Smack.

I've hit my first child.

The kid actually presented me with the switch, or birzu, to hit other obnoxious kids who were crowding at the windows of the school where I started a course on Health Education for 6th grade girls. They wouldn't listen to my polite entreaties. They laughed at my threats. So when Moussa brought my new kid-whapping stick over, I used it first on him. He was being so bold as to answer questions from the window before the girls would (they are notoriously shy). Somehow he thought providing me with the stick meant he had amenesty. Nope. Smack!

The first morning of the HED course we did a survey. At least the girls understood how to treat water and what foods had Vitamins in them. But other than that, I can see this series of courses will be very educational for them. It is all part of program funded by Peace Corps Partnership: Saturday mornings the girls aged 10-15 years will learn everything from hand-washing to nutrition during pregnancy to negotiating safe-sex and Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday afternoons they will play basketball at the youth center. They are all incredibly motivated and excited to learn! Working with youth is so rewarding! Well, as long as I always have my birzu within reach...