Osu, Osu

So I have been working with the 2-5 year olds for nearly two weeks. It is an exceedingly rewarding experience.
I mentioned before about Fofo, who couldn't write his name - this boy struggles in all aspects of education; however when I introduced the art materials (which I shall explain in a minute) he really enjoyed this task.
He bursts into tears every time he is given a piece of work, because he cannot do it...I try very patiently to explain in about a million ways - it seems like he has some sort of learning difficulty.

About the art - the children had been learning about time; so in art I suggested making clocks; whatever type clock they wanted. My attempt was of a Christmas tree. We had all sorts of clocks (and used the pipe cleaners for the hands). Some of the girls made more than one - it is very clear which are the bright students; and sadly this seems to correspond with those that are not orphans. (the school also takes pupils from the local area).
The art highlighted for me exactly which were the orphans - even though I knew this already. All the orphans drew families of people in addition to their clocks. You don't need an art therapist to analyse that.

Teaching at the school has been good for my maths (haha) - ok, that was a joke, the kids have also been learning basic addition; and the foam shapes have been an excellent resource. However mathematicians may like to note that NONE of the kids understood the concept of zero.

Fridays are an opportunity for FREEPLAY, the children play in the play area all morning. This gives the teachers timeout, and means I am doing overtime! What I mean here is the teachers are lazy - they sit in the shade while the kids fight over the swings, prod each other, and everyone is in tears. None of the orphans understand the concept of sharing, so I am running around trying to break up petty fights, whilst stop the boys from pushing the girls off the swings.
There is a serious lack of common sense used in the orphanage. For example the children are given a half hour "assembly" where they "sing" a combination of traditional songs and hymns (some which vaguely sound familiar). But it gets worse - they are made to recite Bible quotes, with children picked on to recite them. If a child gets it wrong, then they are publicly humiliated with the "shame" song. Basically the Ghanaians version of booing. They also have a very cool way of applauding a child, but that's not the point. I don't know all my psalms off by heart, and I certainly wouldn't have at age 5. Many of the children end up in floods of tears, and that's not just from being beaten for talking, or not keeping still.
Wednesday's are even worse, because the children are kept for an hour doing this.

And what is the average concentration span for a child of 2-5? like 8 minutes..."you're talking?" of course they are talking! what do you expect!
The best line was when they were practicing "away in a manger" the teacher kept singing "I work in a manger", but criticisng the children for saying/singing it wrong. I was so tempted to argue back and say that she too was saying it completely wrong...!

With tomorrow my last day at the orphanage, I shall be devastated to leave the kids. I have grown very attached to them, and every day they ask "aunti Kat, will you come tomorrow?" It makes me feel guilty to know that I go back to my life of luxury, and their lives will continue as usual. I am glad that I have been able to give them the one single thing they crave for this past month, but I wish I could have given more.

xxx