Today was another amazing day. After almost loosing it in my first grade class room, there was some hope. I was late to school because there were transportation issues, normally in the morning it isn't a problem because my co-teacher is there and is in charge. Well, yesterday I walked in to realize my students hadn't had a teacher because the co-teacher was working on a project in the teacher's office and left them to fend for themselves. So I walked into sheer chaos. I hade 36 students and at one point they were all crying. With no common language, gaining control is nearly impossible. I tried everything I knew.
I closed the door...got down on their level...tried to talk to them in a reasonable way... but nothing was working. I tried STOP I tried BE NICE! SIT DOWN! STOP HITTING and everyone looked at me for a moment and went about their ways.
Finally, my favorite little boy, who must have older siblings came to my rescue. He started to translate, as I explained "I am far away from my family and my friends. I want you all to be my friends but I can't do it if you aren't nice to each other." I am sure some of it was lost in translation but they calmed down and we got to play a game. I had some control until the lunch bell rang which is a pretty big leap.
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| Group Picture of all the students who did get new uniforms |
It was also new school uniform day, this was the project my teacher had abandon class for. Had there not been a missionary visiting today from Maryland, 87 students would have gone home without any hope of getting a uniform this year. At Ringroad, students are sponsored and those sponsors pay for their uniforms, school fees, meals, flour to send home to make food over Christmas etc.. A lot of sponsors come to the same realizations I have and instead of having an opportunity to work through them they decide they can’t continue funding their students. If all you see as a sponsor is failing grades it is hard to have faith in the school. Part of the problem I am realizing is if you don’t set up a system that has an African base, funding and donations tend to get into the wrong hands. This woman saw a need and was able to buy uniforms herself while she was here for these kids. It was extremely powerful
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| Looking at the kids who were lucky enough to get new uniforms today. These children will get their uniforms next week. |
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| Old School uniforms. Kids who until today didn't have anyone who would sponsor them |
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| Girls feeling better in new dresses! Its amazing how they stand up straight now that they look nice. |
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