T.I.A.

SaSa!  This is another way to greet people in Swahili!  I am actually sitting on a huge rock outside of the orphanage writing this right now, and two women just stopped to talk to me.  They began by asking me if they could have my bracelet and then they would be my friend, so I gave her my markey cancer center bracelet and we talked.  This is not the first time a local has asked me to give them something in exchange for their friendship.  Although I find it odd, it appears to be a normal gesture in their culture.  Sometimes when it's something I need to keep I just laugh and say no.  Then they laugh and we continue talking.

Here at Tumaini the days are pretty laid back.  I live in the Guest House with Rose, who is the director of the school and orphanage, her son Moses (who is 10 yrs old), little Sara Beth (a 2 and a half yr old Rose has taken in as her own), Christy ( one of the orphans who helps look after Sara), and their housekeeper Paulie (that I love!).  She is 26 years old and does most of the cooking and cleaning.  There are also two Dutch girls here volunteering like I am.  Femke is 22 yrs old and is here for two months, and Eilena is 24 yrs old and will be here for 3 months.  I was really glad to find out they were going to be here as well.  This way I am not the only one being submerged into a completely different culture and we can talk about all the different aspects of being here.  Femke speaks English very well, and Eilena is getting better everyday!  It's funny because sometimes I will be sitting in a room and there will be one conversation going on in Swahili and another in Dutch, so I just sit and laugh because I have no idea what anyone is saying!

A normal weekday here consist of waking up and going to school to find out what the schedule is (it basically changes to however the teachers see fit for the day).  Usually in the morning the Dutch girls and I will teach a few P.E. classes.  We change what we do based on the children's ages.  And we switch between teaching them games from America and Holland.  We have taugh them games like Red Rover, Dutch dodgeball, a Dutch way of playing freeze tag, relay races, and the funniest was teaching them to do wheel barrow races where they hold each other feet and try to walk on their hands.  They love to do anything with instruction or organization as long as it is fast pace.  Like any children they get distracted if it bores them, so we are learning what works best as we go.

In the afternoon there are a couple different things I teach.  Sometimes I teach reading or dictation.  This is where I read aloud and the children have to write down what I am reading and we go over it together.  There are very good at this, and even though my accent is different than theirs they usually understand everything.  Typically there are a couple words they have never heard, so we go over the spelling and I tell them what it means.  For the reading part, the children and I take turns reading out loud and then I ask them comprehension questions at the end.  I am always amazed how intellegent and well behaved they are.  From Grade 1 through Grade 7 they are always eager to learn!  They soak up everything and love to participate.  From about Grade 3 on they speak English and Swahili, and some even younger than that!

June 1st was a very exciting day for us all because in 1963 on that day Kenya gained it's independence from Great Britain!  So there was a celebration in Malava and we took some of the children to town to sing for the festival!  The teachers and students who weren't participating could not afford to come to town for the celebration.  Children from a few different schools performed, and even a school for children with special needs.  This was a big deal because there are only a few of them in all of Kenya.  I learned that most people in Africa still find it shameful to have a child who is mentally disabled, and usually keep them locked in the house.  So having schools like this is slowly showing people here that you shouldn't be embarrassed if you have a challenged child.  After the singing, a city official read a speech that the President was giving in Nairobi.  This man talked for a very long time!  And the speech was in Swahili - so not much fun for me :)  But at the end lots of people came up and shook our hands, and welcomed us to their country.  Even a policeman asked us to keep his number in case we had any kind of problem.  It's funny the way people in America perceive Africa, because I've not had a single second where I have felt unsafe or unwelcome. 

So our next big day is this Monday June 6th, tomorrow!!!  It is the chorus and poem competition for the district!  Our children will be competing against about 30 other schools.  Everyone is very excited because this is the first year Tumaini has participated.  So everyday the children have stayed after school for hours practicing, and I was able to help select which children will be performing.  Today they made final changes and got costumes together for some of the songs.  Its fun to watch how much they have improved over the last week!  If they win, the children will be able to go perform in the state house in Nairobi!  So wish us lots of luck!!!!

Also, when I return to the U.S. I will NEVER EVER complain about washing clothes again.  And today I learned that for the remainder of my time here I will wear EVERYTHING at least twice before washing.  This is what you decide after spending 2 hours handwashing your clothes!