Swimming

Hello again!

So it is the beginning of another week here in Ibadan, and I have been here at CHIPROM for 9 days. On Saturday I was able to take the kids to the pool for their first swimming lesson. It was crazy!

The pool we were using is shallow on either side and then gets very deep in the middle. The bottom is also very slippery, so even if one of the kids were standing all on their own, they could still slip under very easily. I had to be very careful!

I brought eight of the seventeen children with me, as well as Mr. Idowu's two daughters (who already knew how to swim). The others had been in a splash pool before, but this was their first experience with a large body of water. 

I got them all to the edge, and I was taking them in one by one and then setting them back on the side. Somehow though, they all started slipping in on their own, and started moving over to the other side of the pool (not over the deep area, but still!). Needless to say, those thirty seconds were pretty hectic. Some kids were trying on their own and then slipping and grabbing other kids, and yanking them under with them. It ended with me having every single child (except one) holding on to me! They thought the ride was fun, but I was a little frazzled.

We got to the other side, and this time they stayed on the side, and I took them one by one. We worked on bubbles and kicking, and then I sent 6 of them to the small splash pool (it was basically a puddle). I kept four of the older girls and worked with them on their bubbles and dunking. They were better listeners and we actually got some things accomplished. After that, we showered off and got dry.

There were a few ladies there who had heard me speaking to the children, and asked me if this was an NGO, and where it was and what I was doing. It's pretty cool that I can be a living advertisement for CHIPROM while I am here because I'm so white. They even got a picture with me! (Sometimes I feel like a celebrity. I even had a lady hold her baby so she could take a picture of me with him!!)  

Also, as far as the weather goes, last night was refreshingly cool (even without my fan). It was truly a blessing. I had my first truly deep, peaceful sleep since I've been to CHIPROM, and I feel great this morning! 

And, of course, there are a lot of bugs. The funny thing is I don't really see them until they are dead (which sort of freaks me out). These little guys are what greet me in the morning! (But don't worry, I sleep with a net around my bed). Sometimes I find myself forgetting just how tropical and foreign a place I'm in, and then I get these friendly reminders every so often. Hahaha!

Anyways, I had a really good weekend with the kids, and I hope you did too! I'm still waiting for rain, but the weather itself has cooled down some, so I'm not as desperate. :)

I hope everyone is doing well at home, and thank you for reading!

Peace,

Sierra

(P.S. I got my hair plaited!

My hair goes from the wet to fluffy in abo 6.5 seconds, so I decided to take the plunge and get my hair plaited. It cost about an hour and a few fistfuls of hair, but I've got these great braids running all down the back of my head now! We'll see how long I can keep it in for!)