Ndekendek: The Man Who Runs Like a Bird is an account of the life of Josse Flasschoen and his relationship with two boys he briefly met at the Paris Exhibition in 1900. Their lives are going different directions, but keep circling back resulting in confrontations between them.. Josse was nicknamed Ndekendek by the tribes of the Belgian Congo where he operated a palm oil plantation while working to uplift the people. The story expands to three continents before climaxing with disturbing results that deserve a reexamination for justice. The account is shared by George Flasschoen, son of Josse, who lives in Lees Summit, Missouri. Bob Wyatt is the writer.
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GEORGE FLASSCHOEN
George Flasschoen was sent to the United States in 1944 as part of the adoption program for orphans as a result of World War II. He spent the final years of his high school days in Newton, Kansas, and went on to earn a BA degree from Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas, majoring in languages, education, and history. He added an MA in history from the University of Missouri–Kansas City and did additional study at Kansas University, the University of Nebraska, and the University of South Dakota.
He taught foreign language in De Soto, Kansas, for ten years; successfully unified the Clearwater School District in Nebraska; and was a full-time instructor in the Academy of Kansas City Charter School. He supervised the publication of a trilingual magazine, The Hearth, in English, French, and Spanish. Copies are available in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.
He received a grant from the National Humanities Faculty for developing a program for teaching French and Spanish. He later received another grant for a federal study for teaching French. In 1979, he began a twenty-two-year historical research project on World War II. During that time, he traveled extensively in France, Belgium, Germany, and England, seeking answers to questions he had after the war about what he had witnessed firsthand. This led to an attempt to write the biography on his father. After forty years without success in completing the book, his wife recommended he find a writer to do the book.
BOB WYATT
Robert W. “Bob” Wyatt was a friend of George’s wife in earlier years. She invited him to listen to George’s story after she read one of Bob’s books. After their first meeting, plans were made to meet every Wednesday to write Ndekendek. Bob commented that he left with tears most Wednesdays after hearing more of the story of the Flasschoen family.
Bob graduated from the local high school in Leeton, Missouri. He went on to earn a BA in Bible from Central Christian College of the Bible, a bachelor of music education and master’s in education from the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg with additional study from Johnson Bible College in Kimberlin Heights, Tennessee.
His background includes ministering to two congregations, overseeing a statewide mission program, operating a print shop and three small-town newspapers, directing instrumental and vocal music in high schools, and directing a cultural exchange between Missouri drama and music students with groups in Europe. He currently writes a weekly paper for his hometown and oversees the local Leeton Museum. He has over four dozen published books to his credit. His love for life is demonstrated in his effort to serve others, emphasizing the need for people to work together to lift each other to higher levels of accomplishment.