July 18th & 19th

Nothing brightens your day more than showing up to school seeing all your students in sweat suits and stretching, it was too cute. Friday was game day; in the morning my class has a test or weekly review in almost every subject. It was surprisingly pretty entertaining to give a test because tests are usually known as boring but I found it exciting; their excitement, dedication, and happiness proved it to be easy for them.  In the afternoon the games begin. To sum up game day, it was about three hours of recess. Kevin and Tate got into a good game of soccer with some older boys and male teachers. I took the time to get to know some older students and got into another really good conversation with Ms. Flora. We talked about America and their school system, college (university), my braces and plenty more. I feel so real with her, comfortable, and open. I am nervous to switch classrooms but I think it will be good for all of us to branch out and get out of our comfort zones.

Yesterday I went on a home visit with Krissy, Gitte, Sawyer, and Sofia. The student we were visiting was Noella she is in class three with Sawyer. When we arrived her grandmother was outside waiting to greet us. She was so small, so sweet, and so welcoming. Noella lives with her father, grandma, and cousin who works at LOAMO in the kitchen. Her house was small but very nice with two bedrooms and a decent size living room. Noella’s mother died when she was three months old, she died from HIV AIDs, because the doctors did not catch it fast enough. It was hard to hear her father was also infected but it broke my heart when they told us Noella is HIV positive as well. The hardest part was that Noella didn’t even know, and she is eleven. Her father doesn’t want her to know because she is “too young.” She is on medication that they get for free but she also has a skin condition that is very noticeable and it upsets her. There is medication for it, but they cannot afford it. It really touched me and I am thankful for how open her father was for telling us their story and sharing personal details about his life, as well as Noellas. Noella is a strong girl and I admire all her beautiful characteristics.

Today was Saturday, we left the house at 8am and headed for the school. Today was cleaning day, our goal was ‘spotless.’ We cleaned windows, washed the chalkboards, wiped down the desks, scrubbed the walls, and got down on our hands and knees using a sweater to mop the concrete floor. Moping a floor with a sweater was probably one of the weirdest things I have ever done. But after thinking it through I realized how resourceful the entire process is. Hours and hours definitely paid off, the classrooms looked one hundred times better. The kitchen ladies were so sweet always wanting us to take a rest or eat. It was a productive, yet exhausting day. The staff at LOAMO were so grateful they could hardly find words to say.

I feel awesome, what we accomplished as a team and individually made an impact on our entire experience. I am already looking forward to Monday, but even more at this point, so we can all see the student’s faces when they enter their new clean rooms.