(No photos from my project will appear in this because taking photos was prohibited unless a fee was paid.)
REFLECTION ESSAY: THE BENEFITS OF GIVING BACK:
“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give,” Winston Churchill. This famous quote emphasizes the importance of service in people’s lives. Serving forms character, and provides important life lessons. I, myself, have found that serving has taught me many essential lessons that will surely benefit my in my future life. I have learned strategies through instructing two first grade classes, and their individual actions have opened my eyes to a variety of worldly issues and I feel like I have new insight. Also, me and my co-volunteers have advanced the first grader’s creative development and have given them spiritual guidance. By building relationships with children at African Hope and gaining their trust, I feel like I have made an impact on their lives, and have hopefully have been a role model to them. Volunteering at African Hope has given me new skills and altered my outlook on children in need, I feel like I have made an impact on the children’s creativity and given them guidance, and I hope to continue helping at African Hope in the future.
Through facing challenges at African Hope, I have acquired new skills when dealing with first grade children, learned how to make quick decisions, developed new insight on kids in poverty, and have noticed a change in my opinion of service. First grade children when put together in a large group can be extremely hard to control. When Eve, Maddie and I went into our first class, we had no idea how to deal with first graders and had a hard time keeping them in check. But over time, I have discovered that by giving each child a sign of recognition, such as a small praise or a simple smile, will make it easier to exemplify authority over the children. Giving first grade children attention, in my opinion, helps to gain their respect for you and will make them more willing to give their attention to you. After I found out how to hold the children’s attention, they accomplished more in each activity that I gave them to do. I learned another strategy of keeping the kids focused which is to switch the activity when it begins to become dull. This essential strategy required me to make many on the spot decisions, which has been a rather weak point of mine in the past. There have been many instances where I have had to determine the next activity that we will perform, or quickly plan a new activity in order to keep the class focused. This has greatly developed my decision-making skills. Also, I came to the realization that ‘needy’ children act practically in the same way that 'privileged' children do. All children are looking for praise and attention, and people who give them those things can influence them. In fact, the children at African Hope like to play the same games and sing the same songs as kids that I have babysat. What is more, my entire opinion on service has changed. When I actually see the effects of my actions, I get this awesome feeling that I have accomplished something good. I love to see smiles on the children’s faces, and it gives me joy to see them laughing. Service, I have discovered, is not something that is time wasting and unrewarding, but something that makes one feel significant and build character. Overall, I feel like I have obtained valuable lessons from African Hope that has been worth the time that I sacrificed.
I think that by working at African Hope, I have advanced the first grader’s creativity, given them a role model and spiritual guidance, and have built worthwhile relationships. Sarah, Eve, Maddie and I did a variety of creative activates with the first grade classes we worked with. We danced, sang songs, did artistic activities, told stories, and played a number of learning games. I am hopeful, and optimistic that the children have gained some worthwhile skills through those activities. Something that gave me this hope is that the children remembered the songs that we sang in class and the dance moves to go with them weeks after they were taught. African Hope, being a Christian school, gave us the opportunity to share our faith with the children. We would incorporate Christian morals and lessons into our stories, games, and songs. I was overjoyed that we were able to offer some kind of spiritual guidance to the children. Also, I feel as if I have built strong and lasting relationships with some of the children. I have been able to get to know some of them, and I hope I have been a good role model, as I remember teenagers in my past who were role models to me as a child. Those children, many of whom are missing a parent, need role models in their lives. Additionally, I know through the many smiles and laughs that have occurred in the classes that I have brought a little bit of joy into the day of the children, and that is a feat in itself. Overall, I feel like my time has been worthwhile at African Hope and that I have made a positive impact.
African Hope has gone through many financial problems and it’s lack of money has restrained it in many ways, and I feel like I can help this issue by continuing to volunteer there, raise awareness, and maybe even have fundraisers at school. The school has been on the brink of closing down a few times, and that would mean that hundreds of kids would be without a school to go to. Also, the lack of money limits the resources that African Hope can have for the children, who do not have many resources at home. I know that by volunteering, I am not causing further financial issues and I am helping out. By raising awareness of African Hope, I feel like the school could acquire more funding, donations and volunteers. This would greatly benefit the school and the children. Raising awareness, for example, could mean telling friends about my service project or holding fundraising events. Having bake sales at CAC, or at my church could also help to raise money for the school, and continue the education of the children. The school’s lack of a money is a limits to it, and I can make a difference by simply giving up some of my time.
Working at African Hope has given me a variety of new skills and insight, I feel like I have had a positive impact there, and I hope to continue helping volunteering there and helping in any way that I can. I have learned how to deal with first grade children, and how to hold their attention. Plus, I built relationships with the children, gave a bit of spiritual guidance and am hopefully a good role model. I have actually enjoyed this year in service learning, because I have a new-found appreciation for service. It has benefited my character, and has given me a sense of worldly significance. I feel like service is essential in the lives of all people because it enables one to step back from their own lives and see the world from another person’s eyes. With service, one can truly understand the degree of the world’s poverty and might go further and design a plan to help solve it.
AIMING FOR THE TARGET: GOAL SETTING
SPECIFIC:
- Sarah, Eve and my goal is to reach out to the first graders at African Hope and influence a creative mindset and love for learning in their school environment, and to be a role model to the children.
MEASURABLE:
- We will know that we have achieved out goal when we can say that our relationships with the children and the organizers of the school are firm and stable, and that we have earned their respect. We will have made an impact that can be noticed in the way the children interact with both us and with each other.
ACHIEVABLE:
- This is definitely something that I want to do. I think back to my younger years and remember how much I loved the praise and acceptance of teenage student, and I want to give back some of that. I believe that it will challenging because we do not have experience in educating children, and there is somewhat of a culture barrier. However, I think that the greater challenge will be to establish firm, lasting relationships. This will be hard to achieve, yet I think I can accomplish my goal.
REALISTIC:
- I believe that myself, being a teenager, will be able to exemplify the authority needed to influence the kids. The school has resources that are open to us, and it is relatively close by and easy to travel to. All of us, being students at CAC, have crammed schedules. I can see this being a huge obstacle because we will have to work our African Hope trips around our demanding schedule. Plus, we will have to sacrifice much of our needed down time in order to dedicate ourselves to our project. Still, I believe we can achieve our goal if we put forth enough effort.
TIMELY:
- This goal is not one that can be put to a timeline for we are trying to establish lasting relationships, which is something that cannot have a time prediction. However, for this course we would love to see even the slightest bit of relationship and trust forming between the children and us. We hope that we can earn their respect by the end of the school year.
ACTION PLAN
TARGET PROBLEM- To enhance the skills and creativity of young people in need
TARGET GROUP- First graders at African Hope (Sudanese refugee school)
PROJECT TITLE- African Hope Sudanese Refugee School
GOALS- Smart goal 1:
Bring creativity into the school environment as a way for younger to kids to express themselves as individuals.
Smart goal 2:
To establish relationships as a role model with the kids(many do not have one at home).
Smart goal 3:
To have a positive impact their view on learning, and create an environment where learning is fun.
OBSTACLES:
Language barriers
Limited resources
Limited space to use
Conflicting schedules
TASKS:
Preparing a lesson for each week (dance class, outdoor games, singing, puzzles etc.)
Organizing resources for the week (music player, whiteboard access, tennis balls etc.)
Meet with the organizers to discuss the lesson plans and curriculum that are appropriate to teach.
DISABILITY RESEARCH: AUTISM
Autism is a developmental disability that typically causes problems with social and communication skills. It is caused by a neurological disorder that effects the part of the brain that develops communication and social interaction skills. People with autism usually stick to a specific set of behaviors and resist any sort of changes to daily activities. People are usually diagnosed with Autism within the first three years of their lives. Some symptoms of autism are self-abuse, sensory dysfunctions, sleeping disorders or challenges and delays in social communications. People with autism often do not like loud noises, or sudden changes in lighting. Many believe that this is due to the surprise of the change, and the lack of time to prepare for the it. Autism is not curable, but it can be treated and improved through therapy and medication. Autistic people can require special needs such as having specialized classes, medication, special attention to interactions with other kids, or some sort of therapy outside of school. A variety of therapies are available such as, speech therapy, occupational therapy etc.
Eve, Maddie and I have just returned from our second trip to African hope. Our first trip was basically a tour of the facility and we were able to sit in during a few classes to see which group of kids we wanted to work with. During that first trip, we had been able to connect with quite a few of the first grade children and decided that we wanted to work with them for the weeks to come. This week, we were given an hour with each of the first grade classes. Most of the kids in the classes, I noticed, only had one notebook to do their work in, and I thought about my multiple binders, notebooks and colorful pens that I use daily with a sense of guilt. We walked into our first class of the day and the kids were working on math problems, much like I remember doing in my first grade year. Once they finished their math work, Eve Maddie and I jumped into our activity for the day. The week leading up to this service trip we had a lot of trouble planning the activities, and had no idea what might interest the little kids. We decided on having a day of music and had picked out a lot of songs from the Wiggle’s soundtrack and also a song called “Lord I Lift Your Name on High” and put them on a CD. For the first five minutes of class we warmed up by playing a quick game of hot potato, and then we sang Do the Monkey while doing motions such as the monkey, the tiger and the elephant. We also sang Fruit Salad, and Old McDonald multiple times. I was amazed by the kid’s behavior while they were singing and dancing to these songs. They were acting just like any privileged kid that I had come across during my years. We ended the day by singing “Lord, I Lift Your Name on High” and we taught them motions to go with the song. The class had been extremely well behaved and we were looking forward to the next class. Before the next class, the kids had a thirty minute lunch and recess break. We went through recesses time with a bit of trouble. We got out a football, and the kids proceeded to tackle each other to the ground and we were forced to end that activity. For the rest of recess time, we tried our best to control the riled up kids, and felt exhausted when it finally ended. We learned not to get out a football for recess time, and learned that playing the hand game, Bingo, worked very well to control the kids. Then we went to our next music class. This class was much harder to control, and we constantly had to do the “If you can hear me clap once” trick. But again, the kids had a great time and they liked the music. The day ended with Eve, Maddie and I reading to little kids, an activity which would have been great, except that the kids would not calm down. We strove to control them for thirty minutes, and then the school day ended. We went home, and I actually felt like I had learned a few things that day. I learned not to get out a football at recess, and I also learned that those kids, who have barely anything, acted the same way as kids who are privileged.
11 March 2012
Journal 2
Our third trip to African Hope was difficult for us. We had planned to do outdoor activities such as What Time is it Mr. Wolf and Hit the Target. The first class that we spent an hour with was the crazier of the two classes. Our activities failed drastically, and most of the hour we were running around trying to keep the kids from hurting themselves and breaking things. A little boy named Paul got hurt once, and he started crying. I went over to him and asked if he was okay and gave him some attention and he immediately lightened up and went back to the crazy “activity”. Also, a little girl kept getting sad and running off to the corner of the playground to cry, and I would continually have to go to her and bring her back to the group. She constantly wanted my attention, and would start frowning if I started neglecting her. In fact if Eve, Maddie, or me didn’t specifically pay attention to any of the little kids, they would lose interest. We were so worn-out from that class, that we spent recess time sitting upstairs in chairs, hoping that the next class would be easier to control. To our amazement, the next class followed instructions and seemed to enjoy all of our planned activities. We wondered what made them so manageable compared to the other class. The person in charge of the school, Jonathan, had told us that the controllable first-grade class had an extraordinary teacher, and that was evident to us because the teacher had an amazingly decorated room (the classroom was very colorful and she had alphabet, days of the week, months, and animal posters on the walls) and she had obvious authority over the kids in the classroom. The other first-grade classroom was not as beautifully decorated and the teacher himself seemed to have to strain in order to control the kids. I learned this week that the kids at the school, many of whom are missing a parent or even both, could be looking to their teachers for love and instruction in life. A better teacher at such a critical age could mean better shaping of character. This came as a shock to me, and I felt compassion for those kids because I had grown up with two parents who taught me morals and I feel gave me my character. I never had to look for that somewhere else. Throughout the past weeks of being with first-grade kids, I also feel like I have learned how to connect with kids of that age to a further extent. I have found that they will respect you if you show them love and give them attention. That is what they are looking for, much like any other kid.
24 March 2012
Journal 3
This week at African hope we didn’t want a repeat of the craziness from the week of outdoor activities, so we chose to have an indoor day of storytelling, games, and singing. Also, Sarah Blome joined our crew. Again, we began with the crazier class. To start off the hour, we played Pictionary on the whiteboard. Each kid would come up to the front of the room, and we would whisper what they were to draw in their ear, then they would proceed to draw it on the board. The kids sitting at their desks would raise their hand and try to guess what was being drawn, and if they succeeded, they would come up to the board next. In this class, it often took a long time for the kids to draw their pictures. Many would start drawing, and then erase multiple times before completing their work of art. It took us quite some time to get through everyone in the class, and the hour was already half way over by the time we were done with the first activity. Next, we decided to sing the songs we had learned a couple weeks before. The kids especially like the song “Lord, I Lift Your Name on High”, and we sang it a couple times and then the class ended. We felt honored when the teacher asked us to write down the lyrics to the song so that they could sing it when we weren’t there. Again, during recess, we sat upstairs and waited for the next class. We held some small conversations with the kids while we waited, and I felt joy when I could make one of them smile. The next class, like usual, was astoundingly well behaved. When we played Pictionary, most of the kids would start their drawings without hesitation and finish them quickly. I wondered what inspired this confidence in this class, but not in the other. Again, I though it might be the guidance of the teacher that stimulated that character trait in them. We finished the activity within fifteen minutes and had time to tell a couple of short stories. One of us would tell a story, which we made up on the spot, and the others would act out the story. The kids loved it! They were sitting on the edge of their seat, and I found that they especially liked it when we included them in the story, for example as the villagers or the aliens or the princes and princesses. They had the same reaction to these stories as the kids that I sometimes babysit do. We ended the class with singing songs, and left with newfound knowledge: Kids LOVE stories. A major thing that I have picked up from volunteering at African Hope on is that kids are kids, no matter where they come from. They all want to be praised, and they all want to be given attention. I am also starting to enjoy spending time with these kids, and I love to see them laugh. If you just pay attention to them, then they will respect you, and you WILL have a lot more control over them.
12 May 2012
Journal 4
Sarah and I went to African Hope all alone this week because Eve was sick and Maddie was too busy to come. We hadn’t been to African hope in multiple weeks due to Spring Break, and we were nervous to go alone. We were expecting to have to control two first grade classes, like we had in the past weeks. Luckily, when we got there and Jonathan saw that there were only two of us and gave us a different assignment. We were given two first-grade kids for thirty minutes at a time to read with and play math games with. The first group we were given was extremely attentive. They were quiet and shy, and seemed like they were afraid to answer any of our questions. So we just read them three small books, and then sent them back to class. The next group was a group was lively, and they tried to help us read some of the words in a book called The Man With Leprosy. I learned that whenever I gave them high fives, or a pat on the back they seemed to gain more confidence in themselves and were more likely to answer my questions. After lunch, we were given two talkative boys, and Sarah and I decided to play math games outside with them. I was astounded at their level of intelligence compared to the other students. Maybe it was that the other students were too shy to show their knowledge. We played a variety of games such as ‘hit the right number on the target’, and ‘jump while counting to fifty.’ After the high-energy game time, we were given two shy girls to work with. After exerting all of our energy in the last group of boys, we chose to sit down and read to the girls for the next thirty minutes. It made me really happy when I saw that the kids were having fun. Although I was kind of nervous to go with only two people, I was glad that I was able to help in some way this week. Overall, the lesson I got from this experience was that if you gives the little kids signs of acknowledgment, then they will open up to you and shed a bit of their shyness away. I have only one more week at African Hope until the end of the year, and I feel like it has been an extraordinary learning experience and opportunity. It has been stressful at times, but I think it was worth it in the end when I got to see the joy on the faces of the kids. Next year, I hope to go back there and help out again in some way.
Kenzie Harrison
Project: African Hope
2011-2012
Table of Contents:
1. Reflection Essay: The Benefits of Giving Back
2. Aiming for the Target: Goal Setting
3. Action Plan
4. Disability Research: Autism
5. Journals 1-4
(No photos from my project will appear in this because taking photos was prohibited unless a fee was paid.)
REFLECTION ESSAY: THE BENEFITS OF GIVING BACK:
“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give,” Winston Churchill. This famous quote emphasizes the importance of service in people’s lives. Serving forms character, and provides important life lessons. I, myself, have found that serving has taught me many essential lessons that will surely benefit my in my future life. I have learned strategies through instructing two first grade classes, and their individual actions have opened my eyes to a variety of worldly issues and I feel like I have new insight. Also, me and my co-volunteers have advanced the first grader’s creative development and have given them spiritual guidance. By building relationships with children at African Hope and gaining their trust, I feel like I have made an impact on their lives, and have hopefully have been a role model to them. Volunteering at African Hope has given me new skills and altered my outlook on children in need, I feel like I have made an impact on the children’s creativity and given them guidance, and I hope to continue helping at African Hope in the future.
Through facing challenges at African Hope, I have acquired new skills when dealing with first grade children, learned how to make quick decisions, developed new insight on kids in poverty, and have noticed a change in my opinion of service. First grade children when put together in a large group can be extremely hard to control. When Eve, Maddie and I went into our first class, we had no idea how to deal with first graders and had a hard time keeping them in check. But over time, I have discovered that by giving each child a sign of recognition, such as a small praise or a simple smile, will make it easier to exemplify authority over the children. Giving first grade children attention, in my opinion, helps to gain their respect for you and will make them more willing to give their attention to you. After I found out how to hold the children’s attention, they accomplished more in each activity that I gave them to do. I learned another strategy of keeping the kids focused which is to switch the activity when it begins to become dull. This essential strategy required me to make many on the spot decisions, which has been a rather weak point of mine in the past. There have been many instances where I have had to determine the next activity that we will perform, or quickly plan a new activity in order to keep the class focused. This has greatly developed my decision-making skills. Also, I came to the realization that ‘needy’ children act practically in the same way that 'privileged' children do. All children are looking for praise and attention, and people who give them those things can influence them. In fact, the children at African Hope like to play the same games and sing the same songs as kids that I have babysat. What is more, my entire opinion on service has changed. When I actually see the effects of my actions, I get this awesome feeling that I have accomplished something good. I love to see smiles on the children’s faces, and it gives me joy to see them laughing. Service, I have discovered, is not something that is time wasting and unrewarding, but something that makes one feel significant and build character. Overall, I feel like I have obtained valuable lessons from African Hope that has been worth the time that I sacrificed.
I think that by working at African Hope, I have advanced the first grader’s creativity, given them a role model and spiritual guidance, and have built worthwhile relationships. Sarah, Eve, Maddie and I did a variety of creative activates with the first grade classes we worked with. We danced, sang songs, did artistic activities, told stories, and played a number of learning games. I am hopeful, and optimistic that the children have gained some worthwhile skills through those activities. Something that gave me this hope is that the children remembered the songs that we sang in class and the dance moves to go with them weeks after they were taught. African Hope, being a Christian school, gave us the opportunity to share our faith with the children. We would incorporate Christian morals and lessons into our stories, games, and songs. I was overjoyed that we were able to offer some kind of spiritual guidance to the children. Also, I feel as if I have built strong and lasting relationships with some of the children. I have been able to get to know some of them, and I hope I have been a good role model, as I remember teenagers in my past who were role models to me as a child. Those children, many of whom are missing a parent, need role models in their lives. Additionally, I know through the many smiles and laughs that have occurred in the classes that I have brought a little bit of joy into the day of the children, and that is a feat in itself. Overall, I feel like my time has been worthwhile at African Hope and that I have made a positive impact.
African Hope has gone through many financial problems and it’s lack of money has restrained it in many ways, and I feel like I can help this issue by continuing to volunteer there, raise awareness, and maybe even have fundraisers at school. The school has been on the brink of closing down a few times, and that would mean that hundreds of kids would be without a school to go to. Also, the lack of money limits the resources that African Hope can have for the children, who do not have many resources at home. I know that by volunteering, I am not causing further financial issues and I am helping out. By raising awareness of African Hope, I feel like the school could acquire more funding, donations and volunteers. This would greatly benefit the school and the children. Raising awareness, for example, could mean telling friends about my service project or holding fundraising events. Having bake sales at CAC, or at my church could also help to raise money for the school, and continue the education of the children. The school’s lack of a money is a limits to it, and I can make a difference by simply giving up some of my time.
Working at African Hope has given me a variety of new skills and insight, I feel like I have had a positive impact there, and I hope to continue helping volunteering there and helping in any way that I can. I have learned how to deal with first grade children, and how to hold their attention. Plus, I built relationships with the children, gave a bit of spiritual guidance and am hopefully a good role model. I have actually enjoyed this year in service learning, because I have a new-found appreciation for service. It has benefited my character, and has given me a sense of worldly significance. I feel like service is essential in the lives of all people because it enables one to step back from their own lives and see the world from another person’s eyes. With service, one can truly understand the degree of the world’s poverty and might go further and design a plan to help solve it.
AIMING FOR THE TARGET: GOAL SETTING
SPECIFIC:
- Sarah, Eve and my goal is to reach out to the first graders at African Hope and influence a creative mindset and love for learning in their school environment, and to be a role model to the children.
MEASURABLE:
- We will know that we have achieved out goal when we can say that our relationships with the children and the organizers of the school are firm and stable, and that we have earned their respect. We will have made an impact that can be noticed in the way the children interact with both us and with each other.
ACHIEVABLE:
- This is definitely something that I want to do. I think back to my younger years and remember how much I loved the praise and acceptance of teenage student, and I want to give back some of that. I believe that it will challenging because we do not have experience in educating children, and there is somewhat of a culture barrier. However, I think that the greater challenge will be to establish firm, lasting relationships. This will be hard to achieve, yet I think I can accomplish my goal.
REALISTIC:
- I believe that myself, being a teenager, will be able to exemplify the authority needed to influence the kids. The school has resources that are open to us, and it is relatively close by and easy to travel to. All of us, being students at CAC, have crammed schedules. I can see this being a huge obstacle because we will have to work our African Hope trips around our demanding schedule. Plus, we will have to sacrifice much of our needed down time in order to dedicate ourselves to our project. Still, I believe we can achieve our goal if we put forth enough effort.
TIMELY:
- This goal is not one that can be put to a timeline for we are trying to establish lasting relationships, which is something that cannot have a time prediction. However, for this course we would love to see even the slightest bit of relationship and trust forming between the children and us. We hope that we can earn their respect by the end of the school year.
ACTION PLAN
TARGET PROBLEM-
To enhance the skills and creativity of young people in need
TARGET GROUP-
First graders at African Hope (Sudanese refugee school)
PROJECT TITLE-
African Hope Sudanese Refugee School
GOALS-
Smart goal 1:
- Bring creativity into the school environment as a way for younger to kids to express themselves as individuals.
Smart goal 2:- To establish relationships as a role model with the kids(many do not have one at home).
Smart goal 3:OBSTACLES:
TASKS:
DISABILITY RESEARCH: AUTISM
Autism is a developmental disability that typically causes problems with social and communication skills. It is caused by a neurological disorder that effects the part of the brain that develops communication and social interaction skills. People with autism usually stick to a specific set of behaviors and resist any sort of changes to daily activities. People are usually diagnosed with Autism within the first three years of their lives. Some symptoms of autism are self-abuse, sensory dysfunctions, sleeping disorders or challenges and delays in social communications. People with autism often do not like loud noises, or sudden changes in lighting. Many believe that this is due to the surprise of the change, and the lack of time to prepare for the it. Autism is not curable, but it can be treated and improved through therapy and medication. Autistic people can require special needs such as having specialized classes, medication, special attention to interactions with other kids, or some sort of therapy outside of school. A variety of therapies are available such as, speech therapy, occupational therapy etc.
Works Cited:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/autism/
http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/autism/overview.html
JOURNALS 1-4:
3 March 2012
Journal 1
Eve, Maddie and I have just returned from our second trip to African hope. Our first trip was basically a tour of the facility and we were able to sit in during a few classes to see which group of kids we wanted to work with. During that first trip, we had been able to connect with quite a few of the first grade children and decided that we wanted to work with them for the weeks to come. This week, we were given an hour with each of the first grade classes. Most of the kids in the classes, I noticed, only had one notebook to do their work in, and I thought about my multiple binders, notebooks and colorful pens that I use daily with a sense of guilt. We walked into our first class of the day and the kids were working on math problems, much like I remember doing in my first grade year. Once they finished their math work, Eve Maddie and I jumped into our activity for the day. The week leading up to this service trip we had a lot of trouble planning the activities, and had no idea what might interest the little kids. We decided on having a day of music and had picked out a lot of songs from the Wiggle’s soundtrack and also a song called “Lord I Lift Your Name on High” and put them on a CD. For the first five minutes of class we warmed up by playing a quick game of hot potato, and then we sang Do the Monkey while doing motions such as the monkey, the tiger and the elephant. We also sang Fruit Salad, and Old McDonald multiple times. I was amazed by the kid’s behavior while they were singing and dancing to these songs. They were acting just like any privileged kid that I had come across during my years. We ended the day by singing “Lord, I Lift Your Name on High” and we taught them motions to go with the song. The class had been extremely well behaved and we were looking forward to the next class. Before the next class, the kids had a thirty minute lunch and recess break. We went through recesses time with a bit of trouble. We got out a football, and the kids proceeded to tackle each other to the ground and we were forced to end that activity. For the rest of recess time, we tried our best to control the riled up kids, and felt exhausted when it finally ended. We learned not to get out a football for recess time, and learned that playing the hand game, Bingo, worked very well to control the kids. Then we went to our next music class. This class was much harder to control, and we constantly had to do the “If you can hear me clap once” trick. But again, the kids had a great time and they liked the music. The day ended with Eve, Maddie and I reading to little kids, an activity which would have been great, except that the kids would not calm down. We strove to control them for thirty minutes, and then the school day ended. We went home, and I actually felt like I had learned a few things that day. I learned not to get out a football at recess, and I also learned that those kids, who have barely anything, acted the same way as kids who are privileged.
11 March 2012
Journal 2
Our third trip to African Hope was difficult for us. We had planned to do outdoor activities such as What Time is it Mr. Wolf and Hit the Target. The first class that we spent an hour with was the crazier of the two classes. Our activities failed drastically, and most of the hour we were running around trying to keep the kids from hurting themselves and breaking things. A little boy named Paul got hurt once, and he started crying. I went over to him and asked if he was okay and gave him some attention and he immediately lightened up and went back to the crazy “activity”. Also, a little girl kept getting sad and running off to the corner of the playground to cry, and I would continually have to go to her and bring her back to the group. She constantly wanted my attention, and would start frowning if I started neglecting her. In fact if Eve, Maddie, or me didn’t specifically pay attention to any of the little kids, they would lose interest. We were so worn-out from that class, that we spent recess time sitting upstairs in chairs, hoping that the next class would be easier to control. To our amazement, the next class followed instructions and seemed to enjoy all of our planned activities. We wondered what made them so manageable compared to the other class. The person in charge of the school, Jonathan, had told us that the controllable first-grade class had an extraordinary teacher, and that was evident to us because the teacher had an amazingly decorated room (the classroom was very colorful and she had alphabet, days of the week, months, and animal posters on the walls) and she had obvious authority over the kids in the classroom. The other first-grade classroom was not as beautifully decorated and the teacher himself seemed to have to strain in order to control the kids. I learned this week that the kids at the school, many of whom are missing a parent or even both, could be looking to their teachers for love and instruction in life. A better teacher at such a critical age could mean better shaping of character. This came as a shock to me, and I felt compassion for those kids because I had grown up with two parents who taught me morals and I feel gave me my character. I never had to look for that somewhere else. Throughout the past weeks of being with first-grade kids, I also feel like I have learned how to connect with kids of that age to a further extent. I have found that they will respect you if you show them love and give them attention. That is what they are looking for, much like any other kid.
24 March 2012
Journal 3
This week at African hope we didn’t want a repeat of the craziness from the week of outdoor activities, so we chose to have an indoor day of storytelling, games, and singing. Also, Sarah Blome joined our crew. Again, we began with the crazier class. To start off the hour, we played Pictionary on the whiteboard. Each kid would come up to the front of the room, and we would whisper what they were to draw in their ear, then they would proceed to draw it on the board. The kids sitting at their desks would raise their hand and try to guess what was being drawn, and if they succeeded, they would come up to the board next. In this class, it often took a long time for the kids to draw their pictures. Many would start drawing, and then erase multiple times before completing their work of art. It took us quite some time to get through everyone in the class, and the hour was already half way over by the time we were done with the first activity. Next, we decided to sing the songs we had learned a couple weeks before. The kids especially like the song “Lord, I Lift Your Name on High”, and we sang it a couple times and then the class ended. We felt honored when the teacher asked us to write down the lyrics to the song so that they could sing it when we weren’t there. Again, during recess, we sat upstairs and waited for the next class. We held some small conversations with the kids while we waited, and I felt joy when I could make one of them smile. The next class, like usual, was astoundingly well behaved. When we played Pictionary, most of the kids would start their drawings without hesitation and finish them quickly. I wondered what inspired this confidence in this class, but not in the other. Again, I though it might be the guidance of the teacher that stimulated that character trait in them. We finished the activity within fifteen minutes and had time to tell a couple of short stories. One of us would tell a story, which we made up on the spot, and the others would act out the story. The kids loved it! They were sitting on the edge of their seat, and I found that they especially liked it when we included them in the story, for example as the villagers or the aliens or the princes and princesses. They had the same reaction to these stories as the kids that I sometimes babysit do. We ended the class with singing songs, and left with newfound knowledge: Kids LOVE stories. A major thing that I have picked up from volunteering at African Hope on is that kids are kids, no matter where they come from. They all want to be praised, and they all want to be given attention. I am also starting to enjoy spending time with these kids, and I love to see them laugh. If you just pay attention to them, then they will respect you, and you WILL have a lot more control over them.
12 May 2012
Journal 4
Sarah and I went to African Hope all alone this week because Eve was sick and Maddie was too busy to come. We hadn’t been to African hope in multiple weeks due to Spring Break, and we were nervous to go alone. We were expecting to have to control two first grade classes, like we had in the past weeks. Luckily, when we got there and Jonathan saw that there were only two of us and gave us a different assignment. We were given two first-grade kids for thirty minutes at a time to read with and play math games with. The first group we were given was extremely attentive. They were quiet and shy, and seemed like they were afraid to answer any of our questions. So we just read them three small books, and then sent them back to class. The next group was a group was lively, and they tried to help us read some of the words in a book called The Man With Leprosy. I learned that whenever I gave them high fives, or a pat on the back they seemed to gain more confidence in themselves and were more likely to answer my questions. After lunch, we were given two talkative boys, and Sarah and I decided to play math games outside with them. I was astounded at their level of intelligence compared to the other students. Maybe it was that the other students were too shy to show their knowledge. We played a variety of games such as ‘hit the right number on the target’, and ‘jump while counting to fifty.’ After the high-energy game time, we were given two shy girls to work with. After exerting all of our energy in the last group of boys, we chose to sit down and read to the girls for the next thirty minutes. It made me really happy when I saw that the kids were having fun. Although I was kind of nervous to go with only two people, I was glad that I was able to help in some way this week. Overall, the lesson I got from this experience was that if you gives the little kids signs of acknowledgment, then they will open up to you and shed a bit of their shyness away. I have only one more week at African Hope until the end of the year, and I feel like it has been an extraordinary learning experience and opportunity. It has been stressful at times, but I think it was worth it in the end when I got to see the joy on the faces of the kids. Next year, I hope to go back there and help out again in some way.