Thursday 31 May 2007

Tuesday 29th May

We again went in our two separate groups, one to the Vocational School and one to the kindergarten at the Orphanage. At the orphanage one group played English games with two different groups, while the others went in with two groups for computer work.

In the afternoon, the pupils were all quite apprehensive about the visit to the School for the Blind - for most it was there first encounter with a blind child and they were not sure how they were going to communicate with them. We all piled out of the bus and the children were sitting in two lines waiting patiently for us to arrive. As soon as they were told to get up they walked over with their hands out and grabbed at any hand they could find and held tight. When all the pupils had a child holding their hand, we set off down the road to the beach. This can be the most difficult part of the trip as the children have to be guided past potential hazards and some are scared of the traffic on the road and stop or start clinging to their guide. That part negotiated, we then have the path with drains across and the steps down to the beach. When we were all safely onto the sands the children removed their flip flops and were walked down to the sea. Our group were the youngest children from the school and some of them were quite daring, whilst others seemed a bit scared, but in the end all of them were paddling in the water. Our pupils loved it - they were amazed at how well the children related to them and were so thrilled to have had that experience.

After supper we went by taxi on to the beach road to a shopping precinct. Not only are there many interesting stores but there are also stalls selling a huge variery of items. Everyone found something desirable. We got 2 taxis home at around 9 p.m. and went back to the Center.

No comments: