Thursday November 11th, 2010
Thursday afternoons are community project time. We have gardened, built huts, and today we painted the preschool we teach at. Recently the Traveling School Girls, a group of 15 American high school students who spend a semester learning abroad, where in Vilanculos and drew an amazing mural of a garden on the front of the schoolhouse.
As we divided into partners and different projects, I was lucky enough to get to work on the mural. It by no means will it be finished before I leave here but it was exciting to see it start to come to life. It brightens the whole area and it will be a great education tool. We have everything labeled from fruits and vegetables to colors and shapes. Plus, in a selfish sense, it’s fun to feel like I left a small mark behind.
Although projects like these are fun, the clean up is a whole different project in its self. Trading off pumping water to wash brushes and dabbling in a drops worth of turpentine to try to get off the most important parts weather it be us, or utensils we will need in the future. Remembering to save and take care of every little thing is key.
Another project that was completed while I was here was building the chicken coop at the school. The money was donated by a past volunteer and the credits of the project have to go to Kerrie. It was her aspiration to have chickens that could lay eggs to put in the kids rice at school for a little protein and nutrients. Although both of these projects may seem so simple and average they are more of a challenge than you could imagine. The paint doesn’t just come from Sherman Williams down the street and the locks, hinges and chicken wire can’t be picked up at Lows. Some of the items were arranged for volunteers to bring on their way, some were specially ordered from South Africa and some were creatively scrounged together. Difficult, yes, but all the more rewarding!
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