Week 2

Remember when I said I was bad about taking pictures? We get so wrapped up in the activities that by the time I remember to get out my camera, it's too late! Needless to say, I forgot to take pictures on both Monday and Tuesday (Amanda took a few) so a few from Wednesday will have to do!

Monday the 3 groups rotated through making animal masks for their groups with Michelle, playing games with Amanda, and dancing with me! I'll certainly take photos of the masks - they were drying so the kids haven't worn them yet.

When the groups came to my rotation, I taught them a short dance to Michael Jackson's "Beat It." They were so cute. It's a pretty basic line dance that I taught in my own classroom when I was teaching PE. But, this style of dance was so foreign - literally- to the kids that it was quite amusing to watch. We all had so much fun. Even the teachers got in on the dancing after a while!

Tuesday was another day at the filed for games. We did relay races with much more success than last week. Not as many wipe outs, but we also skipped the 3-legged race! We played a big game of tag, or chase, as it is called here in Kenya. We were all worn out when we got back to school so we did a lesson on heart health and blood to wrap up the day. The older kids have been reading the BFG as a read-aloud and it's such a great way to unwind before lunch.

Team Elephant won this one!

No one can run as fast as Kenyans!

Red "Blood" Cells. Later we added white blood cells and platelets.

Today we did a craft in our groups to start the day. The kids each made one (or two or three) "God's Eye." It's a craft based on a Mexican tradition. We had so much fun! It was really interesting to me how limited some of their fine motor skills are. So much of their education is theory based and memorization that there is little time for creativity. Here's a link to an interesting article on some of the proposed changes for the Kenyan educational school system. It's also worth noting that most of these kiddos don't have access to crayons, markers, yarn and Popsicle sticks at home so they aren't getting the practice there either. While the little ones made colored hands and feet to make banners to decorate their school, the older ones made shampoo with Jane. Sounds like it was quite an expereince. I'll check out the finished product tomorrow!

Days like today are a great reminder of why we are here doing camp. It's enriching activities in a safe space for the kiddos. Exposure to things that are not necessarily essential to a good quality life, but certainly help prepare them for future careers.