Sick Kids to Street Kids

I switched placements three weeks ago from the Children's Hospital to IBNY, an elementary school. I really enjoyed my 5 weeks at the hospital, but the school year began (Moroccan schools began mid-September) and I took the opportunity to see something new.

The hospital opened a really nice play/activity center about a month ago. La Maison de l'Enfant is beautiful and includes a reading room (packed with books in arabic and french), a music room (complete with full drum set, many guitars and a keyboard), a playroom (that is packed to the ceiling with new toys and games), a painting room (packed with easels, canvases, and lots of paints), a computer room and a playground. This place is really nice and not something you would expect to see in a developing country. I have posted pictures of this center. The hospital association who we work with to volunteer there moved us from the diabetes ward (the activity room I worked in) to the new center. We have continued to volunteer also on the asthma ward. We basically do the same thing--played with the kids and supervised them to make sure they didn't kill themselves/others. The only problem with the center is getting the kids there. The room I was originally in was located on a patient floor which means kids could come in and out depending on their treatment schedule. The center is located right by the hospital and connects through a hallway, but isn't as convenient for kids on the top floors. I believe (and hope) the activity rooms on the patient floors are still being used for those kids who do not have the time or the health to go to the center. So, I have passed on all my knowledge to the new volunteers at the hospital and have moved to a school. (I actually did hold a brief orientation to the hospital this morning before we left for placements. We are not told a lot about our placements before we go there because the CCS staff relies on the old volunteers to help the new ones know what to do. The one old volunteer whom I had "trained" when she arrived in September was nervous about having to train them.)

IBNY is an elementary school for street children. Street children equals kids whose parents raise them to beg and may or may not have an actual home. The organization enlists the help of the police department to round up the kids from the streets--many are taken by force. The parents are threatened basically if they don't continue to bring their kid to the school and are seen back on the street, something bad will happen (I'm a little unclear about this point, but I assume the result would be jail). The parents take and pick up the kids each school day, so I'm a little confused about their living situation. This school though feeds the kids well as well as providing an education for them. I also saw them giving some of the kids new shirts, so I think they also offer new clothes for the kids. I think it is somewhat government funded, but not entirely. The kids are actually really good, but you can tell that they have been taught to beg. They will look you in the eye and use a very manipulative voice and facial expression to get their way (the exact same used by the kids who approach you in the street asking for money). Right now, we go are only working with 2 classes of the youngest kids doing art projects. The director is frustratingly flaky and has forgotten to make a schedule for us to work with the older kids on conversational English (remember this is an elementary school, so the oldest kids are about 10 years old). We finally received the curriculum today though, so that's a start. She promises the schedule soon. Kids are constantly let in, so the classes grow each day. One of the classes has over 40 kids and I'm scared it's going to reach 50. That class is a bit crazy to say the least. In evaluations from past volunteers, the kids have been described as devils, but i have not found them to be that bad. Amy, Sidra and I were working there together, but now they are gone. Two of the new volunteers are with me--an 18 year old boy and an older lady who was an elementary school teacher. They are really great and I think we're going to make a very good team. I have a couple pictures from the past couple of weeks there and I will try to upload them soon.