This is a workcamp after all, so I suppose we should work

6 August 2007

We began our first workday at the work camp with breakfast. Maja was rather surprised that at breakfast, onion was served along with the tomatoes, but she enjoyed it. We started our first lesson at 10 am. We were excited and nervous about our first day, and not exactly sure what to expect. We planned to teach the children how to say hello and good morning, the alphabet, and what is your name. The children were so good! After we threw away the whistles, the children were quiet and listened carefully, and they all participated, even the little ones! We each had a chance to teach one game, and Ania interpreted for the most part (she did a beautiful job—the kids did just what we wanted them to for the most part). Simon Says was a little confusing, but really funny to see Daniel make the letters with his body and everyone trying to imitate them. It was so cute to hear the kids asking, “What is your name?” all day long, and answering with their beautiful names—we remember Iman, Adam, Islam, Umar, Isabell, Madlena, Linda… those are the only ones we can remember now. The children paid attention so well that we feel that we should plan to teach more tomorrow.

After the English lesson, we took everyone outside to run around for a bit. We first played freeze tag, which was very fun, but kind of confusing after a while, and we weren’t sure who was “it”. After that, we decided to play a game where we wouldn’t all have to run around (freeze tag was tiring!), so we played Cat and Mouse, or Koshka I Myshka. Suvi then had her hair styled beautifully by a little girl and Maja also had her hair brushed. After about an hour, we were all so tired that we made the kids come inside with us. Maja and Ania left us to go fix her mobile phone, and the rest of us were in charge of creative time. Unfortunately, we hadn’t planned too well, so the kids just ended up drawing pictures on the floor. Tomorrow we will plan a little bit better, but I think that everyone had fun.

And then lunchtime and naptime! We all crashed—playing with kids is exhausting!

Afternoon… Maja spent the afternoon playing with the children outside with Ania and Lindsay while Daniel and Takashi taught an English class for men. The girls sang songs and played house and had a good time during this unstructured time with the kids. Daniel and Takashi really enjoyed the men’s English class—6 men attended class, mostly young single men, who were disappointed that none of the girls were helping to teach. Maybe the boy with a crush on Tina will learn enough English to finally talk to her…. The men were Istan x 2, Samil, Rahman, R.B., and Aslan. Suvi, Tina, and Natalia were greeted with “Good Afternoon”, so the class must’ve been a success. They then taught the women’s English class, which was attended by Zarem, Luiza, Albina, Madina x 2, and Liza. They were all young woman, and very open and smart! We are looking forward to this class and hope that the women continue to learn and participate. Suvi saw Medina later on in the day and we exchanged greetings—‘How are you?”

After classes, some of us continued to spend time with the Chechens out in the yard, playing singing, playing volleyball, and talking with some of the mothers. The women shared with us about life in Chechnya. We were fascinated to learn about Islam in Chechnya, and they shared with us some of their traditions. Many things changed after the first Chechen War when the Wahib, Muslim extremists from Afghanistan, came to Chechnya. The Wahib forced the Chechen form of Islam to change to a more extreme form, and encouraged suicide bombers. They also killed many Chechens. Life really isn’t fair.

We really love being here in the camp! The Chechens are so kind and so open to learning. We were told that the parents really appreciate our work with their children. These children have come from a war torn region and haven’t really had much fun. We are so glad to be here and to play with the children.

Also we like our evening talks about different cultures, especially Japanese. We laugh so much during our, evening lessons, we just love it! In japan, instead of a ghost saying boo! They say kiaaa! Which is actually a lot scarier I think.