After a day of rest yesterday I was feeling much better and excited to teach at JTR again. Me and Hector taught mostly maths this morning with activities such as 21 and a competitive multiplication game. We also introduced them to a game of fizz buzz which they found quite tricky to understand at first but then quickly got the hang of it! As well as this we taught Prep 4 an English lesson, they were much quieter than the other classes but still seemed to enjoy the activities.We then met at Ballanta for lunch and had a visit to the national railway museum where we learned that Sierra Leone was the first country to completely close down their railway stations. We also got to have a look inside the trains which was really informative and interesting.
Later we returned to Ballanta where we learned a traditional folk song called the akpa uman. This was really fun to learn and it was interesting to sing a traditional African song. Everyone really enjoyed this and we should be performing this at school once we return home.
Ellie
The musicians returned to Ballanta for another day of teaching. The building was once again filled with voices and loud brass! By this time, we were all getting used to the rooms we were teaching in and were becoming more comfortable with leading lessons. However, we have all discovered that individual lessons are much easier than group lessons! Although, it was amazing making two beginner horn players play titanic in harmony. As the brass group were playing YMCA, the JTR people pulled up outside with our lunch.
We ate our ‘daily dose of pasties’ and drove to the National Railway Museum.
We arrived at the Freetown Cheshire home after a very short drive from the NRM. This is a home for disabled children, some of whom have been orphaned and some have simply been abandoned. 11 live there permanently, but during the day, other non- disabled children form the area come to school there as well. The musicians played their usual concert to the children of cheshire who all seemed to enjoy the range of instrument, from the drum kit to the guitar. The headmistress then kindly showed us around their working facilities. This was a very eye-opening experience as the rooms are very different to back home. After a quick photo, we made our way back to Ballanta.
Millie
