Week 3 in South Africa

Hi Family and Friends,

Week 3 marks an ending and beginning for me. The curriculum is updated (English-don't laugh Kimberly :) and I will help organize the teaching room tomorrow and hopefully start with the students directly on Thursday. While working on curriculum, I made it a point to visit all the teachers just to introduce myself and start a partnership of sorts. I must say everyone here in South Africa respects silver/white hair. It really works for me here!!

They run very strict classrooms....the young kids sit on the floor (about 40 of them per class) at my school and the older ones have old, old desks about a 1940's vintage!! When I visited the second grade teacher I looked at all these smiling faces, but my pal Emron (whose picture I already posted) had the biggest smile of all. I blew him a kiss while trying to determine if that would embarrass him or not, but it came naturally and he blew one back.

This 10 year old, Wellsely got into a fight with a peer on the playground and I ended up sitting in the Director's car with him while he cooled down. Taking his picture seemed to do the trick!!

In another room, 5th grade, a teacher was talking to a parent about her problem child and let me tell you...no attorney would influence these teachers as they are adamant about how wrong this child is; and, they predict what failures lie in wait for him or her, and they chastise the parent for raising a belligerent child. Oh my, I think I found the re-incarnation of the Felician nuns. It's a "guilty as charged" conversation...period....dun!!

The child however old, is then sent to sit in this large room on the floor that everyone must walk through to get from one corner of the school to another. So, they sit their visibly shamed for mis-behaving. The school is unusually quiet needless to say. I imagine this is the only discipline these children receive, since their personal lives are so lacking.

When I got home today I grabbed my stuff and went for a nice walk along the beach, it's sunny but a cool wind prevails. Sorry, for all you under 20 degrees!! Anyhow, here is a group I came across who played and sang that sweet African music that makes my heart sing!

Well, that is it for today. Thank you Laura for making this blog happen. The one I created is still mysteriously hidden. Anyhow, hugs and love to all of you, Mom, etc.....

Week 2 in Muesenberg

I am finishing my second week as a volunteer and this has been an incredible and deep experience for me. On Wednesday, we started officially in the schools and reviewing their curriculum. So, a few of us are working on grades 1-6, and will begin actually teaching next Wednesday. What feels good is that all the volunteers that follow the current group will have a uniform curriculum that complements what the kids are being taught in class.

We will be working with children in those grades who did not pass on to their next grade. The school I have been assigned to is called Christian David and is a very poor school. I saw the classrooms and they are singular buildings that remind me of small train box cars. There is no heating or air conditioning so it can be quite unpleasant at some times of the year. One other volunteer who I share a room with, who specializes in computers, has been assigned there also. Everyone else (6) were assigned to another school called Steenberg.

I am happy with my assignment because it is truly a school in need of so many things. The money some of you donated will be used to purchase supplies that reflect the curriculum, so everything is coordinated and hopefully can be sustained for the year. One of the program leaders and myself are going 'shopping' this coming Monday or Tuesday. Twister was such a hit (they had an old game) and I am now using it as a reward for the small kids. If they can name all the colors and count the circles correctlythen they can play a game with me and of course they are guaranteed to win :))

I had quite the experience yesterday. I went with 4 of my young roommates to Robbin Island, where Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners were imprisoned. We took a ferry to the island and had quite a long tour. When we reached the building where the political leaders were jailed, one of them became our tour guide. His name is Sepo (which means gift) and he told stories that gave me waves of constant goosebumps about how they kept their spirit up, planned for a new government, and taught all the illiterate teenagers in prison how to read and write. To this day, he said, "I do not understand why they jailed the political leaders in the same 36 bed room!" Mandela had his own tiny cell, but the others were together. I could go on and on about yesterday's experience but words would fail. 

On a humorous side, my roommate who ordered our tickets confirmed for 1/16/14 instead of 1/15/14. When we reached the boarding area the guard noticed it and said we could not board until tomorrow, which is today!! Automatically, we naturally went into why he should let us board...all of us had a slightly different 'swan' song...after about 5 minutes, he told us we were so annoying one of us should go up and get the right tickets and go away on the ferry. Unfortunately, it made the boat 15 minutes late but we got on very grateful and very happy. Only to be even more grateful after the tour for the meaningful experiences we each had.

The first attached picture is taken from Robbin's Island looking across the bay at Capetown; the second is Emron, 10 yrs old and myself. He and I bonded in less than a handful of days. His parents were murdered in front of him and his 14 yr. old sister in their home. She is now raising him by herself. I can't imagine saying good-bye to these children but I remind myself I don't have to think of that yet. Many of their stories are unimaginable, and yet their is a resilience in them.

Greetings from South Africa!

Greetings from South Africa,

I just finished my first full week of volunteering here in Muesenberg which is about 40 minutes south of Capetown and walking distance to the ocean. :) I am so happy to have found this opportunity ... it leaves me humbled and almost anything I do for the children of this township, is so appreciated by them. We have played outside the whole week (4-11) because it continues to be school holiday. I will begin teaching officially next Wednesday and will have my second orientation. I brought the game Twister with me and can't wait to see the kids become noodles!

The children come from horrific backgrounds, and I will save you the details but they respond immediately to a hug and a smile. They have not seen anyone with "silver white" hair and wanted to know how I got it (LOL) They called me 'grandma' almost immediately and I am really happy to be that to them while I am here. They also are very curious how old I am...when I tell them to guess I get 50 or 60, however, one 9 year burst my bubble when he said a '100!!' So clearly there are not a lot of volunteers my age coming through, but the group I am with is quite sympatico, even though they could all be my sons/daughters or even grandkids. They are really a lot of fun...there are 8 of us in two bedrooms. I was assigned an upper bunk but as soon as they saw me, a 25 year old gave up her lower bunk. The accomodations are clean but small so it would be a challenge if there was a sour apple in the group.

It is very hard to see the poverty here and that children must live in such unsafe conditions is appalling. Apartheid is clearly not resolved here, but I keep my focus on the kids and I am very content at the end of the day. Well, that's it for now...I have already put some pictures up on FB for those of you who might be interested. Take good care, Elaine