Most Disappointed

On Thursday I had one of my most disappointing moments since arriving in Fiji. The day had been going well-I spent the morning with the new kids and the afternoon wandering the town with friends. I even got ice cream. The departing kids were searching Nadi for souvenirs and I was the driver. We were to meet at the Mobile at 3:30, so I was making my way back to the van. I saw a small group of students in front of the ATM. Upon approaching them, I discovered that two were holding beers. One of the boys I did not know-he tried to get away, but I saw him so it was a useless try. The other boy knew he was caught and did not attempt to sneak off. He was a boy from my group. I'll call him Sam.

Sam stood there, holding his beer. He gave it up without argue and I spoke to him.

"Are you serious?" I said, "I spent last night defending you [apparently someone called his parents and told them he was behaving poorly. I knew nothing of that] and the last twenty-four hours telling you how great you've been doing. Now you do this."

Rustic Pathways rules explicitly says that drinking alcohol is forbidden and the offenders will be sent home on the first flight out. It was their last day anyway, so they spent the remainder of it in the Nadi house with the country manager. 

Sam is an arrogant kid. He has the air about him that he holds himself on a higher level than others. When I did the nightly rounds he was the last to get up when I said time for bed. He worked when he felt like it. However, when he worked, he did a great job. The first trip to the construction site had him working nearly non-stop. He was very active, patient, and all around great teaching the kids at Mulomulo Primary. I told him all this. 

Anyone who knows my counseling and teaching side knows that I am an idealist. Sam told me, after teaching a more difficult class, that he realized how much trouble he had been causing his own teachers by acting that way. He was seeing teaching from a different point of view and it seemed like it could have been the planting of a seed in him that might eventually lead to better things. Who knows, that may be true. Maybe not. It's up to him.