Charles Thomas and friend Consolata Barasa
By Bob Weaver
Consolata Barasa told Arnoldsburg School students "They don't have desks where I
teach in Africa. My students raise a crop to buy chalk for the school," which has 400
students.
The 44-year-old teacher from Kenya is visiting Calhoun for two weeks, after
Arnoldsburg teacher Charles Thomas of Chloe spent time in her village last summer.
Thomas taught Kenyan students, helped local people learn quilt and rug making
and taught a Bible school for African pastors.
This is her first visit to America. "I'm struck how well you treat your children and how
they have the freedom of expression, and how giving you are," she said, explaining
until recently her country was a dictatorship. Democracy is a "new adventure for
us."
Consolata teaching Arnoldsburg students
Charles Thomas tells his students about Africa
Consolata believes her country is 50 to 100 years behind America. "We have very
poor facilities and very few supplies," she said. "In my class I have only five books
for 55 students."
After discussing Calhoun was among the poorer counties in West Virginia, she was
aghast, indicating our view of being underprivileged is much different than life in
Kenya, exclaiming "Nearly all your houses have a stove and running water." Her
family, which includes five children, sleep on mats.
She has been teaching since 1984, for which she is paid about $100 a month.
Her visit to Calhoun, staying with the Thomas family, was her first experience with
frost, coming from a tropical climate. "It was so cold it made my whole body
tired."
Front view of 400-student Kenyan school
Boys excited about homemade soccer ball
Consolata's husband is a pentecostal minister. "He is a good man. You would like
him," she said. In Kenya, extended family members often live together. "If my
husband would die, my husband's brother would inherit me," a long-standing
religious and cultural tradition.
AIDS is taking a tragic toll in Africa, with millions of people HIV positive. Consolata
has a sister with the disease. "I'm expecting to hear of her death at anytime," she
said.
"The country is so poor, few medications are available to help those suffering from
AIDS," although America has announced a major effort to help with the epidemic.
"Almost every family has someone with AIDS," she said. "It has really hit the working
class." She said AIDS seems to be associated with gay people in America, but it
shouldn't be. It is an equal opportunity disease in her country and millions are
dying.
Consolata in her early growth cornfield
The kitchen area of her home
Typical Kenyan house
While Kenya was under an oppressive government for many years, the flow of help
and supplies was cut off. "American's who often wanted to help our people, quit
trying," but things are getting better now.
"The students loved listening to Charles when he came to visit us," she concluded,
and the Arnoldsburg kids enjoyed listening to Consolata and looking at pictures of
her school and way of life.
Marketing sugar cane in village | 
