Another Week For Desiree (English)
24.03.2011
Hey, this is Desiree again…..I am writing the new Blog entry this week. (once more in German and English) Another happy and exciting week is over and again many things happened here. First I start with the best news of the week: on Saturday two lovely new children arrived! During the week we got a message from Friends of Don Bosco, our cooperative Orphanage on the other end of town, that they could get new children but unfortunately don’t have enough space to take them. Right from the beginning there was no question to ask. Cassie immediately told them that we would be very lucky to take them. Now another Happiness and a little four year old boy William can call the splendid help2kids center as their home. The other children welcomed them in a very warm and friendly way and we all spent the whole Saturday playing, singing and of course dancing to the children’s favorite song, Shakira’s “waka waka” together with Musa and the other Friends of Don Bosco.
We really had a fantastic and joyful weekend. We really spoiled the children! Christian brought several toys for the kids and we had a wonderful playtime. It was a fabulous welcome for the new kids! The girls loved to do the Hula-Hoop and the boys were enthusiastic about the new tennis game.Look at the pictures!
Besides all the other toys and activities on Sunday we really had a highlight here. Cassie and Christian bought a slip-and-slide and the children couldn’t get enough of the water. The kids were so happy and the atmosphere here was just hilarious!
After we have been looking for weeks for a new blackboard we finally managed it this week to find a carpenter who is building a new one for us . And the best thing is: we already got it two days afterwards! So now our afternoon classes can start soon
I already formed three different groups to create very good learning conditions for each and every child. I set up different English classes depending on the age and pre-knowledge of the children. The youngest children are “the turtles”, the older ones “the giraffes” and the eldest are (of course) “the lions” Look here in the picture you can see the children coloring in their group-sign for their afternoon-class-folder. But it’s very striking how interested the kids are in learning the English language. We started talking English to them and surprisingly they started to respond in English as well. I feel like the kids are having fun when they speak it….so for example Dorie asked me with a big smile several time this morning: “How are you teacher?” .
This week moreover I had my first experiences “on the road”….for the first time I was driving here in Tanzania and I have to say it’s not that hard as I thought it would be. Ok, I mean I had some starting problems and I exchanged the windshield wiper for the turn signal several times but by and large it was ok Maybe it helped a bit that I already drove on the left side of the road in South Africa. But actually here I think it is even easier to drive because there are almost no rules. I mean for example there are traffic lights but nobody really takes notice of them. Because we have 18 kids now, our car is definitely a little bit too small to take all the children at one time to school. That’s why we started walking with the kids to school this week. Because they weren’t used to walking they complained a lot on the first day. Little Neema was very funny. When she heard that there is not enough space for all children in the car she suggested that we could call a taxi and a bajaji to pick them up 😀 But already on the 2nd day, the kids were very happy and they even ran towards us and met us half way. As far as I am concerned I think it’s very good that the children have to walk now. So they have their daily exercise and can “recover” from school in this way.
Unfortunately there is not only good news to report. The actual “immune” Cassie who never got Malaria during all her stays abroad finally…..got it. Pole sana (Suaheli for “I am sorry”) Cassie, we all hope that you will be fine soon. Everybody needs you here!
I think it’s a very good experience for me to be one of the first volunteers because at the moment I can help to set up many things and I can have an inside look at all the different tasks you have to fulfill and daily problems you have to handle with when you are running an orphanage in Tanzania.
Furthermore because Cassie didn’t feel well at all I went shopping together with Mama Leah and Patrick to buy food for the whole week and the needed school supplies for Happy and William. Thank you, Cassie for handing me over all the responsibility, it was fun!
So this week I had the opportunity to went together with Christian house hunting 😉 We need an additional “Volunteer-House” because soon Cassie’s personal assistant Francesca and another German Volunteer are coming so that the space in the Center won’t be enough anymore.
At the end we want to say “Thank you” to my parents Isolde and Manfred for donating this awesome reading rug for the classroom. It’s not only helpful for the afternoon classes but it is also a great toy for the kids because it shows a formula 1 course. The kids will love it!
Desiree Schneider (Germany)
Volunteer help2kids