We are the Junction Juniors and we belong to a special club. We have meetings in our secret hideout in the woods - please don’t tell anyone about it! Hey, why don’t you set up your own Junction Junior club? It’s such fun!
1. PEACE & CONFLICT: THE ELECTIONS
Written by NAOMI KAMAU
The gang learns how to resolve conflict peacefully away from tribal lines. Nouns
Whole Numbers
Password: peace
We start the series with our gang (Nita, James, Leleti, Bakari & Brian) preparing to vote for a new leader. James is the outgoing leader & he gives a short speech asking them to vote wisely & fairly - the Junction Juniors need a leader who will do the best for them and encourage them to do good. Before they vote they have to wait for Brian - where is he? Brian rushes in - something terrible has happened! As he was on his way someone jumped out at him, snatched his biscuits & ran off. As he explains this to the gang, Bakari says ‘but you said you would give me those biscuits so that I can vote for you!’ - the gang tell Brian off for trying to bribe / buy votes!
James suggests that the kid targeted Brian because he is from a different area / tribe. Everyone discusses tribe - they decide to go and find the thief. Brian says he ran off in the direction of his farm - they should look there. When they get to the farm and look around - they are confronted by a very angry Maspeedy - he said that while he was chasing away some rats from his maize - a kid stole a pail of his milk. The gang promise to help him find the thief - they look around and see a trail of milk (the pail has a hole in it) so they follow it. On the way they spot one of Brian’s biscuits on the floor - the thief is the same one that took the biscuits…they continue on their way. Eventually they come upon the thief (Babu). Brian confronts him and accuses him of taking his biscuits because they are from different tribes - but to his surprise Babu has no prejudice at all - he doesn’t care about tribe, he knows all about the horrors that tribal prejudice can cause - he just wanted Brian’s stupid biscuits. Leleti tells him it’s wrong to steal and he says he knows, he was going to pay Brian & Maspeedy back but he had found a kitten and wanted to feed it. He shows them the kitten that he was hiding under his coat. The gang are sympathetic and encourage Babu to give the kitten to Maspeedy - he might like it on his farm to chase away the rats! The gang all warm to Babu & his impressive take on tribe & conflict. Nita asks him to join the gang but Babu turns them down - he’s a free spirit, he doesn’t belong to anything. He runs off & the gang return to the HQ to vote for their leader.
Gang go back and vote - Nita is the new leader.