Drumming Circle

Today was a great day! After placement we had lunch at the park and played in a drumming circle! An organization called Drumming SA came to the park with their Dejembe Drums! We all sat in a circle with our Dejembes and had a great drumming lesson! It was great fun! I wasn't too bad either..if I do say so myself! :) Check them out: http://www.drummingsa.co.za

My day at the creche was a good one. I worked in the classroom, with the older children, mainly 5 year olds! The class I helped today only had 12 children present, so it was nice. They practiced writing their names and did some coloring then played on the playground. Today was my first day getting beat up!! There was a little boy on the playground that was about 5 and was just sort of bullying the other kids. He was pummeling another little boy and I walked over to him and pulled him off the other boy and told him no. When I tried to sit him down on the porch he was trying to pull away from me. When I told him no and tried to sit him down again, he started punching me. I picked him up to carry him inside to the teachers and when I got to the doorway he opened his arms wide, and grabbed the door frame, so I couldn't get thru the door!! I had to pry his fingers off the doorway as he was flailing and struggling. I took him inside and explained to the teacher that he was beating on another little boy and that when I tried to stop him, he started beating on me. The teachers started scolding him, slapped his hand a few times....then a couple more times for good measure. The little boy was crying and they made him sit inside until lunch time. Oh and there was a little girl that wasn't feeling well and was running a fever. Of course, they don't have any thermometers here, they just feel the forehead....they gave her something similar to Tylenol, I think....but 500 MG!! An adult dose. They let her lay on a mat and she slept for a while and then got up and ate some lunch. It made her feel better..but I'm just not too sure how good 500 mg is or a 5 year old girl.

The playground was great today. It was very hot though...probably the hottest day since I've been here. But the sun was up, the sky was clear blue and I got a little sun burned. The kids had fun playing. Most of them come dressed in layers as it's a little chilly in the morning...so I was peeling layers off of the kids and hunting for the correct backpacks. They were all so sweaty!

I'm trying to arrange an afternoon to stay at the creche and clean up the playground. Unfortunately, it is littered again. They obviously truck the sand in, but the sand isn't sifted for foreign objects. Unfortunately there is glass, hunks of concrete, broken plastic all mixed in the sand. And there are always pointy sticks. With the exception of the swingset/climbers...there really are no more toys out there for the kids to play with unless the teachers get the little bikes out. So the kids play with the trash on the playground. They are runing and fighting with sticks. Playing with boards, putting glass in their mouths, filling the chip bags with sand. And they really don't like when you take it away from them and the teachers don't seem to notice.
My roommate Julie has offered to help clean up, so I am arranging an afternoon to do that. I will borrow rakes and trashbags from the homebase and take them to the creche. I think I will buy some thick rubber gloves also...never know what we'll find there.

It was wonderful to see and spend time with the kids that were here was I was here last time....none of them remember me. There 2-3 years old then and they have volunteers floating in and out...so I didn't expect them to know me. It was nice to see the changes. Nice to see that they are growing and thriving!! They are all so sweet.

I'm debating how to spread my time. I think I might work in the classroom 3 days per week and in the younger room (where I initially started) 2 days per week. I'm just not sure. I just feel bad, as the younger kids had me all last week and are probably wondering why I'm not in there now. Also....my two kids that have cerebral palsy.....they seem to get left out if a volunteer isn't in there making sure they are getting attention also.

I counted today...between both rooms there were roughly 56 children there. I'm sure there are more enrolled, just probably not at school. I'm trying to figure out the total number so I know how much snack to bring. I'm going to bring them sweets this week! I want to be sure to bring enough for everyone there. Cookies and juice or something. They don't get sweets very often so it will be a really nice treat! I also need to plan something to celebrate valentine's day. We'll do some sort of cool craft and I'll buy cookies and some chocolate candy.

Well, that's all for now.