Jim and I can tell you what we observe and experience here, but whatever small insight we can give is nothing compared to what our young people know after spending much of their young lives in Africa. I never liked the usual vacation essays, so I assigned something different for my ninth grade class: "My Place of Peace." I knew to expect something different from RVA kids and I was not disappointed. I asked and received permission to quote their work. You may almost envy my opportunity to read and grade these. Here's what a few of them had to say.
Julia finds her place of peace on a beach. "There is a certain peace in the early hours of the morning light when everything is still asleep. The shell sellers have not yet arrived and aren't aggravating anyone to buy their stock of shells...In the afternoon, I decide to read a book our near the beach where the seaweed has now been raked into nice rows. The shell sellers and the dukas are now bustling with customers. Now the waves whip the shore and the salty sea stings my parched lips unlike this morning. I try my hardest to concentrate on my book, but cannot. Then I remember once again that God is in control of everything, no matter how chaotic it may be."
Nathan seeks his solace in a tree. "I climb up the tree until I am out of sight, then I sit down on a comfortable branch so I can lean back and be relaxed. I close my eyes and feel the cold breeze brush my face like a caring mother to a son."
Bree tells of a remote place in Uganda. "I observe some fishermen rowing by in their skinny canoe. They have on tattered clothes and these ones carry a load of fish with them. But even when their nets remain empty from the long night catch, they still sing a chanting sort of tune. Full of life, they declare their joy...Their lives are so much harder than mine, and yet while doing what they do everyday, they glorify and worship their creator..."
Jack describes his trek to local caves. "My place of peace is a place where it feels like I've been tapped on the back of the head and all the pressure leaks out. Getting there is all part of the fun...We begin the waterfall descent by hopping rock to rock like hyrax racing for food. Sometime we use roots to rappel with."
Justin reflects on a moment of peace learning to rock climb with a African guide, Watchmwamba. "I just sat down on the highest boulder thinking about how amazing God was and how beautiful his creations were...I heard utter silence, there above loud cars and cities. It was the most peaceful place I had ever been."
Ha Eun, like many of her peers, finds her peace in music. "I usually listen to classical music, Hillsongs, or Korean pop songs...When I hear Hillsongs, I feel that my faith in God is growing."
JuEun found his peace in an unexpected place for a ninth grader -- his family. "I realized by now, I thought they were my shame. I always could not show them or introduce them [to] others. How stupid! They were my place of peace that always accepts me with not reason, just...like God...They were my energy resources and they were the reason of my breath. I love them; they are my place of peace. Always!"
Daniel describes this place in Ethiopia: "...I have a place that I go to if I am angry, depressed, sad, or just want to spend some time with Christ. This place is on top of a cave that shepherds hide in when it hails. The cave is inside a lava wall that comes from a volcano core on the other side of the valley...On the other side of my wall there is a field where kids play soccer when they should be watching livestock...When I reach the top, my head full of sorrows, I sigh and look down on the green landscape...The sky is darkening; it looks like it might hail. The youthful [who] are too young to plant and the elderly who are too old to reap are willing the dark sky to disperse so their livestock get a little more of the sparse grass. The music of the Orthodox church is deadened out by the rumblings of the coming storm. As I hurry to my home, I realize that my sorrows are nothing compared to these people who have stolen my heart."
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