The Power of Joy
When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children.
Mark 10: 13-16
I am so thankful for a normal Monday after what was an exciting and eventful weekend here at KEMPS! Saturday was our seventh grade graduation followed by “Children’s Sunday” yesterday at church. The entire school had been preparing for this weekend for the past month- deciding on songs to be performed, choosing students to do special presentations, sending invitations, putting together committees of teachers to make sure all duties were delegated and handled properly. But the final days before the big event were completely dedicated to preparations.
Wednesday afternoon the entire school gathered in the cafeteria/chapel for a rehearsal. Then on Thursday the teachers met to discuss the different grade level performances and discussed what should be improved before the Thursday afternoon intensive practices with each group. Each teacher was assigned a grade level and was expected to teach them either a skit, song, or dance to present at the graduation ceremony. I was given 2nd grade and had spent every afternoon for the past two weeks with them, practicing a folk dance from my elementary music teacher days to Bruno Mars’s “Uptown Funk”. I also worked with the seventh graders to teach them a dance I had learned way back when I was in middle school and they were so excited to perform it for their parents and friends. Every practice they guarded the doors and windows to the cafeteria, trying to keep their dance a secret from the other students who were trying to watch and follow along.
Friday was dedicated to “cleanness” of the school compound. The teachers met first thing in the morning and divided up every area of campus between the different grade levels. Every class, even preschool, had an area to clean. From mopping classrooms to cleaning the teachers’ restrooms, to picking up litter, and using their hands to rake up scraps of the freshly mowed grass- there was something for everyone to do. The teachers were then assigned an area to supervise. Teacher Laudia and I supervised the fourth graders as they picked up litter, swept dirt paths, pulled weeds, and removed tree limbs from the largest area of the school compound. The students happily went to work, the girls singing songs to encourage them to work quickly.
As I watched these 9 and 10 year old boys and girls cleaning their school, I thought about the custodians at my school back in Texas. I thought about how hard they work every day and how little income they make. I thought about what the students (and parents!) would say if they were asked to clean the school bathrooms and rake the grasses with their hands to prepare for a performance or fifth grade graduation. I know I am living in a different world, and it’s not fair to compare, but I can’t help it. When I think about what character and skills are being instilled in my students here at KEMPS when they are given the responsibility of caring for the “cleanness” of their school, I can’t help but think what would happen if we focused on developing those skills in our schools back in the U.S.
After the fourth graders had finished their area, I noticed the preschool students who were supposed to be picking up litter in front of their classroom, had gotten bored and were playing and fighting instead. I called them over and gave them the task of finding all of the large stones that were scattered across the open space between my house and their classroom. They literally squealed with excitement. They ran to find as many stones as they could and they ran back to me with their hands full yelling, “Teacher! Teacher! Look me!” “Wow!!” I said, eyes big, gesturing over enthusiastically, and they laughed and ran to find more stones. It took about 10 minutes for them to clear the entire area. So, we moved over to the dirt path leading up to the cafeteria. Some areas were relatively clear, but others were covered in small, gravel like, stones. I knew we would never be able to remove all the stones, but with nothing else for them to do, I figured, why not? “Ok, preschool!” I said “We have a big job here. We need to pick up all these small stones and make the path nice and clean. Can we do it?” “YES!” they screamed, and immediately went to work scooping up handfuls of gravel and setting them to the sides of the path. They continued running to me, hands overflowing, seeking my excited approval. I showed them how to use the side of their foot to move the stones to the side of the path and they all copied, slowly but surely clearing the path. After about 20 minutes I was honestly amazed to see that they had cleared all of the tiny stones from the entire path, and a girl had taken a grass broom and was sweeping the dirt to make sure no small pieces of gravel were left behind. The preschoolers beamed with pride as I complimented them on their hard work. I called over every teacher who passed to admire the beautiful path and they clapped for the tiny little helpers. Even the older students who passed by cheered for them and their smiles were just priceless. After a morning full of moving stones, they were rewarded with a YouTube video of silly songs, which, for them, is like winning the lottery. It was one of the best days I’ve had in a long time.
In the evening, the seventh graders wanted to practice their dance one last time. Then they worked together to braid large palm leaves that would mark the entrance to the chapel. A barber came to school to give them all fresh haircuts for their special day, and, after dinner and bathing, the girls all piled in my room to paint their nails. Since they were only allowed to use clear polish on their fingernails, they took the opportunity on their toes to use every color of polish I had. They laughed and fussed and helped each other, and by the time they left the entire house smelled like nail polish and there were plenty of little specks of red and pink and purple on my concrete floors. As they were finishing up one girl said, “I’m so excited I know I won’t sleep at all tonight!” all the other girls agreed.
The next morning they were back at my door first thing, all dressed and ready for their special day. “Teacher, please can you help us perfume? And if you have a pencil for our eyebrows? And maybe something for our lips?” The fifteen girls once again packed into my room, passing the different perfumes back and forth, most of them applying more than one to their wrists and necks. They divided themselves between the two bathrooms to apply the black eyeliner pencils and a tinted lip balm I found. They were beaming and giggling with excitement.
The program started at nine o’clock with a short worship service, followed by the procession of the graduates and the beginning of the graduation program. There weren’t many parents there at the beginning of the ceremony (African time), but by an hour in the chapel was packed. The grade levels performed, and the parents cheered, phones in their hands, recording everything. The seventh graders left pieces of candy on the stage for performances that they liked the most and the teachers gave coins and small bills. A little after noon, when all of the grade levels had performed, the students were taken outside to eat while the seventh graders and parents remained in the hall to listen to several special guest speakers. The ceremony finished (after about five hours) with the presentation of certificates to the graduates, who were met up front by their families, arms full of gifts and flowers, to take pictures on the stage. There was so much love and joy in the chapel, and when it was finally time for lunch, my cheeks were sore from smiling.
We had a delicious lunch of special rice, meats, vegetables, and soda. Once everyone had eaten, the families of the graduates chose a spot around the campus and laid out a mat on the grass. Some had come with more food, their own sodas, and everyone had a cake and gifts for their graduate. Family members and other students gathered together, singing and dancing and celebrating the exciting occasion. Some families hired their own photographers to take pictures as their graduate cut the cake, popped the non-alcoholic champagne, and opened their gifts. Others had brought their own small tables and decorations. As I walked around the compound watching my sweet students surrounded by the people who love them, my heart swelled. What a wonderful day. No wonder they were so excited!
Once the parents had left, the students started working to move chairs back to where they belong and clean up the campus. The seventh graders, still dressed in their fancy clothes that their families had brought for them, walked around cutting large pieces of extra cake and giving them to all the teachers. By the end of the night we had two huge plates full of cake in our fridge (which Joseph and I ate the next morning for breakfast). There was giggling and commotion around the campus until way past normal bedtime that night. You could tell they just didn’t want the day to end.
But Sunday morning came with more excitement and festivities. Since it was Children’s Sunday, and our church is made up of pretty much all children, everyone had a special role to play in the service. The students started by processing from the front gate all the way to the church, singing and holding bouquets of flowers which they had collected from around campus. During the service, all of the many choirs performed special songs, and a small group performed a skit. We sang hymns about being children of God and Teacher Laudia preached on Mark 10:13-16, where Jesus tells his disciples "Let the children come to me". At the end of the service the bouquets of flowers were “auctioned” off to the teachers and then the students were given gifts of candy, cookies, and juice. They ran around campus in their fancy church clothes, singing and laughing and enjoying their sweets before their special lunch and a day of no chores, just playing and relaxing.
Although stressful and exhausting, seeing the incredible joy among the students of KEMPS made this weekend totally worth it. There is nothing like the joy of children, and being surrounded by it daily, sometimes I forget how powerful it can be. I forget how it can make all of the bad in our world seem powerless and the worries we carry with us fade away. I wish I could bottle up that joy and keep it with me for the days when the darkness closes in and I can’t see a way out. I wish I could bottle it up and give it away when someone I love is struggling and needs to know that everything will be okay, someday, somehow. Unfortunately, we can’t bottle that joy and keep it with us, but we do have something with us always that is just as powerful. Do I even need to say it? The love of our awesome God? How blessed are we to have something so powerful with us always? Even in the times when we feel like there’s no light powerful enough to overcome the darkness we are facing, and if there was, we wouldn’t be deserving of it, it’s still right there with us. And through prayer we can give that love to others- to those who need the kind of love and comfort and healing that we are incapable of giving ourselves. What an incredible gift from an incredible God.
Wednesday afternoon the entire school gathered in the cafeteria/chapel for a rehearsal. Then on Thursday the teachers met to discuss the different grade level performances and discussed what should be improved before the Thursday afternoon intensive practices with each group. Each teacher was assigned a grade level and was expected to teach them either a skit, song, or dance to present at the graduation ceremony. I was given 2nd grade and had spent every afternoon for the past two weeks with them, practicing a folk dance from my elementary music teacher days to Bruno Mars’s “Uptown Funk”. I also worked with the seventh graders to teach them a dance I had learned way back when I was in middle school and they were so excited to perform it for their parents and friends. Every practice they guarded the doors and windows to the cafeteria, trying to keep their dance a secret from the other students who were trying to watch and follow along.
Friday was dedicated to “cleanness” of the school compound. The teachers met first thing in the morning and divided up every area of campus between the different grade levels. Every class, even preschool, had an area to clean. From mopping classrooms to cleaning the teachers’ restrooms, to picking up litter, and using their hands to rake up scraps of the freshly mowed grass- there was something for everyone to do. The teachers were then assigned an area to supervise. Teacher Laudia and I supervised the fourth graders as they picked up litter, swept dirt paths, pulled weeds, and removed tree limbs from the largest area of the school compound. The students happily went to work, the girls singing songs to encourage them to work quickly.
As I watched these 9 and 10 year old boys and girls cleaning their school, I thought about the custodians at my school back in Texas. I thought about how hard they work every day and how little income they make. I thought about what the students (and parents!) would say if they were asked to clean the school bathrooms and rake the grasses with their hands to prepare for a performance or fifth grade graduation. I know I am living in a different world, and it’s not fair to compare, but I can’t help it. When I think about what character and skills are being instilled in my students here at KEMPS when they are given the responsibility of caring for the “cleanness” of their school, I can’t help but think what would happen if we focused on developing those skills in our schools back in the U.S.
After the fourth graders had finished their area, I noticed the preschool students who were supposed to be picking up litter in front of their classroom, had gotten bored and were playing and fighting instead. I called them over and gave them the task of finding all of the large stones that were scattered across the open space between my house and their classroom. They literally squealed with excitement. They ran to find as many stones as they could and they ran back to me with their hands full yelling, “Teacher! Teacher! Look me!” “Wow!!” I said, eyes big, gesturing over enthusiastically, and they laughed and ran to find more stones. It took about 10 minutes for them to clear the entire area. So, we moved over to the dirt path leading up to the cafeteria. Some areas were relatively clear, but others were covered in small, gravel like, stones. I knew we would never be able to remove all the stones, but with nothing else for them to do, I figured, why not? “Ok, preschool!” I said “We have a big job here. We need to pick up all these small stones and make the path nice and clean. Can we do it?” “YES!” they screamed, and immediately went to work scooping up handfuls of gravel and setting them to the sides of the path. They continued running to me, hands overflowing, seeking my excited approval. I showed them how to use the side of their foot to move the stones to the side of the path and they all copied, slowly but surely clearing the path. After about 20 minutes I was honestly amazed to see that they had cleared all of the tiny stones from the entire path, and a girl had taken a grass broom and was sweeping the dirt to make sure no small pieces of gravel were left behind. The preschoolers beamed with pride as I complimented them on their hard work. I called over every teacher who passed to admire the beautiful path and they clapped for the tiny little helpers. Even the older students who passed by cheered for them and their smiles were just priceless. After a morning full of moving stones, they were rewarded with a YouTube video of silly songs, which, for them, is like winning the lottery. It was one of the best days I’ve had in a long time.
In the evening, the seventh graders wanted to practice their dance one last time. Then they worked together to braid large palm leaves that would mark the entrance to the chapel. A barber came to school to give them all fresh haircuts for their special day, and, after dinner and bathing, the girls all piled in my room to paint their nails. Since they were only allowed to use clear polish on their fingernails, they took the opportunity on their toes to use every color of polish I had. They laughed and fussed and helped each other, and by the time they left the entire house smelled like nail polish and there were plenty of little specks of red and pink and purple on my concrete floors. As they were finishing up one girl said, “I’m so excited I know I won’t sleep at all tonight!” all the other girls agreed.
The next morning they were back at my door first thing, all dressed and ready for their special day. “Teacher, please can you help us perfume? And if you have a pencil for our eyebrows? And maybe something for our lips?” The fifteen girls once again packed into my room, passing the different perfumes back and forth, most of them applying more than one to their wrists and necks. They divided themselves between the two bathrooms to apply the black eyeliner pencils and a tinted lip balm I found. They were beaming and giggling with excitement.
The program started at nine o’clock with a short worship service, followed by the procession of the graduates and the beginning of the graduation program. There weren’t many parents there at the beginning of the ceremony (African time), but by an hour in the chapel was packed. The grade levels performed, and the parents cheered, phones in their hands, recording everything. The seventh graders left pieces of candy on the stage for performances that they liked the most and the teachers gave coins and small bills. A little after noon, when all of the grade levels had performed, the students were taken outside to eat while the seventh graders and parents remained in the hall to listen to several special guest speakers. The ceremony finished (after about five hours) with the presentation of certificates to the graduates, who were met up front by their families, arms full of gifts and flowers, to take pictures on the stage. There was so much love and joy in the chapel, and when it was finally time for lunch, my cheeks were sore from smiling.
We had a delicious lunch of special rice, meats, vegetables, and soda. Once everyone had eaten, the families of the graduates chose a spot around the campus and laid out a mat on the grass. Some had come with more food, their own sodas, and everyone had a cake and gifts for their graduate. Family members and other students gathered together, singing and dancing and celebrating the exciting occasion. Some families hired their own photographers to take pictures as their graduate cut the cake, popped the non-alcoholic champagne, and opened their gifts. Others had brought their own small tables and decorations. As I walked around the compound watching my sweet students surrounded by the people who love them, my heart swelled. What a wonderful day. No wonder they were so excited!
Once the parents had left, the students started working to move chairs back to where they belong and clean up the campus. The seventh graders, still dressed in their fancy clothes that their families had brought for them, walked around cutting large pieces of extra cake and giving them to all the teachers. By the end of the night we had two huge plates full of cake in our fridge (which Joseph and I ate the next morning for breakfast). There was giggling and commotion around the campus until way past normal bedtime that night. You could tell they just didn’t want the day to end.
But Sunday morning came with more excitement and festivities. Since it was Children’s Sunday, and our church is made up of pretty much all children, everyone had a special role to play in the service. The students started by processing from the front gate all the way to the church, singing and holding bouquets of flowers which they had collected from around campus. During the service, all of the many choirs performed special songs, and a small group performed a skit. We sang hymns about being children of God and Teacher Laudia preached on Mark 10:13-16, where Jesus tells his disciples "Let the children come to me". At the end of the service the bouquets of flowers were “auctioned” off to the teachers and then the students were given gifts of candy, cookies, and juice. They ran around campus in their fancy church clothes, singing and laughing and enjoying their sweets before their special lunch and a day of no chores, just playing and relaxing.
Although stressful and exhausting, seeing the incredible joy among the students of KEMPS made this weekend totally worth it. There is nothing like the joy of children, and being surrounded by it daily, sometimes I forget how powerful it can be. I forget how it can make all of the bad in our world seem powerless and the worries we carry with us fade away. I wish I could bottle up that joy and keep it with me for the days when the darkness closes in and I can’t see a way out. I wish I could bottle it up and give it away when someone I love is struggling and needs to know that everything will be okay, someday, somehow. Unfortunately, we can’t bottle that joy and keep it with us, but we do have something with us always that is just as powerful. Do I even need to say it? The love of our awesome God? How blessed are we to have something so powerful with us always? Even in the times when we feel like there’s no light powerful enough to overcome the darkness we are facing, and if there was, we wouldn’t be deserving of it, it’s still right there with us. And through prayer we can give that love to others- to those who need the kind of love and comfort and healing that we are incapable of giving ourselves. What an incredible gift from an incredible God.
Mungu akubariki,
Allee
If you would like to donate towards my work in Tanzania, you can send donations electronically using:
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Alison Gomulka
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77845
Preschooler, Neema, picking up rocks on "cleanness" day.
The seventh graders performing their dance at graduation on Saturday.
Working hard to find all of the stones!
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