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Ok, before I start with the real blog, I have to say some things. First of all, I'm sorry I didn't write for so long, but I really had a lot of work to do and not much time for anything else.
Second, it is raining, we are in the middle of the rain season and it is quite cold, compare to normally and wet. I like it.
In the morning of the 3th of March 2013 we went to the church, because it was Sunday. But we went to a church, English speaking in Addis Ababa, but honestly speaking, it was quite boring compare to Dhadim. They only sang old English songs and used microphones because the church was so big.
After mass, we went to a Kenyan friend of Boniface again for lunch; we went there once already some time ago. Also this time, the food was really good and this time, there was another friend with her small daughter, about two years old. In the beginning, she was really shy but after some time, she wanted to play the whole time.
As we drove back to the mission compound, we had to share a small taxi. 4 persons in the back was definite too much, you could say, it was really cozy.
The next day was office day, because on Monday everything is open again, so Boniface went to a lot of offices. I only went to a photo shop to print some pictures of Kenya. For that, I was really frustrated in the morning, because I wanted to fix 9 pictures into one. But in the end, I managed, and it was totally worth it.
In the evening, just Boniface, Anthony and I went to eat somewhere, because Anthony soon leaves to Nigeria for 2 months and this was the last evening together. It was really nice but my stomach was quite disturbed, so we took the rice and the beef with us.
At 6.30 in the morning we drove away from Addis Ababa towards Dhadim, but we had to stop first in Awassa, because the Bishop wanted to see Boniface. We stayed there for about two hours, did some shopping and bought some lunch for on our way and then went on to Fulassa, (A terrible road from Morojo to Fulassa and back again) to pick up Warqe, our cook. She went home during our days in Addis to see her family and her son Azarath, so we went to see him too and the Sister who life there.
As we went on, we saw somewhere between Morojo and Dhadim how a little small girl was hit by a car. People took her of the street but some man rushed out of the car and took her to hospital immediately. There were some kids playing on the street as an old man came and told them to not play on the streets. As soon as he was gone, the kids came again sitting on the middle of the road and that was the moment when the car came. The small girl was to slow and got hit.
We arrived finally save in Dhadim at 10.30 in the evening.
On Wednesday I slept quite long because I was really tired. After that, my day was not really filled with doing something besides playing with the dogs and cooking something.
The next early afternoon on Thursday, we drove to Yabello, because I had a meeting with the two Swiss girls for the Interviews. I entered the data of the Interviews in a excel file and so we had to change the file and they gave me another two boxes filled with these interviews.
In the evening, I started already with the new ones.
On the 8th of March I went at 9 o'clock to the kindergarten with Sister Ancia to help her. There are 50 children and the teacher is in a break because she is going to deliver soon. Sometimes, the cook and the watchmen help, just to get order in the class and to keep the children quite, because neither Sister Ancia nor me speak the language fluently or me not even good, so it is difficult. In the afternoon and evening, I was busy with my interviews, so I didn't do anything else.
On Saturday, Boniface and Sister Ancia went to Yabello for a meeting but I stayed in Dhadim to work on the interviews. I worked the whole day, only Warqe came to keep me company. I put the TV on for her to watch some animal movies; she really liked it and was astonished. Somehow, she felt a sleep on the ground and slept there for about half an hour, but afterwards, she watched the animals again.
On Sunday the 10th of March in the morning was mass, but Anthony is not here so Boniface was preaching, but he speaks Borana Language quite fluently, that means, I didn't understand much. Afterwards we went to Haro Bake to eat some goat, but it was not our usual place and it was not so good. Before going home, we went shortly to Yabello to do some things.
The 11th of March was not an interesting day to write. In the morning, I worked in the Kindergarten and in the afternoon at the interviews. I worked a lot but not a lot to tell.
The next day in Kindergarten was the same with the exception that we found some new punishments for the kids. The teachers and also parents here use often a stick to keep the children quite, but I don't like it, so we found some other, more different punishments. If they talk or not pay attention they have to stand either behind the door or in front of the wall with the face to the wall. The problem is, if we let them stand with the face to the class, there is no difference, they keep on communicating with their friends and distracting them. If they are not able to sit straight and pay attention, they have to ran around the kindergarten compound or just to stand in front, watching the blackboard, but like this they can't lean or hang on the table. But it is still difficult for both of us, Sr Ancia and me, because we can't speak the language much, she is still better than I am, but she can't speak it fluently either. But we are learning every day new things.
In the afternoon, I work till the evening at the interviews again.
Every day, the Kindergarten starts at 8.30, but I mostly go at about 9, because before is just the assembly (all the kids stand outside, girls in two lines and boys in two lines, short exercise and then some songs), prayer and putting on their uniforms (that's actually just a yellow t-shirt.). But that Wednesday there was one girl; she was talking and distracting everyone till I had to send her home, because she didn't listen at all. She was really angry at me, because it is the worst punishment for them. It is always that they are after the break worse than before because they do not want to sit and learn anymore, but sometimes it is just too much of noise and trouble in class, so then we have to be consequent.
In the afternoon the interviews were keeping me busy again.
On Thursday, the 14th of March, it was kind of a bit a special day for some kids in the kindergarten, because I took the smallest one separately in another classroom and tried to teach them the numbers and letters. Before the break, it was fine but after break they were not really attentive anymore, so I had to figure out something else to do. I played some games with them while teaching them. Then it was fine.
After lunch till the evening I was tipping these interviews into an excel file.
On Friday, 5 kids were not allowed to go into break, because they were just too naughty. But besides that, everything was fine in the Kindergarten.
Later that day, a lot of youth from all over different parishes of the region of Dhadim came for some workshop. In total six parishes, Dhadim itself, Jolcasa, Jijidu, Coqqocatebu, Haro Bake and Yabello. In the evening, there was first mass and directly after that some program, where each parish sang two or three songs and showed some theater or similar things. The whole program went on till 1 o'clock in the morning. There was one child in the kindergarten who felt asleep on my lap; later one of his elder sisters took him home to bring him to bed. Also a lot of other youth and kids became tired, inclusive I.
After just a few hours of sleep on Saturday morning there was Mass again at 7. It was nice because there were a lot of youth but I was still tired. After that I went to Yabello with Boniface where he had a meeting and I started working in an office with the two Swiss girls at the interviews. We worked till 6 in the evening and after that I just watched a movie and went to bed. I slept in Yabello because I wanted to start working early the next morning again.
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