Well today has seriously been busy! Lets hope I can remember everything that we did today! We were visiting libraries this morning, looking at the shipments that Umutima had sent over and seeing how they were being used in school libraries. We started off heading up to Libala which seems like my home ground just now, totally getting used to where things are! Went into the basic school, which is like primary school 1-7, but it also continues up to grade 9. The children were on break when we arrived, but we got to see the library and speak to the librarian while we were there. From there we went up the the High school and go introduced to the head teacher there. His office was mental! He had a big wooden desk, with a smaller glass desk in front. There was an LCD massive TV sitting in the corner as well as a CD player, fridge and photocopier! This easily has been the most advanced space I've been in! The head was really nice and took time to talk to us about the school. Libala High School has 2620 pupils enrolled and only 62 teachers! The headteacher introduced us to the librarian for the school. He showed us the library and spoke about the way the books are being used. Here children get to take the books away for 2 weeks, and can access the library during the school days. The librarian told us that the girls like to read the novels about romance, and that Harry Potter is a popular book. We got to speak to a couple of girls from the school who use the library. They talked about what books they liked and also answered our "What does education mean to you?!" question. Their repsonses were dazzling and one girl said her education will be "the key to my future and my dreams." Such profound thoughts from such young people out here. It never ceases to amaze me!!
We were travelling over to Kalingalinga after this to see a few more libraries; Kalingalinga basic school- which goes from grade 1-9 and Mama Stella's Education Centre- which is grade 1-7. At the basic school we got to see the library and also got some really nice photos of the children playing in the courtyard and crowding round the netball posts. Over at Mama Stella's the school had closed for the day, so there was no children about.
It was soon time to jump on a bus from Kalingalinga and work our way over to Chawama compound. We were on 2 different buses to get over to Chawama, where the day really kicked off. On arrival we met with Tox, who is a fully qualified Fifa coach, a Go Sister and generally a really awesome person. She invited us to meet her family before we got started in Chawama which was lovely. We got to visit another 3 libraries within the schools; Little Woods, Aunt Ollie's and Kobet. Little Woods was completely closed for the school break so there was no access to the books although got to see the building where the library was. We next went to Aunt Ollie's and got to have a look around to see the books there. We got to see the library there and when speaking to the head teacher he told us that the books are great but he felt the school was lacking in dictionaries. He said the children liked to read, but didn't understand the definition of the words sometimes.From here we went to Kobet, where we met more awesome people. We met Justin who runs programs out in Chawama as well as the school head teacher who explained the school's capacity at 1500 pupils with plans to have a primary and secondary school within the one facility. I spoke to one peer leader called Brian, who has been involved as a peer leader for 7 years with EduSport. Seriously inspiring young man, so much dedication and work ethic shon out of him when we talked about his role as a peer leader. Justin introduced us to his family, which was very exciting for Fiona as Justin named his 5th child after her! Baby Fiona is just 3 months old and slept the duration of our visit.
Down at Chawama compound I got to be involved in 2 movement games. Justin started them off by getting all the children to clap along with him, then similar to Simon Says he calls out "Adjuba" and does an action. Everyone repeats and does the actions too. We also played another one, where again Justin started by leading the clapping and singing. Justin then chooses someone to move into the middle; he picked me!! I then chose another and so on the game went. From here the training started with the different teams playing on different areas of the compound. I got to see some girls playing netball too. They are really good players and have a great understanding of the sport. All the children at Chawama, especially the smaller ones, were obsessed with my tattoos and touching my arms to see what they felt like. It's still a really surreal experience, because to me the tattoos are just there now. I forget sometimes!! We got a good few interviews in Chawama with Tox, Justin and some peer leaders again asking "What does education mean to you?" The responses for these were so varied all day, but all equally outstanding.
It was soon time for us to head back to the backpackers, so we headed off for our bus. In the city centre there is a massive bus depot; Fiona and I both got hit by buses today. Obviously not extremely bad or I wouldn't be blogging; but still we got hit my a bus each! The buses are actually okay once you are on... and know where you are going. I'm glad to say we made it home safely and with plenty of time for a shower and dinner. Unfortunately I had to share my shower with a cricket and a moth tonight. Seriously breached my comfort zone here... and it was possibly the fastest shower of my life!
I'm sure tomorrow will hold some more amazing, un-describable experiences & I just can't wait! I will post some photos from today's action now!
