Rice & Lice

I woke up at 5:30, got ready, and went over to the girls’ house. I washed Aline and Natete, we ate breakfast, then walked them to school. Again, they were pointing out objects to me. I came back and played with Claudine. I had her do a bunch of little leg exercises that Mama Arlene showed me. These help with her leg muscles. We did two hours of Taekwondo and the kids were attentive every second. It makes me really proud to see how fast they learn and how much they remember after seeing something just once. I have never told them to practice, but they practice on their own regardless, and every once in a while, they come and get me from wherever I am and ask me for the next move because they are stuck. No matter how simple and basic the forms that I teach them, they execute it with detail, precision, and sharpness. I am really proud of my kids.

Right before lunch, the Grinnell alum who got me in touch with Urukundo came to visit from the school that she was visiting. She came with two other friends, and Mama Arlene gave us a tour of the place with stories about how Urukundo started and such. I learned a lot, as it was my first actual tour; I was more than impressed with Mama Arlene's accomplishments and dreams. If anything, I learned how much one person can change lives and really better a place because they sincerely care about other's wellbeing. Mama Arlene is an incredible woman and I am honored to be working for her.

Right before dinner, I went with Meredith to teach English to some of the guards. Two of them could not take notes because they do not know how to write, so they rely on their memory and pictures to say the words in English. Another thing that I noticed with the guards and the kids, they interchange their “L”s and “R”s, so the guards had a lot of trouble saying “rice”. They kept saying “lice”, and no matter how many times we would make them repeat it, they kept on saying “lice”. They could hear the difference when Meredith and I were saying it, but they couldn't say it themselves.