Tumaini Kids!

Hello Everyone!

I had no idea how refreshing a cold grape fanta could be until today. I was volunteering at the school this morning and after school I walked into town to the cyber (internet cafe). It was a warm one outside (but don't worry mom, I had my sunscreen on), I was pretty hot by the time I arrived here....but now I am sipping a cold fanta.

It's funny what things become luxury items here in Kenya. On Friday, I had a most luxurious day.... I slept in until 7 am to start with, ate a fried egg for breakfast with coffee (a latte technically since it was made with fresh milk!), then Rose warmed water over the jiko (stove) for a sponge bath. I felt I was in the lap of luxury! After that I made my way into town to do some work. There are lots of things I am working on which require a computer and internet, so I find myself heading into town fairly often.

I will elaborate on my other work later. For now, I wanted to show you some pictures of the super cute kids at the school.

This is a photo of the class I am helping. And no, they aren't crowded in for the photo. This is their class room and they are just waiting for class to start. Crazy isn't it? Since taking this photo, they have gotten two tables and about half the kids have chairs. They are working on getting tables and chairs for all the kids. I think it will be much easier for the kids to learn to write when it's on a table instead of their lap!


They have a big piece of plywood that they have painted black to make a chalkboard. The kids are learning the alphabet here, they point at it with a stick and have the other kids repeat after them. When they do a good job, the teachers says 'mpigie makofi' which means 'clap for him/her'. The kids all clap and sing this song in english 'well done, well done, try again another day, a very good girl/boy'. While they are singing the student at the front will dance. It is so funny to see! I have heard this coming from many other classes and schools, so I think it is some kind of standard thing across Kenya!



I know that teachers aren't supposed to play favorites, but I figure since I am not officially a teacher I am allowed. This little girl is one of my favorites! Her name in Winny-Dorkas, and she is always smiling and shyly asking me for help.



This little guy is another favorite. He likes to yell the answers as loud as he can. I am working on teaching him to say 'This is a...'. He constantly says 'piece piecea...' and I can't seem to get him to get it right. Work in progress I guess.



Another picture of some of the kids from class, since they are in the youngest class, none of these kids were here when the other volunteers visited, so I don't think they had ever really seen a camera before. They were a little unsure what to make of it.




There isn't really very much playground equipment, so the slide and see-saw are very much in demand....



Right now, I am working on helping the teacher of the baby class get a little more organized. She hasn't actually ever done any graduate teaching school. For a lot of the teachers in Kenya, finishing high school seems to be the only qualification required to become a teacher. I don't think that she really knows what to be doing with the class most of the time, she doesn't really have any textbooks or anything to go by. I am hoping to help her prepare some resources for the classroom, like alphabet, colour and number charts, as well as teach her to do some lesson planning. I was in town on Friday and I was able to buy a teacher's guide for math for her level which gives lots of guidance. There are teacher's guides for other subjects too, and if I am able to get her to use the math one, I will get the other ones for her as well. I want to make sure she will actually use them before I buy more though! It is a little slow going, there is also a bit of a language barrier, but all of the subjects except kiswahili are supposed to be taught in english at the schools here, so there is a lot I can do to help.

Oh, I'm also taking some Kiswahili lessons myself! I have hired on of the teachers to give me lessons a couple of times a week. I am a slow learner, especially with languages, but I am starting to at least be able to greet people I meet!

I have so much more to write about, I am working on many other things with the project outside of the school, but it will have to wait for another time. I have to get back for dinner... today is lentils and chapati day! I'm looking forward to it.