Je m’appelle Arona

Julie and I weren’t sure what to expect at the center as the summer began.   The center opened in October, so this is the first summer that it is open.  We had heard that the neighborhood where the center is located is often flooded during the rainy season, and we imagine that may mean days when we cannot open.  We also knew that many of the older boys would return to their villages during the summer to help with the crops.  So we have been pleased that, although the numbers are down a bit from the school year, there continues to be a good number of boys that are coming to the center.

It’s so nice to finally be learning some of the boys’ names, to be using a tiny bit of Wolof in our interactions with them, and to see their happiness as they work in their notebooks.  We can really see progress being made!  Just a few weeks ago we started adding a daily sentence to our routine.  It has been fun to see their illustrations of the sentence of the day!  Here are a few that I snuck home to copy…

"My name is Arona."

"The elephant eats."

"The fish swims." (I know, this is two fish, but that's okay.)

Aren’t they great?

Yesterday Bill came in to install a wall fan for us.  It has gotten really hot and there is no air moving in the room we teach in.  After he finished installing it, I got a kick out of the boys’ reactions.  I had assumed that they wouldn’t care much about a fan – in my mind it was to keep us breathing without passing out!  But when the boys came in from playing soccer, they ran right over to the fan and followed the air as it oscillated.  They loved it!  It was a sober reminder to us that simple things like standing in front of a fan in the hot summertime are things these boys do not take for granted.   It makes us thankful once again for those who have supported the center so that we can give the kids these simple pleasures!