Underwearing: My reluctant love affair with the hygiene impaired

October 23, 2003

I only play golf twice a year, so excuse one more golf story, ok? JT, Matthew and I are driving, and JT hits the green, and gets the greatest excuse that has ever been recorded for golf. A baboon comes running, and grabs his ball. Our caddy charges the baboon, who flees with the ball. If your putt doesn’t go in after THAT, don’t you have a RIGHT to a gimmee?

We all desire to create something that will live forever. Many will create something of beauty that will edify and challenge all you see it.

Mine is a little different.

When I first came to Africa in 1999, I taught computer to grades 1-6. Several kids were cutting up in class one day, and we had the following discussion.

Me: Stop it, you knuckleheads.

Them: What is a knucklehead?

Me: It means you have knuckle for head.

For some reason, `you have knuckle for head’ has caught on. Sometimes, `you have knuckle’ also works, but it is something that I hear many times a day.

It isn’t what I would have CHOSEN to live forever.

What is it like to have 18 eighth grade guys in the house you live in? Of course, we marvel at the multi-culturalness of it all: Africans, Koreans, Germans, Danish, Americans and Australians all growing and sharing the joys of their cultures.

But, this being eighth grade guys, mostly it is gross.

Examples:

Most of these guys are hygiene impaired. One day I am inspecting the cleaning (har har har) of the toilet:

Them: I cleaned it. Honest

Me: Do you call THAT clean? (pointing to something quite disgusting)

Them: I guess not.

Me: Clean it then.

Them: (Rubbing disgusting area with bare hand)

Me: NOT WITH YOUR BARE HAND!!!

Them: (Extreme puzzled look)

Later, after an altercation between two rooms, I asked each guy to write an essay explaining why they were sorry for what they did.

Them: I am very sorry for underwearing Josh at 3am.

Me: I am probably going to be sorry for asking, but what is underwearing?

Them: You sneak into someone’s room while they are sleeping and stuff dirty underwear into their mouths.

Me: You have GOT to be kidding.

Them: (Greater extreme puzzled look)

I can’t articulate why I am enjoying them as much as I do. Nancy has a theory that I see my younger self in every disgusting act, but I’m sure she is mistaken because I was a veritable angel as a young child. It probably stems from the fact that I see the opportunity to invest in young lives, and the delight that comes with doing that.

Or I’m just so glad that underwearing wasn’t invented when I was a kid.

I went to Kiambogo today. It is a school of 800 children is a very remote area. It took almost an hour to get there. When we arrived, the children were running towards the car.

The headmaster told me that he has nine teachers to instruct 800 children. He said that wasn’t the greatest problem he had.

He told me his goal was to have one textbook for every three children. Nancy was at a different school this weekend, and she was told the same thing. It was such a hard thing to hear.

The headmaster was so encouraged. He told me `It is getting so much better. We have food, and we have more books. Soon we may have more teachers.’

Perspective is a real gift, isn’t it?

Your pal

Steve

Steve and Nancy Peifer

Kenya Address: PO Box 80 Kijabe Kenya 00220

Stateside Address: PO Box 178 Pearl River, NY 10965

Phone: 011-254-20-32046-252

peifer@kijabe.net

http://peifer.kijabe.org