Fridays in Awkunanaw

Every Friday, Kerry and I go to Awkunanaw. We really love it there, and miss it since we have moved to the Nwodo community. Here is what a Friday looks like for me.

My alarm goes off at 5:50 am on Friday morning. I roll out of bed and dress, eat some food and get ready to catch the bus. By 6:20, Kerry and I are walking out the door. We walk to the bus stop and wait with the hordes of other people hoping to go to the village. A small bus rolls to a stop in front of us, calling La-out, La-out, Garicky! (This is translates to New Layout aka the bus we need to take to Awkunanaw) Everyone crowds around the bus. By the time we are all in, there are about 20 people in a bus designed to hold 12. On a good day the bus will not fall apart (though some days it is unavoidable... Ask me someday about the day when the seat broke and the door fell off. The conductor then put the door on top of the bus.). Nigerian roads leave something to be desired, so imagine with every bump in the road, comes a bump on our heads. After about 45 minutes or so, along unimaginable roads, we ask the conductor to pull over and let us out. We hand over about 60 Naira (the equivolent of about 50 cents)and start to walk to school. From where the bus drops us off we should have a 15 minute walk to Notre Dame school. But usually a random car, filled with our students) will pull over and give us a lift the rest of the way.

At school I work in the Nursery Library, tutoring kids and testing them on their reading and English skills. When I am not in the library, I try to go to some classrooms and help out. At noon, I meet with the kids of primary 4A and sing with them. It is a highlight of my week here. We sing for about an hour, and they love it! Right now we have mastered 'Lean on Me', and we are working on 'Seasons of Love' and 'The Hokey Pokey'. They even sang 'Happy Birthday' on the phone to my cousin Grace a few weeks ago. They were so excited to talk on the phone to America.

One little girl, Chidemma, is a love and a dear. She is the most amazing girl I have met here! Everyday, she comes and hugs me, often handing me notes. She is always well behaved, for me and Kerry, who is teaching English. She will often scold the little miscreants in the class, and then apologize profusely for them later. She is the light of my life! School ends at 1:30. The children run around and hug us and say goodbye, always hoping we will come back on Monday instead of Friday.