Another day at school

The internet went down here yesterday after a pole went down. We spent the day at the school, with the main goal of getting all the new unsponsored kids names and information to find them sponsors. They where excited, and most of them have ambitions of becoming doctors, nurses, lawyers, drives and even a police man! We also collected more information on their home life. Many live with relatives who mistreat them and would rather them stay home to do chores than go to school.



There is a large group of children I call "children by the fence" these are community children who are not in school. The school simply has no room to take in more kids. They look in all day and watch the other kids. When we organized a game we would invite them to play and they where so happy. When I talked to them, one girl expressed how badly she wanted to go to school. She was holding her baby sister and you can see the pain in her eyes. One of the many projects we talked about is a saturday feeding center. This would be for both the school children and the community children. The CU kids only eat at school- which is why it is so important we can get them nutritiouse food like beans, rice, fruits, etc. On the weekends they go hungry. Some of the kids where caught stealing from gardens which is a big problem as the owners tend to take things into their own hands. Hunger is such an ugly thing, i'm sure we've all felt really hungry at one point or another but nothing compared to going 2 days without food. How do you function without nutrients, protein, vitamins, a full belly? Still, they are the most loving compassionate kids I have ever met.

We bought 3 soccer balls which was a huge hit. There are deffinetly some future socer players in the crowd. They merry go round we put up was also ready. We had to dig a hole and cement it and then wait for it to dry. The kids where so eager to get on, we ended up having 2-3 kids per chair. It started to rain, drizzle lightly and then pour..did that ruin the fun. Ofcourse not! The kids just laughed harder and kept spinning. When it wouldn't stop we ran back to the classrooms. It was time for lunch, and despite the heavy rain the older girls where out there getting soaked(you can see right through the uniform) getting the food ready, washing plates, etc. I have so much respect for these girls, they work SO hard. They study hard, and then on any break they get it is spent taking care of the younger ones and cleaning.