Great Aussie Rickshaw Ride - 2nd September

The 51st day of the Great Aussie Rickshaw Ride. Two more schools.
Today we were in the town of Culcairn, at St Joseph's Catholic School
and Culcairn Public School. Culcairn is small neat town in an
agricultural area.
We planned to leave Wagga at 7.30am to be in Culcairn by 8.30 to set
up for St Joseph's. But this week we have had some firsts, bogging the
truck and this morning locking the keys of the truck in the back of
the truck. Like good boy scouts we had two keys to the locks on the
back doors. However, like bad boy scouts both copies were on the same
key ring which was in the back of the truck! We are able to tell you
that we worked out how to break into a locked pantechnic without
breaking down the door. We are not sharing the method with you all in
case we may be promoting illegal behaviour. But retrieve the key we
did. Now we have separated the keys so that this does not happen
again. To quote the Bengali proverb, "After the thief flees, wisdom
increases".
Well after the delay we finally arrived at St Joseph's and were able
to set up in their new little hall. All the schools in this part of
NSW have had an electronic whiteboard upon which we have been able to
show the video presentations. These are a long way from blackboards.
All of the students of St Joseph's were present (40) apart from those
away sick. They range from the early classes to grade 6. With the
smaller schools it is very easy to interact with the students. John
Carey, the Principal said that the Garr presentation is a timely
reminder for the students and teachers about the MDG's and the task of
the alleviation of global poverty. When it came time to see if the
students had any questions one of the boys, Shon, asked if there are
termites in Bangladesh? Not sure why he asked that question but then
there is no accounting for the processes of a child's mind. I must
admit at first I did not understand the question as it came from left
of left field. Maybe recently they have had problems with these
insects at his home. If you want to explore the meaning of the word
'nonplussed', then work with children for a while. Really it is great
fun and a great opportunity to influence young minds about one of the
really big challenges of humanity, ie poverty. We certainly try to
encourage the children to see that ordinary people can do something
about it. The classroom was followed by riding the rickshaw on the
sports area. Some of the teachers also took part (and the parish
priest, Father Terence, who lives next door with a collection of
definitely the largest hens and rooster that Khaleque had ever seen).
The Culcairn Public school presentation consisted of 46 kids from 4/5
& 5/6 classes. Again great enthusiasm. The school has been in
operation since 1886! Lots of fun again riding the rickshaw.
The teachers, Robyn and Cara said that the programme was Interesting &
enlightening. The Principal, Craig, was appreciative of the visit.
Quiet day tomorrow.