American Most Wanted

If everything goes as planned, six months from today I’ll be on American soil.  (O happy day!)  And in anticipation of the Land of Plenty, I’m sharing my American Most Wanted List.  This is by no means exclusive, but the things that I’ve most missed during my time in Africa… and the things that I’ve realized I’ve taken for granted the most--  never again!

·      - chocolate chips you don’t have to make yourself

·      - vacuum cleaners

·      - Chic-Fil-A

·      - washers & dryers

·      - electricity that’s always on

·      - internet that works

·      - water you can drink straight from the tap

·      - Lean Cuisine

·      - pizza that’s brought to your door

·      - amazing stores that have all the food you need in one place

·      - actual stores where you can buy new clothes

·      - houses where you won’t be invaded by flying ants or bugs that are literally trying to kill you

·      - toilets you can flush every time

·      - water heaters you don’t have to manually turn on

·      - places to visit within a 2-hour radius

·      - nightly news I can trust

·      - a living room suite you don’t have to throw big sheets of fabric over

·      - dog food from a bag

·      - church that doesn’t require an interpreter

·      - Coke bottles you can throw away

·      - Diet Cherry Limeade

·      - dishwashers

·      - ice cream from a store, not the back of a bicycle

·      - DVDs for sale that aren’t pirated

·      - movie theaters

·      - bowling alleys

·      - being able to leave home after dark without an escort

·      - life where diarrhea is the exception, not the rule

·      - mail delivered to your house

·      - cold weather… anything under 65° counts!

·      - clothes that don’t make me feel like a slob

·      - real shoes

·      - magic machines that give you coffee when you flip a switch

·      - bathrooms where shower curtains and toilet seats are standard equipment

·      - girlfriends

Sneaking Out

The Tuesday after Easter, I went to Mandela Secondary School to teach The Secret Things to Senior 3 girls (basically 10th grade).  As I came up the drive to the school, the path was covered with boys in the school uniform, standing with their trunks and mattresses outside the gate.  Immediately, I started trying to think why they would be dismissing students two weeks early for break.  Maybe they ran out of food and they had to send students home.  (You laugh, but it’s happened!)  Maybe they’re all just arriving back from Easter weekend.  Or maybe they’re just ending this term early. After maneuvering around all the (rather unhappy) boys and their belongings, I parked and got out.  I saw a large group of girls watching the commotion from inside the fence, so I asked them what was going on.

Sunday night over Easter weekend, about 75 boys had the bright idea to sneak away from school and go to the discos, and they stayed out until Monday morning.  (Keep in mind that most secondary schools are boarding schools, and that discos are a  major factor in the spread of AIDS in Africa. ) The school administrators were away because of the Easter Monday holiday, so when they arrived on Tuesday, they had to decide how to deal with this huge number of AWOL students.  All they boys who snuck out were suspended for the rest of the term, which is a big deal, since they’ve all paid to attend school.  They’ll miss the last two weeks of class, and their first-term exams, and they won’t be allowed to return to Mandela until next term begins at the end of May.

It turns out that the teachers, knowing teenage boys, had a sign-in sheet that the boys had to register on throughout the night.  They actually had to wake up in the middle of the night and sign in to prove that they were on campus.  Some of the boys who remained signed in for their friends who snuck out. When the teachers discovered this forgery, they chose a very ironic punishment.  They boy who snuck out, whose name was forged, was forced to cane (paddle with a wooden switch) the boy who signed in for him.  Imagine the guilt he felt, caning the friend who was “helping” him.

Having worked in the American public school system, I am a bit in awe of how the whole thing works.  There’s no disciplinary hearing or parent conferences.  A boy who left to buy avocados is in just as much trouble as the ones who went to the discos.  And none of this is private.  It’s all discussed out in the open, with all kinds of students and visitors (myself included) around.  Shoot- I knew what happened before I ever really set foot inside the campus!

Some of the boys who were sent away didn’t really care.  Some were angry.  But some were really upset. They know how much school fees are, and what a privilege it is to be able to attend.  And they know that missing two weeks of classes and exams will put their entire school year at risk.  They never thought that one night of chasing fun (and girls) would have such serious consequences.  And, sadly, it’s not just about school.  I’m willing to bet that there’s at least one more AIDS-infected student on the campus of Mandela SS, now that it’s all said and done.

Just one more reminder that the things we do make a lasting impact on our lives and the lives of those around us, for better or worse.  And that teenagers are all the same, all over the world.