Badilika Uendelee Kuishi

Carolyn Francis
GCI Project Coordinator
March 14, 2006

"Change your behaviour and you will continue to live" (Title translated)
As you enter the compound of the Gathuki-mundu Primary School you will see this instruction in Ki-swahili as part of a large mural pictured with this article. Can you imagine children in elementary schools in P.E.I. having such an instruction at the school entrance?

This week we have spent a lot of our time in schools, including those involved in the FHF Twinning Program and a number of others in the Mukurwe-ini area. During these visits we have learned a great deal and shared special moments with many teachers and students.

At some of these schools, the staff was open in sharing the impact of HIV/AIDS on their students and their efforts to help these students succeed in school. At others there was more hesitation.

All schools we visited now have HIV/AIDS prevention education as part of their staff and student instruction. Signs about AIDS are visible, and it is included in several subject areas that are part of the curriculum.

At one particular school, Ithanji Primary, most of us "welled up" as the deputy head teacher shared that there were 35 AIDS orphans in his school of 234 students. He talked about their struggle for simple survival, including having food to eat, and their need for counseling for their emotional issues. He went to talk about how the staff attempted to support these orphans, including feeding them at school and purchasing their school supplies, including school uniforms. We asked how much it would cost to provide a healthy lunch for one of these orphans. The figure given was about 1000 Kenyan shillings or around $17 Canadian dollars per month…….cheaper than a night at the movies!
(This number of 35 includes only those who have lost both parents. One head teacher at another school indicated that those who had lost only one were not counted, They were just considered as students with a single parent.)

As each of the Global Classroom team was being honoured with the request to plant a tree along the school entry lane, a standard 5 (grade 5) class from the school was singing a song in Kikuyu (the local language). When I asked what the song was about, Dorothy, one of the teachers, indicated that it was about their struggles with AIDS. At my request, she graciously agreed to translate it into English, and delivered the translation to me before we left the Mukurwe-ini area.

Following is the English translation:
1. Sing with a lot of sorrowfulness
Like a bride who has just lost her bridegroom
Soon after being wedded.
The wrath of the Lord befalls us with a lot of pain.
If you fail to repent, nobody will survive
CHORUS
Who can resist this disaster?
It is only those who are washed in the blood of Jesus
An elderly man advised me to abstain from sex
A witch came at night and bewitched ‘the meat’.

2. My big question is,
Whom shall we entertain if all the youth perish?
When you see smooth and attractive thighs,
Don’t be tempted because
"All that glitters is not gold".

3. There are many orphans who have been left
Due to this disaster
Many people have committed suicide after being infected by it.
It’s very painful when a disease attacks the whole body.
Yet there are some people saying that it is just an accident because of ignorance.

4. Prevention is better than cure
Let’s have self-control
It’s wise to be faithful to one partner.
Avoid fornication /adultery
This is not a weapon, avoid early death

5. God, because we have sinned
I persuade you to restore your grace unto us.
The healing of this nation cannot be received from the use of condoms
The healing of our nation is under God’s mercy

6. God, because no human being loves calamities
And there are many ways in which this disease is being transmitted
It’s not only through sexual intercourse.
I beseech you to fortify me from the devil.
I desire to nurture my family and serve you.

While we might agree or disagree with some ideas presented in this song, no one can dispute that AIDS has played havoc in many families in Kenya and in many other countries in Africa and around the world. The Global Classroom team has come face to face with the heartbreak of AIDS and the amazement that these people have the strength to carry on with joy and optimism despite the sadness.