My new son

I think I've found someone to adopt. Our field director said she had one,
and there was a decent chance we'd come across someone too.you come across a
kid who's bright and motivated, but who has just been dealt a raw hand, and
you take care of a few things for em.



I was just thinking to myself today, man, I'm just not going to ever get to
really talk to someone here. I mean I've been in Divundu a month, but no
one really seems to want to sit down and talk to me (it's why I'm on my 6th
book in as many weeks). There are the learners that hang out constantly in
my house, but whenever I try to talk to them all I get is
"fine/good/thank-you madam". I realize it's a language thing, but it
doesn't make the loneliness any easier to deal with. But today a friend of
one of the house-dwelling learners was over, Andreas. He saw me sort of
tuned out from the constant stream of Thimbukushu and started talking to me
in English, pretty darn good English! We got to chatting and turns out he's
in my Grade 9 math class. The house-dwellers left after a while, but
Andreas and I kept talking.



He's 22 (and yes, in the 9th grade). His parents both died shortly after he
was born. After we'd been talking for a while I asked him how they died.
He said he didn't know. He's been looked after by his grandparents. A few
years ago they ran out of money so he had to sit out from school for a few
years. When he returned he failed the 8th grade a time or two. Now he
wants desperately to pass grade 9. But history and math are hard for him,
mostly because there's no textbook available for the learners. (Yep, it's
true, my grade 9s don't have a textbook. So I have to write the notes very
neatly on the board, and write out each and every homework problem
everyday.)



He said he's been wanting a calculator for a few years now but his
grandmother doesn't have the money. I asked how much the scientific
calculators were here and he said about $25NAM. (USD 3.13). I started
encouraging him to come over any time he had trouble understanding the math.
After a while I switched it up to, just come over for extra help with
anything. Thing is, this kid's English is pretty outstanding.better even
than some of the teachers. Plus he's got a fire in his eyes that is
noticeably absent from so many. I complimented him on his English and he
was thrilled.



We started talking about his plans for the future. I asked if he thought he
would fail this year, and he said NOOOO WAY. But then he backed off a
little and said he might not fail but he might have to take another break
from school. He can't afford the 3rd term. It's $60NAM in school fees and
$85NAM for the hostel. That is about $18US.



The conversation moved back to math.I told him how I'm coaching my grade
10's in their multiplication tables, and would he like to learn? YES! So I
grabbed a sheet of paper and started drawing the times-tables. It took a
little while, but we filled in rows 1-6. I could tell he was getting tired,
so I stopped, but he prodded me onward, no madam, I want to finish. At this
point it was 8pm on a Saturday night, and two sets of his friends had
already stopped by trying to get him to leave. We crawled through the rest.
Then another set of friends came in and I said, go on, "get out of here".
But he was proud of his work and showed them what we had made.



In the midst of all this I pulled out my computer to check on his scores in
my class. He was fascinated with the computer so I taught him out to use
the mouse and double click. Sheer amazement. Turns out he's borderline.he
may very well pass my class. I said, look, you come by anytime, all the
time, and we will work through stuff till you understand.



I've made up my mind that if he comes by even twice more I'm buying him a
calculator. And if I see more effort beyond that I'm buying his 3rd term.
However if anyone there wants to "sponsor an orphan", for a whopping $25US,
I will buy them a calculator and a term in school. Email me if
interested.you can just make a deposit in my account at any Chase (formerly
WAMU) and I'll withdraw the money and pay the class fees directly to the
school in cash. In my register class of about 25 learners, there are
approximately 9 orphans. And as you read in an earlier post, more are
orphaned every day.



Anyway, we'll see how Andreas does. My hopes are high.