Week 10!

Let me tell you a little bit about what I have been doing in Africa for the last 10 weeks. For the first half of the summer,  I was very involved in the medical center. I organized medical records, took patient testimonies, made a video, and even helped give immunizations. It was thrilling and really interesting to be involved in the medical system on this side of the world. After awhile, though, the work at the medical center really slowed.. I suppose July just isn't a busy month because its not high time for malaria or many other common diseases. I was really disappointed by this because I really enjoyed what I was doing.

Luckily, I had the 3other FSU students here to keep me busy when I wasn't working. They had come in the beginning of June and were teaching at the local primary school.  We traveled a bit and just had a good time exploring together. When Kate, Ashley, and Tyler left in the beginning of July, I was left with not much to do at all. 

Finally, I decided to take up their position as an English teacher at the school down the road and I have been LOVING it so far! I never ever ever thought that I was enjoy teaching but these kids make it really fun. I teach primary 5 (5th grade) at Bukibira (pronounced like buchibida) Primary School. Recently, the government decided to relocate 5 of their teachers to other schools and decided not to replace them.  Bukibira was left with just 5 teachers for the entire school of about 200 children. When I offered to come and teach after Kate, Tyler, and Ashley left, they practically kissed my feet they were so happy. 

I have been teaching "tenses" for the past month and it has been going pretty well. They have a hard time understanding my accent so I am lucky to have Sandra helping out and translating in my classroom. We just spent the last week going over irregular past participles (eat..ate..eaten) which was pretty difficult. Once they finally understood the irregulars, I asked them what the past participle of "dance" is and they told me "dancen".....

I have really come to love these kids. I want to do a small fundraiser for them when I get home. I think I will ask people to just donate their loose change to help the kids afford their school fees and school supplies. All of their book cost about $3 and an entire year at school only costs $20. If I can get different groups of people to "sponsor" one of these children, I think it would make a big difference in their lives. 

Anyway, that pretty much sums up what I have been doing for the last 5 weeks.  I only have a week and a half to go until I come back to the states!