Ibny Day 3 - The Hardest Part

Today another volunteer, Michelle, joined me and Carrie at Ibny. Yesterday I went to the store and bought some blank copier paper & some pastel colored copier paper, as well as regular pencils with erasers and colored pencils. We had issues with these types of supplies on Tuesday, so we wanted to be prepared.

One of the other volunteers, who has been here for several weeks and spent time at Ibny before moving to teach English to adults at the East-West Center, said that the kids loved to have books read to them. Even if they don't understand the story they really like the pictures. Going with our theme this week of colors & shapes, we chose a book to take for the 4 yr olds that has vivid colors and simple images of birds, trees, and fish called "The Tiny Seed."

We started the first class by singing, then Carrie showed the shapes & Michelle showed the color cards. Then I asked all the children to join me in the back of the room "aji" for the book. The kids were so cute! All of them wanted to be closest to me, all of them wanted to sit on the pillows, all of them wanted to be the tallest up front. I read the story, focusing on the pictures, pointing out the colors and images. I would say "green leaves" and the kids would automatically repeat. It was perfect.

Then they went back to their round tables, and we handed out colored paper and shapes we had cut out - circles, triangles, etc. We had glue sticks & crayons. Then we showed the children how to glue the shapes to their papers and then use the crayons to embellish. For example, glue a yellow circle, then use red and orange crayons to make rays around it for the sun. Some of the kids caught on really quickly and would use squares and triangles to make a house with a roof. Others really struggled not understanding. It seems like such a simple task, but it's just where their development level is. At the end of class we took pictures and the kids really love that & will crowd around anyone with the camera.

I absolutely love this boy!

We were a bit early for the 2nd class of the 5 yr olds, so we stood out in the hall and could see that the kids were finishing up a lesson with a workbook. The teacher was going around the room picking up pencils and I noticed that as one teacher picked up a girl's pencil, the girl flinched as though she expected the teacher to hit her on the head with the pencil. I looked on in horror. Clearly, this girl is used to being hit and it was so sad to see this. I whispered to Michelle & Carrie what I had seen & then as I turned back to look in the classroom, I saw the same teacher pick up the workbook & slap the girl across the face with it. I was horrified not only by seeing that, but also by my reaction: I burst into tears. I wanted to walk down the hallway to where some sinks are to wash my face, but a cleaning woman was mopping the floor and there was water everywhere, so I had to get it together before going into the classroom. I had heard that the teachers slapped the children, and I had even commented to the program director at CCS that if I ever witnessed it, it would be upsetting to me. And of course, it was. Discipline here is different, and it was just a frightening experience to see it and not be in a position to do anything about it. This is the hardest part about being in a place where the customs are different and the children are so vulnerable.

Immediately it was time to walk in and start the class, and one of the other girls pointed to my face and made a gesture of tears running down her face because she could see I had been crying. When I told another volunteer about it later, she said that it was good that children see that we have compassion. That made me feel a bit better.

We sang a song to start the class and then Michelle read from cards with the alphabet and images of things that start with that letter, like "A is for Apple." Then we handed out our paper and pencils we had brought and Carrie would write a letter on the blackboard and we would help the kids to write them. A couple of the kids were great & could see that we were going to do the alphabet. Others just wanted to draw, and they kept erasing what they would write. At first, we couldn't understand, but then realized that the pencils the kids normallly use don't have erasers, so this was a novelty to them. We all walked around the room, sometimes doing hand-over-hand to write out the letters. I found that if I used dots to make a pattern for a letter, the kids would trace it.

We finished up by counting numbers and then singing songs. The kids also wanted to pose for pictures and just be near us. At one point we were trying to tell the kids to sit down, but instead we had accidentally asked them to come up front with us. Suddenly we were crowded by all of them, each wanting to the the one next to us holding our hands. They so crave the physical contact, it's often ovewhelming but also heart-warming. I really do love these kids, in only a short time. I am so in love with 2 boys from the 4 yr old class, and one boy, Smaeel, from the 5 yr old class. He wasn't there today & I really hope he is tomorrow.