Today was intense. I was in class with Standard 5 when I heard noise and saw kids running across the yard. I heard Joseph Katana yell "Mr -s gone crazy, lets go!" and my kids rushed out too.
I followed them to find one of the teachers (who had recently just returned to Olives after a long break) standing in the doorway of Standard 6 screaming and shouting and beckoning the children. As I got closer I could make out that he was praying, calling upon the Holy Spirit to cleanse and forgive him. He was crying and frothing at the mouth, screaming like a man possessed-which is what he was claiming to be.
The kids stood gazing in fascination, the little ones coming to me for comfort,the older ones to laugh and snigger. One of the Kenyan teachers rang the headmaster and we tried to disperse the children. He went on and on for at least 20 minutes as we tried to move the kids away. It was only when Mr Stephen came and gently led the teacher to the staffroom that I realised that the Standard 6 classroom was full of hysterically sobbing children. His class had been sitting inside in terror the whole time.
Mr Stephen left the teacher in the staffroom with Mr Micheal sobbing "Jesus forgive me, Jesus forgive me" over and over and went in to calm down the Standard 6 kids. Myself and the other volunteers shooed the other curious kids away and tried to distract them with footballs. Standard 5 were their usual sensitive selves roaring "Why are they crying Madam? Is it because Mr- went crazy?" and doing horribly realistic impressions of the poor man. I managed to get rid of most of them but a few were still gawking in the windows.
It turned out that midway through his lesson the teacher had begun shouting and screaming and saying that one of the children had the devil in him. He began praying to cast the devil out and accusing other children of having the devil in them too. His class were terrified and began to cry, and thats when he began to summon the whole school. The poor man obviously had a nervous breakdown on a major scale, he's always been a bit nervous and on edge. It was quite unnerving to see him, really shook me up. The kids in his class were shaken but the rest of the school found it hilarious. Joseph Katana and Samuel have perfected their "Holy Spirit" routine and Standard 1 kept giggling and saying "Mr-was crying!" Hopefully the local teachers will treat it with the seriousness it deserves and make sure he gets appropriate help. The last I heard they were taking him to the church, but I think its medical help he requires rather than spiritual.
Just another day in Olives...
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