Letter from Joseph in Kenya....

Today all our students spent the day at Catherine's home splitting firewood, fetching water and doing other chores. That's the solidarity within the TGD family. As from tomorrow, it will be in turns; We are splitting them into two groups. One in the morning and the other in the afternoon. Spending the night at the funeral is on voluntary basis, at least for today, tomorrow and Thursday. Friday will see the whole team spend the night at the funeral for the evening service and night vigil. Burial is of course on Saturday ( as usual, infront of the house next to the late Mr. Lihanda. Cemeteries are considered 'sites for the rejects' here in the rural. You've been in Kenya and I guess you know this.)


Catherine looks strong and composed. I thought it's because of the sizable presence of mourners who seem to give her and her siblings a feeling of , but just remembered that Catherine has always been strong. The sting of losing a mother is such a painful one, especially at such a tender age when Catherine is hardly 22 yet the eldest of the three. We pray that the hollowness, that ugly lonely spirit, will not rear its head once the morners have gone back to their homes leaving the family to face the future alone, without any parental love.



Away from the funeral. Yesterday we visited Truphosa in her school. She is at Lunza Secondary School, a high school with a population of approximately 500 students. I hadn't taken keen interest in Truphosa's academic progress ealier won. Yesterday's case was an eye-opener. To begin with, Truphosa actually received a calling letter from Butere Girls High School (where Jane is studying). Since she didn't have a sponsor by then, we had little to do about her, let alone enquiring about her academic nitty-gritty. Plus the confusion that was sorrounding her grade (remember the conflicting information about whether she was in Grade 6, 7 or 8?) So the truth is, on realizing that she couldn't raise the enormous Butere Girls' High School fees, her guardian resorted to taking her to Lunza Secondary School, which is a day school. She commutes from Imanga to Lunza (cant tell how many miles those are, but it's a long journey). In that condition, she managed to be position 15 out of 106. The most interesting bit is that she isn't alone. There is this student in the same class with Truphosa who scored very high marks - Jane had 333 and this particular girl scored 349 marks, all out of 500 - in her Kenya Certificate for Primary Education. She was also supposed to join Butere Girls High School but fate landed her in Lunza Seondary, a mixed high school of boys and girls, all because of the state of her family (well, she's never known who her father is and her mother has been remarried FIVE TIMES!) Ok. There she was, in the same class with Truphosa. She beat Truphosa by one position. She was position 14. The most encouraging thing is that fees in such a school is very affordable. They pay approximately US$150 for the whole year in fees alone. Other expenses like uniform and school shoes are to be bought separately. Tht's where our Truphosa goes to school. Oh! Her class teacher, Mr. Songa. A very sober, level-headed and rational man. He explained to us in details about life in Lunza Secondary School.