Yesterday, I went to a boys boarding school for high school students with my host sister. Susan's friend is the principal there, and he invited us to come to the school and watch the drama performances that the boys had prepared as a competition between the dormitories. He picked us up in town and then we drove to the countryside. The dirt road had turned into a muddy mess from all of the rain. It looked like it was only suitable for a tank or a 4 wheel drive pickup at the very least! I thought we were going to have to get out and push the car, but we made it. The categories of the performances were narrative, play, solo and group chorals, and dance. I was really impressed with their work! It was the first time that they had ever performed on stage, but many of them seemed like they really knew what they were doing. The subject matter was also impressive. They covered issues such as public health, the challenges girls face in education, and government corruption. The Meru dances were my favorite. Some of the girls at the Tumaini Center have been teaching me some Meru dance moves, so it was interesting to see a whole dance. Today, Susan and I went to church together where many of the people that work for Ripples International attend. The founder gave the sermon today. The girls are also taken there as well so it was good to see them! They seemed pretty bored though because most of the 3 hour service was in English and many of them don't really know all that much English. I have really been motivated to learn Swahili better so I can communicate with the girls better and also the community when the organization does community outreach projects. This week, I am going to lead one of the morning devotions in Swahili. I think it is going to take a long time to prepare for it because first I have to write down everything that I want to say in English and then translate it into Swahili. Hopefully my family will help me out with it! I'm sure they will, they are so good to me. My mom wakes up early every morning to make me lunch to have at work. She also makes sure that I always have socks on and wear a jacket out because she doesn't want me to get sick because of the 'cold' Everyone here is so concerned that I am cold, but the temperature is perfect here. It feels like its around 75-80 degrees.
More about my internship...
I am working 40 hours/week mon-fri, so I am at the center from 7:45 to 5:00. The staff actually works on Saturday as well, but that is just too much for me especially since we are only required to work 25 hours/wk for the MSID program. This week, I spent time getting to know the girls. In the morning, they have class, so I watched the 3 babies. One of the days I helped out in the class where some of the girls are learning to sew clothes. They taught me how to measure and cut out a dress, and they tried to teach me how to use a manual sewing machine, but for some reason, I just couldn't figure it out! They make it look so easy! Before this experience, I didn't even know manual sewing machines existed, I never really thought about it I guess. On Friday, I came up with a list of all of the things that I would be interested in helping out with, so now I am going to start working on that, but I am hoping to have more time to spend time with the girls too as the girls that stay at the home are done with class at 2:00 and then they just have free time. Tomorrow, I am going to the baby orphanage for the day to see what they do there. I'm really excited for that! :)