Hello again, things are going well at El Shaddai. The kids are wonderful and so much fun. The teacher strike that has been going on since i got here is officially over and the kids go back to school on Monday. WHich means i will be now working at the El Shaddai Preschool in the mornings and then at the orphanage in the afternoons! I am very excited to get the chance to work with the children on an educational level. I am going to be working with the kids who are learning English and this should be very interesting since i speak very little Swahili. It will be another challenge that i am willing to work through and learn from.
This week me and two other volunteers Sara, Rachel had the oppurtunity to go on a little walking tour of Kibera (Nairobi's largest slum). It is in The Constant Gardner. It was an amazing sight to see. So sad and so hard to really understand how these people live. There was trash everywhere and the smell is unexplainable. There is a small stream that runs through Kibera however the only way you would know it is by the moving trash along the side of the road. I had no clue there was water under all that trash. It was so sad to see....i truly cant explain the way this place is. We also were able to go to the Orphanage where some of our intake was placed. There were about 300 orphans there but only room for about 50. So yes there were about 8 people to a bed...well one can only assume! It was pretty intense and hard to keep back the tears. i felt so much pain for these families and these people who live there. But its their way of life and they make it work for them the best they can.
Saturday, I met a few volunteers in Ngong and my roommate came along for our TEN i repeat TEN mile hike through Ngong Hills. It took us about 5.5 hours to complete the whole hike. I of course forgot to reapply sunscreen at some point and am amazingly fried to a crisp. Even my scalp is HOT PINK! It was an amazing and beauiful hike. I went in however thinking it wouldbe a lovely stroll through the hill side and it ended up being a intensive hike! So needless to say i was completley wiped out after.
Today (Sunday Feb. 1) is going well.! I am in Nairobi again with a couple of my friends from my intake. We went to the Maisi Markets and did some shopping/bargaining! I spent about 20 bucks and got an amzing peice of art and a couple beautiful scarfs! This bargaining thing is not good for me...cause I love to push buttons which in the end makes me very good at it! It can get anoying though! Then we went to the worst part of town looking for our Mash Bus Station which takes us to Mombasa! We bought our bus tickets though and we leave thursday night for our 8 hour drive to the Coast! I cant wait! we will spend 4 days there and then head home monday afternoon! That weekend is my half way point and i wont lie i am getting very excited to see my friends and family and my cute boyfriend again!
So overall things are great and Time is going by. The kids at El Shaddai love to play soccer so i am getting pretty good at kicking a ball! haha....trust me my coordination problems is so funny to them! i have fallen in the mud slid down a hill and dropped a million things and the kids think its the funniest thing in the world. Last week we found the first toy i have seen since i have been here (big bouncy ball) and played soccer for about 3 hours. The kids were in heaven i have not seen the kids act so excited ever! So i think before i leave i am going to spend some money on toys for the kids. They have nothing to play with or do in the day after school and it gets so boring. They are also loving the crayons and paper. i have not even brought out the markers and coloring books yet. i htink i will save them for when i leave. and give them to the older girls on my last day as a gift! i will let everyone know how that goes.
hope all is well... will write again soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment