News & Events | Parish News & Notices
Tom’s Second Week in Kalimpong (Part 3)
Date Added - 16/04/2010
This week I’ve covered a class (Year 12B – final year) of 48 students for an absent teacher and another Year 12 Class of 63 students, again for an absent teacher. But it’s still a bit strange teaching a class where some students are 14/15 years of age, and some can be as old at 18/19/20.
Again, kids continue to humble me with what they say and what they do – “Sir, how do you remember all our names? “Sir, I will miss you when you go”. “Uncle, if you want, you can stay here forever. You can go full-time”. God bless them all!
Last weekend DGH hosted the Inter-Schools Girls’ Basketball Tournament. Our girls reached the final and put up an enthusiastic performance – they led for the first and second quarters and most the third, but ran out of steam in the final quarter, losing narrowly by 39-32. It was a great, carnival atmosphere with lots of singing, clapping, and hooting – especially from . . . . . !
As well as the Sunday School, “A Listening Ear” has been started up. I’ve offered my services after school on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 1515 hrs to 1615 hrs, for anyone who might want to chat about anything that might be troubling them – school, personal, family, relationships. The issue of Guidance/Careers Advice within DGH is in the whole plan of things, but is very much in an embryonic stage, and this will hopefully be developed in the future. I’ve already had a session with one Year 12 student, a Prefect, and as he was leaving said, “And by the way Sir, I am very much enjoying your Ministry here”.
There continues to be power surges and power cuts. There have also been a couple of spectacular thunder and lightning evenings – with downpours, and with rain running down my bedroom wall. On Tuesday, it was spectacular, in the form of a mini hurricane. The power went off at around 2000 hrs and didn’t come back on until 0640 hrs on Wednesday. On Wednesday, the bedroom curtains were opened at 0530 hrs, and there in the distance was a wonderful sight I had been longing to see since my arrival a fortnight ago – the Himalayas, covered in snow. This could perhaps be our next church hillwalk, with overnight accommodation at DGH! Philip, Eleanor and I then set off on a walk at around 0645 hrs to take photos, and as we did this, we could hear the thumping on the balls in the basketball courts and on the football field! Just where do they get their energy from? With regard to the thunderstorms, it’s perhaps quite ironic in that at the beginning of the week Kalimpong was suffering a severe water shortage, with many hotels and restaurants being closed or offering a very limited service.
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