Runda Feeding - Trip 2

Today was my second Runda feeding trip.
Again, we met at 10:30 at java house and then drove to where the event was taking place.

When we arrived we were slightly surprised to see a lot more indian women and men there to help out, turns out this was because it was a religious occasion.

We unpackaged all of the food at the beginning, piling up bread and taking candies out of their packets, etc. We then took plates of food to the elderly people in the house nearby, who all clearly appreciated it a lot.

Piled bread - (I'm the one with the stripy shirt in the background)

A friend and I handed out milk as the long line of children began to form. There were some indian women gathered around us as well, helping hand out the small packages.
We were first ordered to give each child two packages of milk, as we had a lot more today. After a while this increased to three, and in the end four!

At the end of the distributions a large crowd of seething children ran toward us and everyone was grabbing the few milks left desperately.
I was a little shocked at this, but it helped me realise how much these children need the food and what they're willing to do to obtain it.

We again ended with prayers (a small girl went up and recited a prayer all on her own, which was adorable!), and giving thanks to the people who donated money (ISK made a contribution at the end).

Personally, I think that Runda feeding benefits me more than it does the children and others collecting food.
It helps me to see what people go through, and develop as a person, but it only teaches these children that they have to rely on others to provide for themselves. I feel that this isn't much of a positive message to be sending them. Yes, it's great to see their joy when they trudge off with their large bag of food, but in the long run this may have negative effects.

I enjoyed helping out today, and I can't wait to do this again!

Shangilia Performance

Yesterday I helped out with the Shangilia performance.

I arrived at ISK at around 3:30 and headed for the arts centre. I sold tickets at the entrance (they were 500 shillings each) and muffins (100 shillings each) at the entrance. I also handed out free postcards to the people entering the auditorium, and to some that had already found seats.

A ticket to the performance

I did this for around 30-40 minutes, and then went inside to watch the show.
The kids were amazing, and really touched a lot of peoples hearts with their performances. There was an act at the beginning about some street children being taken to Shangilia and given a better future, and then lots of acrobatics, dances and tricks.

The audience was very engaged, and we all clapped along with the music and cheered for the children. At the end we all went up on stage and danced with them, and I feel like everybody had a great time.

Everyone goes up to dance with the kids!

Third Guitar Class

Today I had guitar, and we finished off the pink panther song. I played it a few times over to get it right, and then we moved along to learn notes on the first three strings.

We learned a lot about finger positioning today, which is a lot harder than it looks! I also improved a bit on my rhythm, which I was happy about. We did many different small tunes to improve memorisation of the notes, and Job gave me some sheets of music to practice with for next lesson. I will spend about 10-15 minutes going over them each day.

I'm pleased with my progress so far in guitar, considering that I gave it up for so many years. Job told me today that I've gotten a lot farther than most would in such short a time! I'm very encouraged to continue to improve in my music, and I'm excited to learn the notes on the top three strings next Friday.

Shangilia Third Trip

On the 3rd of October I went on my third trip to Shangilia.

We had planned to do some nail painting for the children, and so a few seniors traipsed onto the bus carrying large bags filled with nail polish. Not many people showed up today, there were only around five high school girls (including myself), two high school boys, and a few middle schoolers. When we arrived three of the five girls (two of them part of the art group), and the other went to teach math. This meant that I alone was in charge of around twenty noisy kids in the art room! It was daunting, to say the least.

Ainsley and Emma play with the kids

The children pushed the desks into the small classroom, and I told them that we would be drawing pictures together. Though they are all small kids I was uncomfortable being the centre of attention, and after a few minutes of waiting for paper and pencils I went off to fetch them myself. When I returned with supplies all of the kids began shouting for paper, and thrusting blunt pencils at me to sharpen. I was overwhelmed!

After I had gotten them settled it calmed down a bit, and I even had time to doodle on a piece of paper in the corner of the room (I did a swirly pattern). A few kids saw what I had done, and though it was far from brilliant they were entranced. Soon enough pieces of paper were shoved at me with cries of "draw a butterfly!" "Draw a flower!" "Draw a crocodile!" I found it difficult to keep up with the requests and at the same time work on keeping the paper on the table (not the floor), and pick up coloured pencils, etc. But it was fun to do some art with them! The children worked on colouring in my pictures, and tracing over my lines. It was sweet to see them so enthusiastic and inspired (at least I hope they were!).

After time was up for art we headed outside, some of the children played hockey while others sat on the stage painting their nails and talking. Nidhi, Lucie and I played a few clapping games and then chatted with the kids.
Time flew bye after this, and before I knew it the manager of Shangilia was calling us all up for a goodbye. He mentioned the performance on Saturday, and reminded us that he expects us all to be there to support the children. Naturally, I am planning to go.

Yesterday was a rather challenging, but fun day nonetheless. I feel like even though the process may be painful, doing things like taking charge of a classroom single-handedly are helping me become a more well rounded person. I am developing my lacking leadership qualities, and I need to stop feeling sorry for myself and put myself out there.
I feel like taking charge helped me connect with the kids more, I know a lot of them better now than I did last visit. I think they may even look up to me a little.