More Work; Some Visits

It was another good day of work even though we only worked for the morning. Roof sealant was applied to the main storage shed (the depot); the remaining propane tanks were cleaned and painted. Significant progress was made on the ceiling repairs in the apartment.

After lunch we visited an orphanage in town where 61 children (24 boys and 37 girls) are being cared for. We passed out gifts of candy, toy cars, beany babies, and silly bands, and were entertained with energetic songs from both boys and girls. We also passed out crayons and pages from coloring books and visited with them as they colored.

Before supper we sat in on two English classes and had the opportunity to interact with the students. They are very eager to learn, and a discussion about a paragraph they have read often extends beyond the language to the content of the paragraph. For example, as they read about the Great Depression, they asked what caused it and wanted to explore the economic climate of the time (Why did the stock market crash? Why did the banks fail?).

Following supper we attended the advance English class, and after a lesson on past tense and negative past tense, we joined them in playing "You've Been Sentenced". It is a great tool for teaching sentence structure, syntax and vocabulary, and it provided many reasons for laughter. After each round the teacher would review parts of speech and talk about the definitions of newly encountered words.

We are down to our final day on the island. The plan is to work in the morning then tour the area around and outside the town.