. The other primary factor is that trauma tends to freeze you at the emotional age when the trauma occurred. So sometimes their answers and actions reflect great wisdom, and at other times they show the innocence of elementary school.

My eyes are closing, and another amazing day awaits.