New Schedule

        Today was the first day of the children's holiday.  During their holiday the schedule changes.  I am no longer doing baby time in the morning.  Now I am teaching the Kindergartners some math and english so they don't forget what they have learned in school.  During this session we will be practicing the alphabet and doing some math equations and counting.  Todays session went well.  They seem to be getting an understanding in how to add and subtract numbers.  Some other activities that I am going to try to do is puzzles and matching.

Being Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving 
     In Tanzania this American holiday of Thanksgiving is not celebrated among the children.  Yet, this dose not stop us from enjoying the traditional meal.  Tonight the volunteers and elder staff will be gathering  in the volunteer house at 7:00pm to have the traditional meal.  Before 7 we are all going to meet at 6:00 and have drinks.  I am looking forward to this new Thanksgiving experience.
       Having Thanksgiving here at the village with everyone was a lot of fun.  We had all of the average things.  For dessert we had a delicious apple crumble that Christy made.  During cocktails I tried a new drink.  It was a bit of Tanzania alcohol mixed with honey and Sprite.  It was quite good.  I am hoping that I will be able to bring some of the alcohol home with me so I can share it with some friends.
 

Holiday

    For the next 6 weeks the children will be off from school for a holiday.  These 6 weeks off can be compared to our time for summer vacation.  During this time the activities at the village will be altered.  There will be no baby time, pre school, or play group.  Between 8:00 to 10:00 it will be a study time for the school aged kids.  I will be working with the Kindergardeners.  At this time the kids will be working on skills that they learned at school.  Then after Uji they will have free play until lunch.  Once lunch and rest is over at 2:30 the pool will be taken out for a chosen house to swim and the rest of the kids will be participating  in organized play.  After egg and bread the schedule will be as usual.  

Average Day

    My day starts around 6:00am with making the kids breakfast.  Breakfast consists of a rotation of porridge and PB&J sandwiches.  Then by 7 I walk the school age kids down the road to school.  When I return back to the village it is time for breakfast in the volunteer house.  After breakfast I go back to the houses to pick up the youngest kids for baby time.  Baby time lasts from 8 to 10.

Ema

                      Kids for Baby Time:      

Johann

Grace

January (Janu)

           At 10:15 the kids return to their houses for Uji Time.  Then 11 they come back out side for free play until 12:15.  From 12:15 to 2:30 the kids are in their houses having lunch and rest time.  At this point the volunteers are free to relax, go on the computer, or do whatever.  Then at 2:30 the kids return to having free play until 4:15.  At 4:15 the kids return to their houses and it is time for egg and bread.  For egg and bread the volunteers are in charge of preparing it.  Once the kids are done with egg and bread they are to stay in their houses.  During the time before dinner the kids take a bucket bath and they watch a movie.  The time before dinner is time that the kids wind down from their day.  Then after dinner the kids get ready for bed and lights are out at 7:30.
          While the kids are in their houses from 4:15 on the volunteers are free to do as they please.  Personally I just relax (read, go on computer).  Sometimes I may go on a walk with some of the other volunteers.  After our dinner time at 6:30 I return to my house and may read a story to either the girls or the boys or both.  Then I just get into bed and read.
       Well, that is my day here at Rift Valley Children's Village.  Hope you enjoyed it as much as I do. :)




                                                            
                                                                                                                            

At the Crater

 For my day off I went on a safari with three other volunteers.  We went on a safari at the crater.  It was an actuarial  crater.  The crater is home to a variety of animals.  The animals that we saw were Water Buffalo, lots of Zebra, Warthogs, Hyenas, Caribou, Elephants, Hippos, a monkey, some Flamingos, a Rhino, and finally some Lions.
    My favorite animals that we saw were the Zebra's, the Elephants, and the Lions.  The Lions were the last animal that we saw.  There was a young male and two females. It looked like they were getting prepared to hunt.  They were so amazing.  We just sat there waiting for their next move.  The Elephant was entertaining to see.  It was cooling  off by using its trunk to throw dust on its self.  Seeing the Zebras were amazing.  They crossed right in front of our car.  The crossed like we were not even there.  Even though all  of these mentioned animals are very lovely and interesting The Zebras caught my eye.   I love how each Zebra has an individual pattern of stripes.  While watching the Zebras we saw some babies.  The babies are quite cute.  Instead of having black and white stripes they have brown and white stripes.  The babies also has softer looking hair that looks like fluff.
   It was an amazing experience to see all of these animals in there natural habitats.  We were lucky to have such a nice day.

This is what the Crater looks like.  It was a wonderful day to go.  We ended up seeing a lot of animals.

                                           Here are my two favorite animals that we saw.
                                                     I am so glad that I decided to go:)

Dance Party

     Yesterday after Bread and Egg my house was invited to join Ribondo for a dance party.  There  was a dance party at Ribondo because their two volunteers are going to be leaving this week.  When a volunteer leaves the village they usually have a good bye activity for their house.  When we returned to Mikumi after the party most of my kids started to ask me what I am going to do when I leave.  I am thinking of having a sleep over with just my house.

Day at the Pool

Faraja

Gabriella

    Last Saturday my kids had the opportunity to spend the afternoon in the pool.  The pool is blown up and only fits a few kids at a time.  Even though the pool is not a full size pool the kids still have a BLAST!  Each kid does not own a bathing suit for them selves.  So, there is a container filled with bathing suits and so the kids get to choose one that fits them and can wear it for the time being.  Here are some photos of my kids enjoying an afternoon at the pool.

Elibaraka & Micha

              

    

Another week has passed

    I can't believe that another week has come and gone.  The days get so busy.  All though this week was like any week it had a few changes.  On Wednesday it was the Muslim holiday of Eid ul Adha.  This holiday gave the school aged kids a day off from school.  So, we had all of the kids around the village.  Wednesday's schedule was like a Saturdays.  It was nice having all of the kids around.   This past week the volunteers have been told to start getting the kids to make Christmas cards for their sponsors.  Christy appointed me to be in charge of placing the cards in envelopes and addressing them to the sponsors.  Each kid has a lot of sponsors.  It seems like they have at least three sponsors.  They have multiple sponsors because if one drops out then the kids will still feel like someone is there for them.  Having a sponsor is like having a personal friend for the kids.
       This weekend for my day off I am planning to go on solo adventure to the Gallery.  At the Gallery I have been told that there are great shoppes and food.  While I am there I will be able to get free internet and I will be able to down load my pictures of my trip!!  So stay tune to check them out.  :)

Birthday night

 Tonight after dinner we are celebrating the November birthdays.  To celebrate every house gets a cake to eat and the individual with the month birthday gets a few wrapped gifts.  There is one birthday boy in my house...  It's Ema!!!!  I have his gifts locked in my room.  I can't wait to see what he gets.  This month Ema is turning 2 yrs old!  I can't wait for tonight.

Happy Birthday Ema!!

Playing with his new toys.

Day at the Market

       On Sunday is the volunteers day off!  Today we all went out to lunch and went to a big market.  This market is only around one time during the month.  It was an intimidating place.  Everyone was trying to sell you something.  People would not give up.  They continued to badger you to buy their product.  I was very annoying!  While we were there I just bought two little items.  A bowl and a bracelet.  I guess it was interesting to go.  I don't think I would rush and do it again. When I arrived back to the Village the kids were wild.  So, I grabbed my i-pod and went on a little walk.

First few days

My bed at KIA Lodge

My room at KIA Lodge

Jambo~ (Hello in Swahili)
    The adventure has officially begun!  On Sunday October 31st I left my home at 5:00pm to caught my flight at 7:30pm.  Both of my parents drove me to JFK airport.  When arrived at JFK my mom went in with me and helped me get my boarding passes.  Then my dad joined us and we went to security and that is where we had to say our good byes.  This part was very emotional.  I cried all the way through the security line. I was so nervous to go on the airplane by myself.  When I board the plane at JFK an unexpected thing happened.  I was taken aside and informed that I was unable to take the little red rolling suitcase as a carry on.  I was unable to take it because there is not enough room in the overhead compartments.  So, I had to check in the bag.  This took a while because I think that they forgot that I need to do it.  This conflict made me  nervous and up set.  No one seemed to care.  Well, this conflict was resolved by having the bag just be put on a flight to Tanzania.  There was nothing to be worried about.
   When I arrived in Amsterdam I was really disbobulated.   I had not idea what to do for the two hours I had till my next flight.  At this point all I wanted to do was get in touch with one of my parents.  But that was not posable because I had NO service on my phone.   I was a mess at this airport.  I had a whole bunch of emotions flowing though me.
    On November 2nd I finally arrived at the Rift Children's Village in Tanzania.  I absolutely love it.

Message to 3S

November 5, 2010

Habari za asubuhi 3S, 

Greetings from Tanzania. Habari za asubuhi is Swahili for Good Morning.  Swahili is the native language in Tanzania.  All of the children in the village speak both English and Swahili, so it is not difficult to communicate with them. 

This is where I live
Mikumi House

I am living in a coed house with 12 kids and two "mama's". Mama's are woman who care for these children like they are their own. The children in my  house  range from the age of two years to 11years old.  All together there are 63 children living in the village.  

Sharifa
Kindergarden

The only way that I can think of explaining the landscape in Africa is to have you imagine the opposite of our town's landscape.  It is so dry around here.  The ground is dust and the grass feels and looks like hay.  There are very few trees and shrubbery.  The weather here is like our fall weather. There is a brisk breeze with little sun and clouds. 

Gabriella
Pre-school

As you are reading this during your morning meeting, it will be 4:00pm in Tanzania.  Tanzania is 7 hrs ahead of New Jersey.  So while the children here are preparing for bed you guys are having your lunch.  Isn't that CRAZY?!  The children at the village attend school like you guys.  They start going to school in Kindergarden and go to 8th grade. In Tanzania the different levels in school are called primaries, so a third grader would be in Primary 4.   

 From, Julie:)