There are two volunteers here - Beckie & Newton. They are really so nice. It's nice to have them to show me the ropes and help pave the way. Newton is actually from San Francisco also. He teaches art and is a soccer coach. He has done lots of service projects all over the world. Beckie is from Minnesota and has also been to Kenya. Monday was alot of sitting around waiting for a driver and people to meet with. Newton and I went to Childrens Academy School to meet with the Asst. Director. We were going to see if we could help with the individual reading time but it is around 8:30 am and it will be hard for us to get a driver at that time. So I will probably help in the pre-school two afternoons and Newton will teach art. I am to meet with the volunteer coordinator tomorrow to find out about helping at the care center. I have also already been approached to go to Hosanna(rural area of Ethiopia about 4 hours away) for three days to help at the school and with the family development program but since it will only be my second day here they thought it would probably be better if I wait for the next time. I agreed. I can still feel my body trying to get use to the altitude and my stomach to start digesting properly from all the flying.
Next day
Newton has been experiencing some discrimination that he wasn't prepared for. He is black and originally from Trinidad. He wears his hair in long dreads. He has experienced people trying to talk to him in Amharic thinking he was Ethiopian and also we have come to find out from some of the staff that because he wears his hair in dreads people think he does spells and is evil. The people here are very religious and if they (which alot are) are Orthodox Christian they are very strict about no dancing, or smoking, or drinking. One girl was asking Newton if he believed in Jesus and was trying to get him to go to church.
We are staying in the volunteer guest house. It is suitable and we all have our own rooms & bathrooms right now. There are two more empty rooms that parents may stay in eventually. We walk to the family guest house for our meals but now that there are three of us I think they are going to get us our on cook so we don't have to walk so much. Right now, we are walking about 2 miles every day. We also have a housekeeper who does our laundry for us and we are not sure what else she does because she doesn't seem to be cleaning the dirty kitchen or floors. My body is finally adjusting to the altitude and my stomach is feeling more normal. I am managing to drink only one coke a day and lots of water due to the high altitude. Maybe I will get in shape a little bit by doing all the walking. In the morning, as we walk to the family guest house we join the masses of children walking to school. There are hundreds of them and they all look at us and smile and say "Hello", some practice their English by saying "How are you?" It really makes one feel like a local. Most children know English unless they are really young. All classes are taught in English.
Yesterday, was a full day. I went to the care center in the morning (9 till noon) and spoke with the doctor and she introduced me to some of the nannies. She pointed out a few children who need special help. One little boy, who is of course adorable, is two years old and has motor development problems mostly with his legs but also with his arms. He cannot walk by himself yet. So the more I can have him walk around with me holding his hands will help build his muscles. He also has scars on his face from being burned. I am not for sure what happened. But when you get him laughing he is so adorable. There is also another boy upstairs that has similar issues and is a little younger. I have not worked with him yet, hopefully tomorrow. I have spent two mornings now with the toddlers ( 1 to 3) and of course they all want my attention at the same time. They all want to sit on my lap at the same time. I think I played patty cake for almost 45 minutes today. I have to do it for them and they love it. I am hoping I can get them to learn how to do it by themselves. One of the one year old girls came up to me and wanted to do it too. The nanny said that was really good because earlier on she was stranging to white faces and would not interact. There are so many nannies and the children are taken care of so well, it seems like there's not much to do but I am realizing it's really simple things like seeing a white person for the first time and getting acquainted and hearing English will start to prepare them for their arrival in America. One little boy (who I thought was a girl - it's hard to tell because all their hair is cut so short and they are not necessarily dressed in the proper gender attire), anyway, he was repeating every word I said in English. I am sure he didn't understand but you can see he will pick up on it quickly. He is now speaking three languages, his home language, Amharic(which they speak at the orphanage), and now English.
I also went to the Childrens Academy School and will go on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. I will be helping out 10 different preschool, pre-k, & Kindergarten classrooms. I am not quite for sure yet how I will get around to each class but one of the teachers is supposed to help me coordinate it. I spent Tuesday afternoon with her class. She is really good with them. I sang songs with them and they seemed to enjoy it. But here again, it doesn't seem like they need much help, each class has a head teacher, an assistant teacher, and a nanny. But they all seem so happy that I am there to help. They believe it so important for the children to talk and hear a native English speaker.
All the children's hair is kept buzzed, except for an older girl who is about 10. I am sure it is a lice issue. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I don't get it but I am sure I will. I am trying to be careful but with the children climbing all over me I am probably bound to get it.
I hope to be with the 6 to 9 month olds tomorrow and some afternoons I will go back and hold the babies (which really don't need any special help). I am just trying to visit each age group this week and then try and work out a schedule where I can spend time with all of them.
