Day Five - Community Farming & After School

The morning project for today was Community Farming. The community farms are used to produce food which will be used to feed the sick and moneyless, with anything left over being sold at the local markets for funds. We were assigned an okra farm and we were given crude hoes to weed the crops.

It was very hard work and it was 95F degrees and quite humid. After about 30 minutes, I had to take a break about every 5 minutes. There were three of us and only two patches about 40 yards long each, but it was a grueling process. The last 15 yards seemed to take forever.

After we finally finished, the driver picked us some mangos, which were delicious, particularly at that moment and also showed me some of the plants that I would consider weeds that they eat with regularity. I tried them, as well. They weren't terrible, but nor were they very good. The people near Livingstone have learned to use as many food sources as possible and waste nearly nothing.

There were some kids that lived near the farm, so we played with them for a while and waited in the shade to be picked up for lunch at the volunteer house.

Freshly Weeded Okra Patch (Click to Enlarge)	Kids at the Okra Farm (Click to Enlarge)	Playing Some Soccer (Click to Enlarge)

After School, like the name would imply, is a program held after school in which kids participate in various physical activities conducted by the volunteers. It's pretty much like one giant school recess on a playground outside the schools. We played soccer, frisbee, jump rope, cricket and some singing games. I even taught them to throw a rugby ball like an American football and while it was quite awkward for them, they really enjoyed it and kept begging me to continue. It was raining steady the whole time, but the kids loved the activities and we had a great time playing the whole time.

Posing for the Camera (Click to Enlarge)	Playing Some Cricket (Click to Enlarge)	After School Kids (Click to Enlarge)

The evening had become fairly routine back at the house. We would have dinner, a few drinks, and reflect on the day and the wonderful experience with the kids and also take the opportunity to get know some of the other volunteers a little.

 

Day Six