In the early 80s I taught in a posh Boy's Junior School in London. I taught 9 year olds and in the class was a boy nicknamed 'Stinky'. Alan (not his real name) wore diapers to school as he had the habit of pooping his pants almost every day, on purpose. He always did it at morning break. He would separate from the other boys, and stand very still. Suddenly a look of sheer delight would come over his face. Sure enough, he had just done it. Next he would head for a nearby bench, and slowly sit. There was that expression again. When the bell rang, he would come into class as though nothing had happened. It was not long before the boys sitting around him would start complaining about the smell, and moving away. Once, I asked him why he did it. The answer was quite simple, he enjoyed it. On another occasion, the answer: "It's really HOT, sir".
At the end of my third year at the school, I was given the opportunity to go and work in the north of Kenya as principle of a boarding school. It was there that I encountered Luria. He was 8 years old and from a poor family some distance from the school. There were no such things as diapers among the Samburu . Unfortunately this meant that each morning Luria would poo in his underpants and shorts. His mother had tried everything to get him to stop, and he was such a distraction in class, that the teacher asked me to expel him. I went to see the family and was referred to the grandfather, who explained the reason for Luria's problem was that some traditional ritual at his birth and not been completed. I guessed that he was talking about slaughtering something, but the family were too poor to pay for it. I had the boy examined by the doctor at the mission hospital. He said that there was no medical reason for this behaviour. He, just like Alan, did it because they enjoyed doing it......and I know what they meant! Do you share this pleasure?
At the end of my third year at the school, I was given the opportunity to go and work in the north of Kenya as principle of a boarding school. It was there that I encountered Luria. He was 8 years old and from a poor family some distance from the school. There were no such things as diapers among the Samburu . Unfortunately this meant that each morning Luria would poo in his underpants and shorts. His mother had tried everything to get him to stop, and he was such a distraction in class, that the teacher asked me to expel him. I went to see the family and was referred to the grandfather, who explained the reason for Luria's problem was that some traditional ritual at his birth and not been completed. I guessed that he was talking about slaughtering something, but the family were too poor to pay for it. I had the boy examined by the doctor at the mission hospital. He said that there was no medical reason for this behaviour. He, just like Alan, did it because they enjoyed doing it......and I know what they meant! Do you share this pleasure?
