On January 13, I wrote about our visit to a rural elementary school in a Zone of Peace:
“Our first community visit today, in that we had a chance to walk around a barangay. We followed dirt roads dissecting blocks of four to six home compounds, alive like the many tall palms and flowering vegetation all around. Colorful laundry hung in front, dogs and poultry scattered around the front yards. Some elderly men and women rested in front porches. We reached the school, and went right inside. No second thoughts. “This is a School of Peace” declares the sign, just like every school we pass. Before long, word gets around and the chorus of shouts from the classrooms grows louder and louder.
We are swarmed by over 100 school children. There is no other word for it. We are swarmed. At first, they are shy and well behaved when we walked into the 3rd grade classroom. By instruction of their teacher, they sing two songs, loud and in chorus, like rain on my soul. As we move on down the yard, the swarm roars – jumping, shouting, laughing, calling children who have never seen foreigners before, only on TV. Pure joy and curiosity. I smiled back and didn’t want to linger in the heat, but also put too hard of an impression on them (I guess in some ways I was shy too) and impress their innocence, like a thumb pressed against cookie dough. We walked over to watch the teachers’ dance, kept in pace by the most glamorous of dance instructors. Through the whole thing, they never missed a beat.”
Photo by Dr. Iyer
