Disgustingly inspired.

The Roedean Girls

Wow. It’s been an amazing week. I feel so…inspired (thus the title of this blog). We just finished hosting a group of high school girls from Johannesburg (Grade 11) at my organization. They came to the village to stay for five days to help with projects at our centres but more than that it was about learning and growing. Seeing what life in rural South Africa is like because, although they live in the same country, it’s a different world out here where water is scarce, poverty is rampant and life can be really difficult.


I have to say I was terribly impressed. They were a great group of 15 dynamic girls who really wanted to be here and learn. They jumped right in and were great with the kids…making fast friends and easy connections despite the language barrier. I was deeply inspired and it renewed my energy. And, I got to teach them a little bit of yoga! 

We set up a blog where the girls recorded their thoughts during the week which I will put a link"(see my links to the right) to if you are interested in reading about their journey (plus, I am going to put up all of the pictures there so you can see how much fun we had)!

Oh, and I told them all about you – my wonderful friends and family back home.

I love and miss you all.

When you can't beat 'em...

Next week we have a group of girls from a private school in Johannesburg visiting the project where I work. For the past couple of years, my organization has hosted 15-20 girls from this school.  The girls spend 5 days doing a community service project in the villages. This is my first year helping/planning/preparing. It’s been quite...interesting. I am dealing with a very “western” thinking school from Johannesburg and the planning has been done using spreadsheets and lists and I am totally into it (because I haven’t had this much structure since leaving my job).

But then I bring these spreadsheets and schedules back to the volunteers and staff at my organization and, honestly, there isn't much interest in using them. At all.  Everything is somehow, magically done without writing anything down. Although there are a couple that seem interested so I must take baby steps. And deep breaths. 

Anyway, today I decided instead to not sweat it and sang songs with the kids. We sang the “right arm, left arm” song and then the “I love you, you love me” one? I felt a lot better after that. Who cares about spreadsheets and schedules anyway, right?


I’m kidding. I’ll get back to planning later.

Coming home.

I have been away from my site for the past couple of weeks (thus the reason for my lack of blog posts - my deepest apologies all you thousands of followers). But this weekend I came home. It feels strange to say that I was making my way "back home" since most of the time I still feel like a visitor here but maybe I am making more headway than I think because I actually got hugs (yes, actual embraces) from people after being gone - they seemed to miss me!? And I was really happy to see everyone. In fact, I didn’t even mind my bucket bath this morning. And, you know, walking to the pit latrine in the morning does allow you to greet your neighbors which is a perk that you don’t get when you have a bathroom in your actual house?

Doing some math.

I find that the times that I am most content/fulfilled/happy come when I am just hanging out with the kids. I have developed a little following of “students” that like when I give them math problems – you know, basic addition, subtraction, multiplication stuff. At first I started just writing them on a piece of scrap paper but then I got them interested in using the computer where there is a math game that we can play (and they find the robot that says “Good Job!” or “Well done!” quite amusing). So then our math games evolved into me making up short “tests” which consist of me giving them a few questions such as “What color is the sky?” and “Who is the President of South Africa?” After the test, I check their answers. It's quite fun and they seem to enjoy it. Plus, it gives me a chance to practice some language while also helping the kids with their English.
So if anyone has any math flash cards or also word/picture flash cards (with basic English words on one side with a picture of the item on the other to donate), please send them my way.  And, yes, I am wearing one of the terrible skirts that I seem to wear all the time now. 

Success.

Life is difficult here. And for the children that visit our drop-in centers it can be extremely tough. Many not only live in poverty but they don’t always have the constitent support of family (which is why they come to the center because they usually live with only one parent or have lost both parents and live with a foster carer). When you don’t have someone cheering you on to get an education or work hard it’s tough to be motivated (unless you just are driven of course which is difficult when there are so many obstacles). Many of the kids have to help take care of other siblings and just getting basic needs met is the first order of the day. So, at the centers we try to help with education (in addition to the basic needs) as much as we can – we have over 550 kids that visit the seven centers that I am helping (across 7 different villages) so it’s a challenge. For many of these kids, just passing the 12th grade is huge accomplishment (many drop out of school before the 12th grade or just don’t pass).
One of the children who attended our centers as she was growing up (a great success story) is now attending a private University in Johannesburg with some wonderful support. She has been back in the village during the World Cup school break helping at the centers and it’s been such a motivation for me to get to know her. She’s only 18 but is quite well-spoken and is extremely motivated. On Friday, there was a journalist who visited that will be writing an article about her (and the University that she now attends). Hopefully, I will be able to share when it comes out. 

On a side note, I took some great pictures with the kids but my camera is on the fritz these will have to wait.  Hopefully I can recover them.  Luckily, there was also a photographer here so he promised to send some along. 


 

Courage.

Sometimes it’s strange to look ahead to the weekend and know that you don’t really have a lot going on?  I had a group of about 10 American volunteers come to visit my site last Friday. They are in South Africa for a short volunteer program. I would call their volunteering like a mini “vacation.” They are living in one of the most beautiful towns in South Africa. In a house. With running water. And flush toilets. Where everyone speaks English. And, most importantly, they have each other. But, I do admire their courageous spirit to come to another country to do volunteer work. It’s all good. Anyway, they wanted to visit my village as some of them are contemplating joining the Peace Corps. It was great to have them come and see my organization and visit my little house. Hopefully I gave them some helpful advice/insight. I really enjoyed talking to them and was impressed with their knowledge after such a short time in the country.  But, as they were asking questions it helped to remind me how courageous all Peace Corps volunteers are…myself included. It also reminded me how little I had to do that weekend as they drove away in their car.  And I stayed in my village. :)

It is HERE.

I imagine you have all heard that the World Cup is in South Africa. Yes, FEEL IT.  IT IS HERE (this is said all of the time). I admit that I didn’t really watch soccer that much prior to coming here but I have watched more soccer in this last month than probably in my entire lifetime. Well, that’s not true. I have listened to a lot of soccer (thanks to my reliable radio) and watched a little bit (thanks to a fabulous host this weekend). Including, yes, attending a game. I couldn’t go back to the states having been here during this monumental occasion and not attend a game? Are you crazy? It has been quite fun being part of all of the discussions (some in Sotho) and excitement even through the sadness of Bafana, Bafana getting eliminated. Have you heard about this thing called a vuvuzela (in one of my pictures below at the match that I attended).  Oh, and it was freezing.  Yes, it's cold in South Africa right now. 

We also had a wonderful event at my organization for the children. We hosted a “World Cup” Soccer Tournament to coincide with the start of the World Cup. The tournament was open to the children who visit our drop-in centers.  We had a tournament (with prizes!), provided lunch and had an awards ceremony...it was really a great day. In an effort to build awareness, interest and understanding about how the World Cup works, we have also been sharing information with the children at the centers during the World Cup school closures.  Here are a couple of pictures from the tournament day.  I need to post more as I have some really great pictures of the day!

The World Cup has been a once in a lifetime opportunity for South Africans. Whether you like soccer or not, it has brought together a country of soccer fans.  I wonder who will win?