A Little Breath of Fresh Air

Today was a pretty great day! I was busy for most of it, but I'm excited about what's ahead. Whew! It's going to be a lot of work and, sometimes, I wonder how it's all going to come together, but I'm trusting that it will!

This morning, when we went to the Freedom Center, Joseph (the house father) was teaching the kids math. When he left (he went on a trip to get some work done with the village that City of Refuge working at up in the Volta region), the kids were just messing around and so I got out a spelling activity and started working on the kids with it. They did pretty well. We're going to have to work a lot on spelling, phonics, and vocabulary this year. As I have started to notice, the kids have learned words by rote memorization instead of learning the structure of the words, so sounding out is not easy for them (phonics). And, as it is with any English language learner, their vocabulary is limited (along with cultural differences so some words are not used here or are not understood in context; i.e. "basement"--they don't have basements or attics so have no context for what that would even mean).

After the lesson, we spent quite a bit of time coloring. I brought out my camera and Ben and Robert got some good shots with it (I got a few as well, but those boys love to use it!).

This afternoon, we had a "team planning meeting". All the staff at the Freedom Center got together and we put together a plan for the month of August of what to do with the kids since they are out of school and are finding themselves getting into trouble with nothing to do. We planned some activities and times that they are going to be doing things for the next month. I start tomorrow with teaching them reading, writing, and math in the morning. I have to teach K level through 4th grade level, so it's going to be interesting and we'll see what happens.

After that, Lucy (the cook at the Freedom Center), John, Stacy, and I went to the market in Community 1 here in Tema. It was the first time that I'd actually gone into the market stalls. It was very busy. Lots of people shouting out "Obruni, come here!" as Stacy and I walked around. But, we left with lots of food, some new pots and pans, a few dishes, AND. . .a guitar! Yay! Tonight as I was playing the guitar, it felt like I had just come home. Someone (thank you Carol Lee) told me that it was going to be very important for me to have my guitar with me while I'm here, and it's true. Tonight when I was playing, it just felt like I took a little breath of fresh air. (Thank you to those of you who made it possible for me to get the guitar!)

Tomorrow, I teach, so I need to get to bed. Good night!