A DAY IN THE LIFE AT GLORIOUS

I get to Glorious about 9 am, walk past and greet Mary, the cook who has already started cooking the porridge for the student’s morning snack.

Mary

I walk into the baby classroom where the kids all yell at once “Good morning teacher, welcome teacher, how are you?”  I say, “Thank you and good morning” and then sit behind the teacher’s desk in the back of the classroom to start writing the date and day in each assignment book for 45 kids and write the assignment for ten babies (3-4 yrs.).  Ester is at the black board teaching math or English and Anna is helping me write in the assignment books.

Ester

Anna

assignment book

When Ester is finished, I pass out the assigment books Anna and I have prepared - which I'm getting better at, although it was really hard at first because most of the kids have names like Esau, Michael (which is pronounced Me-Kah), Isaya, Dorkas, Deotitus, Bariki...  After the assignment books are handed to the correct student, I try and scrounge for enough pencils for the students. I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up buying pencils every week, which is fine.

The students write their assignments in their book from the chalk board and I help them if they need it.  I love this part!! They’re all great kids, even thought they can get really rowdy and, when they do, the teachers let them be until they need to say something to everyone, which is different from back home.  When I help them with assignments they LOVE the attention and do their very best.  Sometimes I have a student that can't do something, I do my best to help them and when they get it right I show them how proud I am by exaggeration… “Nzuri, Deotitus! Good!”  and high five her - she continues her work in a proud manner.  I love encouraging them and applauding them, they need it and soak it up.

Ester

While I'm helping the kids, Ester and Anna are preparing the next assignment book the same way Anna and I did - day and dates for the next subject, Math or English, which ever hasn't been done yet.  I erase the black board and write the assignment there.  Half the board is for the older kids 5-6 yrs. and the other half is for the babies 3-4 yrs

I go over the assignment with them out loud - they repeat after me.  If its math we say 1+10=11 and then I call on a student and they have to say it out loud and solve the equation themselves and if they can't, I help them.  We pass out their assignment books again and I help whoever needs it.  If they have homework it's usually the same assignment they just finished, so they write it down and put it in their backpacks. 

Now, in comes the porridge. I help pass out 1 cup per kid and they wait until everyone has a cup and they yell all together '’Thank you Lord (Lord is drawn out) for this food, amen, welcome teacher!” While they drink the porridge I go correct the day’s assignments.

My first week there a kid threw up outside the door of the classroom and I went in and told Ester, she looked at me like 'why are you telling me this', so I walked away and when I did a kid dropped his cup of porridge and it went all over the floor and a bit on me. I told Ester about this and she gave me the same look and no reaction... This is when I told myself, 'let go Talia, let it go!'   I've had this conversation with myself MANY time now!!

After they are done and all the cups are thrown into the bucket, the kids join the 12 older kids from the bigger classes and run out for play time.  It's pretty hot out 85 F+ and they all wear a sweater w/ a collared shirt underneath so most of the time they sit in the shade under a big fruit tree, sitting on old bean and rice bags so they’re not on dirt.  They play around, and I sit with them playing patty cake, tickling them (which they LOVE!) allowing them to play with my hair and watch the girls tear banana leaves into little strips, spit on them and stick them to their head for fake long hair (the girls all have shaved head too or, occasionally, braids along their head.)

Alice invites us volunteers into a room for a snack which can be anything from fried egg whites, milk & cookies, meat poppers or white bread with egg fried in the center, and a pop - Pepsi, Sprite or Fanta.  We sit and snack for a while and then go out to help dish up lunch for each kid. This is their main meal for the day, by the way. The meal consists of Ugali - corn flour boiled into a stiff porridge - with cabbage and carrot stew, rice and beans, or plain rice, or perhaps Ugali with beans or beans and corn. The corn is different from what we're used to. It's more like the corn they use to make Corn Nuts - those spicy flavored corn snacks you buy at gas stations in the US - it has a great thick texture that I quite like.

Alice

ugali with meat & veggies

The kids say the same prayer as they do for porridge and then we all eat.  

After lunch, around 2 o’clock, we tell the kids goodbye and most run off right away, although some stay behind to walk wit us hand in hand.  I really like this part of the day, walking with 1-2 kids, trying to communicate or just smiling at one another. 

We say goodbye and I'm back on the Dolla Dolla treking home. 

-Talia