Journals and Smiles

Metaha,

The children were early as usual, which got the day off to a great start. We gave out some footballs and allowed them to play while the HBC volunteers planned the day’s activities. Since this was our first full class period of the term (without having to distribute any items) it was time to get the children started on making their journals.

The journal concept is very important in the Omapitiro Weyuva after school class because it will allow the children to express their creativity by writing their own personal entries. Written memorization is the norm in Namibia; many of the regular school classes are taught by copying word-for-word what the teacher writes on the board. This system leaves very little opportunity for the children to be creative.

The volunteers putting together the starter kits.

From the money donated by many folks in Luxembourg we were able to buy colored paper, markers, crayons, colored pencils, glitter glue, and many other items that allowed the children to make their journal their own. We simply made the materials available. It was up to the children to decorate the covers in any manner they saw fit and all we asked of them was that they put their names somewhere on cover.

The children busy working!

Watching the children make their journals was a beautiful sight. You could practically see the creative wheels turning. To start, the volunteers punched holes in the paper and cut the string to assemble the journals. Then the children went to work. They were given 30 pages of brightly colored paper, 2 pieces of cardboard for the covers, and 2 pieces of twine to bind them all together. Many of the children took the time to arrange the colors so that they could make theirs special and unique. Some of the younger children required the aide of the volunteers to thread the twine through their journals, and they were more than happy to help. After the assembly was finished the children took to decorating. Some made collages with magazine cut outs, while others drew brightly colored pictures with the markers and used glitter glue to accent their artwork.

A volunteer helping a younger child lace up his journal.

All and all it was a great time for the children and the volunteers. Of course we finished the day up with some cool drink and a group picture.

Smiles all around!

That's all for now, Uhara Nawa.