Boom Chicka Boom!

Alright, 3 days at the Juvenile Detention Hall (henceforth to be called "Juvi")!

Let's see...right now there are about 13 boys and 1 girl at the center. Oh wait, to start, Juvi is where the kids go before they go to trial, it's like a holding tank. Of course, some of the boys have been holding there for months, some even years. So people come and go depending on how fast the court system works (and also how severe the crime), on my first day at Juvi there were 2 new boys, both of who are very quiet...and one of who won the game of limbo that we played today (the first time I saw any kind of emotion of his face -- big smile).

I'm still getting the lay of the land at Juvi, but from what I can tell, the boys are locked in their room if we're not there and it's not meal time. Speaking of meal time, on a good day they will get porridge for breakfast and beans for lunch. However, on the not so good days it's just beans for lunch around 3pm. But the boys are very well behaved, and they seem really eager to learn. And so far, every day we've played soccer. The soccer field is across the road from the detention center, and the boys are allowed to go across the road as long as we (and maybe a guard too) come with them. Well, not all the boys, there's one who tried to run away, and the two new boys who can't come across the road. Still, I was surprised that we were allowed to leave with them at all. I think a lot of the boys that were street children feel a real connection to the place after they leave, right now there are two boys just staying there even though they don't have too. I think they don't have anywhere else to go and they seem to be welcomed back.

Alright, that's going to be enough from me for now! This coming Monday is a holiday (Zanzibar's independence day) and so we're going to go on a safari (which means "journey" in swahili)! I'll be camping in the Serengeti come Saturday night!