Back to my Samoan life! We’re already halfway through Term
2, so I don’t know where the time has gone since my Cook Islands adventure.
On the last day of Term 1, my school put together it’s very
first “English Day”. Each grade had to perform dances, songs, or skits all in
English. This was a big moment for Sili Primary School because these were
presented to all the parents. It really promoted English literacy within our
entire village and the kids did a wonderful job! I was a very proud pisikoa
watching all my students confidently speak English in front of the village
adults.
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| My Year 5 babies promoting reading! |
This term has been jam-packed with sports! The Ministry must
have received separate funding for physical education this year because we’ve
had so many sport competitions that never happened last year! It’s so exciting
my students now get the opportunity to play. Instead of volleyball and rugby,
this term is netball and rugby. And instead of one district tournament, our
district has gotten together for three tournaments already and the term is only
halfway through. I’m the biggest cheerleader ever at these competitions; I
absolutely love it. However, I have to admit that netball is quite confusing.
Where’s the backboard? Why can’t they move with the ball? Now, I’m not saying I
know anything about basketball, but netball is just so different. Luckily my
students know much more than I do because Sili netball and Sili rugby teams are
both undefeated so far!!
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| GO SILI! |
An exciting addition to my service in Samoa has emerged as
my school got awarded a grant for a new bathroom block! One of my teacher’s and
I worked very hard to put this application together back in February. Our final
product came to be about 10 pages long! Anyways, it was approved and fully
funded, so Sili Primary School will be getting new toilets and I couldn’t be
happier! We currently have about 300 students and I’m not sure if we have even
one functioning toilet. This grant will be an amazing asset for years to come.
I’m really excited to see my village come together to make it all happen.
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| Our current bathroom block, but not for long. |
The other big event of this month was Mother’s Day! I can’t
quite explain the difference in holidays here, but for one, Mother’s Day is a
national holiday so everyone gets the day off. Secondly, all holidays must
involve dancing – no questions asked. The mothers of my village each had to
perform dances and skits (I’ve never been so grateful to not be a mother). The grandmothers
had to each give a sermon, including my sweet mama Lusia. It was a nice bonding
moment with all the women, but the best part was that we all got ice cream!
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| Happy Mama's Day to my Samoan Mama! |
So, that about covers May. I’ve lost track of how many
months I’ve been here. I think June 1st will mark 20 months! If I’m
doing the math right (yes, I admit I’ve lost my math skills), that means I’m at
20/27 months. It’s insane to think this experience is almost over!
Unfortunately, Group 87 did lose another volunteer. We’re now at 14. However,
one of our group members returned to Samoa after about 8 months away! She’s now
part of Group 88, but technically that means 15 of us are still here. I think
we can all make it until the end!
We have 5 weeks left of the term and then we're halfway through the school year!
