Good morning, good afternoon and good evening readers,

I attended Smiley Club today. Our first Smiley Club since we arrived seven weeks ago, and I had such an enjoyable time. At first it was kind of awkward. We were drawing with chalk on the pavement in this lesson, so there wasn’t much structure required. You all know how I love me some good old-fashioned structure in my day. I used my noggin and realised that drawing with images is an even better way of interacting with the children. They were slightly wary of us two strange English girls at first, and I can’t blame them really.

I drew around my hand near one of the children, she saw what a blast that was and asked me to draw around her hand. We then drew around our feet and then around Amy’s body and the body of one of the children. As you can see from the photograph, Amy is looking a tad bit doughy with club foot and a helmet head. I promise she doesn’t look like that in real life.

There was a particular child who was an absolute legend and tear away! We spent the entire afternoon chasing each other, throwing a ball then running after it, and making really strange noises. All my favourite past times! I felt like I was right back at home with my best friend’s baby Frazer. Ah gosh I miss that kid ❤

Now that we have participated in Smiley Club, we can start to share all of our ideas with the other volunteers. I cannot wait to get started! Please enjoy this little poem about the hilarious and crazy child that I spent the afternoon with. Izel was not her real name, but Google tells me this name means “unique and one of a kind”, which matches her perfectly.

Playtime with Izel

Izel was not like the other girls, who wore their hair in bunches and twirls,
Whilst they all read of princesses in towers, Izel drew abstract lines for hours and hours,
Just as the lesson had begun, I handed her soft, pretty flowers one by one,
She broke my heart beneath my chest, as she snapped the bud and shredded the rest,
She threw the petals to the ground and trod and cackled on the mound,
We completed the pink puzzle as a pair, as all the other toys had been kidnapped to her lair.

The words we spoke were not the same, so we roared and shrieked as we played our game,
Of all the children that I have met, young Izel is the wackiest yet.

In kindness,
C x