Week One

Mambo Everyone :)

So I'm finally all settled in and working at my school now! I absolutely LOVE my kids, they are soooo adorable, I can't wait to show everyone pictures and video. The biggest challenge is getting over the language barrier, but I'm doing the best I can and taking Swahili lessons everyday so I can communicate with them. I'm experiencing such culture shock here, everything is just so incredibly different. The most amazing thing is that although the people don't have much, they are the happiest people I've ever met. Everyone is always smiling and laughing, they come up and talk to us and practice their English while I make a fool out myself trying to speak Swahili...haha. Yesterday and today I taught the class of 2-4 year olds which are my favorites :) We started counting and the alphabet and they seem to be picking it up fairly quickly. It breaks my heart when I go to school everyday and realize how much stuff they need...they have no paper, barely any chalk or pencils, no crayons or markers or anything of the sort. The school looks like what we would call a shack, with two rooms that fit about 40 kids each. They have a couple jump ropes for play time and the only swings they have are both broken so the kids can't use them. I brought some construction paper and arts/crafts stuff and the kids were soooo excited and the teachers thanked us all day long, it was the best feeling I've ever had, like I had helped them so much. I only have one minute left on the internet, so I have to go. I'll write more this weekend!! I miss everyone back home :)

<3 Kristin