Starting at Namaste

Katie and I have finally started at Namaste! We’ve worked two days so far. The first day was a bit of a struggle. We weren’t initially planning on going in, so we didn’t go very well prepared. The girls only recently moved into the home, so their toys haven’t yet been moved from their previous home near Quatre Bornes (which is where the Namaste boys are now accommodated). Considering our lack of resources, the day went quite well. The girls love to sing and dance! So at first we were singing songs and making up dances to go with them! Thank goodness Katie did Brownies back home! Then, we played in the garden. We made a mini house, garden and dolls out of sticks, leaves and pegs. It was funny! Then we were running seriously short on ideas. With the language barrier it was difficult to try and initiate a game. But they understood tag! So the rest of the afternoon we ran around the garden chasing each other! Then we started the three hour journey home (at that time we were living in Floreal).

The second day was much more organised! We brought along paper, crayons, bubbles and a ball to Namaste. At first we got the bubbles out! The girls loved these! They went a bit bubble mad and managed to finish them quite quickly, but we topped them up (thanks to fairy liquid and water). It was funny watching them chase the bubbles, pop them and run about screaming! Then, we got out the paper and crayons which kept them busy for ages! We drew pictures, they coloured them in and they scribbled! In the afternoon, we played with the ball (once Jennifer decided to share it). One thing Katie and I have learned – we have to make it clear when something is to share with everyone at the home. When we gave Jennifer the ball in the morning she thought it belonged to ‘her’ when actually, it was to share between everyone. She carried that ball around all morning and refused to give it to anyone! She managed to get herself into a little trouble with Geraldine who began to hit her with sticks…

We need to learn the Creole for ‘to share!’.

Anyway! Katie and I are hopefully getting some funding from the Soroptomists for arts and crafts and play mats! Hopefully this means we will have loads of things to do with the kids in the future!