Things that keep me sane: 'Ladies do Lunch' and Harry Potter (at last)....

Saturday 20th November

Uploaded some photos of the kids work on me diving – some hilarious drawings of me! Also some photos of the first students receiving the ‘star of the week award’ from each standard which was so well received. Lovely to see some recognition and praise being given – the certificates are awarded each Monday morning at the parade by Madam Jane. And me pretending that I am still young enough to skip!

http://picasaweb.google.com/103349555765727784741/PreciousNovember?authkey=Gv1sRgCPXb_rHF2__mHw&feat=directlink


Exams start next week for my little darlings. Can’t have done any more in terms of preparation, and they really take the exams seriously. This will be the first time the children have sat the ‘official’ standard exams so will at least give us a good benchmark for their learning.


The kids are now getting breakfast as well as their lunch thanks to donations. All a bit chaotic as the porridge is never ready for before school, so generally it hits lesson time. I am definitely more relaxed all of this now, and it is really good to see them get fed now twice a day. Mind you, the Kenyans have a real sweet tooth and they put loads of sugar into things like their porridge, chai (tea) and bread – so a few hyper kids afterwards.


Tuesday 23rd November
First day of exams and the kids have been brilliant. They tried so hard in their English exam today and some of them have done quite well considering. Highest mark was 52% so pretty pleased with that. The composition was not so successful, but at least they try now. Had to smile though, one of my non-readers who’s benefitting from the 1 to 1 programme we’re operating said at the beginning “I can’t write sentences”, so I just encouraged him to write whatever he could. Well he wrote a whole A4 side of all the sentences he could remember from the ladybird Peter and Jane books he’s learning to read with. Nothing to do with the title of ‘My village’ for the composition but brilliant to see anyway. I look back on how much they’ve learnt in the since September when I started with them, and importantly how their confidence has grown – when I inherited them they had so many evasion strategies in place, and now they will ask for help if they don’t understand, and they are really working independently now and starting to think – that’s progress!


Had two new arrivals yesterday to my class, one a lad, Joseph is a street kid (no home, and been living on the streets for as long as he can remember). What a lovely lad – he couldn’t write a thing in either Kiswahili or English but he sat through the whole day and it was like he was going to burst when he was trying to write some words down. I just kept reassuring him that we would teach him to read. Magic moment at the end of the day when we had the reading books out…Ben, who is one of my non-readers on the 1 to 1 programme sat reading a story to Joseph – it was a really special moment to see Ben reading to someone else, and Joseph was mesmorised with the book, pictures and story. He gave me a big hug at the end of the day. Oh, I really hope I can make a difference to this kid’s life, he really deserves a break, and so wants to learn. Hopefully if we can keep him in school, then we can unlock both Kiswahili and English for him.

Checked out again this weekend over to Cherry’s, which is always a wonderful and relaxing weekend, but coming back to communal living hits hard every Sunday night. Michelle and I have got into quite a routine now each Saturday with our ‘Ladies do lunch’ which is an excuse to chat, eat and inevitably drink loads (Michelle is such a bad influence on me!) . Also went diving again on Sunday and visibility. Did my first wreck dive which was fab and then saw loads of reef sharks, but didn’t take my camera so no photos to bore you with.

Thinking of renting my own place from January – not sure I can survive until next summer with the communal part of the experience – we shall see.

Oh, and highlight of next week… Harry Potter is eventually coming to Kenya, so will be there on opening night, Monday – sad I know, but can’t wait!