This is Halloween.

Celebrating Halloween with the girls

Today at the orphanage we introduced Halloween to the girls. We began

by showing them various costumes such as the Burger King man, and a missing person on a milk carton. We also brought a big afro for the girls to try on. The girls had a lot of fun with the costumes and they loved learning about Halloween.

After having fun trying on some costumes I both taught and learned how to do origami. I first thought the girls how to make a fortune teller and they got the hang of it pretty fast. Then it was onto making a cup out of paper which they also got easily. Then, it was time for me to learn from them. The girls do a lot of arts and crafts so they thought me how to make an origami rose. My rose turned out perfect and the girls were happy to teach me for once.

After the origami session, we gave the girls notebooks in order to start writing to a pen pal. The girls all wrote to their new friends about themselves. Because English is a bit of a struggle for the younger students I asked them to draw pictures of the things that they liked and try to briefly write about themselves.

A small group of girls decided to write to celebrates such as Christiano Ronaldo, Shakira, Hannah Montana (Miley Cyrus) and David Beckham. I worked with my mom in hopes that we can send these letters to these celebrities so they can write back to the girls. When they heard that they had the opportunity to write to their favorite singers and football players they immediately became ecstatic. I loved the seeing the girls so excited to be able to write their letters and it reminded me why I wanted to work with them in the first place. Today was a great day at the orphanage and I can't wait to see them again next Sunday and the Sundays to come.

A is for Action!

On the first day of the IB orientation trip we spent the day with borderlands doing team building exercises. These exercises helped us to develop trust with our class mates. We also learned good communication skills as well as team work. On the rock climbing trip we strived to persevere and push out of our comfort zones. By facing the rock we gave ourselves a challenge that required not only to be strong physically but mental strength as well. When I began climbing the wall there was no doubt in my mind that I could climb it but once I got up on the wall, my feelings slowly began to change. With encouraging words from my friends and teachers I persevered and pushed through it and continued up the wall. Though I did not reach the point I would have liked, I still pushed through that fear and that alone was a great accomplishment.