Pool Day and Bad Day

Yesterday was pool day. MB left for the center around 9am to give out "tickets" to the BNC kids for the pool. The tickets are really just calendar days cut out of MB's old snoopy calendars. The kids take the tickets, for free, and the people at the pool know that they are MB's kids and are allowed into the pool for free.

The Katutura pool looks like it was picked out of a resort in Aruba and plopped down into the middle of Katutura. It is way nicer than our town pool. It's huge; an Olympic sized pool, and a fairly large bean shaped kiddie pool.

Ilga, Kirsten, and I got to the pool around 11am. The kids really wanted me to jump in right away, so I did. I spent about an hour n the pool with the 100 or so kids swimming with me, some of them jumping on my back, many asking me to help them float on their backs or swim. After I got out I took some pictures of the kids, jumping in the pool or just acting silly. Around 1pm MB asked Ilga, Kirsten, Kenny (one of the other BNC volunteers from Sweden) and I to sort through the two large bags of bread, throw out anything moldy, and rip the large pieces apart. Them MB called the kids into the gated in area where bread is handed out, and had them all sit in the grass. First she addressed an issue some of the kids were having; Edelsien and Michelle stole some of the other children's clothes and stuffed them in other people's bags. She talked to the kids about stealing, and told them she didn't care who did it, she just wanted the stuff returned. Then she started with the BNC kids, then the kids she knew, tapping them on the heads and telling them to get in line for bread. Everyone got two pieces of bread. After everyone she knew got their bread, she let everyone else get in line. We had just enough for the almost 200 kids there.

One of the kids told Ilga the the bread was bread for chickens. Ilga responded by telling them that if they didn't wanted, they didn't have to eat it.

I spent the rest of the afternoon taking photos and playing with the kids on the grass. I got to spend a good amount of time with Wendy, Meroldi, and MacCreney. Meroldi and MacCreney started doing acrobatics, and really enjoyed looking at the pictures I took of them, handstands and cartwheels frozen in time. Kiersten's towel was stolen, and some of the swimmies MB gave out as well. We left the pool at 6pm.

We got home a half hour later, and found Ajay on the couch sleeping. Ilga suggested I take a video of him. I was doing a close-up on his face when he woke up startled, scaring me. The video is hilarious. After that Ilga and I shared pizza, and Kiersten had pasta. We were really tired, but stayed up to watch Mission Impossible 2 with Ajay. We each had bowls of chocolate ice cream and frozen grapes (although not together...). Then Kiersten started telling us about her fear of snakes, and Ajay told us that there are snakes in Klein Windhoek, and Kiersten though he said at "climbing rock" and it was so funny to me, but Ajay seemed annoyed, so I left the room and read my magazine in the kitchen. After Kiersten went to bed, Ilga and I went into the kitchen and were acting crazy! We were throwing ice cubes at each other and spraying each other with water. I laughed probably the hardest I have ever laughed. Ajay at one point came in and said, "come on girls, please, don't be putting ice on your breasts".It was insanely funny coming out of Ajay's mouth.

This morning Kiersten and I decided that we would go to the center early to tutor the kids who aren't in school and just hang around the center all morning with nothing to do. So we had breakfast and left the house at a quarter past ten. We got to the center, and Kiersten began working with Rodney and Charles on reading, while I took a group of maybe six younger girls (ages 3-9) into the library to practice with the alphabet cards. It started out well, but soon all the girls had left and now BamBam, RuRu, and some eight or nine year old boys I didn't know came into the library. I was so frusterated at this point with the lack of respect the kids had for me. They got chairs and were lying on them, underneath them, yelling in Damara at each other, laughing. It was nearly impossible to do anything with them. I read them Pup and Pop and then asked the older boys to read it together, each taking every other page. These nine, maybe even ten year old boys really could not even read this kindergarten book.

After a while I got fed up with their behavior and went into the big room. I started again with the alphabet cards, and had BamBam write out his name, alphabet, and numbers up to ten. He did well with that, but then couldn't even put pictures on their corresponding letters/sounds with the alphabet cards. These kids really have no idea about phonics.

At 1pm, many of the after school kids began to arrive. The soup line was crazy.. All the kids push and cut each other, even though every day every child gets soup, no matter if they stood at the beginning or end of the line.

The "play" fighting was also bad today. Kids wrestle each other all the time, to the point where they really hurt each other. It seems impossible to stop this behavior.

Kirsten took the first half of computer room duty today. While she was doing that, I ran the big room. Tons of kids are constantly asking for puzzles and jump ropes and cards and dominoes. It's very overwhelming. Then at the same time I am trying to facilitate games and do puzzles with the smaller children, meanwhile Mooty is in the corner crying and everyone is shouting or whistling...ugh...I think you get the picture.

MB finally relieved me of my big room duties and so I went outside to the tables to read with Rodney and Rainy. We read Pup and Pop. I am so impressed with Rodney's improvement. He is at the point where he can read Pup and Pop books 1, 2, and 3, and then help the other kids with some of the words when they are struggling. I decided that tomorrow morning at the center, I am going to work with Rodney, instead of with the other smaller children. I really feel that my time is wasted witht hem. I don't think they are taking away anything from what I teach them, and don't see the point in making them sit down with me and be quiet and learn if they have no motivation to do so.

I had computer room duty from 3:30-5:30. This was ok- I'd rather be reading with the kids outside, but it's certainly less work in the computer room. At the end of the day, MacCreney and Wendy helped me turn off the computers and close the windows, and then they walked us to the taxi stand. Once home, Kiersten and I walked to the Pick and Pay to get some stuff for dinner. We had chicken and rice and salad. Mark, Toby, and Ajay had a braai, and didn't invite us to each with them. It was really rude, and we are currently hatin' on them. Ilga and I are in a bad mood, and she asked me to tell her something funny. So I did. But it wasn't that funny. Also, an artist and friend of Mark came to the house to show us his artwork. He does prints. He carves into linoleum and then inks the linoleum and presses it on paper. He has some really nice ones of African dancers and fertility symbols, and art based on political issues as well. He is selling them, and maybe I will have the chance to take one or two home.

MARK IS SO MEAN HE CAME IN THE LIVING ROOM AND I TOLD HIM HE WAS MEAN AND HE GAVE ME A WET WILLY AND MB SAID THAT ILGA AND I CAN PLAY A TRICK ON HIM BECAUSE HE IS SO MEAN.

And that was my day.