This day was so unpredictable! Nothing unfolded as was planned....but then, that's pretty much what it's like over here! I had chosen to wait and go to school on the second staff pick up with Elena and Camilla this morning however due to lots of things happening, Peter was detained, however we finally got a lift with Polly.
Liza and Robin, visitors from USA and friends of Polly's family, were visiting the school. They had arrived yesterday and were warmly welcomed by the SEGA girls performance of the visitors song/dance. This was followed by a guided tour from many of the girls eager to escort them around the SEGA environment. They are beautiful women, in their senior years, with an amazing amount of wisdom between them. They certainly delighted all of us during their brief visit.
Arriving at school together this morning, we were greeted by The Form 1 & 2 girls who were eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new girls. The Non Formal Entry (NFE) girls arrived at around 11 am. So much excitement, song, dance, introductions, greetings, assigning a Form 1 to a new girl ...followed by the casual guided tour and getting to know time!
Salome, Headmistress, addressing the assembly
Form 1 & 2 meeting the Non Formal new girls.
Yustina, our Head girl, greeting the NFE girls.
Nervous introductions by the NFE girls!
Introductions reciprocated!
Polly's welcome.....mostly spoken in Kiswahili!
Polly & Salome
Steven Soliyambingu, Geography and History teacher.
Noah, an Askari, introducing himself.
Bonding from the very start....Proud Polly witnessing all.
Warda and me....Warda is a new Form 1 student to whom I have warmed immediately. She has a cheeky but sincere personality......and a good command of English!!
So much happiness.
Whilst the Form 1 and NFE's were engaged in this activity, Liza, Robin, Elena Camilla and I took the Form 2 English class. Our visitors were again warmly welcomed and the lesson began........
The plan was to read THE CAT AND THE HAT by DR SEUSS......but as I spoke to the girls I realised that they were a bit distracted.....
They were trying to get me to look at the blackboard which had a beautiful message for Gemma's 27th birthday. It took me by surprise and brought me to tears. I was so touched by their thoughtfulness and their love for her. Gem.....You really have to meet these girls one day because they all love you dearly!
Elena and Camilla read beautifully. We wove the story into our theme of 'Communication' and used it as a prelude to introducing our Library which has been swollen with an abundance of beautiful books... Thanks Margie Perse. I am looking forward to our girls being able to choose a variety of stories from our growing shelves.
If any of you out there have books gathering dust....I know some girls who are very keen to expand their knowledge and wisdom through reading and would love to get their hands on them!
A sick student......a trip to town.....to the Health clinic.....my first experience in this arena.... needing to use every bit of Kiswahili I could find..... outcome was good......put it down to experience!
I had planned to help Elena and Camilla tick another thing to do before they leave, off their list by taking them to Ricky's cafe for an ice cream to celebrate Gem's birthday. When we finally arrived, it was closing!....so we had to go around the corner to Oasis instead. We had planned to have a Blossun cocktail as the name was almost BLOSS.....but they dont serve cocktails until 7pm and it was only just after 5pm....(Jules, I tried to tell them that it was Cocktail o'clock somewhere in the world...to no avail!) ....So we settle for milkshakes and a Tusker baridi sana!
Whilst we were celebrating Gem's day, she rang! I had tried in vain, to ring her during the past few days and was so excited to be able to hear her voice and know that she was having a ball in Namibia.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.