I arrived at school today expecting the Inter-house Athletics competition to be held after school, instead of which it began at 7.30am! Cool start as we set off down the sandy track through the bush (which is really beautiful – long tall grasses of different varieties all in flower and shady trees) to the sports field (about 300m or so). Actually the children set off long before the adults and arranged themselves loosely amongst the trees and in the trees waiting for the events to begin.
Somewhat miraculously, equipment appeared, including a shot, a discus, five steel javelins and a high jump kit (no tug-of-war rope or relay batons though!). Then chairs for the teachers. Children were dispatched to bring down tables for those teachers recording the names of first, second and third – you didn’t count if you came after third. They carried the tables on their heads. Children are often required to do things for the adults which they always do as if it were a privilege and they never question or complain.
The teachers had too much to do so the children supervised themselves and the little ones were so happy to be free, they celebrated in the treetops, riding bendy branches as if they were on horseback. Another game was ‘who can touch the top of the termite mound first’. Climbing the termite mound had to be achieved first – still I suppose they were practicing their athletic skills for the future – there were no events for them today!
You need to read a few blogs back as to how the events were organised form longest to shortest distance, except today the field events were interspersed. The children had been divided into three ‘houses’, Impala, Zebra and Buffalo and points were awarded for first, second and third but the teachers who were scoring took a long time discussing whether first was 1 point or 3 points and whether this would result in the ‘house’ with most or least points winning the whole competition.
A portable blackboard and stand was brought next and set up under the trees. Mr Mukwata, who was organising the sports, did what every British PE teacher would have done on Sports Day, he wore his best football shirt (French National Team), trainers, cut off trousers and baseball cap! He had produced an excellent programme of events and had brought his friend along to help.
Many of the children wore different clothing today and I found they had been asked to wear sportswear which had been loosely interpreted as ‘your best clothes’. Most took part bare footed and there were piles of shoes under the trees but they ran (in the heat) in such outfits as tight jeans under skirts (girls), leggings and frilly skirts (girls) and strapless tops (girls) and school trousers / shorts and tee shirts (boys) but could they run and jump despite this!
As the 3000m for under 17 year old boys started, so did the long jump competition. Sand pit ready made by just removing the long grass; plastic rakes to hand (from the field cleaning) so no costly maintenance contract from the local authority!
The events followed the programme, with a bell and whistle alerting the spectators and competitors to the final lap. The teachers recording the place winners had a job keeping up, as they had not recorded in their (brand new) exercise books the order of the events and also because another race would start before the first one had finished. Predictably after just two events, the scores were muddled but resolved after another lengthy discussion.
The javelin competition took place in the centre of the ‘track’ with competitors running up to the footpath which crossed the track and then hurling (full sized) javelins to the best of their ability (some practising going on in the background). No one was hurt at all.
The high jump followed on from the long jump and was a very serious competition with children (girls in tight skirts etc) hurling themselves over an ever raising bar. The boys on the whole had the most daring of techniques; some head first into the sand pit. No one was hurt at all.
You need to remember also that there is no water at the school due to a breakdown in the pumping system (it actually comes from a well or bore hole so should be in plentiful supply). At regular intervals both boys and girls were dispatched to the neighbouring village, across the race track, to fill two plastic jerry cans and a watering can so the water could be shared around.
An unfortunate incident happened to the ‘head boy’ (oldest boy who puts out the flag and clock in the mornings and rings the bell between lessons) who collapsed after the 2000m and almost passed out and lay prone on the ground for a very long time. I was quite worried but a teacher doused him down and sent him home (over the tar road) to his village, hung out between two boys who had just finished the race. He could hardly walk and collapsed again at the school office. Shortly after he was taken home, his mother came back into school to shout at the H.O.D. (who was in charge due to the Principal being on a three day Curriculum Committee Meeting for Silozi). The mother’s point was that if the boy collapsed whilst in the care of the school, the school should take him to hospital for treatment. A fair point I thought.
The only car that was available belonged to Mr Mukwata who, if you recall, was running the sports event. He was duly called from the field to drive over the road to the boy’s house, whilst I waited to go in the car to the hospital if that was required, which would leave Mr Mukwata to return to his sports duties and another teacher to drive his car (it is about 20km in either direction) to the clinic or the hospital.
The two male teachers were gone for over half an hour only to return and say the boy was recovering (heat exhaustion and lack of fluid I would think). The mother had calmed down and had bought the two teachers a cold drink from the ‘shop’ in the village. I hope to be able to post a picture of a typical village soon.
The sports continued whilst this was going on and the teachers who had not been allocated a ‘recording’ duty were by now leading the javelin and shot. I was astonished to see the Grade 1 teacher actually demonstrating, fairly accurately, what I remember as javelin technique with run up, from secondary school.
So everyone played their part, Zebras won, the Grade 1 children were called for their porridge first and its District Athletics on Saturday!
