Two months!

Yes, I have now been here for two months! In many ways it feels like longer, because here feels like home to me now. My morning routine is starting to be something I do in my sleep - up, shower, breakfast, out at 7:45-8ish (has crept a bit later this week, oops), walk up the road, catch a bus or matatu, negotiate the road crossing and the mud/rubbish/men on motorbikes/occasional policemen with guns around Karen roundabout, catch a matatu, get off, walk up the track, say good morning to people on the way, get to school, greet the staff, start the day.

Last week all the children had assessments, so I mainly helped the teachers with those, sitting with a few children that needed support and then doing some of the marking. This was another fairly eye-opening time, in that each class had tests in every subject, including 'creative' which I'd have thought was quite difficult to test for in a meaningful way!

With less than two weeks until we finish for Christmas, it's all got pretty busy this week. I've been compiling a brochure to advertise the school to parents who could potentially afford to pay a fee to send their children to Mahali. I'm quite pleased that I managed to get to grips with Publisher, which I've not used much before, to produce a threefold leaflet thing. My family will know what I mean when I say Grandma would have been proud (she used to rave about Publisher as she used it to produce cards!) Here is a picture of each side of the leaflet:

If you are a praying person, please pray that this leaflet would be distributed to the right people and that God would bless this new stage in the work of Mahali Pa Watoto. The thinking behind introducing some fee-paying places is mainly to increase local involvement, making this a more sustainable project and not wholly reliant on funding from overseas.

I'm also continuing with my groups this week and had a lovely 1:1 session with Hannah, one of the girls I've talked about previously (see this post) She can be extremely difficult in a whole class situation, very attention-seeking and hyperactive, but she thrives in a small group or individually where she can have plenty of attention and feedback from the teacher. It's a huge worry because she should be leaving us and starting at a primary school in January, but given what I've seen and heard of the government primary schools, she is going to find it very hard. Added to that there are several issues with her home situation and we really need wisdom to know how to deal with them, and whether there is any alternative for her education.

So, one more week after this one which will finish with the Christmas party. This is an eagerly anticipated event, incorporating the graduation of the children who are leaving us as well as some drama, singing, and (most importantly) sausages, chips and ice cream! I'm looking forward to it!

I shall leave you with some fun pictures I took last week.

I love this - they're 'cooking' with leaves and flowers!

A small visitor!