Back from school....

Orientation over and we have visted the Little School; it has one class room for about 25 small kids aged around 5....they sang to us in english and were so happy to see us....they smile so big...i already want to take them home!!!! we then visit the Fishing Village School....There are two classrooms, one is for small kids about 3-4 years old and around 27 of them...and the other around 5-6 years old...there are about 15 of them...both classes again sing a song for us and we introduce ourselves in english...they are very big on getting their kids to learn english as this increases their chances for better education and much better job opportunities....i'm thinking we could trade...i teach them a word...they teach me.....seems only fair!!!
and yes...i want to take all of them home as well.....
we only stay in each of these schools for 5 minutes as this is just an introduction to them and how we get there...apparently by pushbike...oh yeh for me....
we then head off to the DS school which is for Deaf and mute children. This is large school and the classrooms we enter are of different ages and levels...there is at least 15 kids in the each of the 2 classrooms we walked into...and there were more classrooms of children we did not enter...our job here will be do hold crafts with the children and to also play with them outside....we have been told to create a lesson plan for the crafts....both Chan and I are nervous about this....we go there for a few hours tomorrow....from 8.15am to 10.30 and then we have the rest of the day off....back to work on Monday....
After the DS school we get shown a few of the local sites (one of them is the resort of the beach...no accommodation just this amazing resort with restaurants, seating and two swimming pools....breakfast is a buffet and only costs 50,000 dong which is about $2.50 AUS....we then pick up Eva; she was taken to the Tech school earlier...and we take a little tour around the village (which is so much bigger than any villiage i've been staying at!!!) where the post office is, where the supermarket is, the best bakery, the market place for clothes and food, the ATM's for foreigners....i really like this place, it is so quaint...not too busy, has everything and there is so much stuff being built...i think they are trying to make this a little tourist area...and if you like little townships where everything is close by this is definately the place....did i mention i really like this little town....and the people...
anyway back to the tour...we then go to the local high school and they ask if Chan and I will be teaching...i said i'd think about it....let's see how i go with the little kids first....we take off and head to the vocaional school and again we are asked if we will teach there....same response...i find it quite daunting to stand up infront of a classroom of students (most classes are about 30-40 students) and somehow hold their attention...just need to find that confidence....i guess as i'm not a teacher it's not something that feels like it's in my reach but there's still 2 more weeks to go so you never know!!!
We head back to the volunteer house and we are greeted by the best smell of lunch cooking...chicken and vegetables....the weather has been miserable and has rained everyday since i arrived....not cold but i do feel it more than the others.....
I have to now start to read up on my SPC children which are the children with Special needs due to Hyrocephalus; which is an enlarged head due to fluid on the brain. Cerebral Palsy - we have both Flexion and Extension pattern to deal with...meaning that the kids are either locked up in a flexion (arms bent and inward to the chest) or extension...locked out..as in arching the back, neck, and arms...we have 4 kids with Cerebral Palsy and have 2 children with Hyrocephalus, they all vary in ages from around 2-18 years....we have also been told there is a baby of 2 months old that had been dumped just recently who has a bad cleft pallet...the opening has removed one of the nostrals and the gap in the gum is quite large....the baby was literally dumped outside the SPC house and the ducks woke up the 'mothers' (ladies who work there with the kids) and the child was then taken in....
after we spend two hours with these kids we then come back for dinner at 5pm and then we go out and have our final class with the Home of Affection...working with street kids...teaching them english, crafts etc...again i need to come up with a class program for this....i've read the previous notes from volunteers who have left and will start to come up with some variations....very nervous about this class as the children don't have to be there and from the notes gone by they can be a bit of a handful!!!
maybe work on a reward system...i have been told they do understand the words...'No Hitting'....my concern is, is that what i yell when they start to beat up on me because they realize i'm not a teacher and have no idea what the hell i'm doing!!!!!
wish me luck....
lots to read up on especially the Special Needs kids as it's all in the way you hold them and move them....frig i'm nervous...but i guess i can only do my best in the end....
Love, love and more love....
remember to check out the fundraising slideshow on youtube...and send it around..for those interested in donating contact me by email so i can respond with my bank details....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPU_9suobKo