Escuela

Most of the time the showers seem refreshing due to the hot days here in Ghana however on rainy days like today they seem like a form of self-torture. It rained all afternoon here, we had a few minutes of sunlight before heading back to play with the kids in the afternoon and I was able to walk down to the local woman who does Batik work to order myself a blue and white elephant sun dress- “Ready on Monday” she said! 

You will all be happy to hear that the children will no longer be swatched anywhere on the premise of Happy Kids (orphanage or school). After another day of witnessing it, Rachel couldn’t keep quiet out of respect anymore; I saw it happen to a young girl from across the building (on her head) and nearly ran into the room and took the swatch for the girl then broke his freaking cane! (I envisioned it in my mind that way at least) It was heart breaking. We spoke with Kelsey and she said she is going to send Emanuel a pile of reports on the effects of childhood abuse and then enforce a mandatory rule that it is NOT allowed on Happy Kids premises. So with her support we said we wouldn’t be part of working here if he continues to cane the children; he apologized and said it won’t happen again.

School was good today I taught the class all morning while Pat was in the city hiring a new cook for the orphanage (the old one quit). The children are still pretty young and unlike Rachel’s class, where they are old enough to speak full English and realize you have to sit and listen in class, my kids seem to always be sitting on their desks, speaking in full ewe, and singing and dancing. I think the kids are getting a lot out of working one on one but it is hard to explain things to the younger ones who really need it to be explained to them in ewe which is where the teacher Pat helps me out when I am teaching the full class. There is a child in my class who is named Prince and he has a hard time seeing; sometimes I see his eyes look like they go lazy or crossed but because he lives at the orphanage he really doesn’t have the means to see an optometrist and in turn he has difficulty doing school work. He is pretty good at math and writing though so instead of working with him on that I have been doing some eye exercises and games with him hoping that somehow it will help, I am sure I’m amusing myself, but he seems to enjoy them. The older children amaze me still after being with them every day for two weeks; When the younger children act up, hit each other, or are hanging precariously from a fence haha, they are so quick to make sure they are safe, reprimand in an oh-so caring way, or separate them and tell them to be nice to one another. They all sing this song that I’m pretty sure is a spin on an old Barney song “I love you, you love me, were a happy family, with a great big hug, and a kiss form me to you, won’t you say you love me too” It is simple and a very played out song but to see 11-13 year old boys sing it and dance to it with 4-7 year old kids they consider their family your heart melts. We are trying to organize a trip for the older kids; we want to take them to either the monkey sanctuary or the waterfalls; it is going to be like 10-14 kids but we think we can rent a Trotro (a van/buss thing) which is less than a taxi. As long as we work out the details and figure out which kids can and can’t go we hope to take them sometime next week.

This weekend Rachel and I have our first planned trip; we are going to a resort called Afrikiko it is located right on Lake Volta (the world’s largest man-made lake). While there we will get to relax pool-side, and go to a bead making factory. It will be a nice change of scenery and little get away. Hopefully we will get some new/different food choices too.

Aunt Steph! You had a terrific idea, pillows would be perfect for the kids to make and since some of them still sleep on the cement floor it will make their time down there that much more comfortable! I have been on a search for the last few days for batting or stuffing of any sort. I am going to the local sewing store we have been going to for supplies for the kids, and hoping she will have the correct outlet for me to buy some. I am thinking market will have it on Friday I will check. <3 Thanks for your input!

                I found these crackers called Milky Magic crackers and they come in small packs of six… they are like milk crackers- like the ones from “Wallace and Grommet” but they are sooo yummy and even better with some PB spread on top… they have been my sweet tooth savior the last week!

I can’t believe how fast the time is going by… it is hard to believe that three weeks from today I will be going home to the USA. Despite the people and things I miss it is going to be difficult to leave these kids. Check for me in the news “24 Year-old Volunteer Smuggles Five Un-Documented Ghanaian Children on Her Journey Back to America”!

First picture: This is Maxwell the cute little one I said I was playing with the other day in an older post. 

Second Picture: This is me and one of my student Daniel- he is so smart and helps me keep the others in line as he is older than my other students and always finishes his work first. He is also a very entertaining dancer..... I have videos.

<3 Jessie