Kill the Mosquitos!!!

When I got home from a weekend in Inhambane at a REDES Training of Trainers workshop, Scooter was waiting with a blue paper-mâché moquito, full of coins and candy.  We rounded  up as many kids from the neighborhood as possible (surprisingly it was only like 15 kids) and Scooter set off to talk to them about malaria.  She talked about what it is, how it's transmitted, and how we can protect ourselves.  Most of the kids were pretty little and just stared at her and me, but a few of them got really into it and answered the questions.  Then came the destruction of the pinata.  They did surprisingly well!!! I was CONVINCED I was going to get beaten by the stick- kids missing the mosquito, getting a little too into it- but it went really well.  The older kids were helping the little babies swing the stick, they all took turns, and everyone got at least one good swing in.  I was quizzing the kids the entire time, and even if the little ones didn't understand what they were saying, they started repeating what we were saying.  It was really cute.  Once the mosquito busted it was a MAD rush for the candy! But again, the big kids helped the little ones, giving them candy.  As much trouble as those kids give us on a daily basis, this activity was pretty fantastic and it totally made my day.