12 July 2012
Holy wow. I am exactly a WEEK behind on this blog. If that tells you anything about the last few days... In short, a lot of paper writing and a nasty bout of food poisoning kept me preoccupied in a not-so-pleasant way. Thankfully, I'm back on my feet today, so get ready because the floodgates are open.
Anyway! Thursday was my last day with my first graders :( Hardly over a month we spent together, and right when I am feeling like I am getting to really connect with them, I have to leave. I prepared my final "obroni lesson" for them, which was an art project that I remembered from elementary school. It's a puzzle-type project, where each child colors a design on one small square of paper. Then, I'd collect all the squares of paper and combine them, which would form the prepared message, “1U IS THE BEST.”
It was hilarious to see how the kids approached a prompt to draw and color free-form pictures. Some of them seemed really nervous; they brought their squares to me asking if they were coloring it correctly! Gotta love that about art. You really can't screw it up, haha. As I was putting the pieces together to form the poster, the kids kept trying to find sneaky ways to peek at it. I wish I could describe how good it felt to see their excitement when I revealed the final product. They all came running up to the front of the class where it was hung to read the message and to point out their own individual squares to me.
Later, Mrs. Fiawoo told me how other teachers would stop by the class to compliment the project. I was glad to bring something new and creative to their learning environment! It felt suitable to encourage artistic creativity because it didn't seem like they have many opportunities for it. Also, I didn't find out about this until just yesterday, but Ridhi went to help in her class the day after to find out that HER teacher had organized the same project! I can't even believe it. Astfeihdskjkni SO COOL. I'm just... ahh. I feel blessed that I could make even a teensy tiny impact. I heart art.
As promised... pictures!
These photos feature mostly Bondzi, Nellie, Fadila, Jemima, Nyanyuie, Lady, Fakiiha, Abba, Sedem, Felix, Edrick, Eyram, Shaun, John Pauls, Opanin, Adwoo and Zidnabu <3
"Snap me!"
Mrs. Fiawoo!
Bondzieeeeee!
Playing "Down by the River"
The perfect Fadila expression. A tough cookie, this one :)
Lovely Lady.
You'd never guess that behind that devious little smirk, Felix is a wonder at drawing horses.
Sweet Sedem is so shy, it took some convincing to snap her picture!
Jemima <3
Oh, Edrick. Hahaha.
Eyram is... concerned?
Opanin! A troublemaker, but such a sweetheart. He gave me his mom's phone number saying I should call and talk to him sometime.
Nyanyuie went and fetched her sister from the kindergarten class so they could take a picture together :)
Edrick's serious side.
Says a thousand words, hahaha. The girls were about to take a picture until the boys jumped in the way!
Our valiant attempt at a class photo. Except we were missing a lot of the class.
With Charity and Mrs. Fiawoo!
Our final project! :)!
They walked me all the way to the gate to say goodbye :'(
I'M LEAVING 38 PIECES OF MY HEART IN GHANA.
Nante yie,
Gabi
Nante yie,
Gabi
aww you look gorgeous!! very sweet post
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