Food and Kids

The food here is pretty good, but pretty basic.  I get a nice hot meal at school everyday.  The picture on the left is the typical meal.  The white stuff that looks like mashed potatoes is called papa.  It is thick and sticky, made out of maize meal.  You break off pieces with your hand and then use it to pick up the Moroho, greens or cabbage.  It is really finally chopped up greens (spinach, kale, mustard, etc.) or cabbage cooked with oil and salt.  I really like it.  The egg or meat is a special treat and usually only served on special occasions.  Some people here will eat this everyday for all meals.  Some variations include adding beans (stewed or baked) or instead of papa having samp which is also white and made out of corn, but a little more creamy??  Overall I think it is a pretty healthy meal that is cooked fresh for all school children and staff everyday at most schools in the country.  They have us beat in that way.  I have to say I don't miss seeing microwaved chicken nuggets and burgers typical of our schools at home. This food is also grown right at school so the students learn the process of cooking, growing, etc.  The picture on the right above is the students at school teaching me to chop Moroho.  This is an educational goal for many of the students so I figured I should learn how to do it too.  They need some bigger knives and butcher block counters!!
      The children here are very beautiful and fun.  Notice the two in the picture below, Moliehi and her baby brother live next door to me.  They like to come over and look at pictures in my books.  They are very nice and the children actually speak English quite well so I have no problem communicating with them.  Today I walked to school with a pack of kids, all very excited to keep me company and talk in English.  Children as young as 4 walk to school all by themselves, and they walk far.  Probably a few kilometers at least.  For several days now I have passed the same little girl, 4 or 5, crying while walking.  The first day I stopped to make sure she was ok, which she was.  They after a few times I figured out that she was probably having the same seperation anxiety that I have seen in many Kindergarten students at home.  The difference was that she managed to still walk herself to school all on her own!!
      My school is getting busier and busier.  This week I met with the teachers to talk about using visual aides with their students.  I showed some simple examples and they were thrilled.  I hope this means that they will start making and using them!  They are so used to lecture style teaching, which really doesn't work with kids with disabilities, that they might have a hard time breaking their habits.  I also found out that our school will be closed for a week at the end of September.  There is a lot of vacation time built in here.  I think at least 2 of my 10 months here the school will be closed!!  I will make the most of it.  Excited about traveling and seeing some more of Afrika!!

People love having their photos taken here.  Last week I took photos of all students and staff and manage to print them.  Everyone was thrilled and nobody complained about how they looked.  I even saw one of the teachers in town later that day showing off her picture.  I might need to get some real prints done for gifts before I leave.