Jordy's Club is Open!

So yesterday was the first day I had Jordy's Club open. I was expecting 5 or 6 kids to be honest. At the end of the day I had 29. I was super happy and a little overwhelmed. It is going to be a lot of work. I am very interested in seeing what my numbers will be today. I had a lot of fun but had some frustrations as well.

Frustration #1: The kids do not speak Portuguese very well.
Frustration #2: The kids do not know how to read or write well. A lot of them cannot even write their names.
Frustration #3: I do not have a lot of materials/resources. I made tic tac toe boards and a checkers board out of cardboard. I do not have enough tables for the kids to work on. I want books in English and Portuguese. I want more balls (basketballs, volleyballs, soccer balls, etc.).
Frustration #4: I want to know how to speak the local language and I want to know how...yesterday!

Fun #1: 14 kids showed up in the morning. I had to kick out 29 kids in the afternoon. They didn't want to leave.
Fun #2: Taught the kids to play tic tac toe.
Fun #3: Played soccer and showed the kids some of my basketball moves...with a soccer ball. They love when I spin the ball on my finger.
Fun #4: Kids love to draw. I think they are just excited to have paper and pencils.
Fun #5: The kids are super polite and nice and sweet and will have a special place in my heart because they were my first "club kids"! 

My goal is to keep an attendance sheet everyday and hopefully use that information in my proposal for a community center in Liupo. I started out by wanting just a place for kids but I really think that this community can benefit from a place that is for everyone. This community center will have a library and rooms for both the kids and adults in the community. I will have programs for education, health, art, community service, sports, etc. I am really excited about pursuing this venture but it will be a lot of work and trying to create something sustainable is super difficult here. 

In other news, Arden and I were asked about teaching English. Arden said she would prefer to stick with her science and I offered to teach English if they needed me. It is frustrating talking to my colleagues who teach English and they do not speak it properly. How can they teach it then? Welcome to the education system in Mozambique and to what I am assuming most education systems in Africa. I think we find out on the 28th what we will be teaching. I am super excited to get school started and to get more kids to the club.