Yesterday was one of those days. Four kids showed up. Ellie and local volunteer Kristina had made a chicken and rice dish (enough for 20 children), I had made up a song for our “making new stuff from old stuff” project, and planned a great lesson around making percussion instruments from rubbish.

To start off with they weren’t too interested in the food. They eventually ate some but were very picky with the bit’s they ate! I made an attempt to start the lesson, but could not get any of the “four” children to settle. I persisted for a while but soon realised that nothing productive seemed to be in the pipeline. It was hot and sticky, one child was half focussing, and the only real attention I was getting was from the local old dog named Negra.

My hopes of hearing my newly created song, backed by an ensemble of kids playing percussion instruments made from rubbish, dwindled away into the sound of two kids running around yelling, one kid lying on her back slapping the floor, and one kid picking his nose……accompanied by a smelly old dog wagging it’s tail. Not quite was I was hoping for.

Wednesday was not a great day for SOG, but we managed to pull ourselves together to return today for another effort! Ellie and our two local volunteers, Daniela and Kristina used yesterday’s leftovers to make some delicious rice, chicken and cheese balls which the kids loved! Justine, Stella and Laura, our fabulous volunteers from Fundacion SES, made a big flag with the name of our project in Spanish. All of the 11 children there today joined in to paint it. So, today was definitely an improvement.

We have a couple of very challenging kids. In reality they are sweet, funny little characters whom I really like. The fact of the matter is that there doesn’t seem to be many boundaries for them at home, so when they come to join us, they aren’t to keen on the idea of following instructions. This will be a gradual process for us. Slowly helping these kids to make little improvements in their behaviour with every lesson. We have to acknowledge good behaviour and encourage them and others around them with positive reinforcement of this. It won’t happen over night, but hopefully it will happen!

So, onwards and upwards. Stay tuned.