The stress sets in..

Well needless to say, the last couple of days have been a little stressful and irritating. I've learned one thing from traveling, and that's to always go with the flow. However, nothing in this place ever goes as planned, and I can feel myself growing grey hair. Yesterday at Nelson Mandela, in the library, we were supposed to have kids from 10-12 and then 2-4. School started for the kids in the area, and they get out at 10 am, we think because of the heat but we aren't sure. Anyway, yesterday, we had no kids until 2, so from 9 until 2 we sat in the library and looked at each other. We played some card games and talked, but mainly we just sat there, frustrated. It's very hard being at a place ready to make a difference, and not doing a single thing for 5 hour. I definitely feel like my time was taken advantage of, and I did not come here to wait around all the time. Today was a little better, except they put us in a class of 60, 4 year old kids and asked us to teach them. Except yesterday, no one informed us that we are teaching or that we would be working with that many kids. And once we started teaching the kids some English, they did not listen. They ran around, punched each other, and were overall disrespectful. They didn't even have a teacher with them, just two teacher's aids who were not doing a good job at all at controlling them.
The afternoon was supposed to go a little better because on Monday we had planned activities for the day, but instead we watched a movie. Don't get me wrong, I love movies, but I just do not feel productive or like my time is being used well. I paid for this trip with completely different expectations. There is no way here to measure progress, because there is no structure or goals that we are working for. It's aggregating, and I love my kiddos, but it's been a rough week and it's only Tuesday. I know that things will get better, but as of right now, I am not satisfied with this volunteer organization. I feel like better organization, goals, and communication could lead to a more enjoyable experience. And to clarify, I am not the only one who feels this way. So at least I am not the only one complaining. Tomorrow five of us girls are meeting with the coordinator of the Nelson Mandela project to tell her what needs to change and what we can do to help the community. I would really enjoy painting houses or installing a recycling program, something along those lines that can improve their lifestyle and be able to tell. I feel like as soon as we leave here, none of the kids are going to remember the colors in English, and yes they will remember us, but still.
We had six new volunteers join our group, so there's now 25 of us I believe. We all are getting along, even in the heat and humidity, so that's amazing at least. I am happy I came here, and I am glad I came here alone, too. It's broadened my horizons, and I already feel more independent.

these are some pictures from today. Our activity was on the value order, and so we arranged animals from the smallest animal to the fastest animal. We colored the pictures and then cut them off and glued them to another piece of paper. The kids enjoyed this activity because it was hands on! they all wanted their pictures taken because they are obsessed with cameras and seeing their pictures on the screen!