The computer lab, or so they call it, here in Palmgrove, contains five working computers. When I turned them on the first time, only four of them worked. With a bit of work, I’ve got at least one more of them to work. They are Pentium ones running Windows 98, which is good enough to learn to type and run Microsoft Office. There are at least eight, 486’s kicking around that I just can’t seem to get back to life. If I could get them up and running then I’d at least be able to use them in teaching typing. We got three computer technicians out from Uyo to take a look. They came on Sunday for church service, then afterwards we went over to take a look at the computers. They were able to help us out a bit and give me some useful advice.
I’ve finally gotten some of the children typing and they are making surprisingly good progress. In the evening at 7, when the generator starts up, they can type for 2 hours until the generator is turned off.
The teachers, who teach computer science in Palmgrove school, do it all from a blackboard. Up till now, they didn’t have any computers to demonstrate with. Now that five of them are working, they can go over to the computer lab and show the students how they actually work. But how can you teach fifty pupils with five computers? I suppose they do the best they can, a poor education is better then none at all. I still wonder if it’s worth doing with such a huge student to teacher ratio! I think a few BUHEP students should get a chance to experience this first hand, it’s very different to actually experience it, rather then just hearing about it.
The sermon last Sunday was encouraging and challenging. It was taken from Matthew 13:44, “The Kingdom of God is like a treasure”. Like the man in the parable who sold everything that he had, in order to buy a field where a great treasure was hidden, we must do the same. That treasure is Jesus, we must be willing to give up everything we have in order to obtain Him. The ministers emphasized how our standards should be so different from the world, that we should stand out clearly, and not to similiarise ourselves to the extent that people find it hard to know the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian. Everything from modesty in dress and our moral values should stand our clearly. It is a message that the people in Palmgrove need, even a lot of our communities back home. The sermon went on to say that the way to obtain that treasure in the field, is to be born again. We must invite Jesus into our hearts and live according to his word.
– Lance