First Day of School

Volunteering at the children's center was an experience. The children are great and the center itself is new and much nicer than I was expecting. But I won't be starting there any time too soon. I just don't have enough French for it yet. None of the staff there speaks any English, and I'm pathetically behind where I ought to be with my French considering I've been here for a month and a half now.

But all that's about to change as I've started lessons with a teacher today. She's great and her prices are too so I'm able to afford 6 hours of private lessons a week. Getting myself set up with a real teacher hasn't been an easy task and I feel lucky that I happened across her. Another two months down the road and I'll be well on my way. Then maybe I can start helping out with the children.

The center is a temporary stop for kids whose families, for one reason or another, just can't care for them at the moment. Many are refugees whose families are having difficulty getting settled. Some have lost their parents to disease. Others are victims of abuse, and a few were abandoned all together for reasons westerners might find difficult to understand. One boy at the center was expelled from his village because his top baby teeth came through before his lower ones, a very bad sign of misfortune.

Most of the children are between 3 and 10 years old, with a few younger and a few older. The daily schedule consists of two baths, lunch, nap time, afternoon snack, and down time in between. It's up to whoever is helping out that day to fill up all those empty spaces with activities. And that's precisely why I need more French. I'm great at swinging the little ones by their ankles, scooping rice and beans into bowls, painting faces and sculpting little animals from modelling clay (I practically filled Noah's ark with all the requests I got). But if I had to get a kid to follow directions and behave, or if I were left to lead a large activity - as I most certainly would be - I'd be up a creak without a paddle.

So it's back to the ABC's for me and then, when I'm ready, kindergarten.