Our reading program is going fantastically!! There were a few kids that we had trouble getting interested in the beginning and they were the kids that needed it the most. This week, however, they are the ones coming up to us first asking if they can read with us. Joseph, Eunice, and Winafrida are all about 7 r 8 and had no reading skills so we started with the flashcards. Each day Joseph gets more than the previous and gets so excited about it! Eunice sounds out every letter in the word which doesnt always work with the English language so its sometimes a challenge but she never gets discouraged. Winafrida has been my favorite with this process. She never wanted to work one-on-one and now is not only doing the flashcards but bringing up books to just sit and listen to me read to everyone. I think she is falling in love with reading! It is such a reward to work with her because you can see her mouth move into the word and know that her brain is just clicking away figuring out the word and then she has an 'ah-ha' moment and gets it. The one thing I have to remember when working with any of these kids is that they are learning to read in their second language so sometimes they pronounce words differently but its not because they dont know the word its because of their accent or whatever.
I do have to share with ya'll about my favorite little girl here. Here name is Helena and she is about 5 years old. I dont obviously remember what I was like at that age but I think I must have been a lot like her and thats why I love her so much! She is always happy and laughing and loving. Even if she does something she isnt suppose to and you say her name ready to correct her she gets this little smile on her face and starts to laugh because shes knows excatly what she did. She is also one that asks me to read to her everyday and even know she cant read yet she takes in so much from the book. When I read something she will point out on the page where it is or ask questions pertaining to the story. I wish ya'll could meet this girl and have one of her hugs!!
We also worked with the baby class one-on-one this week with their flashcards. We also had a meeting with all the teachers at Ngulelo which I think seemed useful but should have been facilitated weeks ago! At Kisongo this week I sat in on a few civic classes and assisted with the review of their monthly test. I also was asked by a teacher if I could 'teach English' to a child that just wasn't getting it. Well 'English' is a big topic and it took a while in conversation before I could get her to be specific on something to teach him because I cant just 'teach English' to a child in one class period! We also did some read alouds and coloring as well as one-on-one reading with the younger classes.
On Wednesday morning this week we went to see the United Nations International Crime Tribunal for Rwanda. Arusha is the capital of East Africa and therefore where the UN has set up the courts to prosecute the offenders of the Rwandan genocide that occured back in 1993. Yes, they are still prosecuting over 15 years later! It is crazy to think and also frustrating. A few of the offenders are still at large and actually one of the big names was found within the last month in Uganda. Those that have been in custody are staying in a compound which isnt excatly like prision and getting their trials drawn out over many years before they do end up getting convicted and sent to prision (all in different prisions across the world actually) and then spend the rest of their lives there because the UN doesnt do the death penalty. Anyways- the trial we got to watch a little bit of was for a guy that was the secretary general of the party that was in power back in 1993. The witness that was testifying that morning had a protection order on him so he was behind a curtain and we could not see him but we could see the defendant which was a bit strange, I must say, knowing what he did and having the court so easily stating the deaths and rapes of many people. Ah. Anyways- it was an interseting thing to experience.
This leads me to some recommendations I want to make to ya'll. While here I have read a few good books and seen a few good movies I think you should check out. There are two movies about the Rwandan genocide that are worth seeing- Hotel Rwanda and Sometimes in April. I also read a great book that took place in Kenya around the time of their independance from Britian called Blood Sisters and is about three friends growing up in that time. Lastly, I am about to finish a book called What is the What. It is about one of the Lost Boys of the Sudan from when their second civil war started back in the 80s.
I leave you this week with a comical story about a walk home this week. On Friday there was ugali for lunch at Kisongo which I have now stopped trying to eat because it just makes me sick and I find it awful... but anyways. One our way home we stopped to get some chips (french fries) at a little restaurant/bar on the road leading from the main road to our house. We got very excited about these and put up with a guy proposing to me while we waited for them! We were disappointed to find they were actually cold and tasted pretty bad but oh well we were hungry! When we made the final turn up to our house these two high school chicks came toward us with their hand stretched our saying hi. When one got close to Trish she ripped the chips out of her hand! Trish throw the remaining bit in the girls face and we continued to walk appauled at what just happened. The girl walked back toward us asking (in Kisawhili) for my juice! I neglected to give it to her though. Turns out there is a crazy girl around here that has mugged a volunteer before and threw rocks at her! At least we only lost the last bit of our cold chips.
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