Kathryn's notes

I am currently spending every day at the new crèche, working with the children until the day ends at 4pm, and then painting etc until nightfall. It is a tough and absorbing project, particularly as the 90-child crèche has a strong feeling of being a ‘work in progress’. This applies not only to the visual appearance of construction work, but also to the internal processes and management of the children’s care. The advantage of this on a personal level is that I have seen changes occurring on a daily basis. Issues such as hygiene and the degree of child supervision [in the absence of Afia or the General Manager] caused me some serious concerns, but after a few conversations with Afia and her lengthy meeting with the teachers, there were some really positive changes.

The children, formerly scattered between two large rooms and unsupervised outdoor areas, have now been divided into three groups: the older children who are almost ready for nursery school (JSS), the younger children and a small third group for the very young, the difficult and the unmanageable. These groups are now being kept within the classrooms more rigorously, although this means constant and difficult battles with children who want to escape, and there is now always at least one childminder in each room, as two have been assigned to each group.

Efforts to escape

A small third room, formerly a food store, was opened up for the use of the small group. (I painted it green and pink the next day). The children are now being encouraged by the childminders to use the area of ground behind the crèche for urination, rather than the playground and veranda. The classrooms are now being cleaned or swept daily, and the children are now kept in the playground in the morning, divided into their groups, until the rooms are suitably clean. The younger children now eat outside the playroom, near the kitchen area, rather than in the room itself. This has made cleanliness a lot easier as the thickly scattered rice from fifty bowls is now being kept away from the main play area. It seems to me that some of the childminders were a great deal more motivated after their long meeting with Afia. There seems to be less sleeping in the corner and fewer times when no childminder is in a room. There is also perhaps greater attention paid to cleaning up when children pee in the play area. I suppose that as long as building continues I will have to get used to grabbing rusty nails away from children.

The work of the childminders in the crèche is long, underpaid and strenuous. There is little entertainment for the children, except what is physically provided by the minders in the form of songs, rhymes and dance. A few toys are provided, but due to the absence of strong direct adult supervision, those that are given are bitterly fought over and soon broken or confiscated. Playing together, sharing and allowing another child to use a toy you like the look of are not natural to a 2 year-old: like so much else, it has to be taught and supervised!

Playing with some letter/number foam pieces I brought to the crèche last week

Priorites: Creating a stimulating space, simple unbreakable toys that are easy to share, a daily structure that stands half a chance of being maintained after I go, sticking to hygiene and supervision protocols hoping that they eventually become ingrained, and devising activities that cost next to nothing in terms of materials (and don’t overstrain the childminders).

I am happy to have found two local boys who are very talented at art (particularly graphics and cartoons). They will help me with some painting this weekend, now that I have done the emulsion base.



WEEK 5

Painting continued this week, albeit slowly, as I am leaving the (wonderful) 17 yr old ‘boy’ Kwabena to complete his artwork at his own pace around his school hours.



I managed to get all the equipment to the crèche that I need for showing films, but my attempt to use it failed: despite covering the windows, without a proper ceiling the room was not dark enough for a projector to work.
I talked to Kwame about getting a wooden ceiling put up, but he said there was not enough money to do it in the near future. David had provided good equipment and strongly wished the projector to be used. ‘For the want of a nail a shoe was lost, for the want of a shoe a horse was lost’ etc… Thankfully, David agreed when Kwame talked to him; the ceiling will be constructed this weekend.

Incomplete ceiling

I was entirely on my own with my class of 35 small children this week as ‘Madame Felicia’ was attending to her ill husband. This would have been difficult enough on its own, without the additional complication of a bad cold that meant I lost my voice! As my day relies heavily on shouting and singing, this is a bit of a crisis for me!
However, the week actually went surprisingly well – I was able to implement the classroom structure and routines I wanted: regular toilet breaks, nap times, division of the playroom, drinking water in the classroom, a routine of sitting misbehaving or agitated
kids on the step outside (without having them run off around the place unsupervised).

Children sitting properly on the step outside

The behaviour of the kids with me improved now that I had sole charge of them, though I really missed Felicia’s songs and warmth.

I am discovering that nothing is more rewarding than seeing changes in individual children. One 3 year old boy who used to be particularly impossible, violent and angry has utterly changed since our clashes and struggles in the first weeks and now, though not a paragon of good behaviour, he has become warm, cheerful and even gentle. I have to say that, though like everyone I adore the ‘cute’ well-behaved children, I love some of the ‘problem children’ most of all. (Maybe I feel an affinity with them; I was probably a ‘problem child’ mdddyself!) Seeing them respond and change in small ways and start to love you means more than all the adorable good behaviour in the world.

The Food has started to improve, with some variation on the rice theme. We have had yam once and every Friday the teachers do small fried pastries filled with bean dough.

Picture of teachers cooking pastries

Playground construction continued: the swing is in progress, as is a see-saw and some small picnic benches with shelters constructed above.

See-saw in construction

I made some efforts to construct cheap music instruments, as the kids are so used to strong rhythmic rhymes and songs. I filled tins and pringle boxes with rice, stones or pasta – the teachers liked it and have started to make more every day with the tins used in the cooking and stones in the yard!

The 3-class division implemented 2 weeks ago is increasingly successful. – although I feel too often that I’m having to instigate the morning division myself. This involves rounding them up outside, splitting them into groups, saying a morning prayer and marching the groups into class – at which point the little ones get so excited by marching that they a run along to join the bigger children and we are back to square one!
The babies and difficult children are much happier and quieter in the small class.
The older children are more well-disciplined and able to be in a room with tables/chairs without treating them as toys to push around!
Because of this improvement in the older kids’ behaviour, I was at last able to bring in some art supplies – paper, coloured pencils etc. I was surprised to see how difficult these 3-4 year olds find drawing compared to kids of the same age in England, simply because they aren’t used to it. Most of them aren’t inclined to draw anything, preferring to hoard the pencils in their laps! It is an important thing for kids to do in an educational sense; it improves dexterity and makes handwriting easier later on. I would really like to see the kids get more accustomed to this.

WEEK 6

Felicia is back, making my life ten times easier!
The ceiling has been constructed in Room 1. On Tuesday I nailed some dark material over the windows and used the projector successfully. Hooray! The kids loved it, but I think the teachers actually enjoyed it more.
On Monday I talked to David about getting a curtained division in the playroom. He agreed and instructed Kwame, who talked to me about what I wanted where – he will complete it while I am on the mid-tour.
I am concerned about leaving for the tour. I want to get the timetable and structure I’ve been trying to push for institutionalized, and without being here personally it just may not happen.

I spent Wednesday morning in the Computer centre observing Adua (Virginie) imposing discipline with the help of a loud voice and a cane. Very impressive! ..I also enjoyed the fan and the absence of screaming babies.
…Actually I have fallen in love with the screaming babies and have also reached the point of being completely fine cleaning baby messes off babies/self. A distinctly unglamorous personal milestone.
A couple of weeks ago I had my first experience of losing a baby that I had grown close to. On the Thursday I had been feeding him his rice; on the weekend he died. It shouldn’t have been surprising, I am aware of the high rates of infant mortality here, but in practice I forget where I am and find it difficult to accept things like this on a personal level.