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Note #8248 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

04249
May 25, 2004

Big-game safari

For African children in need of learning, the stakes couldn't be higher

by Alexa Smith

LOUISVILLE - Melanie Hardison stood barefoot at the edge of the mat.

	Sherri Auld was still rolling the jumbo dice. She took four steps,
stopped and read the square on which she'd landed: "Your classroom wall has
collapsed. Go back two spaces."

	Scott Smith, his sock-clad toes peeping out from the bottoms of his
khakis, tumbled the dice and read out loud: "Because you didn't have study
books, you could not prepare well for your test. You failed."

	It's one step forward, two steps back. Or three. Or four.

	Hardison looked up from the sidelines. "For me, a female, the game
ended with pregnancy. That's what happened to me," she said, nodding toward a
patch of color near the center of the 12-by-14-foot mat in the atrium of the
Presbyterian Center, where she and the other players work. "I guess that's
what she means when she says that the goal is just getting through this game,
not finishing first."

	The "she" Hardison was quoting was Christi Boyd, a Presbyterian
Church (USA) mission worker who helped create this calamity-laden,
human-sized game board to illustrate how hard it is for African children to
stay in school. Boyd and the game's co-creator, her husband, Jeff, serve the
PC(USA) in Cameroon, where they live with their three children.

	Dice pretty well symbolize the gamble that getting through school is
for most African kids, where even nominal fees are too much for most parents
to pay.

	And even if tuition is paid, other daily obstacles rear their ugly
heads to stop or delay education. There's malaria: You can't go to school
sick. Or the grass roof of the village schoolhouse collapses. Or school has
to be canceled because rain is pouring through holes in the roof. Or you're a
girl, and your parents can't afford to send all of their children to school,
so they only send the boys. Or you fail the entrance exam for secondary
school, despite years of hard work.

	It's a crapshoot, plain and simple.

	The Africa Game comes in three sizes. This gigantic version will be
rolled out at the General Assembly and Youth Triennium, this summer's two
biggest denominational events.

	A smaller model is being shipped to each presbytery resource center,
thanks to a $5,000 donation from The Outreach Foundation of the Presbyterian
Church (USA), an evangelistic group that raises money to support global
mission, often including education. In this version, the game pieces are
small photographs of African kids.

	"Supporting education has long been an essential part of our church's
proclamation of the gospel in word and deed," said Rob Weingartner, the
Outreach Foundation's executive director. "When I saw the game that Jeff and
Christi Boyd had developed, and described it to one of The Outreach
Foundation's supporters, she wanted to help get it out to resource centers
across the church.

	"We hope the game will help Presbyterians understand the challenges
that our partners face in Africa as they seek to educate their children,
youth and leaders."

	Poster-size copies of the board - without the game pieces - can be
ordered from Presbyterian Distribution Services. They cost $10. Ask for PDS#
7428004003. The PDS phone number is (800) 524-2612.

	Jeff Boyd, standing next to the mat, handed the dice to the next
player. She rolled to see what the future held. A 1 would mean that she could
start first grade; a 2 would also be good: It would mean her parents could
afford to send her to pre-school. Three also would be lucky, meaning her
parents could get her into a church school with a good reputation for
discipline and teaching.

	A 4, 5 or 6 would put her out before she started: There's no money
for school fees, period.

	Doug Welch, the PC(USA)'s liaison to Central and West Africa, stood
by, watching. "This is a way to help people understand the role that
education plays in people's lives in Africa," he said. "It's a way to help
Presbyterians in the United States understand that this is really the way it
is. ... It's the perfect subject to address, and this is the perfect way to
address it."

	When the Boyds began touring U.S. churches years ago, The Africa Game
wasn't nearly as snazzy. The first board was flannel. The tiny photos were
stuck in place with Velcro.

	That was before Vennie Constant, a conference planner in the
Worldwide Ministries Division (WMD), got wind of the project and decided to
spruce it up.

	Even in the old days, Christi Boyd said, North American players were
immediately struck by two things - the gender bias (girls seldom keep pace
with boys because they're needed at home, to care for smaller children or a
sick mother, or they unexpectedly get pregnant); and the irrelevance of
winning.

	Winning isn't important. Just finishing without dropping out is the
victory.

	While Boyd was speaking, the Rev. Marian McClure, the WMD director,
lolled along the far side of the mat, reading: "Your teacher did not come to
class today. He must work in his field to feed his family. Move back a
space."

	McClure shook her head and asked whether it would be possible to make
a second mat like this one, so that two huge maps could be available on a
rotating basis to presbyteries and congregations, to reinforce Presbyterians'
long commitment to education abroad.

	Stepping back from the board, Jeff Boyd tried to sum up how tough it
is, even for church schools, to survive financially in Africa. In Cameroon,
churches educate about 25 percent of the children in school; in Congo, the
figure is 65 percent. But parents are still required to pay tuition, even
though there is little money.

	Church budgets are too strained to pick up the academic tab or to pay
teachers well. Scholarships are rare. Many denominations don't have enough
money to pay their pastors on time. Teachers take on second jobs to
supplement their monthly salary of $10 to $20.

	Boyd said it isn't unusual for African friends to hint that they need
cash, a few bucks, to pay tuition. Christi said paying for school and
healthcare are the preoccupations of most African families, just behind
feeding their children.

	Just then, Kate Hartman - who'd been working her way around the mat
-- landed on the last square and lifted her arms over her head in an
impromptu victory dance while reading: "You, your family and community have
worked hard, persevered and succeeded. You have earned a place at the
university. Congratulations."

	Auld landed right behind her, with a loud whoop.

	Smith, needing a 2 to land on the final square, instead rolled a 5.
As far as he was concerned, he was finished. He headed for the edge of the
mat, looking for his shoes.

	Boyd told him it was a good thing he wasn't playing with the
Africa-savvy Boyd children. They'd enforce the exact-finish rule, and make
him risk rolling a 1: "Your father died. You must quit school, look for a job
and care for your family."

	"In that case," he said, "you'd have to drop out."

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