I met Phillip while we were both excersising on top of the hill which was a wierd start because I did not expect to see anyone running. When I run up the hill the people look at me like I'm nuts, and I feel so out of place while everyone around me is carrying heavy jerry cans full of water. Anyhow, Phillip (who is 21) and I started talking, and he told me he was exercising for martial arts. We descended the hill together, and he showed me the dirt floor, one room house he lived in. He also showed me his yard where he uses every inch in order to somehow make money and eat, whether growing maiz or making bricks. I asked him whether he went to school, and he told me that he could not pay school fees, and I did not doubt that because he lived alone with his younger brother. He told me his goal was to make four-hundred-thousand bricks so he could pay school fees. I told him I was impressed with his goal and how hard he worked to live, and in a reassuring tone he said, "Whatever happens I will be ok because I have God in my life." At that moment I was very humbled.
Phillip's parents both died of AIDs when he was younger, and he was taken in by his Uncle. I told him that I would go with him to mass on Sundays, and one Sunday he showed up at my house in the afternoon. I hadn't seen him that morning, and he came to tell me he wasn't there because his brother had been stabbed and killed the day before. Since then though, things have been looking up for him. He somehow got a job with a wealthy family taking care of their cows and other livestock, and their land. He now lives in a room on the outside of their house, is fed well, and whereas before he was uncomfortable going to church because he had nothing nice to wear, he now has some presentable clothes.
This week Phillip took me on a trip to see his village where he grew up. It was a little ways away in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. He was delighted to introduce me to his neighbors and his family whom had probably lived there forever. This visit added to the already large amount of produce that had been bequeathed to me. Phillip always comes by with papaya, mangos, and avocado, and his family gave me a load eggs and maiz on this visit.
Phillip is an amazingly happy person, and I just don't know what keeps him going, but he'll definately be an inspiration for me when things go wrong.
I have finished teaching, and tomorrow is Speech Day. The kids have prepared some really entertaining songs and dances, and I was forced into arranging a presentation of the computer skills and knowledge that I taught six of my students. I will be saying goodbye to everyone very soon, but I am very excited to see everyone at home in ten days.
