This week was the last week of school
for the children before a 3 week holiday (I leave Rafiki right before
they start school again). I have to admit, I was so sad on the last
day of school! I have loved being with the children all day,
teaching, reading aloud, helping with PE and doing whatever else. I
feel like I learned so much and was able to put a lot of what I have
been learning at University the past couple years into practice here.
Although at first it was hard for me to assume a “firm authority
figure” instead of just hugging and loving on children all the
time, I know now that it was so much more beneficial for everyone
involved. One of my highlights has definitely been PE. These children
have a way of playing normal games we play in America with so much
joy and enthusiasm that you can't help but get excited with them and
laugh a lot! One day I played dodge ball with P1 and P2. Watching
them scream, jump up and down, and clap their hands every time they
hit their target was so cute and funny!
Celebrating our victory! (if
you can see some of them are in the air leaping for joy!)
I have also been so blessed by some of
the relationships I was able to build with a few of the teachers
here. There were days we would laugh so hard at something the
children had said or done that we could barely stand! On the last
day of school I was walking with two of them after sending the
children off; we were sharing stories, and laughing at my attempts to
speak Luganda. We don't always perfectly understand each other
(although they speak English we have some very different ways of
saying things!), but it has been very special. I will miss them.
I feel as if every time I start getting
“comfortable” here and into a routine, God mixes it up. Even
though I was feeling pretty sad when school got done (goodness, what
kind of crazy person feels sad it's the holidays?!) I know that God
has other things to teach me and I look forward to seeing what lies
ahead.
Yesterday morning I went up to the
gardens to help (which might have turned into play). Some of
the younger boys were sitting on a mat in the shade of a large tree.
When I asked them what they were doing they said, “Teacher, we are
preaching the word of God, and we are pretending that these big
leaves are our Bibles.” One of them ran and got me a leaf telling
me that it could be my Bible and I could listen. They then proceeded
to preach the Word and tell Bible story after Bible story, all from
memory! I was totally amazed and humbled by these precious little
boys. We spent the whole morning telling lots of stories, singing,
playing games, reading books, looking at pictures, talking and
laughing. It was so incredibly special. They told me they were going
to start praying that I will come back to their village to teach
after I'm done studying in Alaska. It was very sweet.
My sweet boys being boys and making
faces at the camera! :)
In the afternoon while the children
were resting I worked on some projects around the school then I went
for a walk. On my way back to my cottage I stopped by the
construction site because I wanted to see them make bricks. They let
me watch, then showed me how and asked if I wanted to try. It was
very hot, hard work but there was lots of laughter and I enjoyed
“helping” them make a few bricks! :)
 |
| Here I am making bricks... |
It takes two people to make the bricks. One to shovel in the dirt and push over the lever, then the other one pulls down the lever to compact the brick, takes it out and stacks it. They let me try both jobs...here they were
laughing at me because he had to finish pulling the lever down to
compact the brick all the way!
These are just a few of my experiences that I have had. Since coming here there have been so many that it's hard to know how to share them all...but in an
effort to keep this from becoming even more ridiculously long, I am
going to end here for now. Oh, and have I mentioned that I love it
here?!!
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