Today we are meeting Nasra, one of our Standard 1 students. She is another sweet young girl at our school coming from the middle area between the two main villages that provide our students. She is good about being on time for things and not being the last one to stroll in after the bell.
I am not sure I would call her excited about school, but she is a good student and is excited about hanging out with her friends. She joined our school at the beginning of 2019 so the last Christmas was her first with us. She was so excited to get her book bag with gifts in it. She is good about taking care of her gifts as well. That book bag looks just as nice as the day it was given to her.
She was also a big fan of the team from Mauldin UMC last year that came and did a Vacation Bible School. She still asks about some of the team members and if they are going to come back again.
I still hear her occasionally singing some of the songs she learned when off by herself. I don’t think she had ever been in a situation where a group of people worked so hard to show her so much love. That is not a knock on her family, from what I know she has a good family life. But like most Tanzanians, survival often overtakes those simple kind gestures kids love so much. When she is older she will remember how hard her parents worked to provide for her and her siblings. But kids love to be loved, to be played with in addition to being provided for. I don’t think that comes as a shock to anyone reading this blog.
Nasra is a good kid, tries hard at school, always does what is asked and is nice to her fellow students. There is one exception: the collection. Furahini (Fur-ah-in-e) and Maurine (Mow-ry) tag up with Nasra and well get ready because something interesting is about to happen. Not always bad, just most of the time. Fortunately this is not a crew that spends a lot of time together. Nasra hangs mostly with Beatrice or Mineal but every once in a while I see this group and I know in about an hour one of our students will come a crying. I have never figured out what it is about this grouping.
Also want to give an update on the school with a big thanks to the Teen Leadership Project in PA. The kids are back to watching videos as part of the “Reading with Barnabas Program” and the loved the videos you sent them.
Steve and Barnabas 