Painting 101

Everyday for 15 minutes after lunch, all the students in the school take part in cleaning time. This consists of anything from sweeping the floors, dusting the trophy case and gardening, to sweeping the sports field (it's gravel - there is no grasss - and I have seen them doing this), wiping the floor, or carrying wheelbarrel loads of dirt to different places.

Although half of the time, at least half of the kids are just standing in groups talking, it does seem to keep the place in OK shape. There is no janitor, and so the schools probably end up saving a little bit of money.

But things got crazy today! As the pictures here show, the kids are painting the school. The hallway walls, the stairwell, and the insides of classrooms were getting a touch up from 200 kids. In terms of efficiency, you sure can't beat a labour force of 200 that costs absolutely nothing. Heck with all the money they are saving you'd think they could afford to buy grass for the sports field, or then again maybe not. Afterall, the front doors to the school are still open, and even though all the kids in these pictures are in shorts, it's about 4 degrees inside the school.

Most of the kids seemed to be having an OK time. There were the occasional paint fights, so my Armani suit and I stayed in the staff room (Armani... Graham... rigggghhhht) except for to take these pictures. And I guess the kids now have experience as painters, that they can slap on their resume some time in the future.