Yesterday was the last day of term at school, and the kids only had to attend for half the day. we went along to watch the final assembly which was cute, they were singing and stuff, and then they just had to go back to their classes to be given their reports and a big file with all of their exam papers and work in. i took my camera over and took some photos, and when they were getting all of their wrk given back to them, i went along to Baby 1 class, where i have spent quite a lot of time, to get some pictures of them with their work. baby 1 and baby 2 are right next door to eachother, and the only thing that separates the 2 rooms is a thin screen made from palm fronds. this isnt the most practical thing in a room full of 3 years olds, as the sound goes straight through it, but its what they've got. anyway, yesterday i was in baby 1 standing by the screen when i heard the baby 2 teacher shouting, but not shouting like you would normally hear in a school, like properly raging shouting. i wanted t know what was going on, but i knew that if i actually went next door i'd never find out as the teachers are all sweetness and light around us, so i pressed my face right up against the screen and looked through the little holes in the weave. i could see her sat behind her desk, with a little boy of about 4 standing in front of it, looking a bit shocked. as i was watching she stood up, and using the full force of her arm, slapped the child around the face, sending him flying accross the room.
i don't think i've ever been so angry in my life, and what happened next was probably not the best way to handle the situation, but i just think its a miracle i didnt backhand her myself. i went running out of baby 1 and burst into baby 2, slammed my hands down on the desk and shouted 'How DARE you hit a child?!'she looked pretty taken aback, and she was clearly in a panic that she had been caught, and then she said lamely 'he was throwing paper...' i just looked at her and picked up the child from the floor who was in quite a state, and walked out. i was literally shaking with anger and shock, i knew i would be angry if i saw anything like that but i really surprised myself at how strong my reaction was. i just stood outside with Collins, the little boy, for a while while he calmed down and i tried to calm myself down. i was in tears at this point, and still trying immensely hard to to go back and shout some more or do her some serious damage. thankfully the baby classrooms are attached to the headmasters office, and he was there. i approached, i must have looked such a mess, crying, shaking, bright red and fuming! he saw me coming and came over, he thought that she child in my arms must be really ill or something, i think he was a bit shocked when i started laying into him, telling him that he needed to control his teachers. he went and spoke to her in the classroom, a big group of teachers had appeared at this point and they all went in to discuss it, i felt like they were going to hatch a plan to claim it didnt happen. when he came out Kenneth (the head) said that she had admitted it, and that she had apologised so that was ok. i told him that it absolutely was NOT ok, and it was his responsibility to make sure that she knew it wasnt acceptable to to make sure that it didnt happen again. he looked at me and asked what i wanted him to do. it was then i realised that there was nothing that could really be done, aside from firing her, which they couldnt do as they had a class full of children who needed a c\teacher. i told him (which i realise now must have sounded ridiculous, i only remembered i said it this morning) 'if this happened in England, she would be sacked. she'd never teach again. in fact, she'd probably go to prison. go directly to jail do not pass go do not collect two hundred pounds!' he looked at me a bit wierd, and then asked if i expected him to fire her. i told him i didnt, but he needed to come up with something otherwise it will just happen again. he went back and spoke to her a bit more, and then came back out and said 'ok, dont tell anyone, we are going to deal with it internally.' i laughed in his face. i told him that iw as calliing anne immediately that i got back to the lodge, and telling dennis as soon as he gt back from safari. i directly told him that i didnt trust him to sort it, because it was happening in school all the time. there have been 3 incidents f volunteers actually witnessing assaults in the past 3 weeks, and so you cant even imagine hyow many happen when we arent around.
i walked little collins home and by the time we got there he seemed to have pretty much recovered. he lived absolutely miles away, about an hour and a half walk, and in the middleof the day with no water! i thought i was goig to die before we got there!
in the evening last night me, sarah and helen organised a quiz, which went down well, and is the source of the wonderful quote that titles this post! astra declared this towards the beginning of the quiz, and her team didnt stop laughing the whole time, it was no surprise that they came last! there was a fair bit of heckling coming from the teams too, there was a question in the sports round which was 'in which sport would you carry an octopus?' the answer of course being scuba diving, but lots of people complained, saying that diving isnt a sport its an activity! the debate was still going on thismorning.
today as there was no school we walked to the top of the tallest mountain again and took a picnic. it was absolutely boiling walking up there, but when we got to the top it was cold and raining. as soon as we started walking again it got hot and sunny again! so unfair.
i dont have much else to tell you other than im going chimp tracking on tuesday! mega excited for that! and only 6 days left at the lodge so sad!
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