A Tumaini Spelling Bee…
A Tumaini Spelling Bee . . .
| In order to bring Kelvin’s English comprehension along we work together daily on vocabulary . . . He is currently reading Harry Potter and as he progresses through the book he highlights any words he is unfamiliar with . . . there are quite a few pink highlight marks in his book and after he looks them up in his English/Kiswahili dictionary we review them together, putting them into sentences. Yesterday, he asked me to dictate the words to him for translation and spelling. |
Christina and Mary were in the room and decided to join in. Kelvin got all but three right and the attached are Christina’s words. They are as follows: 1. perfectly, 2. nonsense, 3. spend, 4. suggest, 5. hummed, 6. mysterious, 7. beefy, 8. moustache, 9. blonde, 10. opinion, (fidia is “fine” in swahili), 11. cloak (not clock but she tried), 12. flooded, (laumu is “blame” in swahili) 13. blame.
Boy are we proud at Tumaini! Recognizing that Kiswahili is a phonetic language (spelled how it sounds), and not having seen these words before, Christina did quite well for herself don’t you think?
Liadi has learned to whistle . . . REAL whistling with ups and downs . . . not my monotone style. We enjoyed a big success after a bit of a downfall . . . Jenny, Eliza and Glory decided two nights ago not to listen to Mama Chi when she asked them to go to bed quietly, turn off the light and not cause “kilele”. The shouted and sang and turned the lights on and off, entering, leaving and reentering their bedroom. Mama came and explained what had happened the next morning and, like all choices we make here, there were consequences . . . this time not so good. The girls were told that after supper and showers they would not stay up and watch a movie with the other children but would go to bed early. Well, each of them made wonderful choices and remained in their room until this morning when they came bounding down to greet me with the good news of the choices they’d made! Baby steps, one at a time and sometimes after one back, yes?
The children are enjoying school and Mathilde especially, is loving teaching. This is Mathilde’s second term volunteering at Tumaini and her experiences here have given her a definite direction for her future . . . she has decided to become a teacher. We will lose her next month when she returns to Denmark and university but we are so thankful for her love and support of Tumaini and so happy to have been fundamental in her finding her direction for the future!
We brought “Holdem” home! Holdem is the second cow we were gifted with this Christmas . . . our incredible thanks go to our very kind donors. Because of your help we began our morning yesterday with a big glass of milk for each child AND we’ll have babies soon . . . BOTH Dorris AND Holdem are pregnant! We are still undecided as to how to proceed with poor Ranger who is so thin and continues to struggle.
Wishing you all the best as your new years begin . . . health, peace, love and success at your ventures. With your continued love and support we are able to provide “tumaini” “hope” for these wonderful children each of you has come to love . . . be well!
