This past Friday, my school hosted a Boys Appreciation Day. Girls often surpass the boys when it comes to school here in the Caribbean so in an effort to motivate the boys of our school, we had a special day for them. We prepared some fun speakers, like the Police Commissioner and a doctor. The boys had a fun time asking questions and seeing funny skits done by the girls of the school. One group of girls dressed as boys and it was pretty hilarious to see them act the way they see their classmates act. There were other tributes by the girls like dances and poems. The teachers even read a poem, I got to help out with that one. We fed the boys a huge lunch and then had the boys model for the school, showing off their casual, evening and sportswear. They loved every minute. The boys also got a dog tag with the school’s name and date to remember the day. I feel it was a successful activity in showing the boys that they are loved and appreciated. Every community has what they call “boys on the block.” These boys often are high school drop outs who don’t work, cause lots of problems and often are in the drug business. There are many rough paths boys can go down as they get older, maybe these kind of activities can help prevent that. Now the big question that is still being asked…when is Girls Appreciation day??
The day after, as volunteers, we also celebrated Peace Corps Week with an activity in Dennery. The volunteer there organized an environment awareness fair for the students at his primary school. Volunteers worked at different booths to help run the event. I was so excited to work the painting station! They drew a huge mural on the school wall facing the road of an underwater scene and my job was to help get the kids paint in the colors. It was incredible to see that there were more than 200 kids there…imagine getting 200 kids to paint that wall, it was quite a challenge. There were several volunteers at that station so it went on incident free. By the end of the morning, we declared it “adult painting time” and just let the kids watch us get more painting done. We had a fun time figuring out colors and using scaffolding to get to the very top. We didn’t quite finish but got pretty close. It was a fun project, I can’t wait to see it finished. Other stations were a clean-up garbage project, a mangrove maze, adopt a tree station, homemade bird feeders, recycled plant holders and basket weaving. There was a dancing station too where kids to hang out when waiting to rotate to their next station. It was a good motivation to get our own school library painted!
We also had a special visitor come to the house recently. Ruby’s sister Savannah came to visit us! It was so sweet to see them together. They played the entire time. There was no break. Ruby was so happy to have a friend and they had a fun time. Savannah has a lighter face and is much smaller. It was interesting to see how different they were. One is spoiled rotten, the other one is treated like a dog. I’m sure you can guess who’s who. Her sister had lots of ticks and fleas and wasn’t as social. She tried to ignore Ruby many times but Ruby wouldn’t stop troubling her. But Ruby would not share her toys, water or me! Her sister would come and sit on my lap and Ruby would then bite her, not in a playful way. Sassy girl. Besides that, I’m glad they got along well since Ruby will be staying at her sister’s house when I am gone for training soon. I feel like a mom getting some vacation time…
Caribbean Kim 