*Note - There is another blog posted today that I wrote yesterday but couldn't post because we had no internet. Check it out, it has a great picture on it!*
Today I took a break from healthcare stuff and went to Dona Nena, the private school where the high school group of volunteers is teaching this week. This school is also where many of the orphanage children go to school. It was so much fun getting to see them in their uniforms, sitting in their seats (most of the time), and learning English. They all got excited to see me at school and at recess came out to play and hang out.
This little girl does not live at the orphanage but is in the pre-kindergarten class and was matching shapes. She was super cute so I had to get a picture of her working hard on the chalkboard.
Today I took a break from healthcare stuff and went to Dona Nena, the private school where the high school group of volunteers is teaching this week. This school is also where many of the orphanage children go to school. It was so much fun getting to see them in their uniforms, sitting in their seats (most of the time), and learning English. They all got excited to see me at school and at recess came out to play and hang out.
This little girl does not live at the orphanage but is in the pre-kindergarten class and was matching shapes. She was super cute so I had to get a picture of her working hard on the chalkboard.
Here in the Dominican Republic education is POOR! Children either go to school from 8am-12pm, or from 2pm-6pm. So, 4 hours a day! You can only imagine how much they learn during that period. Not to mention they get 15-20 minutes of recess and a 5-10 minute snack break built in as well. Many of the classrooms are packed full of students, some even without desks and just chairs. In this classroom to the left, there were at least 5 little kids sitting in chairs only without anything to write on. I guess in pre-kindergarten it isn't as crucial but still, at a private school you'd expect a desk for each child! Private schools here are not near as expensive as in the States however.
The kids here do have a uniform. Dona Nena has these brown jumpers with a yellow shirt, and the boys wear brown pants with a yellow top. However, the public schools all wear khaki pants or skirts, and a blue button down shirt.
Here are Luz Maria and I at recess. She came out to play for a little bit and sat with me until her teacher found her and took her back into class. I don't think she wanted to go back in, surprise. Everyday when I ask her how school was she says, MAL, which means bad! But they all say that!
After lunch, I spent some time with the kids and went to the bus station to pick up a site visitor that is in country for a couple of weeks. She wants to bring a college team down possibly to work with Orphanage Outreach, and ironically enough I actually met her in the Miami airport and gave her Coco's number to call about coming to see the orphanage. She saw our t-shirts that we wear in the airport and came over to ask questions, and now here she is.
This picture is of Nena and Nicol in their classroom. The classes are sometimes interesting because you'll see someone like Nena who is 7 years old in the 3rd grade, but also there are other children in her classroom ages 9,10, and even 14! They don't place you by age here, they place you by ability so it isn't unusual to see 12,13,14 year olds still in elementary grade levels!
On the walk home today I saw this interesting sight outside of a pretty decent house. The house just recently got painted and seems to be owned by someone with a least a little money. Well, outside in her yard were several fans, a couple of toasters, and a few other random items. I assume they were for sale. Nothing like a good old fashioned yard sale, with about 15 items to sell! Hope she made some money today!
Wednesday nights is culto night so we had a little worship service with the kids. Arianni sat in my lap and was playing with my thumbs and singing along to the music. Pastor wasn't there until the very end so Jose Luis, who is 13, lead the service asking different kids to come up and sing. It was a little more crazy than normal but he did a good job.
After culto I played with Arianni a little bit longer before coming up for the night. We kissed again, and then I pretended to eat her ears, eyes, nose, mouth, etc. for a good amount of time. Apparently this game hasn't gotten old yet for her! I love her so much! When I hear, "Elizamen" come out of her mouth I can't help but smile and be thankful for having her in my life!
Pictures from today - http://picasaweb.google.com/Geedz913/DonaNena?feat=directlink
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