Teacher! Amazi!

Thanks everyone for all of your comments on my blog! :-) I have enjoyed hearing from each of you. And thanks, Mom and Jamie for the hints on songs to teach days of the week and months! I will definitely be using these this week...

So last Thursday I was asked to teach the whole class the entire day, which was really quite exciting! I did a ton of review but it was so fun to work on my own ideas and to practice calling out names of the kids all day long. I think I only know about 12 kids by heart and a few others I guess at :-) but I keep trying to pick up a few more every day. Thursday one of my boys, Filbert, was acting so unusual. He is normally so hyper and laughing and I can never get him to calm down. He sat Thursday with his head on his desk and when I would call on him to see if he was paying attention, he didn't even try. I knew he must be sick. In the afternoon, we had some guests in the class and they had me running around getting colored pencils sharpened for a special project. Next thing I knew, I heard a soft and calm, "Teacher.." I looked up and Filbert had this innocent, nonchalant look on his face. I followed his eyes to his desk and saw how he had thrown up....poor little guy! I went straight over and led him outside and had the teacher's aid try and find some water to clean the desk. I got my cottonelle wipes (thanks mom!) and my water bottle and went out to help clean his hands and arms and clothes. All the kids came running out to see what i was doing. I had him tilt his head back so I could poor water in his mouth and all the kids were shouting, "Teacher, amazi! Teacher, amazi" (water) I laughed and said, "Oya, you're not sick..." so they proceeded to start a fake coughing contest! LOL It was so adorable! At any rate, he remained calm the rest of the day and seemed to feel better, but I thought it so strange that no other teacher around seemed to check on him or anything. I think they are so used to sickness and stuff that something so minor didn't hardly phase them. Ah, who knows, I was just happy I had a few things to help. I have decided I will be taking more first aid stuff with me to the school, just in case, too.

Friday I had a meeting with a company called Manna Energy and was able to learn about 4 different water treatment projects they have in Rwanda. They are such an interesting organization in that they will be getting their funding via carbon credits for reducing the amount of wood that is used for fuel and boiling water. Through their work, they actually have a 10 year vested interest to ensure the systems are up and running correctly and are being used and monitored effectively. Knowing a little more from Greg about how control systems are used, I found it so interesting how they are using technology to monitor the health of the systems from places in the US and then use text messaging to send alerts if a bulb needs changing or if the system needs backwashed or something. It was really quite interesting. I definitely recommend checking out their site to see their project work and how their funding works. They are doing some great things! I am hoping to check out a project site at the L'Esperance Orphanage later in October, so I will keep you all posted.

Signing off for now! Ciao!