It lasted less than a couple of minutes. I was teaching in the classroom (we had just learnt and sang 'Old Macdonald had a farm'). Suddenly the class students rushed to shut the windows. I said : "Why are you closing the windows?" Ten seconds later I knew the answer - as a huge whirlwind of dust raced past our classroom. Anyone caught in it, would not only have been blown over, but would have been covered head to toe in thick caky dust. This dust storm was literally a whirlwind that came and went. Some of the students told me they live in areas where dust storms are frequent and last much longer than what I had seen. I tried to imagine just how awful being in the centre of a dust storm must be. What was impressive was that the students knew the dust storm was coming before it came and shut the windows well in advance.
It was a good day yesterday and we had a thoughtful debate on the existence of God. The classroom was arranged in House of Commons style and we had proposers and seconders.
Rwanda is a deeply religious country and most people have deep Christian beliefs. In my class, one student is called 'John of God' and many others have names with religious connotations.
What was impressive was that even though most of the students were strong God advocates, half were prepared to embrace the intellectual challenge and argue against God's existence. The standard of debating was high and carefully thought out - we could have gone on for hours.
Today, I am privileged to have a very special meeting of which I will tell you more later.
P.S the picture is of a dust storm in China - I just wanted to give you an illustration!
-- by Robert Halfon Post From My iPhone
-- by Robert Halfon Post From My iPhone
