Where do I start??????

So much has happened... and I've had such little time to write. I was warned by other people with African volunteer experience before I came here that I would have a ton of free time and be very bored. I have yet to experience this. I've been busy busy busy each and every day. In the morning I'm up at 6am Monday to Friday to be on my not-so-great-bike by 7am on route to the school. It's 14 km away but in the morning it's still cool enough to be quite bearable and I'm liking that I'm forced into the exercise. Last weekend I somehow connected with Red Cross working in this area and they have done a really great thing for us. They donated 50, 25 kg bags of Unimix porridge which is completely fortified with all the nutritional goodness that the kids need, 2 large cans of powdered milk, 24 cans of fish, and 36 packages of maize flour. With the 50 pags of unimis porridge alone we are able to make this last the entire semester until May as well as send each child home with 1 kg every Monday. Great news! I am also working with them about the possibility of distributing insecticide treated bednets throughout the area in order to reduce the risk of malaria. I'll keep you posted! This past week was the first week been at the school regularly but I'm learning how things work quite quickly. On Monday I had arranged for a local dentist to come and talk to the kids about dental hygiene. We were also joined by some members of the local community and listened to him talk for about 2 hours. Of course, I just looked silly pretending to understand fluent Swahilli the entire time. Good thing I already know how to brush my teeth! After that I gave each child a toothbrush that I'd bought for them over the weekend and all 91 of us brushed our teeth together. It was quite the experience. Most of them had never seen such an instrument before and had also taken a liking to the toothpaste. They were eating it and trying to trick me into giving them more while laughing hysterically at how much fun it was. This was followed by drooling and spitting all over the front of otherwise perfectly clean school uniforms. But.... they are learning and each day of the week the uniforms were getting less and less covered in paste! I've also started a handwashing system so they are now use to washing after break time and also before porridge - something they were not previously doing and were definetely not learning from home. I had been given some cough syrup from a local doctor to distribute around the classroom but word got out in the community and I have been swarmed by a group of people at the school each day about noon bringing me all of their problems. I guess the word 'on the street' was that I was a doctor with free medicine so I had people of all ages wanting my help and trying to explain to them all that I had no idea about any of their medical issues was quite a challenge. I think that by Thursday they were understanding. Aside from the outside community medical problems we are having a seriously difficult time combatting fungal infections and lice in the feet of the kids. Although they have uniforms now they still do not have shoes and we are a long way from being able to afford them. A bit of good news, though, is that we have a doctor coming free of charge soon to look at them and give the medical attention that is needed. A few of the children have feet that are swollen and cannot even walk properly anymore because the infection has gotten so bad. On Friday I was invited to one of the few childrens homes who has a mother present. The 4 teachers that we have also came along. Since I am such an attraction in the community we must have had about 25 children following us to the home squealing "HOW ARE YOU". When we arrived little Aqram's mother had prepared a meal which must have taken an entire years worth of earnings! There was chicken, beef, liver, Uglai, rice, Chipati, cabbage, bread, tea and probably other things that I cannot remember. I truly don't know where it came from and we certainly did not eat anywhere close to all of it! After lunch, Aqram gave me a present that she'd picked out herself. It is a little wooden jewellery box that was handcrafted by a neighbour. Unfortunately I later lost the lid on the back of the Boda Boda trying to get home but it still serves its purpose! Within the area that I was having lunch I was exposed to my first real "world vision TV like" house. There were just three young children and their very ill mother living in a very small one room home that was falling apart. The kids were between the ages of 2 and 7 and in tattered rags and told me they slept on the floor each night huddled together. I knew I was going to see this but to really be there is something you cannot prepare for. I am told that they will be talking about a mzungu visiting their home for the rest of eternity and that this energy alone could sustain life!!!!! So... the children have been told that they will get to attend school starting in May for free and will get a cup of porridge each day. If I were told that I got to go to school in a mud house and have only a cup of porridge each day I would not think this was sounding like a great deal but the smiles on their faces are something I won't ever forget. Today I'm finishing writing a letter to a local supermarket requesting the donation of some school supplies. I talked to the manager about helping and he asked for a letter so I'm hoping that things will work out in getting some more assistance. Since I've had so many friends committed to fundraising we've been able to go ahead and start the construction of some new things for the school. A third classroom is almost completed which is big enough to also contain a small office. We are also half way done the construction of 5 proper toilet systems and a well has started being dug! I can see already a huge improvement in the short 3 weeks I've been here and that is very encouraging. To all of you who are helping with fundraising ... THANK-YOU, THANK-YOU, THANK-YOU! You really cannot imagine how much your assistance is appreciated. I am hoping to use a video camera and take some footage of how things are going while I'm here and distribute some DVD copies when I get home. I think it's really important that people see that their money is going directly to a good cause and that every penny is being used to its best to create a possibly very bright future for a lot of innocent young children. Next week will be a new week and I'm busy preparing a lesson plan for something else I've decided to add to my agenda. I asked some of the women in the community if they would be interested in nutritional counselling on infant feeding practices and I had a list of names within seconds! So... every Thursday afternoon we will meet for a couple of hours and by the end of my time here I will pass all of my teaching resources along for them to continue to teach others in the community. This will also be a really great learning experience for me as I haven't done anything like it before. Every day I'm learning so much, and really understanding what this work is all about. So, before I take up too much of your time I will leave it at that for today. Thanks for the continual support and don't forget to write :) Amanda