Jambo! (Hello)
So everything is going well at Samaritan Village and I've been here for a week already! Unbelievable how fast time is flying by but having great fun along the way. A typical day involves getting my breakfast delivered on a tray from the 'kitchen' by one of the children. They then wait for me to eat and then take the tray back...they appreciate my eating slow enough for them to fit in the length of a cartoon!! It varies between two crepes, or a doughnut, or a banana, or two boiled eggs. Then I have lessons in the morning where I started off teaching English. They have since decided I'm much better at maths. I tried not to take offense that they thought they were better at teaching my own language, but have concluded it's probably true. They pronounce a as 'ah', e as 'eh' i as 'e', o as 'o' and u as 'eugh-(kind of.) So it was just very complicated. But now that I'm on maths and occasionally science it has been working so much better! Some of the children are very behind in school work so 'summer homework' is supposed to be fun. Three hours sitting at a table doing sums is proving difficult to enjoy so I'm trying to get them to work for 25minutes and then we go and do something actually fun for 5 minutes and then come back. So far it's working not too bad. They are very easily distracted though and when they want to tell random funny stories I'm happy to listen...the staff aren't so keen on this method though.
Anyhow by the time we've studied until we can study no more its lunchtime! This is a repetition of a carbohydrates and very little veg! Rice, spaghetti, posho (like ground white stuff mixed into a stodge with no taste-I'm not a huge fan) and chapati! Chapati I love. It's a flat bread they cook over the fire and it's great. I've already made a note to google a recipe when I get home. I also eat a lot of beans. I have had every kind of bean I could ever have imagined existed! Anyway, the children sit at one long table and eat relatively quietly. They sing grace in Swahili before they begin. So far I've picked up 'Amin' for Amen. It's not even that fast I will just need to get it written down!
Then we have play time all afternoon. Basketball was the main feature until today when two new volunteers brought a frisbee and footballs. But there is very little else to actually play with. I've seen one toy car and one doll. For the 29 children here. They do seem quite happy to just play with each other and we started hide and seek today too! Although they cry when you find them. So it's hard to find the balance of playing the game and just wandering around in circles calling their names because you're scared to upset them! The younger ones nap in the afternoon and then there's more opportunity to chat with the 8-12year olds. I've really enjoyed getting to know them but there's definitely still some barriers up for some of them. I've seen them coming down slowly over the past week and hopefully they'll continue to during the next fortnight.
Then we have dinner. More carbohydrates. And then the youngest go to bed. And I help the child on dishes wash up! I thought it was pretty tough as a child washing up for six (on the rare occasion I did) but these kids are washing up for about 25. So it's usually about an hour later we finish! and then they have an hour of reading before bed. this has turned into an hour of making slow motion videos on my camera! (they found a new setting I'd never even seen- it's hilarious.) then they are meant to go to bed at 9pm. But again, this has turned into sneaking upstairs to watch cartoons on my television until 10pm. I figured that as it's summer holidays that's okay. And then we wake up and repeat it all again.
Some of my favourite moments so far have been the children saying:
"Sarah, did you know your eyes look really like beans" Thank you?
"Sarah, I think there might be a bee in this tree, let's shake it!" Code for, RUN, I know full well there is a swarm.
"Sarah, do you fall over every time you run?" No...I don't. Not every time.
A serious one...
"Sarah, did you know that God made humans and trees and even the stars?" Yes, I did. But what an awesome thought from a 12 year old boy who causes trouble most of the day.
So time here is going well and I am enjoying myself. Prayer points would be for energy and enthusiasm. It's exhausting trying to give full attention to different children constantly the whole day and to be excited about what they are showing me and telling me. Also for health. Had this weird bite on my arm that began to pus, it has completely cleared up now but as I don't know how I got it I'm not sure how to not get another one! Praise for the fun we're having and incredible kids that live here.
Thank you,
Sarah
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