Sound Minds Reside in Sound Bodies

Visits to The Tamale Islamic Science Senior High School (TISSEC) were a part of our daily routine. We took lunch and dinner here, and had been invited to join the students in their inter-house athletic competition. We’d been given uniforms, and arrived in our green dresses. The girl’s prefect and several of the senior girls lingered to help us pin on our headscarves.

The headmaster had staged a volleyball game between KCD and TISSEC, but with a twist. Our students donned TISSEC jerseys and played the “visiting” team of TISSEC students. Students and staff from both schools encircled the court standing just outside the macheted line that defined the field of play. There were, of course, a few liberties taken to ensure that TISSEC (our team) won; the lines were adhered to when it favored us, and ignored unless our fault was too egregious. It was lost on no one that theirs were the more trained and skilled players. But graciously they allowed the “home” team to take the day.

Our game provided the informal opening to the inter-house athletic competition. Students stood with their houses dressed by color: blue, green, yellow and red. We circled the track, which had also been carved from the red earth with a machete. At each house, our guide presented us to the housemaster, and we wished the students well. We sat in the shade of a canopy, resting in upholstered chairs brought out especially for the occasion. Our students took seats in the carved wooden chairs that formed the second row, and behind them the TISSEC staff were arrayed on benches and at tables.

The first heat came to the starting line, crouched and sprinted hard at the sound of the wooden clapper. Those with shoes wore them, those without wore socks or ran barefoot, their own leather soles pounding against the dirt. The students ran hard, sprinting past the finish line. A row of stretchers inside the track held those who had toppled from heat exhaustion.

As the races ended, the headmaster stood to address the students and honored guests. From the center of the track rose a low chorus of “Boss, boss!”

“Sound minds,” he began, “reside in sound bodies. Students who are physically fit are better able to attend to their studies. Through athletics, we learn our strengths and our weaknesses.” And through athletics as well, we spoke the common language of grace, community, and play.