Toms fifth letter

I’ve made it to the half way point of my year!
The first half really does seem like no time at all and the next half feels like it will fly by. Since I last wrote, the big news is my secondary project: The Basketball Court. I am so close to completing it and I am confident it will be finished in a week. I have set the foundations, now all is left is the cementing. The whole village is interested in what I’m doing and I always seem to have help at hand. I can’t wait to get everyone playing!
The cricket and football are back. So many people crowd around the ball field either watching or playing. I thin this must coincide with the rainy season, as it has been very wet over the past few days. The rain has brought with it so many more mosquitoes. I religiously put on long sleeves and pants at six o’clock to save myself from the harvest!
The school kitchen is going from strength to strength as the cooks get more experienced and the parents get behind it. School attendance has also gone up because the children don’t go home for food.
Teaching is great. I’m steadily working through the syllabus to make sure I finish on time. Grade 9 are doing projects at the moment to combine with their National exams at the end of the year. With grade 10 (yes, all 3 students), I’m doing school based assessments that aid their CXC exams (GCSEs) in grade 11. They are coping quite well and making a coke bottle explode (by adding mints) is much more fun than doing class work. Grade 8 is also a really nice class to teach now. The lower ability students (who couldn’t read) have been put into a remedial class where they are taught off the syllabus. A volunteer comes in every two weeks to work with them so this will really help their learning.
I’m still involved with activities for the President’s Youth Award. Last week, we planted a bed of bora (green beans - nearly) for the skill section of the award. Eventually, we will sell the bora to the kitchen with the funds going to future expeditions and equipment such as tents. The National Mashramani festival is next week. It is a carnival through Mabaruma with a BBQ at the end. PYA are taking part and the leader, Javan has created a huge dove to lead our procession. I’m told we will all be dancing along behind in skimpy outfits… It sounds really organised and exciting so I’m pleased I’m involved!
Dan has been away for the past two weeks so I have had the house to myself. Truth be told, it has been quite lonely but this has spurred me to go out more. Whether is be to watch wrestling or some action movie at Mike’s in the evening or going round to talk with Kezia and her family. She lives with her son, sister, niece and mother and they always have something to talk about! Sometimes they ask me about England and sometimes I’m finding lots out about Wauna and past volunteers.
I enjoy making good friends like this and they all seem to add another experience onto my year. I can totally understand why Project Trust send us away for a year. I would hate to leave now!

Until next time,

Tom.

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