Eu sou uma peru. My Portuguese is not coming along at all!! I have finished a whole term of it and i still feel like i cant say anything! It doesn't help that class is on a Monday night 7.30-9.30 by which stage i am fighting to stay awake, and the only thing that interests me on top of that is making sure that the teacher moves on to interrogate the next student as soon as possible, without me making too much of a fool of myself.
We are also struggling to locate a second project to work on in SE Asia, and want to book our flights soon...... the pressure is on! Hopefully by the new year it will all be booked and we will be definitely be going. I'll post the itinerary soon.
I haven't written on her for a while as work is so stressful. People are leaving each week, and we have only a handful of new starters to combat this, coupled with an increased number of referrals! I do feel so sorry for the Americans that have come over though (lots form Miami) as social work is so culturally different and where as before they might have stood a chance of removing kids from risky situations before they have suffered harm, here the standard has pretty much got to the stage where several, very bad things, have had to have actually happened (and been proved by the police investigation), before we can even approach the courts.
Well, at least we are trying to make a difference. Social services are always seen as the bad guys, and it makes me frustrated that charities like 'Kids Company' are praised, people raise money for them and they can give out money and Christmas presents galor, are held in high esteem for working with such difficult young people, but Social Services are legal bound NOT to do most of these things (no handouts), work with the same kids (and their families) and are constantly slated in the press. Roll on a positive press campaign from Britain soon!
P.S Tx comes home next Friday from Uganda for a break- SOOOO excited.
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