Twelve hours of working non stop, but a lot of satisfaction as a reward.
Twelve hours of working non stop, but a lot of satisfaction as a reward.
In the morning we worked in pairs, one pair per class. In the highest preschooler class Karen and Lief did some more organising and structuring. The kids got their own classroom number and this number was fixed to their coat hangers and notebooks. Then, through games they practised recognising numbers. Next they invented endings for the Miffy story they had seen the previous day and put the different parts of the story in chronological order. The final activity for the day was completing some patterns (e.g. **|**|**). In the middle preschooler class they did a lot of singing. The children really enjoyed switching from singing very quietly to singing very loudly. Here too the kids finished the Miffy story. Then they did some colouring in with their newly received coloured pencils. The colouring pages showed scenes from the Miffy story. For these kids the day ended with a game of Duck, Duck, Goose, which they really enjoyed. Nadia and Sofie took many turns. Toubabs (white people) are well liked here.
Holding a multitude of kids by the hand we walked to the health centre in the scorching midday sun, where we were welcomed with open arms. We used a lot of elbow grease to clear out an old storage room filled with boxes. We sorted the contents into neat piles: compresses, bandages, sanitary napkins, syringes, mattress protectors, lab equipment,… all this without light or electricity.
Around 5.30 pm we were done and we could return to the hotel relieved and satisfied. At least, that’s what we thought. Our driver drove us to Kalifa (the local representative of Gamrupa). While enjoying a refreshing drink, we discussed our plans for the following day with him. Other items on the agenda were the order we placed for wooden cabinets and school uniforms for the children. Big business!!
On our way back the car faltered and stopped. Karamoo, our regular driver, had tried to start the car in fourth gear, which is of course quite a challenge. To save face he jumped out of the car and opened the hood to look at the engine. Hilarious moment.
At 8 pm we arrived at the hotel, black as soot. Shower, food, blog and some craft work for tomorrow.
Night night.
