Why a Pencil Matters

This evening there was a storm. We walked out into the pouring rain and got absolutely soaked, and then I decided to shower out in the open—when it was still raining! It was an interesting experience, but probably not one I would want to repeat very often. It is so cold here when it rains! I am not complaining though; it is a nice relief from the persistent heat of Hong Kong.
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I took for them today pencils and erasers from the supplies we’d picked up at Nairobi. They were so excited, you’d have thought that they had received new laptops instead of simple pencils (I can’t imagine what their reaction would be if they do get computers—sadly, I don’t think I have very much need to).  Just pencils and erasers, worth less than fifty shillings—sixty cents—but new, unused, and theirs alone. I think back to the fancy pens and stationery sets I have at home, the dozens of pencils and erasers lost and never found, never finished. They use theirs to a stub.

Teaching does not get much easier, although I was slightly more prepared today. I also brought in my camera and took photographs of the class. I had all the best intentions, of course—I thought it would be a treat for them, and it clearly was. But when they ran outside to pose in front of the school crest (that surprised me—I hadn’t known it was there, out of sight, painted at the side of the building), I had second thoughts. Not all the kids were in today, and they wanted all sorts of arrangements, and they all wanted to take turns at using the camera. And it was break-time, so half of the entire school was outside, and I felt terrible that I couldn’t take photos for them too. I have the files now, and I have to figure out a way of getting them printed for the kids. I’m still not so sure it was a good idea. But now I know, and next time I will be more careful.