Project day 3: Energy sapping but progress being seen by all..

Wednesday 19^th July

Staff version of events…..

Today we had some grumpy sleepy students at breakfast today, the levels of energy required at the projects is very high and staff had some concerns if this would transfer to the projects. This however was not the case at all the moment the students bounced out of the bus it was 100% back to normal and the ride home after the projects was a bouncy and load one. After a little stop at the supermarket for some luxury food and drink items the mood this evening is a happy and reflective one. A quick game of rounders at the hotel before dinner and preparations for teaching tomorrow were completed early to allow students to have a much needed and well received early night!! Here’s to the last full day at the projects tomorrow until next Tuesday!!

                     Jubilee

Another jam-packed day at the Jubilee school. Chloe and Emily went straight to their class and taught them shapes, which they seemed to pick up quite quickly. Ollie, Dan and Sam continued labouring making cement with the builders and learning the techniques of the trade for the construction of a new classroom. They then worked on fixing the toilet doors which were only just hanging on. Hinges and nails were bought from local shops to be used on the doors. We then helped to teach algebra and areas to the 10 year olds, which were very smart for their age. With the football that we donated yesterday, the older children were able to play a football match in full kit for 90 minutes. Dan and Sam had to take breathers as they couldn’t keep up with the fitness of the children. Ollie was Sam’s substitute after Sam had taken a heavy fall after colliding with the wall. Can’t wait for another unique day tomorrow, spending it at the school and then visiting the equator and water falls on Friday.                                                                                       

                          Ronaken 

Today was a major day for the construction side of our project, throughout the day the entire team all played a role in prepping for and beginning to build the wall. The team helped the local builders to lay the first layer of blocks for the wall and got involved in the process of making cement. All members of the team tested both their mental and physical strength and capability carrying heavy blocks, buckets of cement and relaying with buckets of water. Despite the hard work, we all felt it very rewarding to see progress being made and realising our own abilities. The particular highlight of the day was the fun that we had with the younger children- teaching them musical statues and musical bumps. Dancing the YMCA and the Macarena with the children was also a hugely memorable experience. Throughout the day, the team also taught the children and helped in the kitchen. Daisy, Tegan and Emma carried out a craft lesson with the children where they decorated letters of the alphabet and then used them to create words. Alice, Athine and Emma spent a majority of the afternoon using the white boards in classes 6 and 7 to carry out bingo and spelling quizzes with the children as well as being taught Swahili by the children. Overall it was a tiring yet very rewarding day working with the happiest and grateful children we have ever met.

The Walk

Today was the third day at the Walk and a bit more relaxed than the previous day. We started by painting one of the new classrooms. This took little time thanks to the teamwork of Oli, Toby, Henry and Miss Wilson. Some of the girls also did some painting but the little had been left to do. We thought this would take much longer but what we thought would take most of the day took around two hours. This meant we had a lot of time we hadn’t planned for. After break Toby, Henry and ollie decided to do some sports with the two youngest classes. Soon joined by Ella, Sam, Anya, Mr Tomlinson and Miss Wilson we got the children to do some relay races. We split them into six groups and made them race against each other to see which team was the quickest. We did different rounds of running, hopping, sideways running and backwards running. After lunch Sam, Anna, and Anya sat in with the 7-9 year olds and did some drawing with them with the new pencils we had brought with us. To end the day, we were treated to watch the older classes practice their dancing for the opening ceremony of the new building next month. As we said goodbye everyone left with their spirits high and couldn’t wait to return the next day.