Mr Jeng is very tall and slim with a ready smile and a calm air of authority. Only Quentin Blake could do him justice and draw him with any accuracy.
A highly respected and long serving head teacher, Mr Jeng was recently moved to Pakali Nding Lower Basic School. much in need of his expertise. This morning for the third time in recent weeks I had the pleasure of visiting the school to help draft the School Development Plan.
Each time I go I am collected by Mr Jeng in his car, an old, dark green Seat Toledo which has certainly seen better days but which is still reliable. Never-the-less there is something disquieting about sitting next to such a respected member of the community and watching him “hot wire” the engine to get it started.
We began the journey alone but soon gained two passengers who had been on the two hour walk to Pakali Nding. This was the morning’s return trip ! As is the custom, Mr Jeng simply pulled the car over and the women jumped in. Everyone exchanged greetings and off we went until we got to their destination at a corner shop. Outside stood a forlorn woman, dispatched by her family to buy the hundred weight bag of rice which lay at her feet. Much to her joy, the boot of the Toledo was opened and with great effort she, Mr Jeng and I managed to lift the bag inside. A short drive brought us to her compound where her husband sat under the mango tree! I wish we could “hot wire” some of the men here!
Like all Lower Basic Schools (primary phase) the school comprises a number of buildings which resemble in their dimension, typical UK “mobile” units. Of course in most other aspects they are vastly different, for example there is no glass in the windows, just large metal grilles. The roof, like most roofs here, is made from corrugated iron, as it is cheap and so effective in withstanding both the hot sun and heavy rains. Inside there is scant equipment save for a blackboard and double desks with attached benches.
All buildings are arranged around courtyard style areas, swept clean so that the red sandy soil provides an easy conduit across the site. The trees that grow here and there provide much needed shade. Each is surrounded by a circle of small rocks, painted white. A similar boarder runs along the front of the office, creating a garden area for flowering shrubs. A larger garden area has been set aside at the rear to grow vegetables to supplement the basic staples that make up school lunch.
With the exception of the kitchen and the library, the buildings are all classrooms, including the one which also accommodates Mr Jeng’s office, squeezed in between the two upper classes.
We started our day in here, with fresh bread which needed neither butter nor filling and had it with tea in plastic mugs, without milk but with an unbelievable amount of sugar. To work we sat at my small laptop computer, the pair of us perched on a child’s triple wooden bench as there are no chairs for guests. After an hour or two Mr Jeng invited me to see some of the buildings which can no longer be used due to their poor state of repair. Sadly one of these is the library which had more bats (mammal variety) than books. The noise inside was alarming. The roof was truly infested! If further proof were needed it was in the form of a thick coating of white bat droppings on the piles of rotting books. The walls too were streaked from ceiling to floor.
The detail in the School Development Plan to “Renovate the Library” came suddenly into sharp focus. Without ridding the building of bats first, these plans would not get off the ground. The bats had to go! This was the only part of the plan that required financial support, as community help would ensure the building was cleaned at no cost. Like other VSO volunteers in similar circumstances, I was happy to help if the price was right! Luckily it was, and a local carpenter with children at the school, agreed to pull down the ceiling the very next day.
With these arrangements made and much of the office work done, we happily set off back to the office, arranging to meet again in a few days time.
By coincidence I spent the intervening day with another head teacher who told me how his extensive office and library block had been similarly infested.
A large man with only one eye, he retold the story of the Battle of the Bats in graphic detail!
Unlike Mr Jeng, he did not feel the need to call in a workman. He simply removed some of the ceiling here and there along the considerable run of the building and sent an army of children up with sticks. Gleefully he described how the battle raged until eventually the victorious army was able to rake up the vanquished into bags and dump them over the fence.
Does anyone actually know Quentin Blake? There is so much material here!
The final part of this “batty” story is that having sorted the stock in his splendid newly refurbished and pest free library, the second head teacher found he has many books he no longer needs. Better still he is happy to pass them on to Mr. Jeng.
