Week 6 Report

School is back in session! Most of the older kids are already gone for school by the time I get to the orphanage around 9AM. They walk to government-sponsored schools around the city. They come back around 2PM in their cute uniforms and either salute(boys) or curtsy(girls) to me and say, "Good afternoon!" I guess that's what they're taught to do in school, because it never happened before when they were on holiday, and now it happens every day!

The little ones, basically grades three and lower, are taught at the orphanage. Two classes meet on the veranda of the dining hall and one meets in the dining hall. The six and under class is chaotic because some of the toddlers are supposed to be in school and some aren't, but they don't know which category they fall into, so sometimes they come in, and sometimes they run around outside, and sometimes they just lean their head down on the table and go to sleep. There's also a deaf class, both for the deaf orphans and deaf children from the town. It's my favorite because it's QUIET!

They have no qualms about hurting anyone's self-esteem by holding them back. Mr. Peter held back two of his three school-aged children last year because he didn't think they worked hard enough. There are two teenage girls in the class with seven and eight year olds because they came from French-speaking countries. You can imagine how much they enjoy that!

There's no principal's office, no detentions, no time-outs, just the cane. The teacher for the youngest class wanted me to be the disciplinarian one day. I wasn't real thrilled about that -- I didn't come halfway around the world to beat children. But she realized it was a bad idea when all of the kids just laughed at the white lady with the cane and made more noise by yelling at me to hit them next . . . maybe I need to work on my caning technique?

So they're working hard, learning every day. Much like American kids, they dream of being nurses and teachers and police officers in the future. They're off to a good start!