More on Peace and Love - week 2

We have officially been here two weeks! Someone pointed that out recently and I was shocked- it seems we've been here so much longer! The second week is notorious for homesickness, as the newness of it all begins to wear off. I can relate, but have found the following help: naps, hamburgers, fries, snickers, and country music (which we hear occasionally at food places or in taxis).

This week we went back to Peace and Love on Monday and today. Monday was cool, as it was the school's midterm break, and we got to just stick around and play with the orphans. We played clapping games, soccer and the like. One of the games we played outside, as far as I could gather, was that I was an apple tree the girls would climb, then, once perched in my arms, they would taunt another girl who would come and tickle and shoo them off.

It's amazing how these kids take care of each other, and are so independent at the same time. While we were there, there was minimal adult supervision (ourselves included). If any of the kids started fighting or anything, all of them got involved to protect the victim, and scold the offender, even if it meant they would be the next targets. On the whole, though, the kids were really well behaved. There isn't much to do at the orphanage, but they would play with each other, do laundry, walk in and out. We at times weren't even treated as a big deal, just volunteers there to stay for a while.

Today school was in session again, and I once more helped out with Nursery 2. This time the teacher put me to work. When I got in, the kids were just sitting at their tables, not really doing anything. The teacher gave me their homework notebooks, and I made up assignments for the different subjects. Presumably each kid has three notebooks, one for writing, one for "maths", and one for creativity (drawing, essentially), but I didn't see 60 notebooks there...

After that the kids were giving a writing assignment. Write the alphabet, I think, though many were writing their numbers up to 20. I once again got pencil sharpening duty, and figured out that is what was giving me a bit of a blister on my right hand. I though about how our teacher said that in Ghana they have "time poverty". Essentially there is time lost on activities because of a lack of technology or other resources. Granted, sharpening pencils by hand instead of with a machine is the least of worries in this topic, but you also see it elsewhere, as with all the time and manpower it takes to cut the grass with machetes on campus instead of using a lawnmower.

One thing we've noticed in the younger grades is that the kids have way too much time to do their assignments. We don't know if this is because of poor planning or lack of resources. It just stinks, though, because the kids finish up quickly then get bored, but if they act out, they'll get hit with a stick, slapped on the head, or pulled by the ears.

During the break, I got to hold Koby, one of the orphan babies. He is skin and bones, in stark contrast with the "gorditas" and "gorditos" you see in Miami and the rest of the States. He is most of the time quiet and emotionless, which is eerie and sad. He did like my necklace, though, and smiled a few times.

After the break the teacher had me working on their end of term exam, which was odd. Especially since I essentially acted as a transcriptionist, since she was supervising my writing. The teacher also had me look over her lesson plans and tell her what I thought. I'm not sure if she thinks I'm a qualified teacher or something, but I did it gladly. She's a neat lady, who really wants to further her education.

The kids drew on chalkboard until taking a break before lunch, at which point it was time to head back to campus.