Shangilia Trip

On the 13th of February I went on my first (second semester) trip to Shangilia.

We all got on the bus straight after school ended (that is, around 3:25) and ate our lunch on the way to Shangilia's new home! When we arrived I was surprised and happy to see how nice their building looked. It was much bigger, cleaner, and comfortable for the kids. However, this is the day school for them and they return to their previous shelter in the evening (the smaller kids stay there the entire time though).
A crowd of kids rushed up to meet us as we stepped out of the bus, shaking our hands and smiling in welcome. There was a quick photo taken, and then we were herded into a large room full of chairs. We sat down at the side and the manager of Shangilia gave a quick introduction. We then introduced ourselves (I was the only one they recognised as only I had returned from last semester's group!), and split up into three groups (art, music and reading). I joined the art group with two other people, and we stayed in the big room to start our lesson.

A lot of kids had decided to do art, and they sat at various tables with paper and pencils (that we had handed out to them) before them. We told them to draw whatever they wanted, and we all sat down at different tables with them to draw as well.
Every now and then a child would come up to me and proudly present his or her masterpiece, high fiving me with a happy smile on their face. One of the girls in our group began to draw spiderman on her paper, and before long she was surrounded by children demanding spidermen of their own! In addition, the boy in our group made a fortune teller, which everyone soon wanted as well! I made about 20 or so fortune tellers and helped the children decorate and write inside of them.

At the end of the lesson we all went outside and listened to the music group sing 'The lion sleeps tonight'. There were photos of the leaders and groups taken and then we all said goodbye and got back on the bus.

I think that this was a really good start to the new semester at Shangilia. All the kids seemed really pleased to see us return, and I felt like they had a fun time with us. I felt closer to the children than before because of the fact that they were more welcoming and friendly, recognising me and saying hello as soon as I stepped out of the bus.
In addition, the people in Shangilia this semester are all nice people who are dedicated to helping the children. I think that we're going to form a lot of friendships and achieve many great things together.

I can't wait for our next trip!