Fitting In, Making Progress, and Soccer

(from Hillary Lenz)

I love working at the school, the kids have been so great. They are adorable and always thrilled to see us. It looks like we are making real progress which helps keep the ball rolling. We have just moved into better rooms at Kolping House, so that has lifted morale as well. We've found our favorite spots around the hotel- best dinner food, cheapest supermarket, etc so we're getting comfortable in our community and daily routine.

We moved to Mityana on the 9th and were received by community and school leaders. We started settling in and fixing little problems that arose (no hot water, street loudness). On the 10th we went to school and had a very warm welcome from the kids- they sang and danced for us and the school and community welcomed us. On the 11th we had meetings with Margaret and the rainwater harvest man to set that project up, which went great. On the 12th we went around with Mr. Kwadwa and were introduced to the community leaders including the head of the police and our equivalent to the governor. On the 13th we went to the school to bring the gardening tools and play around with the kids- all of our interactions with them have been great. On Saturday the 14th, we started clearing the garden- a big task but we made palpable progress. I then went on an excursion to buy sugar cane for the kids who didnt want to leave so they could be with us. Later we had soccer triouts for P5-P7 boys which went great- their skill level is already really good and they have a coach at the school who is an internationally certified referee so he's a help and resource. Sunday we went to the local soccer match and saw most of the teachers and even the headmistress, it was a big event and one of my favorite things so far. Monday we had nutrition, music classes, and games/sports. I assisted Alanna with P5 nutrition, they were quick learners and filled in a blank food pyramid by the end of the class. I also helped Mingyi and Haru with Nursery and P1 music, teaching songs, clapping, making up dances, and playing song games. Very fun. I started girls soccer, which has never been introduced at the school, so they're pretty excited. The boys played kickball which turned into dodgeball essentially so we changed it back to soccer. Today we gardened and had games/sports and the rainwater harvest system is starting to be built-exciting! Becky also made more concrete plans for vocational training which is shaping up well. We moved rooms two days ago to quieter rooms without roaches, but also without any water from the shower. We eat at "Winner's" after trial and error elsewhere. Winner's is pretty delicious.

Rooms have been our biggest problem. We got them to give us basins of hot water now, so that's good but now our new rooms have no water coming from the shower which we'll have to deal with. Also, one of Mingyi's bags is still not here which is ridiculous, so hopefully he'll get that soon.

This week we will be teaching our classes-music, nutrition, gardening, games/sports. We have a set schedule that's been working well. Sometimes we're late because of bike trouble, but mostly they've been working and we're getting to school quickly, cheaply, and with a good work out. We will follow the schedule this week and amend it if necessary.