Africa, cont...

Thursday, July 3, 2008

We spent yesterday at the orphanage in Amalika. It was very posh compared to the other places we've been. They have 18 teachers for 230 students. Compare that to Zoomba School, which had 18 teachers for 2,300 students!

Gia, Josh, Brian, and I worked with the pre-school students - singing songs and telling stories. They were pretty cute! One little girl - she looked to be about 3 years old - was climbing all over Gia. She was a serious climber! At the end of the morning the pre-school teacher told us the little girl was actually the oldest in the class, at 7 years old. She was clearly developmentally and physically delayed, but oh so adorable.

I did some painting, but we spent much of the afternoon singing with the team and a few other Americans, who were working at the orphanage. The girls were especially smitten with Colton from Georgia. On the day we landed in Africa the Fresno State Bulldogs baseball team had won the college world series. The team they defeated was the Georgia State Bulldogs, so Colton was a bit defensive about the fact that we were from the city that beat his team :)

All in all Amalika seemed to be a place that didn't actually NEED us in the way we've been needed so far. There were 2-story dorms, a large cafeteria, nice offices, computers, etc...

For lunch at the orphanage we ate peanut butter and BANANA sandwiches. That was a major treat! Last night for dinner...rice beans, cabbage, and scrambled eggs.

Today we're heading to Tiyamike Orphanage for a couple of days. Gotta pack...