February 4

First day of work. I'm teaching at a boys rehabilitation center. There are 63 kids there (some orphans, others not), because they were caught commiting non-violent crimes. They are there until they graduate 8th grade. Although the kids are grades 5-8, they range in age from 10-17. Upon graduation they are sent to boarding high schools. If they don't graduate by 18 they are released.
I'm only working there for this week and then all of March (with the Maasai Teaching program in between). I'm teaching 8th grade math, 7th grade English and 5th-8th grade Phys Ed. There are 4 teachers for 4 grades and 8 periods each day, so I make 5 providing some relief for the others. There are actual texts for math and english, which is great. For P.E. the good news is there are two full-sized soccer fields (altho not in great shape) with goals and without any glass or garbage on them. The bad news is the extent of the equipment is one deflated ball and some donated uniforms. I plan on doing soccer exclusively in PE, but I could really use some balls and cones. I'm going to purchase them regardless, but if you'd like to pledge a ball ($12) or cone ($1.50) to cut down on my personal expesnses, that's be great!

First day was a little rough, because the principle thought it would be a good idea to give me all 63 kids for two 2-hour sessions for me to get to know them. I think he was just getting the teachers a break. This was bad because the only way for me to prevent complete chaos was to be very strict, so I don't think I made a great impression. Not to mention this obviously didn't help me get to know them at all.
Refereed a game to end the day. They are very good dribblers and good with 2-person teamwork, but there's no semblence of a gameplan nor of shooting/trapping/lefty skills. Got a lot of work to do if they're going to base a cookie-cutter cheesy sports movie on my stay with them (not to mention we need a team of bad guys who have won the national cup 8 years in arrow. Maybe the rehab center accross the street for kids who committed violent crimes would fit the bill).