Well my last day in Ghana most certainly was a tearful one. I arrived at school and all of the kids came running out to meet me. The first question they asked was "are you going today?" As sad as I was pulling up to school I tried to jump out of the van with a huge smile on my face and look happy! I gathered the kids together for one last circle and song time. I let the kids lead the songs and helped them really understand the words. I pulled my kids together and gave them a few options of what to do for our last day. I brought my computer and showed them all of the pictures and videos that I took during my time at Happy Kids! They absolutely loved looking at themselves and watching the videos! During break time I held Abrah for one last time and then Joshua fell asleep in my arms. The rest of the kids and teachers all recited poems and sang songs for me. The tears started when the other female teacher sang me a goodbye song. Then I pulled my kids together and handed them the folders I made for them with their penpal letters, three pencils, the books with the picture on the back page and all the work they did for me since I have been here. They loved their folders and all of them said thank you about 20 times. They are so grateful for everything I give to them, even the smallest things! We had some time left so we played hangman and then did a circle for the last time. Yayra, one of my favorites started crying during circle time and couldn't even sing the songs because she was so upset. The van pulled up and I went into the nursery and gave hugs and kisses to Abrah, Joshua and Ester - my three favorite babies! Then I went to class 1 and gave them all a hug and as I turned back to walk to my class I saw that my kids were crying and that is when the waterworks started. I gave each of my kids a hug and a kiss on the forehead, gave the teachers a hug and then Yayra and Moda each took my hand and walked me to the van. I crawled into the van and sobbed as I waved and blew kisses out the window to my kids who looked so sad and helpless. It was probably one of the most heartbreaking things that I have ever had to do in my life but also such a wonderful feeling of the connection that I made with my kids! It most certainly was bittersweet. As I was riding to the airport I was trying to take everything in and just soak in the surroundings one last time through tearfilled eyes. It most certainly was a dream come true and I couldn't have asked for a better experience.
As I was flying into the Cairo airport I soon realized I was no longer in Ghana. I was now in the middle of the desert and everything looked like sand as I was landing. Getting through customs was pretty easy and as I was standing in line to get my VISA who do I see standing through the glass but good ole Chreesto waving back at me and then Mom and Dad standing right behind him. I couldn't get through customs fast enough and it was wonderful to be reunited with my family again! We have all arrived safely in Egypt and have just enjoyed the day in our hotel and walking down to the Nile River. Dad, Mom and Chris are all handling traveling well and we are anxiously awaiting the start of our tour tomorow morning. Our hotel used to be a palace and I could just sit outside the patio and stare at the architecture all day! For me the food here is wonderful as I am no longer eating chicken and rice everyday! The breakfast buffet is spectacular and we went to a country diner for dinner. It wasn't like home cooking but Dad did have a hamburger that tasted just like Red Robin..yum!
This will be my only blogpost while in Egpyt since the internet is so incredibly expensive here. We just wanted to let everyone know we have arrived safely! Happy early Thanksgiving! I know I am so thankful and blessed to have all of you in my life! See you when we land safely back at home on the 29th! I am so looking forward to seeing all of you!
Lots of love from Egypt!
Steph (and the rest of the Gowan family!)
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
A bittersweet goodbye
Well my bags are packed – somehow, I’m not sure how I managed to get everything into my luggage but I did! This past weekend we went back to the beach for one last weekend of relaxation and sunshine. I sat there on the beach and reflected on my time here. It really is amazing how fast time goes by. It has made me really take in and savor the little moments of my final days.
Tomorrow will be bittersweet. I’m pretty certain that a little piece of my heart will be left at Happy Kids after I say, what I’m sure will be a tearful last goodbye to my kids tomorrow. I choked up a little as I said goodbye to them today and I can only imagine what it will be like tomorrow. They have taught me more about life than I ever thought possible from 8-11 year olds. They taught me there is no such thing as bad days, just bad moments. You work through them and then get over them – life is too short to do anything but that. It’s too short to dwell on the negative. They taught me even though you don’t’ have control over the life you are handed or born into, you do have complete control over your attitude and how you react to situations. Going through life with a positive attitude is a much better way to live than trying to change things you have no control over. They taught me to really just make the most out of life, every day and that laughter can cure any bad mood!
There certainly are going to be things that I don’t miss about being here in Ghana and things that I will be looking forward to at home but there are so many things that have just become part of life here that I will miss immensely.
I’m going to miss…
Being able to randomly pick up children on the street
Hearing Yevoo everywhere I go and feeling like a celebrity
Having chickens and goats just walking down the street
White pineapple everyday – three times a day!
Egg sandwhiches from Unis
The simplicity of life here – the wonderful feeling of not always having some sort of technology I have to be on or using
Having a baby fall asleep in my arms every day at school
Red, red and plantains
Waking up to the sound of roosters crowing
Walking outside and seeing mountains
Beautiful sunsets down the dirt road
Going to the market twice a week and buying fabric
Walking down the street and having the locals recognize and wave to me like it was the best thing in their day
Tro-tro rides and just looking out the window
My students
Moda’s genuine smile
Yayra jumping on me every single morning
Roland’s knowing glances and intelligence
Amewuga’s playful grin
Holly’s wanting to constantly please
Porshe’s effort to try and read
Blewusi playing cops and robbers with the little ones at break
Charlotte’s laugh and toughness
I don’t think it will hit me until I am home how much this experience has changed my life. My eyes have been opened to so many things and I don’t think I will ever be able to look at the world in the same way again. I have come to appreciate every aspect of my life in America – the freedoms I have as a woman, my loving family who raised me to be an independent thinking person, my wonderful friends and people in my life who accept me for me, the modern conveniences that I always took for granted and the ability to dream and actually have the resources available at my fingertips to make those dreams come true.
Thank you for all of your support and prayers since I have been here. It has been such a wonderful feeling knowing I have so many people back at home caring and thinking about me!
Enjoy thanksgiving at home as I will be in Egypt with my family!! Please know that I am so thankful for all of you in my life and I look forward to seeing you when I finally land in the USA!!
Lots of love for the last time from Africa!
Steph
Tomorrow will be bittersweet. I’m pretty certain that a little piece of my heart will be left at Happy Kids after I say, what I’m sure will be a tearful last goodbye to my kids tomorrow. I choked up a little as I said goodbye to them today and I can only imagine what it will be like tomorrow. They have taught me more about life than I ever thought possible from 8-11 year olds. They taught me there is no such thing as bad days, just bad moments. You work through them and then get over them – life is too short to do anything but that. It’s too short to dwell on the negative. They taught me even though you don’t’ have control over the life you are handed or born into, you do have complete control over your attitude and how you react to situations. Going through life with a positive attitude is a much better way to live than trying to change things you have no control over. They taught me to really just make the most out of life, every day and that laughter can cure any bad mood!
There certainly are going to be things that I don’t miss about being here in Ghana and things that I will be looking forward to at home but there are so many things that have just become part of life here that I will miss immensely.
I’m going to miss…
Being able to randomly pick up children on the street
Hearing Yevoo everywhere I go and feeling like a celebrity
Having chickens and goats just walking down the street
White pineapple everyday – three times a day!
Egg sandwhiches from Unis
The simplicity of life here – the wonderful feeling of not always having some sort of technology I have to be on or using
Having a baby fall asleep in my arms every day at school
Red, red and plantains
Waking up to the sound of roosters crowing
Walking outside and seeing mountains
Beautiful sunsets down the dirt road
Going to the market twice a week and buying fabric
Walking down the street and having the locals recognize and wave to me like it was the best thing in their day
Tro-tro rides and just looking out the window
My students
Moda’s genuine smile
Yayra jumping on me every single morning
Roland’s knowing glances and intelligence
Amewuga’s playful grin
Holly’s wanting to constantly please
Porshe’s effort to try and read
Blewusi playing cops and robbers with the little ones at break
Charlotte’s laugh and toughness
I don’t think it will hit me until I am home how much this experience has changed my life. My eyes have been opened to so many things and I don’t think I will ever be able to look at the world in the same way again. I have come to appreciate every aspect of my life in America – the freedoms I have as a woman, my loving family who raised me to be an independent thinking person, my wonderful friends and people in my life who accept me for me, the modern conveniences that I always took for granted and the ability to dream and actually have the resources available at my fingertips to make those dreams come true.
Thank you for all of your support and prayers since I have been here. It has been such a wonderful feeling knowing I have so many people back at home caring and thinking about me!
Enjoy thanksgiving at home as I will be in Egypt with my family!! Please know that I am so thankful for all of you in my life and I look forward to seeing you when I finally land in the USA!!
Lots of love for the last time from Africa!
Steph
Thursday, November 11, 2010
In the Jungle, the mighty jungle..
This past weekend was a wonderful weekend relaxing around the home base. On Saturday a few of us went to Kpondo which is a small village about 40 minutes away from HoHoe. In the village there is a small shop called Kpondo’s Potters. It is a small shop down a dirt road that sells handmade pottery. The shop is affiliated with a woman’s cooperative that has taught women the trade of making their own pottery out of clay which they made right from the earth and then taught how to sell it. Since this program has started, over 500 women have been given this skill and have been able to get out of poverty. It was so amazing to see their work and to see the clay that they made sitting at their shop! I wanted to buy everything there but then I remembered there is a weight limit to my luggage and I had to restrict myself to only a few small pieces!
Marinda, Beth and I went to House of Hope on Saturday afternoon to continue to practice the play with the children. They did so well and we were able to go through the whole play twice. Then on Tuesday we went back for the final dress rehearsal. We did bribe them with a small treat if they were able to listen and sit quietly after their turn was over with and it worked. They listened, remember their part and sat perfectly! It was such a relief and wonderful to see them so into their parts! Yesterday was the actual performance of the play and they did fantastic. The other volunteers came to watch and the kids were thrilled. Someone was able to video tape it for me and I cannot wait to show everyone! It was very simple but the smiles on the kids’ faces when they were singing “In the Jungle” as their opening and closings songs is something that I will remember forever! Each kid had a small role in the play besides the two oldest kids and they were so content with just doing their small part. The whole play last about 13 minutes but it was the perfect amount of time for them! I was so happy that after all these weeks of worrying if this was going to work out that it actually did!
School continues to be absolutely wonderful! I can tell the kids are starting to feel that this is nearing the end. We are wrapping some things up and I cannot believe I am already planning for my last week of school. I’ve decided to just do some fun activities and not start anything new with them. I am so happy with the progress that they have made in just the short time that I was with them. It’s amazing to me truly how far they can come in so little time. I have been having them play word matching games and they are in love with them. It’s so wonderful when they ask to play them during their break time instead of running around and playing football. Although I do love to see them go and play too! I am planning on leaving the games with the kids and hopefully they will play them after I am gone. It’s great ways for them to practice words and become familiar with more vocabulary.
Beth and I finished the curriculum for Happy Kids. We still have to edit and add to it but for the most part it is finished! The document is over 40 pages and it really made me think about what I actually know about education. I guess all those undergrad, graduate and my short time in and out of classrooms really did pay off. I didn’t realize how much I really do know about curriculum and what kids should know at what age. I am so thankful to have work with so many wonderful people who helped me to learn so much! I am going to present the curriculum to the headmistress and talk with Godwin, the teacher in my class about things that he might consider teaching with the kids. I don’t want to be too pushy but I have seen how much these children have benefited from interactive learning and I would love to see it continue. The hard part is, I will truly never know if it does continue and I have no control over any of it.
As I head into my final weekend here in Ghana, time has become bittersweet. I have been sick this week and I have several infected mosquito bites covering my legs – I guess it’s my body’s way of telling me it’s really time to go home! I will miss my kids dearly – I am dreading the moment when I have to say my final goodbye to them, but I know what is waiting for me back at home and I am so looking forward to it all!
I hope everyone is well at home! I look forwarding to seeing you all very soon!
Lots of love from Africa,
Steph
Marinda, Beth and I went to House of Hope on Saturday afternoon to continue to practice the play with the children. They did so well and we were able to go through the whole play twice. Then on Tuesday we went back for the final dress rehearsal. We did bribe them with a small treat if they were able to listen and sit quietly after their turn was over with and it worked. They listened, remember their part and sat perfectly! It was such a relief and wonderful to see them so into their parts! Yesterday was the actual performance of the play and they did fantastic. The other volunteers came to watch and the kids were thrilled. Someone was able to video tape it for me and I cannot wait to show everyone! It was very simple but the smiles on the kids’ faces when they were singing “In the Jungle” as their opening and closings songs is something that I will remember forever! Each kid had a small role in the play besides the two oldest kids and they were so content with just doing their small part. The whole play last about 13 minutes but it was the perfect amount of time for them! I was so happy that after all these weeks of worrying if this was going to work out that it actually did!
School continues to be absolutely wonderful! I can tell the kids are starting to feel that this is nearing the end. We are wrapping some things up and I cannot believe I am already planning for my last week of school. I’ve decided to just do some fun activities and not start anything new with them. I am so happy with the progress that they have made in just the short time that I was with them. It’s amazing to me truly how far they can come in so little time. I have been having them play word matching games and they are in love with them. It’s so wonderful when they ask to play them during their break time instead of running around and playing football. Although I do love to see them go and play too! I am planning on leaving the games with the kids and hopefully they will play them after I am gone. It’s great ways for them to practice words and become familiar with more vocabulary.
Beth and I finished the curriculum for Happy Kids. We still have to edit and add to it but for the most part it is finished! The document is over 40 pages and it really made me think about what I actually know about education. I guess all those undergrad, graduate and my short time in and out of classrooms really did pay off. I didn’t realize how much I really do know about curriculum and what kids should know at what age. I am so thankful to have work with so many wonderful people who helped me to learn so much! I am going to present the curriculum to the headmistress and talk with Godwin, the teacher in my class about things that he might consider teaching with the kids. I don’t want to be too pushy but I have seen how much these children have benefited from interactive learning and I would love to see it continue. The hard part is, I will truly never know if it does continue and I have no control over any of it.
As I head into my final weekend here in Ghana, time has become bittersweet. I have been sick this week and I have several infected mosquito bites covering my legs – I guess it’s my body’s way of telling me it’s really time to go home! I will miss my kids dearly – I am dreading the moment when I have to say my final goodbye to them, but I know what is waiting for me back at home and I am so looking forward to it all!
I hope everyone is well at home! I look forwarding to seeing you all very soon!
Lots of love from Africa,
Steph
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Lots of smiles!
School has been wonderful this week. Godwin, the teacher that usually sits in the back of my room has not been there at all this week. Normally, he doesn’t do anything anyways but not having him there has allowed me to have the kids’ full attention without him distracting them. As emotionally challenging as it has been for me, just focusing on my class has been one of the best things I have done for my kids. I give them my full attention, they give me theirs, we work great together and they just make me smile and laugh all day long! The kids are fantastic and I would love it if everyone could meet them! With only two weeks left, I have been starting to wrap up some things. One of my favorite moments of the week was watching Porshe actually write full sentences. Normally, she will write sentences like “to be favorite” and just list some of the words that she knows but on Wednesday she wrote “I like to play football!” My heart smiled. I have seen the most progress in her. She was an emergent reader before I started and now she is well on her way to start reading. She is working through her sight word book and has really excelled.
Another volunteer, Beth, and I have been developing a curriculum for Happy Kids. It has been a challenge but so useful. We are just making a list of English and math skills that are appropriate for each class level (KG – P6) and coming up with multiple activities for each skill. Before I leave, it will be finished and I am going to present it to the headmistress at the school and go through the grade with each of the teachers there. I am hoping that perhaps with an outline of what to teacher, they might strive to teacher them something other than math. Whenever I walk into one of the other class rooms, class 1 or class 5 and 6, the teacher is either teaching math or science. I never seen them teaching anything but math to the kids. The kids never open a book and most of the time they are just writing down notes. Despite a lot of negativity from the teachers, I have seen some positives from them. Joshua, the class 1 teacher, has started using the notebooks I gave my old class. He has them write notes it in, but at least he is using them. Each day as I listen to the Kindergarten teacher teach, I have realized she does almost the same lesson I did the previous day with her kids. I think it’s great that she is trying, but it’s not appropriate for the kindergarteners to be learning the same thing as my 2nd – 4th graders. However, I am looking at the fact that she is no longer having them repeat poems or songs over and over again. Yesterday she had them acting out verbs because that is what I am doing with my kids. It was fun to see the KGers jumping, hopping and walking around. If anything, I am happy she is trying and I’m flattered that she is modeling after my teaching!
At first the play at House of Hope seemed like it was never going to happen. We can only go there at 4:00 after they get out of school and we can only stay until 5:30 so we make it back in time for dinner. Piper, Cat and I were the ones that originally started the play, with Piper gone, Cat has lost interest and they didn’t want to finish. I couldn’t do that to the kids so I decided to power through and ask some of the other volunteers to help out. Marinda stepped up to the plate and we got right to work last Wednesday. Basically, we had to start from the beginning and we were a bit frustrated and nervous that we couldn’t pull it off. Yesterday we pre-prepared all of the props for the kids to color. It was fantastic! They actually listened, it was organized instead of mass chaos and we made all the props. Today we went back and started rehearsal. This isn’t going to be your average middle school play but it will be cute and the kids are having the time of their lives. Through the play, I am learning that things don’t have to be perfect. It’s okay if things don’t always go as planned. Sometimes, it’s the things that don’t happen or things that happen unexpectedly that end up being some of the best!
There is another group of three weekers that leaves this weekend. It’s amazing how many people I have seen come and go at the homebase. I’m realizing that those who are here for three weeks have a completely different mentality and mindset apart from those staying twelve. Those of us who are staying twelve are actually living here. I am still noticing things about the culture and people on a daily basis. Instead of trying to inflict my way of life on people here in Ghana I am trying to see things about their culture and understand why they are still that way. It has completely broadened my view on life. For example, the first time I went to the market, I saw kids running around everywhere or sitting at the shops with their mothers. I thought it was a bit unnecessary having all the kids running around the market when they should be home. Now, however, I understand that mothers have no choice but to bring their kids wherever they go. There are no such things as daycares or babysitters here. Mothers are trying to make a living for their family and they have to do it anyway they can and just bring along their children. There is a lady on the street every night who makes the best egg sandwhiches in the world. Sometimes later at night – around 10 or so we will walk down to get a sandwhich. We have to sit there and watch her make it. Sometimes her kids will be up and they will come sit on our laps and we will play with them, and other times they will be sleeping on the ground right next to her stand. I walk away knowing that those kids are literally sleeping on the street every night – but the mother is trying to make a living and that is how she is choosing to do that and she has to bring her children along. It’s such a hard thing to swallow and something that I am still trying to wrap my brain around.
I hope everything is smiling and healthy back at home!
Remember to email me any questions you have about the culture or children!
Lots of love from Africa,
Steph
Another volunteer, Beth, and I have been developing a curriculum for Happy Kids. It has been a challenge but so useful. We are just making a list of English and math skills that are appropriate for each class level (KG – P6) and coming up with multiple activities for each skill. Before I leave, it will be finished and I am going to present it to the headmistress at the school and go through the grade with each of the teachers there. I am hoping that perhaps with an outline of what to teacher, they might strive to teacher them something other than math. Whenever I walk into one of the other class rooms, class 1 or class 5 and 6, the teacher is either teaching math or science. I never seen them teaching anything but math to the kids. The kids never open a book and most of the time they are just writing down notes. Despite a lot of negativity from the teachers, I have seen some positives from them. Joshua, the class 1 teacher, has started using the notebooks I gave my old class. He has them write notes it in, but at least he is using them. Each day as I listen to the Kindergarten teacher teach, I have realized she does almost the same lesson I did the previous day with her kids. I think it’s great that she is trying, but it’s not appropriate for the kindergarteners to be learning the same thing as my 2nd – 4th graders. However, I am looking at the fact that she is no longer having them repeat poems or songs over and over again. Yesterday she had them acting out verbs because that is what I am doing with my kids. It was fun to see the KGers jumping, hopping and walking around. If anything, I am happy she is trying and I’m flattered that she is modeling after my teaching!
At first the play at House of Hope seemed like it was never going to happen. We can only go there at 4:00 after they get out of school and we can only stay until 5:30 so we make it back in time for dinner. Piper, Cat and I were the ones that originally started the play, with Piper gone, Cat has lost interest and they didn’t want to finish. I couldn’t do that to the kids so I decided to power through and ask some of the other volunteers to help out. Marinda stepped up to the plate and we got right to work last Wednesday. Basically, we had to start from the beginning and we were a bit frustrated and nervous that we couldn’t pull it off. Yesterday we pre-prepared all of the props for the kids to color. It was fantastic! They actually listened, it was organized instead of mass chaos and we made all the props. Today we went back and started rehearsal. This isn’t going to be your average middle school play but it will be cute and the kids are having the time of their lives. Through the play, I am learning that things don’t have to be perfect. It’s okay if things don’t always go as planned. Sometimes, it’s the things that don’t happen or things that happen unexpectedly that end up being some of the best!
There is another group of three weekers that leaves this weekend. It’s amazing how many people I have seen come and go at the homebase. I’m realizing that those who are here for three weeks have a completely different mentality and mindset apart from those staying twelve. Those of us who are staying twelve are actually living here. I am still noticing things about the culture and people on a daily basis. Instead of trying to inflict my way of life on people here in Ghana I am trying to see things about their culture and understand why they are still that way. It has completely broadened my view on life. For example, the first time I went to the market, I saw kids running around everywhere or sitting at the shops with their mothers. I thought it was a bit unnecessary having all the kids running around the market when they should be home. Now, however, I understand that mothers have no choice but to bring their kids wherever they go. There are no such things as daycares or babysitters here. Mothers are trying to make a living for their family and they have to do it anyway they can and just bring along their children. There is a lady on the street every night who makes the best egg sandwhiches in the world. Sometimes later at night – around 10 or so we will walk down to get a sandwhich. We have to sit there and watch her make it. Sometimes her kids will be up and they will come sit on our laps and we will play with them, and other times they will be sleeping on the ground right next to her stand. I walk away knowing that those kids are literally sleeping on the street every night – but the mother is trying to make a living and that is how she is choosing to do that and she has to bring her children along. It’s such a hard thing to swallow and something that I am still trying to wrap my brain around.
I hope everything is smiling and healthy back at home!
Remember to email me any questions you have about the culture or children!
Lots of love from Africa,
Steph
Monday, November 1, 2010
Happy November!
Friday was our usual PE day, but since it is so hot out now, we don’t go all the way to the park. Instead we stay at school. The boys made a small football field right by the classrooms and they boys actually play together instead of just the teachers playing like it used to be! It is a wonderful sight to see! The two oldest girls, Comfort and Lusie gathered all the little kids together and did “circle time” with them. It was so rewarding to watch them lead the circle and sing all the songs with the little ones that I sing with them every morning! They don’t really know all the words so sometimes they mumble through them, it was adorable and they had me laughing hysterically! They also created the cover of their books before PE started and I am so excited to give the books to the kids to take home! I know they are going to be ecstatic when they see that I have laminated them!
This weekend two girls, Piper and Isabel, whom I started my journey here with, left. On Friday, Piper, Cat and I walked around town with Piper one last time. Piper was talking about how it’s different walking through town, knowing it would be the last time that she saw certain things. She said it made her see things in a different perspective. I started to think like that and even in my short walk around town, I noticed shops and small details that I had walked by hundreds of times and never even noticed. Like for example, there are no glass windows here. In the houses, there are holes cut out that look like windows but that’s all it is, is a hole. Sometimes there are screens, sometimes not, and there are always a way they can close up the windows at night, like a small door on the windows. I had never really noticed that before, instead I just took for granted the fact that I see that every day. There are so many things that have become just a part of life here that would be so much not a part of life back home in America. Sometimes I wonder what it will be like to walk down a road that is paved, not have chickens roaming around the house or goats everywhere I go. It’s the small things that sometimes go unnoticed, and I’m going to make sure, especially in my last three weeks here, I make sure I take note of those small things!
Today at school I walked into the nursery to get some supplies and out of the corner of my eye I see a yellow dress with a blue and red pattern on it and tears that just melted my heart – it was ABRAH! The little girl that captured my heart the very first day I was at happy kids. I have not seen her for well over a month. She was crying hysterically and I bent down and said hello to her. I had to get back to my class, and she followed me out of the room. She continued to cry until I picked her up and as I was teaching she fell asleep in my arms. I laid her down on the floor of the nursery so I could get back to my kids – who by the way are still fantastic! After lunch, when all the nursery kids were shooed back into the room, Abrah refused to go into the class. Instead she meandered over to my room and I couldn’t help but pick her up and put her at one of the desks. She stopped crying as soon as she entered the room and was completely content just sitting in my class while I was teaching. Then she started falling asleep at the desk so I picked her up and she again fell asleep in my arms. The headmistress came over and took her from me and Abrah started bawling hysterically. She was kicking and screaming and looking helplessly at me. After Abrah was in the room, she escaped and came bolting towards me. However, before she reached me the headmistress had instructed for one of the KG students to grab her. Then the headmistress had to put a chair in front of the door so Abrah couldn’t escape to me. I went in and gave her a hug and a kiss and she tried to come with me. Talk about having my heart completely melt right on the spot.
During every break now, my kids ask to play hangman or charades which I introduced to them today! They are just so much fun and they are really impressing me lately with what they are showing me they have learned! I cannot believe I have less than three weeks with them – I am most certainly cherishing every moment!
As my time is starting to wrap up – if anyone has any questions about the culture or the kids they would like me to find out while I’m here just send me a quick email and I’ll do some research if I don’t already know the answer!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween!
Lots of love from Africa!
Steph
This weekend two girls, Piper and Isabel, whom I started my journey here with, left. On Friday, Piper, Cat and I walked around town with Piper one last time. Piper was talking about how it’s different walking through town, knowing it would be the last time that she saw certain things. She said it made her see things in a different perspective. I started to think like that and even in my short walk around town, I noticed shops and small details that I had walked by hundreds of times and never even noticed. Like for example, there are no glass windows here. In the houses, there are holes cut out that look like windows but that’s all it is, is a hole. Sometimes there are screens, sometimes not, and there are always a way they can close up the windows at night, like a small door on the windows. I had never really noticed that before, instead I just took for granted the fact that I see that every day. There are so many things that have become just a part of life here that would be so much not a part of life back home in America. Sometimes I wonder what it will be like to walk down a road that is paved, not have chickens roaming around the house or goats everywhere I go. It’s the small things that sometimes go unnoticed, and I’m going to make sure, especially in my last three weeks here, I make sure I take note of those small things!
Today at school I walked into the nursery to get some supplies and out of the corner of my eye I see a yellow dress with a blue and red pattern on it and tears that just melted my heart – it was ABRAH! The little girl that captured my heart the very first day I was at happy kids. I have not seen her for well over a month. She was crying hysterically and I bent down and said hello to her. I had to get back to my class, and she followed me out of the room. She continued to cry until I picked her up and as I was teaching she fell asleep in my arms. I laid her down on the floor of the nursery so I could get back to my kids – who by the way are still fantastic! After lunch, when all the nursery kids were shooed back into the room, Abrah refused to go into the class. Instead she meandered over to my room and I couldn’t help but pick her up and put her at one of the desks. She stopped crying as soon as she entered the room and was completely content just sitting in my class while I was teaching. Then she started falling asleep at the desk so I picked her up and she again fell asleep in my arms. The headmistress came over and took her from me and Abrah started bawling hysterically. She was kicking and screaming and looking helplessly at me. After Abrah was in the room, she escaped and came bolting towards me. However, before she reached me the headmistress had instructed for one of the KG students to grab her. Then the headmistress had to put a chair in front of the door so Abrah couldn’t escape to me. I went in and gave her a hug and a kiss and she tried to come with me. Talk about having my heart completely melt right on the spot.
During every break now, my kids ask to play hangman or charades which I introduced to them today! They are just so much fun and they are really impressing me lately with what they are showing me they have learned! I cannot believe I have less than three weeks with them – I am most certainly cherishing every moment!
As my time is starting to wrap up – if anyone has any questions about the culture or the kids they would like me to find out while I’m here just send me a quick email and I’ll do some research if I don’t already know the answer!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween!
Lots of love from Africa!
Steph
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