taking glitter for granted

I continued to help at Anni's school until we left to come home and will be excited to return when we get back. Anni already misses her friends at school and asks about when she gets to go back. I love helping out there because I get to see Anni interact with her friends and teachers. I also miss teaching (but it is nice to only have to be there once a week and not to have to prepare, grade everything, deal with administration issues, and discipline). Most of the projects I do with the teachers and kids are made with local materials so that they can be easily repeated. But before our departure I could not help myself and just had to bring over some pipe cleaners, googley eyes, and glitter. We made butterflies with the kids and as I was showing the glitter to the teachers I knew it would be a big hit! The teachers had never seen glitter and after I showed that you can glue a shape and then shake the glitter and they were so excited! I realized that I have taken glitter for granted for way too long.; It is pretty fabulous! The teachers loved it and I promised to bring back some from America for each classroom. The kids were equally impressed with the glitter and loved bending the pipe cleaners to make the butterflies. We sand a song in Kiswahili about butterflies and then each child decorated wings with crayons, flowers, and the much coveted glitter. The butterflies were all hanging the next morning and the kids loved seeing their works of art displayed in their classroom. It was a great project time with the kids!

the kids working hard on their projects

all the finished butterflies