Subject: “Hay, hay, hay, yoh, yoh” (No, no, no, yoh, yoh)
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Before I start I just want to express my gratitude
for your support, financially emotionally, and spiritually. To be in a place where I can work along
side the incredible people here to serve God is incredible. I owe it to you and your faith. Thank you.
A new chapter in my time here has begun in
South
Africa
As I have said many times the joy of
teaching brings a new adventure for every day. The relationships I am
building with the students is strong, but I am being very careful with how
invested we get in each other. I am seeing throughout the three schools I
am working in a sense of entitlement within the way students ask or demand
things of teachers. I am trying to determine if this is just part of
growing up or something specific to their lives here in South
Africa
School is ending next week, and it shows.
While in the after school program we expect at least an hour of hard work,
teachers at their schools and the schools I work at have checked out for the
past two weeks, making my life frustrating. Sometimes I wish other people
would take some initiative to keep activities going. I get frustrated when all the students
just sit around or do nothing, because others have not planned anything.
I see hope and determination in a couple students in particular however to continue learning. Bramwell is a 16 year old in grade 6 which is actually average for the school. He desperately wants to go to high school, and become something (this changes regularly). His determination encourages me as he hassles his teachers to teach him, and always asks when I will read with him and what he can practice at home. I find this so rare, and wonderful and exciting.
In the after school program I have seen "My Boys" grow so much in the last couple months. They were so lazy when we first started working together, their work ethic has changed, they plan their afternoon. They make me laugh with their attempts to assert their rights unjustly and when I point out to them why am laughing and joking that they think they are "Tough guys and WWF wrestlers,” they settle and get the work done.
I see hope and determination in a couple students in particular however to continue learning. Bramwell is a 16 year old in grade 6 which is actually average for the school. He desperately wants to go to high school, and become something (this changes regularly). His determination encourages me as he hassles his teachers to teach him, and always asks when I will read with him and what he can practice at home. I find this so rare, and wonderful and exciting.
In the after school program I have seen "My Boys" grow so much in the last couple months. They were so lazy when we first started working together, their work ethic has changed, they plan their afternoon. They make me laugh with their attempts to assert their rights unjustly and when I point out to them why am laughing and joking that they think they are "Tough guys and WWF wrestlers,” they settle and get the work done.
The paperwork has proven to take just as long in
Africa as in America
My faith is kept strong by the
fellowship I have found in friends both young and old. While I don’t think I have one friend my
age, I get energy and enthusiasm from the college crowd, and stability and
support from the sage members of the cathedral, and co-workers.
In my personal faith, I am staying alive by
reading My Utmost for His Highest (Oswald Chambers) in the mornings. My utmost is a devotional that has a
very simple teaching but never ceases to get me excited and determined to
continue live my life to its fullest capacity. I continue to read Phillipians chapter 2
and Psalm 116. No matter how many
times I read these chapters I am encouraged.
I definitely feel the swings in my emotions in
regards to my faith here. At times
I feel I am resting in God’s hands and I am doing his work, and then moments of
wondering where God could have possibly been in a situation. Nevertheless, as I grow in faith I am
learning to live in that ebb and flow and see in retrospect how the down times
shape my character.
While I boasted of being able to ring a full peal on church bells (the big ones in the tower like at the beginning of “It’s a wonderful life” not the little handbells). I thought I was ringing a full peal but am only able to ring a tenth of a quarter. If I do my math correctly I am ringing a 40th of a peal. This means I can ring with six others in a set combination of patterns in which a bell ringer rings in order. I can ring for 10 minutes continuously. A full peal takes 4 hours. “Hay, hay, hay, yoh, yoh, shame.”
Kids love it when I say this phrase “hay, hay,
hay, yoh!” because of its unique xhosa-ness. Whenever I am playing a game
with kids or trying to teach them something, and some of the students are not
listening, or being silly I will say “hay, hay, hay, yoh!” now instinctively and
the whole class including the teacher will laugh uncontrollably and then say ah,
“Mathematics, yoh!” (Mathematics being my new nickname because many students
cannot say matt and it sounds like maths).
As you may have noticed I am a bit of a weekend
warrior (trying to get out on the weekends and play as much as possible).
It is so important to my mental health to get outside and be with people on the
weekends. In the last month, I’ve been out of town a few times, once to
the beach with the college Anglican group, once back to Addo Elephant park with
people who hadn’t been, and once for a weekend to a farm in the Highveld (high
field in Afrikans). While on my trip to the farm I made Grandpa proud by
catching 2 black bass each weighing around 2 pounds. Happy Veteran’s day
eh.
At Addo Elephant Nature Reserve, we saw lions, a
mama and baby rhino, a herd of elephants, and a couple dung beetles, many wart
hogs, zebras and giraffes. But wait, I’ve got a great Matt Kellen story…..
Little to my knowledge (there were large signs saying do not bring citrus fruits
into the park), Elephants are addicted to citrus like humans are to chocolate,
caffeine and assortment of illegal substances… Being a nice guy and
thinking of others, I purchased a large bag of oranges prior to our trip to the
park to make sure everyone had at least something to eat while on our African
safari. When snack time came, Mama Julie, the leader of our drive through
the park saw me pulling out my generous bag of oranges along with another bag my
friend Jason brought….. fearing for our lives mama Jane tells us to throw the
oranges out. Several of us took this to mean “throw them into the park,
and not the trash can only 50 meters away.” Hay, hay, hay, yoh,
yoh. If we were in Glacier national park throwing raw meat into the forest
for the bears, rangers would have shot and killed us. Anyways…Long story short,
a tourist bus comes up shortly after our challenge of who can throw the oranges
farthest into the watering hole. Old ladies and men come up and start
eyeing the hole saying “What is that orange thing floating in the water….what is
that bird eating…..” Before leaving mama Julie made us rub our hands on
her used chicken bones to get the citrus smell off our hands.
Okay, so here is the big news….. My flat was
robbed, not once but twice two weeks ago. Both times I was not there,
thankfully. They stole my laptop only the first time. I was okay
with this and able to cope I had all my pictures and most my documents backed up
on my flash drive in my jacket that was with me. They broke a window and
busted the burglar bars to get in. The thieves returned then returned 4
days later while I was out, and stole the guitar I was borrowing, my climbing
shoes, and my jacket (that still had my flash stick in it with all my
pictures). So pretty much anything I had for recreation was snagged
in 5 minutes for what as I have heard probably sold for under a $100 U.S.
dollars to drug dealers. I am beginning to see a new side to this country
over the last month.
I am looking forward to summer holidays where I
will be getting an opportunity to be creative with how I volunteer in my days
away from the schools. Part of my time will be spent volunteering at a
summer camp for underprivileged kids. I will also be planning and preparing for a reading camp in July. It is exciting to be part of this south
African run program to help boost and motivate early readers. Yet another
part will be spent seeing some of my other Y.A.S.C. program friends in
Umtata , and
Clerksdorp in South
Africa , as well as Gulu , Uganda
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The unabridged tale of my time in As you get older (26 is getting pretty old) it is
funny to sit back sometimes and observe how history repeats itself. At age
16, a Junior at Shadle Park Highschool, I went out
for lunch break with friends to find my car was stolen (it wasn’t actually my
car, I was house sitting and using their car). As I walked in to tell my
girlfriend of two weeks about what happened we redefined our relationship in one
short sentance “Can we just be friends?” “Sure,” I responded, “Did you
know my car was just stolen? I’ll call you tonight and we can talk more
about it.” She broke up with me because I was, well I’m just not what one
would call a “smooth operator.” Two days later when walking out of class I
was hit in the face with a rock just before senior pictures and Prom.
You may be asking yourself “Just how has history
repeated itself Matt or do I want to know?” Well….. I haven’t been hit in
the face by any rocks, or had my car stolen (it was my laptop, a guitar (also
borrowed), climbing shoes, and a jacket containing my flashstick that had all
the backed up data of my pictures, and documents etc.), or technically broken up
with any girls (we weren’t going out to begin with), but it seems as though I
have hit a ten year cycle of getting into an incredibly tough run of bad news in
an incredibly short amount of time.
Well, I won’t say too much about the relationship
side of things here. After about a month of ambiguity in the friendship
with a girl, we both realized that we weren’t ready to start anything serious;
especially with someone long distance, and being in such transitional
stages. I’ll say only two things more about the friendship with the
girl.
1: History repeats itself
2: Nice guys finish
last.
I came home on a Saturday evening after a farewell
party to friends departing shortly after college exams, to find the window of my
apartment propped open by a wooden branch and my hiking pack and various other
clothes lying on the lawn. I was thankful the first time they robbed my
house that they only took my laptop which I had everything backed up pictures
and all on my flash stick.
The following Wednesday I came home to find the
window slightly ajar. I didn’t notice anything stolen immediately, until
later when searching for the guitar to practice for my lessons with
Andrew. When I later found that my jacket (with the flash stick) and my
climbing shoes were missing, it seemed as though whoever broke into my flat
thought specifically about what Matt Kellen likes to do in his recreational time
and took the essential items for enjoying that recreational time. “Hay,
hay, hay, yoh, yoh, yoh!” I am happy to say my digs are now secured like
fort
Knox
My guitar teacher tried to scam me too. He
said he needed money to post bail for Jail. He said he had a lawyer who
was helping him keep from going to jail. Part of his story is true,
he broke a guy's jaw and a couple ribs, after finding out the man had broken his
sons arm. I told him he needed to show me a letter from his lawyer saying
what bail would cost. He came back the next day with a folded up typed
note on computer paper saying he needed even more
money than he was asking previously. The grammar was so horrible, I knew
it was not legit. I told him I wouldn’t give him the money and I would see
him next Wednesday for lessons. The next week he had a brand new electric guitar and amp. Someone poor guy got
dooped. Anyways I’m still learning and improving my reggae guitar
skills. We had a great lesson this week. (check out the pic. on my
blog site kellegraham.blogspot.com). While I wasn’t actually hit in the face with a rock, it sure
felt as bad after having boasted about our great friendship.
Not unlike the drama of my highschool days life
has gotten back to normal quickly. . I say life is back to normal,
but still in this last week, a person tried to commit suicide on the tracks in
front of one of my schools, a student followed me and a friend off school
grounds for a half mile telling us we were going to buy him a burger and chips
(we saw a police vehicle and asked that he escort the student back to the
school), and an armed money truck was robbed in front of a local gas station at
mid morning.
I am curious to see what life will bring ten years
from now. That is the thrill of life I guess. Take it as it
comes…..roll with it…..carpe diem.
(If you have ever read any Bill Bryson, it is little wonder that I just finished
reading one of his books “The Thunderbolt Kid.” I really like his writing
style.)
P.S. To reach me by phone the # is
0027737348995
Sincerely,
Matt Kellen
