Today I went to the 'Wonderful School' again. It was quite a hot day. The pupils were happy to see me because they knew I would have balloons. This balloon giving has been becoming a bit tiring because everyone wants their own and they pop them too fast. I wanted to get to school so I could play with the wonderful children. There is one woman who likes me so much she runs to hug me. She has a lazy eye like I had when I was 4 and had to go for an operation so we have something in common. When she is in church she likes to dance a lot, which brings other people to dance and gives it a colourful atmosphere. There is another very outgoing women who has a small beard. She is very good at taking care of the smaller children and will carry them around and play with them.
At the school
I decided that today was washing day and all the toys needed to have a bath. The toys in the school are quite old and have been donated from people. Almost all of the jigsaws are from the Early Learning Centre (ELC) where I had been working in the lead up to Christmas to get money for my trip. I bathed the walker and the pull along telephone. It made me wish I had brought another suitcase of donations just to equip the school because they appreciate and love these toys so much even when they are getting ugly and broken.
Amaudo 2 Residents
In my drinking flask today I had juice. I made the mistake of drinking in the classroom. When I left, the Reverend’s children, who are very sharp, came to find me to share the juice. I was a bit surprised but children here are not use to drinking anything other than water. Even lots of adults are interested in my juice and like to come to my house to have a cup. When I say juice its not even good fruit juice it is only squash.
The cook was not around so Happiness had to cook lunch on her own. I offered to help her and the pupils though it was very funny that the white woman thought she could help their teacher to cook garry. Garri is quite a funny thing to eat. You mix up cassava (a root vegetable) with hot water until it makes dough not dissimilar to play dough. You then mould the dough in your right hand and use it to eat bitter soup made from leaves, fish, pepper, sometimes melon and something yellowish, which may be the palm oil.
Back at Amaudo 1 I have been tidying up and sweeping a lot because I know Diane (the previous Welfare Officer of Amaudo) is coming to stay in the guest house with me and I am worried she wont enjoy sharing a house with such a messy person. I have swept it twice and my friend Rose, the daughter of one of the cooks, also came to sweep and fetch water to help make her feel at home.
Catherine was not at dining tonight so I was worried she was sick or had left. She is not one to miss meals and always tries to push to the front because she does not like standing in line. Martha and I went to look for her and found her sleeping in her bed. We woke her up and got her to go to the kitchen were the kind cook had saved her some dinner. I like the cooks they are funny people and always joke about my meal sizes and how I am getting on with their Nigerian meals.
By the evening Catherine had already changed her clothing the right way round and was sleeping well. This is good because it means her drugs are taking effect and she will soon start getting better.
No comments:
Post a Comment