We entered day 2 of volunteering with excitment and alot of coffee. We had only been through an introduction the day before and we were already exhausted. Today would be the first day I taught a class at the school. I was teaching English 1, which you can probably tell by my blog enteries, is a good place for me to start.
I sat through the morning classes until the grade 1 teacher handed me the chalk and said "ok its your turn." I figured at that moment I was going to sink or swim, and if I was going to sink, I'd at least try to make it entertaining for the class.
I taught. I danced. I hi fived. And we all laughed alot. These kids are smart. Real smart. Defenitly smarter than I was at their age, and their enthusiasm and general smarts made the class fly by. We had a blast. So much so that kids from the other classes were ignoring their teachers completely and watching my class. A few of them shouted out answers too! Ha.
At the end of the class, I patted myself on the back, happy that I survived and thinking "hey that wasn't so hard", then I realized I was covered in sweat. I guess my adrenaline got me through it all.
Day 2
Day 2 started with another English class. And then was followed up by a little blue collar work in the school yard. A week of rain prior to our arrival, turned the school yard into a swamp. There were holes everywhere, and standing water everywhere there wasnt holes. We needed to fill these in before they got any worse. Armed with the shovel I borrowed from Hugh (thanks Hugh!) I tackled the cement solid mound of sand that would be used to fill in the craters. My team of 5 eager students surrounded me, and without instruction shoveled the loosened sand onto empty rice bags and two by two tansfered them to the holes and filled them. I stood in amazement of these kids. Working their tiny muscles to the point of exhaustion and never once complaining. I laughed at the thought of me doing the same thing at their age.
After we finished our yard work it was time for field day. Every Friday the kids walk to the local field and play soccer and all sorts of games. It was awesome. I dove right in with the kids, and played my first official game of soccer. I wasn't horrible. I actually scored a goal. The kids went nuts. Then I had another break away and it was me and the goalie. Me 33, him 6. I fired the ball point blank range and the kid blocked it. It bounced of his 4 foot frame and i fired again, this time even closer. He blocked it again! I couldnt believe it! Stuffed by a 6 year old. I could only laugh as all the other kids came up and razzed me for my poor performance. After the game the kid came up to me and said "dont feel bad, I'm the best goalie around." Somehow his admission didn't make me feel any better.
On the way back to class we walked through the Ngando Slums. 30 kids deep, holding hands. I can only imagine what we must have looked like. 30+ African kids surrounding a goofy looking Mazungo (white person). I won't lie though, I felt a little like Jesus.
Along the way we stopped at the local food stand. A shack alongside a hundred other shacks selling odds and ends. We bought 20kgs of rice and 20 kgs of beans for the kids. It ended up costing us around $30, which is absolutely nothing considering these kids will be able to eat for weeks on it. We quickly realized how little it takes to make a difference here. $30 can feed 100 kids for two weeks. $20 can buy them all new books and pencils (most kids have to share their books and pencils because they can't afford their own. The ones who don't have someone to share with just sit and stare out the window. Its kind of heart breaking).
I'm absolutely loving my time here, and loving the friendships I'm making. I hope my presence here shows these kids that someone out there in the world cares about them. Because I do. I also hope that in someway they realize how much they're helping me. Their smiles, kindness and friendships are shattering my world. It's an awesome experience and one I know I'll never forget.
If you find these kids to be as awesome as I do, and feel like helping, head on over to http://rirutaumc.homestead.com/children_of_africa.html.
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