“Be flexible, so you don’t get bent out of shape”

We start every day with an inspirational thought. Jim’s quote reminded us that we should expect and accept the unexpected.

Yesterday we were welcomed to the Anse le Raye community by Father Athanase Joseph at the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin. He is convinced that Divine Providence sent Global Volunteers to his parish, and expressed gratitude for all that the first team accomplished in January.

The service was almost three hours long, but the music was wonderful and the beautiful, well behaved children were fun to watch. Unlike the catholic church in the USA, you are allowed to bring water bottles with you and the younger children were allowed to move from pew to pew (if they were in the back of the church). I noticed that it didn’t matter whose child it was, the women acted as if every one belonged to her, interacting with whichever one happened to slide over to her.

Yesterday’s other major accomplishment was meeting all of the team members. Introductions were a variation of the game, “I’m going to the market”…then listing objects in alphabetical order, each person repeating the list from the beginning and adding on. I remember playing with my sisters on a road trip to Florida. (I even remember the first two objects were “aristocrat” and “bing”. Okay, so my sisters are weird…especially Sandy.) But back to the intros…the last person was tasked with repeating the 24 earlier names. It was actually an very effective way to get everyone’s names memorized! In the afternoon, we learned more about our fellow volunteers. Four of us are “virgin” volunteers. The rest have been on multiple projects, with some logging over twenty.

Today was our first day at the various sites. Four of us were assigned to the two preschools in town. I’ll be spending this week at the Kiddie Homey Day Center, and I’m delighted. 40 adorable, exuberant kids under age 5. This is my alternative to whining about not having a grandchild. (You’re welcome, Greg).

Dotty and I are following the recommendations of the first team, and are working with the kids in groups of two. When I asked one four year old girl if she knew how to spell her name, she said, “Miss, I could WRITE my name when I was THREE”. I guess she set ME straight.

The dinosaur coloring book I brought with me was quite popular. One three year old boy thought the dinosaur looked like a shark, or maybe a whale. He then launched into an enthusiastic story about a whale “vomiting” and Jonah had “feesh” all over his head! Once I heard the name Jonah, I figured it out.

I’m looking forward to seeing these little cuties tomorrow! Here’s Dotty with one of our charges.