Animals are flying through the air. Elephants, zebras, giraffes, koalas, bunny rabbits, cats, dogs and an occasional Minnie Mouse. Each is thrust in the air and a smiling face turns upward to see it rise and spin and slowly change direction towards the floor. The room is filled with kids laughing and I laugh too, just watching.
Everyday, I spend 1-3 pm in the Gyetighi Primary School helping out with Cheke Chea (Kindergarten). I teach English for 20 minutes, and then listen as the Tanzanian teachers talk about being nice to others and bathing, in Swahili. None of the kids in my class are from the Rift Valley Children’s Village. They live mostly in the squatters’ community across from the RVCV or in the communities scattered along the road to Oldeani. Unlike the kids at the Children’s Village, most of my kindergartners live in houses made of mud and brick. There are varying degrees of cleanliness in the class, with some kids being dressed in their school uniforms each day to others arriving in tattered clothes and shoes, looking unfortunately dirty. Regardless of appearances, all of the kids are smiley and greet me everyday in English with their cute accents: “goood ahf-ta-noon tee-cha’. Then throughout class they steal glances at me in the back of the room; when I catch them their eyes bulge and a big smile comes across their faces.
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| Teacher Elizabeth with the class |
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| Cheke Chea out on the playground |
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