Visiting Schools in the Bush

Another cool thing about Bendele is the air-hanger. There are two planes in Bendele. I was lucky enough to fly in one of them. I never realized how tiring flying can be.  We had a hour flight. There were sights to see, games to play, and 3 other passengers I could have talked to. The combination of the heat, altitude, and vibration quickly put me to sleep.  I was up for the first twenty minutes of the trip, but could no longer keep my head up. It was a nice little power nap.

I woke up before landing.  It was funny to see everyone in the village below stopping whatever they were doing to look up at the plane.  The children were jumping and waving hoping we were waving in return. The landing zone was the main road in the village.  We flew over the dirt road to make sure it was clear. There were 100+ cows on the road that the herders had to move them out of our way so we could land.  

Approximately 200 people came to greet. People came from the field, with tools in hand, just to get a good look at the plane and its occupants. The purpose of the trip was to see how the adventist school was doing. So, we locked the airplane tight and pushed through the crowd toward the school.  (There was a guard standing watch so no one would touch the plane).

The school was a small pavillion. There were two classes under the pavillion and one other class under the mango trees.  The two lower level classes, which were under the pavillion, had about 50 students per class. The class under the mango tree - the older kids - only had 15 students. There were 4 other teachers sitting idly because they had no room to teach.  The school has morining and evening classes so they can teach every grade. 

Around 50 children were mobbing us during the short tour of the school and the walk to the principle's house for a meeting. They would start following behind us. Everyone was pushing to get a good spot.  Soon the children would run in front and look back at us.  By the end of the cycle there would be a circle of inquisitive eyes around us. Let's be real, it was really annoying. 

Charis had also come on the trip, and Garry's daughter Sharise. (I forgot to mention that Garry is the pilot). On the way back to the airplane Charis and I realized that Garry and Sharise were the main attraction.  Everyone would push past us and run to Sharise in specific. Our theory was that we weren't nasara enough because both Charis and I are black, while Sharise and Garry are white.  Many people didn't realize we were nasara until they heard us speaking English or saw our clothing. I didn't mind at all.  Both Charis and I slowly drifted from Garry and Sharise and the crowd around us lessened.  

To bad the crowd around the plane had grown. There was easily 400 people around the plane. We had to yell at them to get back, slightly pushing people out of the way in order to board the plane. In frustration Garry turned on the engine to scare most people back. It worked.  We got into the plane and prepared for take off.  

Like motos and cars, the children tried to chase the plane and grab onto it.  Thank God the airplane was too fast. It would be a horrendous accident if a child grabbed the plane. There are so many things in addition to a school education that these people need to learn.  Basic safety lectures about not grabbing vehicles is one of the many lessons needed.