“I will sing and make music with all my soul.” Psalm 108:1

Thursday 31 July 2008

I wondered at all the commotion this morning, as I heard the loud noises of desks being shifted and lots of chatter. As I entered the school room I saw the children carrying desks outside and discovered that today is cleaning day at the OMNI School. Tomorrow is the last day of school, and today is the day the teachers have designated for cleaning the school rooms and the yard. The children quickly removed all the desks and chairs from two of the classrooms while Ron and Teddy dismantled the two large tables the children have been using in the other classroom. The tables are actually dining tables for the house, but are serving a much needed purpose in the classroom now. The steel bases are in need of repair and will be transported to Twapia, to William the welder for repair and reinforcement. The yard was now covered with desks and the children stacked some chairs, and formed trains with others – sitting one behind the other in the line of chairs. When I looked back inside all I could see was a thick dark cloud circulating around the red of the children’s uniforms. Remember, this is the “dusty season”. Some of the boys were busy sweeping the floors, using the traditional brooms made from elephant grass. The brooms are only about 15” long and the grass is tied at one end with a small piece of leather or rope. The boys were bent over low, quickly moving the dirt and debris, eventually sweeping it outside onto the ground. While they were sweeping others were fetching water. One child did all the pumping, while the rest formed a procession filling containers and carrying the water. Some watered the garden and others brought buckets and pans of water for cleaning. The older children washed the walls – as high as they could reach standing on chairs, while others mopped the floors and washed the windows and doors. They cleaned according to what they are used to: the small traditional brooms, a thread-bare rope mop, water only as warm as it comes from the well, and no soap. The older boys were especially proud of their accomplishment in cleaning and requested a photograph, as cleaning is not typically for the older males in Zambia. The older girls inside began singing as they washed the windows and walls. The girls washing the windows outside joined in, and then I heard drumming. When I went outside to see who had brought a drum I found several boys using the desks as drums; beating the laminate tops with one hand and the metal side with the other, keeping perfect rhythm. It was like a magnet, and the children who were playing drew nearer, and all the children joined in singing. It was beautiful - children of all ages, working, playing and singing together. When one song would finish, you could hear another voice begin the next song almost immediately. And it wasn’t always an older, stronger voice. Often it was the soft voice of a small child which began, but the others always joined in. I wish I could tell you everything they were singing, but the only time I could join in was when one tiny little voice began “We are singing in the light of God...”