Oscar was 4 yesterday, so of course we had a party. The children were all off school as it was Madaraka Day, 47 years since Kenya gained Independence, so it worked out well.
We split the children into groups in the morning, each group helping in a different area. Green hats were in the garden, yellow helping with the chickens, red with Brenda our lovely cow. The white and miscellaneous coloured hats were inside helping with the babies, kitchen and dining area. The children had a great time, the staff were rather stressed but there we go then, they will get used to it!! Kids all over the kitchen the garden and trying to help with the chickens, who really didn't need any help at all!! I don't want our children to become institutionalized, sit down, shut up, eat this, don't do that, which is very much the Kenyan way. They need a voice and opinions, of course as always with any children it needs to be channeled and controlled, but lets hear what they have to say, lets hear their thoughts and ideas. We now have a regular routine planned for Friday afternoons, Saturday & Sunday's. The staff are decidedly nervous !!
Oscar was quite bemused by what was happening, and why was he the centre of all this attention? He had never celebrated a birthday before in his 4 years of life. We wrapped presents of books, colored pencils and a writing book for a 3/5 year old, plus a cricket set. No-one, including all the members of staff had ever seen a game of cricket. We have 4 great volunteers here who were such a help in explaining what cricket was all about. Having said that, all the kids wanted to do was to get hold of the bat and hit the ball, who cared about rules & regs??
It was a lovely day, we sang, we danced, we played games, we 'Made a Difference'. Never ever do we hear the statement ' I'm bored' The children are a delight, so open, Happy and enthusiastic.
Is that how WE used to be??
