Ethiopia Eighth day - 04/10/13 otherwise known as 24/01/2006 in Ethiopia!

This morning we dashed over to the far school to help out with lessons there as the two new teachers are just getting used to the English plans. They are great and really enthusiastic so I team taught maths and English in the grade 3/4 and grade 1/2 classes. As the children are not used to playing with toys (they don't have them at home and can't afford them), we had great fun driving the cars around on the carpet and floor and when I showed them that the garage had a moving lift, they were very impressed. Then followed a race, from the door to the carpet where they all ran along with their cars. We tried a push race after that but they preferred to move along with the car to make it go faster.

 During this, the classroom was invaded by the Grade 3/4 class to conduct scientific measurements on bone growth - all very interesting and fun - they didn't want to stop for break time!!

After this we headed back to the grade school and I sorted out more resources for the teachers and children. We all walked home for lunch after sorting out some food for those children who forgot it was not half day today (Friday's is usually teacher training day) and transport/help for a little boy who had not got lunch, did not have breakfast and who walked to school alone as his mum is very sick and his dad took her to the clinic in the night and left him alone (I estimate him to be about 5 or 6 years old and the furthest the bus went was only halfway to his house). This afternoon I did some resource work on the computer until the power and Internet went down. Then went off to see Stephanie and the children for dinner and a spot of Noddy, Saturday lie in tomorrow - yippee!

 
THINGS I LEARNT TODAY:
Most people in Ethiopia don't celebrate birthdays or even know when they were born or how old they are and since no-one goes to school at a set age, you can't even work it out like that!
As well as the Ethiopian calender being different, so are their day times. Most people rise with the sun at 6am so each hour is called one after that e.g. 7am would be 1 o'clock - one hour after sunrise. So we finish school at 3.30pm or 9.30p.m. depending on who is saying the time!