Nkoaranga Valentine's Party Field Trip

The children and staff of Nkoaranga Orphanage and The Small Things would like to say a MASSIVE thank you to all those who made the Nkoaranga children their Valentine last week through the "Spread the Love Auction". Thanks to your generosity, we were able to send them all on an exciting field trip to a big play park on Tuesday! Every field trip is a big success, but this one in particular looked brilliant! So much so, that I found it extremely difficult to choose just a small batch of photos from the tons of amazing snaps that were taken from the day!

The night before the trip, Emma, one of our on-site interns, and two volunteers prepared 40+ peanut butter sandwiches in the office and cling-filmed them ready for the kids the next day. With an early start of 8.30am on Tuesday, our volunteers, The Small Things' staff and the Mamas all lent a hand and helped to get the children ready. 

Early morning excitement before the field trip!

Emma explains:
"We got all the kids in their best clothes and shoes and they all looked adorable! They were all chanting 'Sa-fa-ri, sa-fa-ri' (trip trip trip!) and getting really excited. After they'd got dressed, eaten and had their faces cleaned, we walked down to the cars. With 9 kids and 4+ adults in each car it was a squeeze! The kids loved just driving down the Nkoaranga road and all screamed every time we went over a bump. We sang nursery rhymes like Old MacDonald and our ABCs as well as some Swahili songs. Some of the kids were pointing at animals, people and transport outside the window and shouting the names in swahili (Pike Pike! Bicycle!)." 

Best friends Miriam and Maureen, during the chaotic period of getting all the children ready to go go go!

Everyone arrived at World Garden in Mishono where they have a 'Fun For All' kids' play park. There were slides, swings, tunnels, a bouncy castle slide, a trampoline, merry-go-rounds and various play ground equipment. All the kids loved it, especially the older ones like Baraka who were brave enough for the big slide.

Baraka LOVED the big slide! He did eventually start sliding down it, rather than running! But he showed no fear and had a great time experimenting and thoroughly enjoyed himself.

It's a nice playground, in that it's all enclosed and safe enough to let the children do their own thing without constant supervision, so each child could go off and play where they wanted. Even the grown-ups had fun on the playground equipment!

Helga, one of our volunteers, also enjoyed the playground!

At about 12:00pm, it was time for the peanut butter sandwiches! (Always a big hit with the kids). They all stayed another hour or so to play afterwards.

Civilised chats over a yummy lunch.

Shalom about to tuck into her sandwiches.

The whole day went really well. There were no big issues, no injuries or illnesses and the kids were very well behaved. Even the rain held off until we got to Nkoaranga. In one car on the way back, five out of nine children fell asleep and that night they all went to bed early at around 18:30 as they were so knackered from the day!

The great photos taken of the day can do the rest of the talking!

Franky getting a turn on the dinosaur.

Happy Miriam.

A smiley Vicky Mouse!

Miriam, Fanueli, Shujaa and Franky all manage to squeeze onto the dinosaur!

Shujaa chilling out on the trampoline.

A funny bouncy-castle moment where Peace just couldn't roll down properly!

 

Fanueli is loving the ride, Fillipo isn't so sure!

Deliberating. Who will go first?

Well done Brighton!

Well, he did try!

Again, a big thank you from all of us and we hope you can all feel the love from Tanzania! Here are some of the cards from the Pilot House children from this Valentine's Day. It's been a great celebration all round!

Never far from your thoughts!

I just thought I'd write a little blog about how easy it is to always find a link between anything and everything, and life at Nkoaranga. For example, I just ate a banana, and thought of how the kids sit along the countertops, eating pieces of banana after their supper or as a snack, and how it would always end up mushed everywhere...with any pieces on the floor generally being pursued by Ester. 

Or I'll be painting my nails and remember the time when I brought nail varnish up to the orphanage because I'd promised Faraja that I'd paint her nails before she left for SOS, and ended up, in a power cut, with ALL the big kids going crazy because they wanted their nails painted first...or had had their nails painted and weren't satisfied with my efforts!

Today what made me think of them was the module we're studying in psychology - developmental psychology. It was hard not to remember how amazing it was to be able to watch the kids grow up, and see how they changed and developed. I was remembering how Filipo was such a tiny baby when I first saw him - I can't believe how HUGE he looks now! It's so lovely and such an honor to see how quickly they become little people, with their own characteristics and individual traits. 

...just thought I'd share that with you all. Thank you for being part of it! 

The games, oh the many games....

One thing that never ceased to amaze me was the imagination of the children and all the little games they used to make up. Whether it was pretending to make 'chakoula' (food) for you with a book and colouring pencil or herding imaginary cows around the playroom, there was always more fun to be had and no end to the incredible games they would play.

One of my favourite memories is definitely the day Saimoni walked past me muttering to himself. Now, Saimoni would often have a good natter to himself, but this day he kept repeating the word 'wapi?' meaning 'where?', so this made me quite curious and, wanting to know what he was looking for, I followed him into the bedroom. He started looking around the room, searching in different places, and I really couldn't decide what it was he had lost. Then he lifted up his mattress, said 'hapa!', meaning 'here!', and hid his toy duck under the mattress. He hadn't been searching for a lost object, he had been trying to find a hiding place for his favourite toy. When he turned around and saw me, he started giggling uncontrollably with his incredibly infectious laugh, so, obviously, I found it impossible not to join in. I picked Saimoni up, both still in hysterics, gave him a massive hug and said 'Saimoni, wewe cheesy sana', which means 'Saimoni, you are crazy'. He found this even funnier, and again the infectious laughter began.

Watching the children progress and grow and increase in confidence was a real pleasure. I will never forget the morning that I was in the playroom with the toddlers, I had Baracka climbing all over my lap and I was watching Big Maureen and Miriam pottering around the playroom. Then Maureeni stopped, pointed at the television and started chattering in Swahili to Miriam- from what I could work out, she was saying that they couldn't watch Bob the Builder because there was no power, then Miriam turned to Maureeni with a serious but accepting look on her face, shrugged, and said in Swahili, no power. As if to say, 'oh well, never mind.' It was one of the most adorable and hilarious moments I had ever seen- watching Maureen and Miriam discuss what to do with their day; they looked like a pair of old ladies, shaking their heads at the obstacle that was getting in the way of their fun.

The friendships that develop between the children are really special. Miriam came to Nkoaranga orphanage in April, and, when she first arrived, she was so quiet and afraid- understandably of course. But now, she is running around the orphanage with Maureen, having a whale of a time. One day Faraja turned to one of the other volunteers and said 'Dainessi is my best friend'; it's so lovely that the children become so close and really love one another. The children all look out for each another, and if a child is crying in another room, I can guarantee that one of the children will come and tell you, as well as explaining the reason for the tears.

The best game we ever played at the orphanage would definitely be 'wewe chakoula' (you're food), made up by the funny, clever and brilliant Steveni. It could happen at any point in the day- I would be changing Frankie's nappy and suddenly 6 children would come running towards me from the other side of the orphanage screaming 'Emily chakoula, Emily chakoula!!'; this was quite a terrifying site. I would then turn around and (in a very panicked voice) reply with 'Emma chakoula' or 'Megan chakoula', depending on the other volunteers at the orphanage. The children would then turn around and run off, looking for the volunteer I had chosen the name of. The children loved this game, but I think their favourite part of the game, would be the point at which they caught you, because if you weren't careful and they caught you off guard, or you weren't quick enough, they would jump all over you and pretend to bite you as, in their minds, you were food. They found this hilarious and would giggle hysterically as you tried not to fall over due to the sheer mass of children clambering over you. However, unfortunately for the person whom they currently saw as food, sometimes the 'pretend biting' would accidently be real- very painful.

Spending every day running around with the Nkoaranga children, enjoying their made up games and hearing their laughter as I danced around the playroom was the best time of my life. I count myself as one of the luckiest people alive for having the privilege of getting to know the children, loving every single one of them, and knowing that they loved us all in return.

This is a video to show you an example of the sheer mass of children that get involved with the 'wewe chakoula' game and the amount of energy and excitement that goes into it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!