Imagine killing a lion...

We’ve had a varied past few days, which is nothing new here I guess… yesterday we went to our first ante -natal class. The hospital that we will be going to next month doesn’t give any ante -natal advice, and seem reluctant to even see me more than once every 6 weeks at this stage, which is a bit disappointing/ worrying, but we are glad of the advice, reassurance and check ups of others and hope and pray that all is developing well with baby craig.

Anyway, some kind American friends had offered to hold an informal ante- natal class, which David was not looking forward to. From our limited experience, Americans tend to be a little more open about such things than us stiff- upper- lip Brits, and yesterday was no exception. To add to the cross –cultural experience, the Americans had invited a heavily pregnant Kenyan lady, Esther, and her husband, who were both from the Masai tribe. The wife spoke very little English, so everything needed to be translated or acted out, (which is when a doll squeezed tightly in a sock was very useful visual aid). The highlight was when we were being taught about breathing techniques and focal points, and the Masai man suddenly looked like he was on familiar territory, and shared with us with a big smile ‘my father taught me that when you are trying to kill a lion, you look it in the eyes and focus on that point, just like you are saying…’

In the evening I was flicking through the Tearfund Development magazine, and an article about childbirth caught my eye- 'Preparing to give birth- a choice for women' which talks about how many women are likely to die in childbirth in developng countries, and talks about the 3 main factors for maternal deaths are three delays: delay in deciding to seek care, delay in reaching care and delay in receiving care at the health facility. The article went on to list the items every pregnant woman should have ready by the 7th month of pregnancy, which included ' a new razor blade (Do not unwrap until you are ready to cut the unbilical cord)' and 'two ribbons or strips of clean cloth for tying the cord'. Seems a world away from labour balls and breathing coaches.

My highlight for today was an informal resource making workshop at Orongo nursery school with the teachers. It was great to see the enthusiasm and creativity flowing from the teachers, and their pride as they made colourful, visually stimulating resources to help the children learn.

tactile flashcards

Caleb cutting out

alphabet bunting

more alphabet bunting

sorting bottle tops

making sugar sack poster

bottle top poster

nurse outfit

stilts

On the frustrating side, the lovely newly painted classroom is STILL not being used as they had a blackboard made out of plaster last week and are waiting for it to dry, so the children are all squashed in the dark, gloomy classroom. The children love to go into the classroom and touch the walls, and I can't wait for them to have their lessons in there.

new classroom

guess the letter game

guess the letter

The bookshelves and shelves made out of rope are not yet finished either so there is nowhere to store the newly made resources.

sanding shelf

These things can seem so frustrating and I can feel like banging my head against the wall, but... I need to learn to focus on the positive (like we learnt in our class yesterday…;-)