Moonwalking on the football field

On a football (soccer) field today I watched a boy doing some funky dance moves and I asked him if he knew how to moonwalk. When he looked puzzled, I showed him my moves. Of course I had all the kids laughing at me for that. :-)

Today we revisited a school that we went to earlier in the week. This particular school, like many others in Sudan, is in need of great repairs. The walls are falling apart and infested with rats. One classroom had no desks, only benches made of mud bricks. In another classroom, two teen boys sat on the window sills, one reading a book, the other wearing sunglasses and observing the people passing by. The classroom was dark so the light shining in from outside silhouetted their figures. I would love to post a photo here, but since it might be used in the magazine, it will have to wait.

I spent the next hour or so hanging out with the students in these classrooms that were falling apart. Most of them were preparing for an exam the next week that would get them into secondary school, if they pass. They were impressed by my few words in Arabic and that I knew how to write my name. One intelligent young man told me, "keep working hard. Keep studying Arabic. It is good to know many languages, French, Arabic, English...that way we can communicate even better."

Today I felt my heart grow for the children in the school, especially for the students I met there. They are so bright and eager to learn. I want them to pass all their exams and get the education they deserve. As I watched them play football outside, I thought about how many students in the U.S. take their education for granted. They complain about going to school and can't wait to be done with it. Here many kids haven't even had the chance to go to school because of war or because there isn't one close by or because there are no teachers.

Well, I want to post this before our generator gets turned off...I might add more later.

We're flying to Rumbek in the morning! I don't know what internet will be like there, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to blog daily. It has been nice to have time to reflect on this trip and to share photos on the blog.

One of the students took the photo of me in the classroom. The other is of the boys playing soccer. I didn't want to show faces since the pics may show up in the magazine so I have to save them for that.