Notes from Nancy

What a day we had yesterday! Painting of classroom, inside and out, continued. The well is progressing - whomp by whomp - and water should be coming soon.

After taping and cataloging new textbooks, we worked with small groups of students from Form I and III. Books at appropriate reading levels and content relevant to African culture made the process fun for both "teacher" and students. The students were eager to read and very helpful to each other. It was of great help to know a smattering of Kiswahili so that concepts were easier for them to understand. We talked about the content and drew conclusions by using pictures in the books and deductive reasoning. I was impressed by their interest, their questions, and their eagerness to learn. We talked about our families, I showed pictures and with a combination of English, Kiswahili, and Maa names of family members and pets were exchanged and understood. The animation on their faces when the "light bulb" clicked was the best gift of all. I'm anxious to work with small groups again.