On Monday William and his best friend had their first day at the local Ecole Internationale des Parent de Butare (French International School). He was primed and excited. But the actual day was pretty hard for him.
My friend and I, with some of our kids, spent the rest of the morning in quite a different context. We visited the Iwacu centre for street kids, run by an English man.
My friend, who worked for years with street kids (as did her husband), said you could really tell the boys were fresh off the streets. They were very excited when David walked through the gate, greeting him with a hug and big smiles, and then greeted us very politely. Hannah got cuddles, we played hangman, and the boys told us a bit about themselves. They LOVED their drumming lesson from the local university’s head of drumming, and I was very impressed at their skill! They were just kids. Who have it tough. The centre does a fantastic job of trying to meet their needs.
Tim and I were rather impressed in the afternoon when William walked in with this butterfly he had made for us, all of his own creation!
I spent the evening reflecting on William and school, trying to work out what to do. Tim told me to stop whining and be proactive – good advice. So on Tuesday morning I made a big batch of playdough. Then I wrote a guide for ways to use playdough in the classroom. a friend translated it into Kinyarwanda and when French speaking friends came for running club that night they translated it into French too. Hopefully having something fun and familiar to do will help the boys to settle in faster...
When we arrived the children in Will's class had their faces pressed up to the window, watching us all stream in the gate to pick up our kids. He returned our waves, but not the smiles.
ReplyDeleteHe had stopped crying shortly after we left, and his teacher said she had been very pleased with him. He's not yet excited about school, but he feels OK about it. A good start.