First day of work for Kirsten

Today was my first day at the family protection agency. When I arrived they showed me to a room which was full of 5-6 year olds and it was a classroom setting with two women teachers. They first just asked me to sit and observe, which was hard thing to do because I was such a distraction for the children. I think having an american blonde girl sitting in the back of the classroom did not help with their morning lesson. After about an hour one of the ladies had be help get the childrens snacks ready which was all sugar--chocolate and cookies. I thought that was odd to have such an unhealthy snack for these kids. SO next the teacher came to me and took my arm in hers and held my hand in hers while she taught me how to write Berber/Arabic letters. Once she felt I could do it allright that is what I taught the children for the next couple of hours. The children have no supplies, only broken chalk pieces and mini chalk boards to use and reuse for their lessons. I would stand behind the children helping guide their little hands while teaching them these new letters (while teaching myself as well). It was very sweet to have such a positive response from the children. After showing this one little girl she stood up and kissed me on the cheek, that then made all of the other children come to me and give me kisses on the cheeks as well. We couldnt communicate verbally but there was still so much being said just with eye sight and body language. After their lesson I got to play with the children at what seemed to be a recess of somesort. They only have one teeter totter and 4 beaten up plastic cars to play with, oh wait and one soccor ball. You could imagine that they all didnt get to play at the same time, yet they all knew they needed to take turns and share. The girl that was placed with me at the family protection agency was with the 2-3 year olds and when they play it is much more rough- they all pretend to be shooting you and everyone else all the time. This agency is in a very poor neighborhood.-- the need for help and resources is unmanageable. Just to give a child a hug makes the biggest difference in these childrens lives. I hope to have a positive impact on their little spirits over the next three weeks.
-Kirsten