It has been so wonderful to come back to Asni again - my fifth visit! You never know quite what to expect but this time I arrived on the last day of the holidays so the house was very quiet with just Khadija and Naima, the cleaning lady. It appeared that Ella, the current volunteer was back in the UK with a really bad stomach upset so I took her place for the first few days which was lovely as she had organised the girls into a proper timetable so I was able ...

Even though I was last here in March of this year I had forgotten the joy of teaching English to these girls who are so keen to learn, especially when it comes to talking about what they like and dislike doing at the weekend. So many interesting things emerge from the fact that most of them enjoy doing homework and housework (I wonder how many of their UK counterparts would say the same thing?) and not surprisingly that they all like listening to music, sendin...

It's been a good week and has flown by all too quickly though it will be lovely to see David and the children again, (and the food, although delicious when it's a tajine, does seem to be dominated by mountains of pasta - on its own - and potatoes!) I've had some lovely sessions with the girls, teaching English, out on walks or just chatting in the garden. It is fascinating to hear more about their backgrounds as some are definitely better off than others...

One of the highlights this week was a discussion we had in the house with all 51 girls on the topic of the early marriage of girls (in their teens). They first discussed this (very animatedly!) in small groups in Amazhir (Berber). In fact that discussion could have lasted all evening but I reluctantly had to draw them together to talk about it in English - both to help their communication skills in English and so that I could understand what they were saying!...

At least I had a little warning the day before International Women's Day as a couple of the girls wanted me to check that their English was correct for some questions they were going to ask people. This was the second time I had visited the Lycee for International Women's Day but last year had simply involved a little party with a few presentations in one of the classrooms, so I wasn't expecting much. However, this year the classroom bit was just a preamb...