The Start of Term One

February first marked the start of a new school year in Ndejje. I am very excited that the kids are back in school now because it means that we get to start working with the different classes at HOPE again and our schedule will take on a sense of normalcy as we start regular training sessions for boys and girls soccer as well as daily programs at the Youth Center. Our goal for this term is to establish more of a consistent schedule, so that the kids will know what to expect each day when they show up at the Youth Center. Last term, we allowed the kids to do whatever they wanted when they came to our afterschool programs, which meant that there were a million different activities going on at once. For our sanity, as well as for the benefit of the kids, we are going to have specific activity days this time around.

Thanks to many donations that were given to Adam and myself to bring back when we were home during December, we have a plethora of new books, puzzles, and art supplies for the kids to use. We are going to take advantage of all of these materials by having reading day, arts and crafts day, and game day at the Youth Center Tuesday-Thursday each week. Additionally, we will start having girls and boys training days during the week, as well as a combined practice on Saturdays in the hopes of forming actual teams within the next month or so. We are hoping that by establishing this consistency and stability, the kids will come to our programs knowing what to expect and will be excited for the different activities that we are presenting them with. We are also offering homework help each day and soon we will hopefully be purchasing a projector with which we can have special movie afternoons every once in a while!

So, those are the plans for the Youth Center and SWB within the next month or so. I'll let you know how everything plays out!