Sharjah School - Dubai kids come to town!

The 11 girls and 3 boys from Dubai arrived yesterday to what I imagine would have been a really warm welcome from the Atoll Volunteers/ Naifaru Juvenile team. I missed the welcome because we were over on Veyyva snorkelling and getting a full body tan again!

I caught up with them in the afternoon though and tagged along on their island excursion (got to see the rubbish dump and desalination plant again!) We were nearly finished when the heavens opened and one of the most torrential downpours I've experienced hit. You can just imagine the chaos. Students, teachers, local kids and Juvenile staff fleeing in all directions looking for cover.

Cruising round town

Carlos caught in the rain

Mary and Marie (the school teacher and nurse), 4 local girls, a couple of Dubai students and I were sheltering under a small overhang when an elderly man invited us into his home to get out of the rain. We raced inside and it wasn't until we were just about to leave that I noticed the local girls had not come inside. I soon found out why when the old guy tried to get a bit frisky with me! We took off again and the girls quickly spread the story of my proposition and lucky escape!

First lecture in the series

Tess and I are giving a series of marine lectures to the students all week. We're aiming to give them a solid grounding in what they will see in the sea around the Maldives, the importance of the marine environment and things they can do to conserve and protect it. We're showing pictures and telling stories of our experiences here so that when they go out in the field during the day and stay on uninhabited Turtle Island overnight, they actually see and look for what we've talked about (we get to stay on Turtle Island too! So looking forward to that one!)

I started off with a general intro to the Maldives, the marine ecosystems here (coral reefs, sea grass beds and mangroves), threats to the ecosystems and what they can do to protect them. 

I am so thankful for my Toastmasters and National Speakers days! All the practice I've had there and the tips I've learnt from everyone meant I was relaxed and had a lot of fun giving the presentation. (And it's great to be able to use what I've learned in a 'real, live' situation!)

One more talk for me to give, this one on fish! I'm thinking about showing them a whole lot of common fish and then taking them snorkelling...watch this space for what happens!