Wednesday

Yesterday (Wednesday) was our first visit to 'Maria Luisa Beltranena' school, one of three schools where we will be working. The school is very basic and the teachers do the best with what they've got. We have been split up into groups of four and focus on different topics. My group consists of myself, Erika, Magali and Enrique and our topics are Spanish, English and maths. Our work is extra-curricular and children are selected to attend different classes. Other groups cover values and technical.

The classroom where we were working was very basic and extremely dirty. It had rained and there was a huge puddle on the floor. The desks and chairs were very old and mostly broken. The children were lovely. They have a very poor diet and are often hungry. We are working with children between the ages of 9 and 11 although there is a 15 year old girl there. She brought along her three year old niece who she cares for. Most of the children were very shy. We were teaching them some numbers in English and had made a basic bingo card which they seemed to enjoy. They liked colouring in and we have brought along lots of equipment that we will leave behind when we go. One girl was desperately trying to get us to give her some pencils. It is heartbreaking to say no when we consider that a packet of pencils cost us about £1 back home. We can't be seen to give gifts to individuals and we haven't got enough to give to all of the children in each of the schools.

Everything here is a luxury to them. Nothing is wasted and it makes me feel really guilty when I think of how much I throw away in my bin each week or how I take for granted the equipment I have to work with when delivering a training course.