This week we focused on teaching the children the sounds of each letter, how to write them well, and how to put them together to form simple three letter words. We came up with an action for each letter sound, like hitting a drum for 'd' and shaving your head for 'v'. We quickly realized that we would have to do a lot of work on handwriting, and it was brilliant to see how much the children's handwriting improved by the end of the week. They really enjoyed the idea that letters can 'sleep', and by the end of the week they had moved on from writing individual letters across two lines, to writing "My teacher like to rub out my sleeping letters" neatly on one line.
We only had a few children, and the small classes were fantastic. On Monday and Tuesday we split the children into three separate ability groups, but by Wednesday we decided to merge the top two groups. This meant that the lowest ability still had a small class, and a fantastic teacher (Clare), whilst the top group was still relatively small with around 11 to 14 children, but with 4 teachers. Finch and I had some great characters in our class and we really enjoyed making the lessons fun and having a bit of banter with the kids.
We did lots of treasure hunts, either for letter flash cards that we'd hidden around the compound, or for letter challenges, for which the kids had to find something around the compound that started with the letter we gave them - we had everything from live ants for 'i' (insect) to a clay head for 'h' and one of the boys even brought us a jack fruit fresh from the tree for 'j'. (It did make us laugh when one of the boys brought a jerry can for letter 'y'. I asked him what he had brought and he said, with a sheepish grin "Yerry can!").
Each morning before we started class, we would gather all of the children and teachers together for morning devotions. This was always a really lovely time when we would sing, pray and share a bible story to begin the day.
School finished between 1 and 2 every day, which meant that we had the afternoon free to chat, read, sleep, wash clothes, cook, and Clare and I even helped to style one of the teachers' hair! I also made hair braids for Finch and Marina and taught some of the kids that live close to us to make bracelets. It was really great to have this time to just rest every day, and by the end of the week we all felt much more relaxed.
We came back to Kampala on Friday afternoon after school finished. I must admit that I was actually a bit reluctant to leave this time! Despite this, it feels really good to be home and catch up with everyone here. Friday was also my big brother's birthday so I called John to wish him a happy birthday. It was great to speak to him and hear about his recent camping trip with a slightly over the top campfire from the sound of things! Happy Birthday John!
School finished between 1 and 2 every day, which meant that we had the afternoon free to chat, read, sleep, wash clothes, cook, and Clare and I even helped to style one of the teachers' hair! I also made hair braids for Finch and Marina and taught some of the kids that live close to us to make bracelets. It was really great to have this time to just rest every day, and by the end of the week we all felt much more relaxed.
We came back to Kampala on Friday afternoon after school finished. I must admit that I was actually a bit reluctant to leave this time! Despite this, it feels really good to be home and catch up with everyone here. Friday was also my big brother's birthday so I called John to wish him a happy birthday. It was great to speak to him and hear about his recent camping trip with a slightly over the top campfire from the sound of things! Happy Birthday John!
Very early on Monday morning, Esther, Joe, Finch and Olivia will be going to Kuffu to run the second reading week. They're going to be focusing on consonant blends and forming 4 letter words.
Thank you so much to everyone who prays for us. Your prayers really do make a difference. This week I'd really appreciate prayer in these areas...
- For the second reading week at Kuffu - pray that the team will work well together, the kids will learn a lot and that everyone will really enjoy it.
- Pray for the rest of the team in Kampala, that God will use us this week for his will.
- Pray for protection for everyone.
- Pray for the rest of the team in Kampala, that God will use us this week for his will.
- Pray for protection for everyone.
Thank you and God bless!
Lorna
P.S. Sorry about the 'hungry African men' comment last week - didn't realize that this was offensive. My mistake. We loved cooking for you lot and it was great to have you all around at the house last week.
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