Limes After School Program

Well, we all knew it was coming, and now it is official... my heart has been stolen by the children of Grenada. I love them all already!! Limes is an after school program that was started in 2003 in order to reach out to under-privileged children in the Limes area and SOs still continue to work hard to keep the program going today. Limes is one of the poorest areas in Grenada, so it is an excellent program that really reaches out to children who need a lot of love and support. The SOs meet with the children for "class" 3 days a week to play, help them with homework, work on educational skills (such as reading, writing, math) and to help educate the children on more practical/social skills such as: good health/dental hygiene, appropriate behaviors, etc. Each week there can be between 40-60 children who show up for class, which is a lot of kids all running around. These kids just want/need attention, so the more adults around to give it to them the better! Plus, more volunteers allows us to keep a better eye on them all, which reduces the opportunity they have to get into trouble! If you love children, and are looking for something to do here on the island I definitely recommend you come out and experience the program- the kids will steal your heart with their cuteness!


So my first 2 days working with the program were this week and yeah, as expected, I absolutely love it!!! It was exactly what I needed- to play and to give (and get) lots of hugs from these sweet kids! Also as expected, the kids were rather rambunctious the first day back, and were so excited to see the returning SOs that they knew from previous terms and to meet the new SO volunteers.  There were no planned activities for the first day, rather it was just a fun field day to help get the word out that the program was starting back up and to allow those of us who are new to get to know all the kids a little bit. This led to it being a little chaotic, but in my opinion it was a fun sort of chaotic.  Everywhere you turned there were several kiddos of all ages yelling "miss" "miss" "MISS" which I think is the cutest thing. However, it can definitely be a little overwhelming when you have 3 kids hanging on you, a few doing your hair, and several others asking you questions and wanting to take pictures all at once... but again, I was in my happy place, surrounded by kids voices, giggling, and playing.. so I loved every minute of it. There were only a few fights, and mostly it was play fighting (so although not the kind of play we like to see, overall the kids all got along and behaved pretty well). It is amazing how sweet and friendly the kids are, and how much they so desperately just want attention and love.  They were so excited to see all of us, and even without knowing me, they were ready to play immediately and I was greeted with hugs as soon as we got there. It definitely makes your heart melt.

Oh just wearing a cone on his head..

He thought this was very fancy because he framed my face with his fingers... after he took it he showed it off to all of his buddies... so cute!

One of my favs... I mean seriously, how cute is he!?

She's a sweetheart! "Miss can I please wear da shades?" She was also one of my hairstylists

Playin with the umbrella that doubled as a kite!! haha

Absolutely too much cuteness going on with these girls!!

I.freakin.love. her!!! So little and snuggly! I coulda taken her home with me for sure!! :)

Almost immediately I was grabbed by several girls and told to sit so they could play with my hair. Let me say, that is an adventure. I had all sorts of styles done, and luckily I have a thick scalp because it was only painful a handful times. They kept telling me I looked beautiful and hot, although the pictures I saw after the fact may tell a different story... 

They all worked very well together to make sure my hair turned out perfectly

Oh so fancy!! They put my hair exactly how they wanted it, pushed and pulled my face so that it was just how they wanted and this is the final product... I think we have hairstylists and producers on our hands!

And this is the hairdo that they said made me look hot... oooh yeah, next date night... hehe I love it!

I feel as though I was able to make pretty good rounds with all the kids throughout the first 2 days. The first day I got to  hang out mostly with the older girls, and the second day mostly with the itty bitties- with a sprinkling of silly boys thrown into the mix both days, making both days different and fun! Today, we did some activities to learn their names better, which was really helpful. There are so many of them and I am trying so hard to learn all of their names, but it hasn't been an easy task! I think after today I am doing slightly better though :) Looking forward to tomorrow, when we are celebrating all of the birthdays that have taken place since they had the program last term and the start of this term! Which means of course there will be cake for these crazy kids to enjoy, which is really a special treat for them :)  Ready for more pictures?!

Davis showing off his cartwheel skills!

How cute is this? This is how they steal our hearts so quickly/easily.

This shows the impact SOs can have on these children. Kelsey was an SO here until last term and they all miss her so much!

Cutie-patootie  

Such sillies and possibly a gang sign?? we aren't sure. 

love her <3

Sassy pants :) 

Hair time is so much fun... 

mmm snack! "put da apples in ma drink" what a silly girl

So yes, I know, an extremely long post with probably way too many pictures, but I just could not pick out my favorites from these! They are all just too cute for words and so I felt they all needed to be included! Besides, Limes is going to be a big part of my life while I am here so I am sure these are just the first of many! But seriously, aren't they just the cutest?! They absolutely warm my heart for the 2 hours a day I get to spend with them. Every day with them is a blessing, and it is a true reminder to me every day how fortunate I was growing up and how important it is to cherish all children, to encourage play and imagination, and to model good behavior for all kiddos.

"Children need the freedom and time to play.  Play is not a luxury.  Play is a necessity."

~Kay Redfield Jamison