Hello again! Alright, now
that the endless babble about “my new house” “my new town” “my new friends” is
over (Did anyone read that in a whiney child’s voice? Just me? Must be the influence
of the kids already…) here’s some information about the main reason I’m here –
volunteering.
First of all, Monday morning
we had a Xhosa (pronounced – Ku-Sa) lesson from a local woman named Connie. She
is also the one who comes in Monday – Thursday and tidies up the apartments and
prepares dinner, which we then heat up at night. So far all the food has been
pretty good! They’re lacking on the vegetables, but there’s always salad and
then we have fruit and other items available to us for breakfast and lunch –
and a grocery store nearby. The only way I can describe the language lesson is
OHHH MY GOSH, DISASTER; however, also so incredibly hilarious. It is nothing
comparable to English, Spanish, Italian, or anything else I’ve come across. It
may as well be Chinese (I’d say Greek, but my Greek friend actually did the
best because apparently the pronunciation and letter combinations are similar).
I can say hello! “Molo” – progress J
After the lesson Moses came
and picked us up for a tour of the 3 volunteer sites – Nursery (pre-school),
Grade R (kindergarten), and the Orphanage, which are all located in the same
township. I wish I had pictures because I don’t think there is any way to
describe it to truly do justice. Considering what I’m used to in America, when
we drove through I couldn’t help but be utterly shocked and rather overwhelmed.
In comparison to what I’ve grown up with and seen, these people live in unbearable
conditions and yet I haven’t seen ONE unhappy/sad/angry face. Material goods
aren’t important in the townships; it’s solely about pride in their community
and culture. They have salons, “restaurants” that are cooking meat and
vegetables, electronic stores, pharmacies, etc. But the buildings are stacked
one next to another and while a couple are made of cement or brick, a majority
are just rusty pieces of metal or slabs of wood nailed together into a
structure the size of my dorm rooms in college. We aren’t allowed to bring
cameras or phones on site (the program coordinators take pictures for us) so
I’ll have visual displays as soon as I can.
Okay last bit – the
orphanage, my project for at least the next 3 ½ weeks. There are 16 children in
total, 9 rambunctious little ones (all under the age of 8) and 7 special needs
children (all under the age of 12). There are 6 building on site, each with a different
purpose. There are care takers on site 24 hours a day so our job is really just
focused on the education and social behavior aspect of the kids day. We arrive
around 9am and from 9-10 we have song time where everyone sits in a circle and
we sing interactive games, then from 10-11 we have story time in small groups
(that doesn’t usually last the full hour as you can imagine) From 11-12 they
have snack time, and we do too haha, then from 12-1 they have class time.
During this time they break up into age groups and each volunteer has their own
students. I got placed with the special needs children, which at first I wasn’t
thrilled with because everyone knows how I love my toddlers, but after spending
an hour with them today and learning about their personalities/how I can help I
couldn’t be more honored to have this opportunity. They are each so unique, and
in their own way show so much gratitude for the smallest thing you do (for
instance – today I played peak-a-boo with a child who has cystic fibrosis so he
is bed ridden and can’t speak, I have never seen a bigger smile and happier
laugh!!!!) So every day for an hour I will spend time with each of these kids,
I have a few project ideas to do with a couple of them that I am going to run
by my coordinator tonight. Next we have lunch for an hour, then the other
volunteers take student 1 by 1 for individual help during which I get to play
with the other kids – bring on the toddler time! Around 4pm Moses brings us
home and we have free time/lesson planning/dinner. I think we also have social
events once a week, but I’ll keep you posted.
Okay, even I’m tired of what
I’ve said. But now everyone is up to speed! As I’ve said, internet is spotty
and apparently I have the wrong converter, so I’ll check back in early next
week to give an update of my cute kids and about my adventure of a weekend I
planned J Love and miss everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment