Well
today was our first official day working at the orphanage. Deb accompanied us
to the orphanage as we both were still a little worried about arriving on time
without getting lost. We left the house about 8:30am and didn’t arrive at the
orphanage until around 10am. A trip that should only take about an hour got delayed
because we waited what seemed like forever for a dala-dala that was headed to
Pasua. While we waited for the dala-dala I attempted to take out 300tsh before
we hailed a ride, as I’m well aware that it can be tough trying to get to your
money with bodies crammed all around. I looked up for a brief second and
noticed a man standing right in front of me looking at all the shillings I had
in my wallet. He then proceeded to ask for money from me in Swahili, saying
that he had no money for food. I felt bad but as Deb explained to him in
Swahili: if we give one person money then we would have to give everyone money.
It reminded me of elementary school when teachers would reprimand students for
eating during class saying “if you don’t have enough for everyone then it’s not
fair.” After a few minutes he got the hint but I couldn’t help but feel bad to
know first-hand just how poor Africa can be. I should warn you that when we
converted our money we gave them $200 and got back 317,000tsh. Most meals cost less than 10,000 tsh. For example lunch usually costs about 9,000 tsh (less than 6 US dollars, and i'm talking about a cheeseburger with fries and a coke). I know from
experience that $200 is barely any money at all in the States, certainly not
enough to live off of. So to think that this man, who knew absolutely nothing
about me or my bad spending habits, thought that I was rich, baffled me. To be
honest, I thought about giving him money out of the pure goodness of my heart,
but then I questioned if he would actually be using that money to buy food, or
if he had other intentions. Deb shared with us that she often will buy bananas
in the markets and just hand them to a random person to ensure they will eat
for the day. I admire her generosity but even she admits that the well is
running dry and she has to think of herself first. Lesson learned: be more
careful when flashing my money around in the middle of Moshi.
When we
finally caught the dala-dala, my mom and I were crammed in the front row of
seats (which face the back of the bus) and had a metal bar pressing into our
lower backs. Uncomfortable to say the least. As more people were loaded onto
the dala-dala over the next few stops I began to wonder when they would stop
taking on passengers. I thought we had reached that limit until the driver
stopped and we picked up two more women (on the heavier side) and their three
baskets of corn and one bag of various vegetables. One of the baskets went in
the front seat with the driver, one basket went on the lap of the woman sitting
next to my mom, the third went on the floor of the van pushing people’s feet
into uncomfortable positions, while my mom had the bag of vegetables on her
lap. We literally could not fit any more passengers, chickens, corn, or
vegetables onto this van but surprise surprise.. we picked up another two
passengers, both of which had to stand/bend over other people.
Arriving
in Pasua, we were greeted by many friendly faces of the beautiful children.
I’ve come to realize that many of the children know a few English phrases such
as “how are you” and will repeat this over and over again, regardless of if you
answer them or just continue smiling at them. We were able to stop for water at
one of the few stands in Pasua and we’re hoping that water will always be
available there because it is a long ways away from Moshi without taking
another dala-dala. When we arrived at the orphanage the children were in school
already but Lucy still stepped out of the classroom to welcome us. She brought
us right to the classroom where the kids immediately started screaming
“teacher, teacher!” Lucy explained to us that today the children were
practicing their numbers and colors. On one blackboard she had simple
mathematic equations written down such as 1+1=, 1+2=, 1+3=, etc. and on the
other blackboard she had circles drawn out in rows and the children were
expected to know how many were on each line. In the middle of the two separate
chalkboards were blocks of various colors and the children had to identify them
in English. Because the age ranges from three to six years old, it is hard to
gauge how much these children actually know. Clearly it was easier for the
older children to recognize their colors and numbers faster than the younger
ones. There were also three new students in the classroom so they were a little
shy in speaking out loud. Lucy kept getting called out the classroom to do
other things and each time she left the kids got a little roudier and roudier.
My mother realized we needed to take action and get these children back on
track or they were going to spiral out of control. She bravely made her way to
the front of the classroom as I was preoccupied with one of the little toddlers
who hadn’t left my side since we arrived. She began asking the children to
identify the colors out loud in English, and after going through the list of 8
colors twice the kids were getting bored again. Just then Lucy came back and
began the next lesson: have the children copy the colors into their notebooks
and then have them write down the word for the color. As an incentive to do
good the children would be rewarded with stickers. Lucy was once again sent out
of the classroom and we were put in charge to watch over the children. I was
shocked at how well some of the kids were doing- one kid stood out in particular
to me (I feel bad I don’t remember his name!!). He knew he was smart but didn’t
try to show off in any way that was unsettling to the others. Of course when it
came to hand out the stickers it was nearly impossible to give them just to the
students that had completed the assignment. Not only that, but everyone wanted
more than one sticker! Some even went so far as to steal stickers from their
classmates… who knew stickers were still such a big phenomenon amongst
children? Seems like nowadays all kids ask for are cellphones. It was kind of
nice to know that these children were completely satisfied with Cinderella and
Valentine’s day themed stickers.
Once
the children were done with school for the day, it was play time!!! Let me tell
you, the children go absolutely crazy during play time. I hadn’t been sitting
for even a minute and I had four children either sitting in my lap or hanging
on to my arms. One of the newer girls in the orphanage, Bright, lives up to her
name very well. Anytime you look at her, regardless of if you smile or say
anything, she reveals this HUGE smile with all of her exceptionally bright
teeth showing. She rarely ever speaks to anyone, but I have managed to get her
to sing to me. The other three boys became fascinated with my pockets and the
whole process of buttoning and unbuttoning them. These children truly put
emphasis on the saying that the simplest things in life bring about the
greatest happiness. For fifteen minutes these boys were completely content with
playing with empty pockets. It became nearly impossible to make all children
happy however, because often times when I was giving one child attention
another three were also seeking attention. It’s a daunting task but I’m
confident I can devote enough time and energy with each individual child over
the next four weeks.
After
play time it is lunch time! The noise level goes from one extreme to the other
as once the children are served their meal they all sit on the floor and wait
to say prayers. Once again these children ceased to amaze me as they all
patiently waited for each child to receive their meal. After prayers, they are
once again silent as they enjoy their home cooked rice and beans. There are not
enough silverware to go around for everyone so all the children are left to eat
with their fingers. Not very ideal, but I don’t think they mind at all- they
are simply happy just to be eating for the day. We also received the same
lunch, and we also opted to eat with our fingers in order to get the full
experience. After the children are done eating they are responsible for going
over to the wash basin and cleaning their dishes, as well as their hands. Even
the younger ones, who had recently arrived, knew exactly what was expected of
them and there was no complaining whatsoever. Proceeding lunch, the children
all went into their designated dormitories for nap time. After this point, my
mom and I decided it was best to head off and make our way back to Moshi to
stop at the local internet café before returning to the volunteer house. Lucy
asked us to devise up some lesson plans for the children tomorrow, so we
decided on some more simple mathematic equations and to practice the alphabet.
When we
left, Lucy was kind enough to escort us out to the dala-dala stop and make sure
we got onto the correct bus. Luckily, there was a dala-dala right there ready
to leave, but of course was willing to take on more passengers! We squeezed on,
both of having semi-comfortable seats until we stopped at the next stop and
took on more passengers. Because I was sitting directly in front of the door,
any oncoming passengers were forced to stand/squat/lean/ on top of me. Of all
the dala-dala rides I had been on, this was by far the most uncomfortable
because I couldn’t see anything so I had no idea if we were headed in the right
direction or where to get off! Fortunately, we made it to our stop in Moshi and
walked to the local internet café where we were able to send a brief email to
family and friends letting them know we did in fact arrive safely. After that
we began our 45 minute hike back to the volunteer house but at this point we
were both already exhausted. This 45 minute trip seemed to drag on forever, but
once we arrived home a nice COLD shower helped to cool us off! J At 730 we enjoyed a
delicious dinner prepared by Msafiri and Leemo which consisted of pea soup
(YUMMY!), a massive mound of mashed potatoes (double yummy!!) a meatball, and
vegetable stew. Once again I am surprised by all the amazingly
delicious food. The rest of the night is spent relaxing on couch catching up on
emails and facebook. Usiku Mwema everyone J
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