So, my Dad told me to make a post with some of my final thoughts and reflections on my trip. Since I'm sitting in the JoBerg airport with an hour to kill until my next flight, I figured I'd give it a shot.
These past 2 weeks have flown by, I don't know where the time went. We spent on weekend celebrating the Final Draw for the 2010 World Cup. It was incredibly, they estimate a little more than 30,000 people came downtown for the event. Everyone out in the streets, dressed up, singing, chanting, it was a really fun night. Crowded, but fun.
Then I had my last week with my children- horrible. I cried like everyday leading up to it, and hated saying bye to them. I told them all "ndiya kuthanda" (i love you) when I hugged and kissed their cheeks, they all said it back. Heart wrenching.
The last week is a complete blur. Had to see all the people I'd met in the city, travel to different places I hadn't seen yet, pack, souvenir shop, it was intense.
So now, I'm here, drinking my last glass of South African wine, crying like a baby, alone at the bar. yeah so there was no "reflection" in any of that was there? ok...
They tried to warn us when we signed up for this trip to have no expectations. But, come on, that's impossible. So I was expecting to come here, work with the kids, go home and sleep, wake up and do it again. I didn't realize how long 3 months really was, and I didn't know how attached I would get to my babies and to this city. NOt to mention the amazing people I've met in Cape Town especially my amazing roommates. No one else will be able to understand what we went though these past few months, in our soap opera like lives. I couldn't have asked for a more dedicated, caring, and genuine group of people in my entire life. Here come the tears again.
We would often come home and talk about our days, what happened, what kid threw up, who remembered how to do the ABC's, who had a temper tantrum. And I just want to remind each of you, that we didn't come here to change the world, but in Madi's words "we came here to change lives" and I truly believe that each of you were able to do that. Because I know you changed my life. I'll love you all.
Working with the children in Khayelitsha was an absolute blessing. I can remember spending my first day crying in the bathroom for like 20 minutes because I didn't know if I was strong enough to help these children. But day after day my relationship with them grew, and I realized that I can help them by simply showing up and hugging them, telling them how beautiful they are, playing with them, singing with them. It really is the small things that make a difference. Seeing my little Asiphe get accepted into real school, and thanking me for helping him with his colors because they asked him about that in the interview. Seeing my Zuzu smile is enough to break my heart in 2. Knowing that I helped tranfsorm their classroom in a space about learning, and a place they want to spend time in.
I don't know how good I am at this reflection thing, but I guess if I had to sum up my trip here...scratch that, it can't be summed up. But everyone at home- know that this will be the only thing I talk about for a very long time.
Time for a very long flight.
I love you.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
2 weeks exactly!
I can't believe I'm leaving in 2 weeks. And I only have one week left with my kids. Speaking of them, webshots is updated with tons of new pictures. Us in the classroom, at the park, and my newly decorated room!! I wasn't allowed to paint the room, which was my initial idea, because it's considered a "gift" (completely against policy) and my school couldn't afford to buy the supplies. So instead I brought in color to the room by redoing all their posters, and getting them laminated, adding tons of pictures of the kids, and a bunch of little small touches. I love it, and my teachers even cried when I finally unveiled it to them. It was so worth the work. I've become so close with not only my children, but my 2 teachers in my room. I'm going to a big braai (south african bbq) this weekend at one of their houses, and next week when school is over for the kids for summer break, they're all taking me out to lunch. So excited. But I also told them that on my last day, just sit me in the corner and send the kids over one by one to say goodbye and I"ll be crying the entire time. They were so sweet and understanding. They told me I was the first volunteer that actually put her heart into the children and the school. Needless to say I was crying already today at work.
Outside of work I've been spending most of my time out in the city with friends. The other day, and Mom this is ridiculous, two of my friends from the house, Madi & Jenna went up table mountain (a famous mountain that you can see from everywhere in the city) at sunset. It was soooo stunningly beautiful, we sat down and had a bottle of wine and watched it set. I sent my mom and text telling her what i was doing, thinking I'd get a nice response, like "oh wow, that sounds like fun, or I'm so glad you're enjoying yourself!" What did I get..."ok". For real Mom?!! haha, we got a huge laugh out of that together, so thanks I guess.
Madi and I also took it upon ourselves to cook Thanksgiving dinner for everyone. I honestly thought it would be easy. Don't worry, I already realize what a poor and wrong assumption that was. We started the night before, and even had to stay home from work to cook. We made 2 turkeys, obscene amounts of mashed potatoes, 2 kinds of stuffing, almond and onion green beans, brussels sprouts, rolls, 2 pumpkin pies, cookies and brownies. It was a lot of fun being in the house alone and listening to christmas music all day, especially because of the warm weather here, it does not feel like Christmas time. Even though all the measurements were off because we don't know how to convert to the metric here, we didn't have measuring cups, and the oven has an "on, off" button, thats it, not temperature...the dinner was definitely a success. And thanks to Rich, we had a gorgeous center piece. Thank you again, I loved the flowers.
As I'm sure everyone knows, the world cup is held here in South Africa next year, and the city is under constant construction to prepare. I'm really sad I won't be here for the games, but I am lucky enough to be here tomorrow for the final draw. It's downtown and its when the games will be picked, teams and everything. Its the last big event to happen before the games begin. So many people are in town this week for it. Streets are shut down, and all the festivities start tomorrow afternoon with the actual draw starting at 7. Big screens are set up all down an area called Long Street. Its all bars and restaurants and shops, the whole street is shut down to cars, and every bar will have a stand outside as well. They're expecting something like 20,000 people tomorrow. I'm stoked to say the least. I'll be sure to post pictures of it this weekend.
A couple of random things I've been meaning to tell people:
I get a lot of reading done here, with no tv...so I thought I'd share some of my favorites for my readers out there:
-The Other Hand - Chris Cleave - about a Nigerian refugee in England
-The Forgers Spell - Edward Dolnick - true story about a Vermeer scandal during WWII
-anything by Jodi Picoult, but here are the ones I've finished here
- The Tenth Circle
-Finding Faith (my favorite)
-My Sisters Keeper
-The Pact
-Nineteen Minutes (a lot of the other girls loved this one, I finished it, threw it against a wall and didn't want to talk to anyone for a good 24 hours. Read it and decide which side you fall on)
-The Dive from Clausen's Pier - Ann Packer
-anything by Chelsea Handler
-Say You're One of Them - Uwen Akpan
On another note, apparently something is wrong with my mac. My baby is apparently crapping out on me. My disc drive doesn't work (a major problem for those who know how much I love my movies and watch them constantly). And its saying my hard drive is full, I have no idea how that's possible. But pray that it lasts these next 2 weeks until I can get it home and looked at.
I'm sure there's a lot more I have to write, but my mind is going blank. Sorry readers!!!
See you all soon!! wow thats crazy to write because its actually true.
<3
Kel
imub
Outside of work I've been spending most of my time out in the city with friends. The other day, and Mom this is ridiculous, two of my friends from the house, Madi & Jenna went up table mountain (a famous mountain that you can see from everywhere in the city) at sunset. It was soooo stunningly beautiful, we sat down and had a bottle of wine and watched it set. I sent my mom and text telling her what i was doing, thinking I'd get a nice response, like "oh wow, that sounds like fun, or I'm so glad you're enjoying yourself!" What did I get..."ok". For real Mom?!! haha, we got a huge laugh out of that together, so thanks I guess.
Madi and I also took it upon ourselves to cook Thanksgiving dinner for everyone. I honestly thought it would be easy. Don't worry, I already realize what a poor and wrong assumption that was. We started the night before, and even had to stay home from work to cook. We made 2 turkeys, obscene amounts of mashed potatoes, 2 kinds of stuffing, almond and onion green beans, brussels sprouts, rolls, 2 pumpkin pies, cookies and brownies. It was a lot of fun being in the house alone and listening to christmas music all day, especially because of the warm weather here, it does not feel like Christmas time. Even though all the measurements were off because we don't know how to convert to the metric here, we didn't have measuring cups, and the oven has an "on, off" button, thats it, not temperature...the dinner was definitely a success. And thanks to Rich, we had a gorgeous center piece. Thank you again, I loved the flowers.
As I'm sure everyone knows, the world cup is held here in South Africa next year, and the city is under constant construction to prepare. I'm really sad I won't be here for the games, but I am lucky enough to be here tomorrow for the final draw. It's downtown and its when the games will be picked, teams and everything. Its the last big event to happen before the games begin. So many people are in town this week for it. Streets are shut down, and all the festivities start tomorrow afternoon with the actual draw starting at 7. Big screens are set up all down an area called Long Street. Its all bars and restaurants and shops, the whole street is shut down to cars, and every bar will have a stand outside as well. They're expecting something like 20,000 people tomorrow. I'm stoked to say the least. I'll be sure to post pictures of it this weekend.
A couple of random things I've been meaning to tell people:
I get a lot of reading done here, with no tv...so I thought I'd share some of my favorites for my readers out there:
-The Other Hand - Chris Cleave - about a Nigerian refugee in England
-The Forgers Spell - Edward Dolnick - true story about a Vermeer scandal during WWII
-anything by Jodi Picoult, but here are the ones I've finished here
- The Tenth Circle
-Finding Faith (my favorite)
-My Sisters Keeper
-The Pact
-Nineteen Minutes (a lot of the other girls loved this one, I finished it, threw it against a wall and didn't want to talk to anyone for a good 24 hours. Read it and decide which side you fall on)
-The Dive from Clausen's Pier - Ann Packer
-anything by Chelsea Handler
-Say You're One of Them - Uwen Akpan
On another note, apparently something is wrong with my mac. My baby is apparently crapping out on me. My disc drive doesn't work (a major problem for those who know how much I love my movies and watch them constantly). And its saying my hard drive is full, I have no idea how that's possible. But pray that it lasts these next 2 weeks until I can get it home and looked at.
I'm sure there's a lot more I have to write, but my mind is going blank. Sorry readers!!!
See you all soon!! wow thats crazy to write because its actually true.
<3
Kel
imub
Monday, November 16, 2009
big news!!
So, I've fallen in love. With 14 adorable, surprising, fun and smart kids. They're the reason I've decided to extend my trip an extra month. I can't imagine leaving them right now, I want to finish out the school here with the kids. So instead of leaving this weekend, I'll see everyone at christmas time, I fly home December 19th. Concord friends- enjoy wednesday night before thanksgiving!!
So in other news...
I survived bungee jumping!! and actually loved it so much, I went a second time and that time dove off backwards. Incredible. The jump is the third biggest in the world, and the largest commercial bridge jump in the world coming in at just over 700 feet. I boight the DVD of my jump and can't wait to show everyone. I sent my Dad a message from the top of the bridge (it was the weekend Dallas BEAT the eagles bahahaha eagles fans)
The jump was soooo much fun, I recommend everyone do it once in their life. Besides the bungee we also got to go and see white tigers and even got a chance to pet one! This is a big deal because there are no more white tigers left in the wild, so it was a really rare chance to see one. I even had the opportunity to ride an ostrich. Sounds weird...it was ten times weirder to actually do it. The things are so fast and can kill you with one stratch. Don't know if I would ever do that again, but it was a fun experience.
New people arrived in the house again this weekend. 9 more girls! Its crazy, thats really all I can say about that one.
This is a really random post, sorry.
But since I'll be here over thanksgiving, I'd love if people could send me some of their recipes. We have to cook the dinner for the staff (since they don't know what it is obviously) and myself and Madi have designated ourselves the chefs for the night. Please help!!!
I'll be adding new pictures to webshots within the next few days so be sure to check back soon!
Love you guys!!
K
imub
So in other news...
I survived bungee jumping!! and actually loved it so much, I went a second time and that time dove off backwards. Incredible. The jump is the third biggest in the world, and the largest commercial bridge jump in the world coming in at just over 700 feet. I boight the DVD of my jump and can't wait to show everyone. I sent my Dad a message from the top of the bridge (it was the weekend Dallas BEAT the eagles bahahaha eagles fans)
The jump was soooo much fun, I recommend everyone do it once in their life. Besides the bungee we also got to go and see white tigers and even got a chance to pet one! This is a big deal because there are no more white tigers left in the wild, so it was a really rare chance to see one. I even had the opportunity to ride an ostrich. Sounds weird...it was ten times weirder to actually do it. The things are so fast and can kill you with one stratch. Don't know if I would ever do that again, but it was a fun experience.
New people arrived in the house again this weekend. 9 more girls! Its crazy, thats really all I can say about that one.
This is a really random post, sorry.
But since I'll be here over thanksgiving, I'd love if people could send me some of their recipes. We have to cook the dinner for the staff (since they don't know what it is obviously) and myself and Madi have designated ourselves the chefs for the night. Please help!!!
I'll be adding new pictures to webshots within the next few days so be sure to check back soon!
Love you guys!!
K
imub
Thursday, November 5, 2009
I'm really bad at this...
Apparently posting pictures wasn't enough, so here's a real post, and another apology for being so bad at blogging.
So much has been going on over the past 2 weeks that I'm not even sure where to begin.
-Work is amazing. My day basically starts at 7:45 and after an hour car ride I arrive in the township of Kyahelitsha, where my school is located. The kids arrive at 9 each morning and we start the day with a few simple routines. We go over the weather, colors, and items in the class room- door, mirror, chair, desk, cupboard, clock, roof, rug, floor, crayons, toys, ect. Then the kids each draw a picture and have to share with the class what they drew and why. Then we usually have tea time, where the kids have a quick bag of chips or cup of yogurt and the teachers get a cup of tea. Then we start the major activity for the day, making and decorating masks from paper plates, water therapy, massages, making instruments out of canisters and jugs from coffee and paper towel tubes. I have several more activities planned for the next 2 weeks but let me know if you have any ideas!!! Then we'll usually do one more small activity, music, or hygiene or a group game before we have lunch. This part is always strange to me because some kids will have a full meal, from the looks of it, left overs from dinner the night before, and then some kids bring in an entire loaf of bread, and that's it. While some kids don't have anything so there's a Mom who cooks for all those kids, usually some form of oatmeal. By this time we're around noon, if its nice out the kids go outside and we have recess for a half an hour, otherwise we play inside and let the kids run the show. I get picked up around 12:30 each day and head home for lunch at the home base with all the other volunteers.
After lunch a few days a week, I get back in the van for another hour car ride for a few hours of more volunteering. I head to a different school, this time a day care center where I tutor or just spend time with kids whose parents are still at work. I love this part of my day because since these kids are older most can speak English and love to interact and talk. I also go here with my friend Madi (the first person I met in the Dulles airport!!) which is really comforting having a fellow volunteer with you through everything. Sometimes its tough when you're the only person at your placement because I'll have a bad day and no one fully understands why. I want to come home and talk about how I couldn't get through to Noluthando today because she seemed to be in the worst mood and wouldn't even look at me, or something like that. Or how a kid chewed up his food and spit it in my hair just for the fun of it and when I asked a teacher to please scold him or ask for advice, they beat the child. Little things can make a great day take a terrible turn quickly. But over all I love my job and especially my kids. 2 of my students have gotten accepted to real school starting in February!! I'm so happy for them, I knew they could do it. We've been practicing and studying with them for the past few weeks to prepare them for their interview. I'm so proud.
-The home base has been a very confusing place recently. We've had a new group of volunteers, about 12 of them come into the home and it has drastically changed the dynamic of the house. Several volunteers that I came here with have decided (or forced in a few cases) to leave the program. 6 have left since the new group, and about 4 have left because their time was up and they had to go back to the states. I feel like we go out for a goodbye dinner every night! I'm emotionally drained, not to mention I know have a cold and strep throat. I've been home sick for the past 3 days and I'm sooooo restless. But tomorrow we're taking the kids to the aquarium!! I can't wait, none of the children have ever been there and neither have any of my fellow teachers! I'll definitely bring my camera and share this awesome day with everyone.
-Outside of the house and work I'm also having a great time getting to know cape town and all the people it has to offer. I've made great friends with a few UCT girls, and I'm so sad about having to leave them already. They're so great and just love to have fun and help me explore the city. It's amazing. Last weekend me and some of the other volunteers conquered our fears and went sky diving!!! 9000 feet above the city we jumped out of a plane. Insane. But this weekend is the big one...the garden route, where we drive for 6 hours outside the city and go bungee jumping off the biggest commercial jump in the word. Over 700 feet high. Wish me luck and make sure you keep in touch with my Mom this weekend as I'm sure she'll be holding her breath until I call safely from the ground.
It's hard to believe I'm already on my count down until I come home, but I can't wait to see everyone at Thanksgiving and share all my pictures and videos.
Hope everyone had a great time at Homecoming last weekend CUA, can't believe I missed such a big weekend! And a very special shout out to Rich, happy birthday baby.
<3 Kel
So much has been going on over the past 2 weeks that I'm not even sure where to begin.
-Work is amazing. My day basically starts at 7:45 and after an hour car ride I arrive in the township of Kyahelitsha, where my school is located. The kids arrive at 9 each morning and we start the day with a few simple routines. We go over the weather, colors, and items in the class room- door, mirror, chair, desk, cupboard, clock, roof, rug, floor, crayons, toys, ect. Then the kids each draw a picture and have to share with the class what they drew and why. Then we usually have tea time, where the kids have a quick bag of chips or cup of yogurt and the teachers get a cup of tea. Then we start the major activity for the day, making and decorating masks from paper plates, water therapy, massages, making instruments out of canisters and jugs from coffee and paper towel tubes. I have several more activities planned for the next 2 weeks but let me know if you have any ideas!!! Then we'll usually do one more small activity, music, or hygiene or a group game before we have lunch. This part is always strange to me because some kids will have a full meal, from the looks of it, left overs from dinner the night before, and then some kids bring in an entire loaf of bread, and that's it. While some kids don't have anything so there's a Mom who cooks for all those kids, usually some form of oatmeal. By this time we're around noon, if its nice out the kids go outside and we have recess for a half an hour, otherwise we play inside and let the kids run the show. I get picked up around 12:30 each day and head home for lunch at the home base with all the other volunteers.
After lunch a few days a week, I get back in the van for another hour car ride for a few hours of more volunteering. I head to a different school, this time a day care center where I tutor or just spend time with kids whose parents are still at work. I love this part of my day because since these kids are older most can speak English and love to interact and talk. I also go here with my friend Madi (the first person I met in the Dulles airport!!) which is really comforting having a fellow volunteer with you through everything. Sometimes its tough when you're the only person at your placement because I'll have a bad day and no one fully understands why. I want to come home and talk about how I couldn't get through to Noluthando today because she seemed to be in the worst mood and wouldn't even look at me, or something like that. Or how a kid chewed up his food and spit it in my hair just for the fun of it and when I asked a teacher to please scold him or ask for advice, they beat the child. Little things can make a great day take a terrible turn quickly. But over all I love my job and especially my kids. 2 of my students have gotten accepted to real school starting in February!! I'm so happy for them, I knew they could do it. We've been practicing and studying with them for the past few weeks to prepare them for their interview. I'm so proud.
-The home base has been a very confusing place recently. We've had a new group of volunteers, about 12 of them come into the home and it has drastically changed the dynamic of the house. Several volunteers that I came here with have decided (or forced in a few cases) to leave the program. 6 have left since the new group, and about 4 have left because their time was up and they had to go back to the states. I feel like we go out for a goodbye dinner every night! I'm emotionally drained, not to mention I know have a cold and strep throat. I've been home sick for the past 3 days and I'm sooooo restless. But tomorrow we're taking the kids to the aquarium!! I can't wait, none of the children have ever been there and neither have any of my fellow teachers! I'll definitely bring my camera and share this awesome day with everyone.
-Outside of the house and work I'm also having a great time getting to know cape town and all the people it has to offer. I've made great friends with a few UCT girls, and I'm so sad about having to leave them already. They're so great and just love to have fun and help me explore the city. It's amazing. Last weekend me and some of the other volunteers conquered our fears and went sky diving!!! 9000 feet above the city we jumped out of a plane. Insane. But this weekend is the big one...the garden route, where we drive for 6 hours outside the city and go bungee jumping off the biggest commercial jump in the word. Over 700 feet high. Wish me luck and make sure you keep in touch with my Mom this weekend as I'm sure she'll be holding her breath until I call safely from the ground.
It's hard to believe I'm already on my count down until I come home, but I can't wait to see everyone at Thanksgiving and share all my pictures and videos.
Hope everyone had a great time at Homecoming last weekend CUA, can't believe I missed such a big weekend! And a very special shout out to Rich, happy birthday baby.
<3 Kel
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
pictures!!!
http://community.webshots.com/user/kellyincapetown
This is the address for my new webshots account, for some reason I can't figure out how to make it a link, so just copy and paste it to see it. sorry.
The first album is from a tour of the city we took, I'll definitely be adding pictures to this as I go.
The next is some of the kids that I tutor in the afternoons.
Then there's some pictures of a township called Langha. The pictures do it no justice. This isn't the township I usually work in, but it gives you a sense of what these people's living conditions are.
And lastly there's an album from my 23rd birthday. We spent the day up the street at a semi final rugby match with the home team, the Spring Boks versus the Sharks. The sharks are apparently one of the best rugby club teams, we were suppose to get crushed. And while we did eventually lose, it was an amazing game. The crowd was so into it and I just had a great time. (the sharks went on to win the while tournament the next week).
This is the address for my new webshots account, for some reason I can't figure out how to make it a link, so just copy and paste it to see it. sorry.
The first album is from a tour of the city we took, I'll definitely be adding pictures to this as I go.
The next is some of the kids that I tutor in the afternoons.
Then there's some pictures of a township called Langha. The pictures do it no justice. This isn't the township I usually work in, but it gives you a sense of what these people's living conditions are.
And lastly there's an album from my 23rd birthday. We spent the day up the street at a semi final rugby match with the home team, the Spring Boks versus the Sharks. The sharks are apparently one of the best rugby club teams, we were suppose to get crushed. And while we did eventually lose, it was an amazing game. The crowd was so into it and I just had a great time. (the sharks went on to win the while tournament the next week).
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
go phillies!!!!
Wow, I didn't realize how much time had passed since my last post. I'm sorry, it is a total whirl wind here.
I've moved to my permanent placement for work- it's a small school for mentally and physically disabled children whose parents need help taking care of them during the work day. I'm in a class room of 17 kids, ranging in ages from 5 to 16 all with varying challenges. The kids are great, so enthusiastic and willing to try anything. My biggest problem is not the different capacities of each kid, but the language barrier. Everything has to be "show" there's no "tell" in my classroom because they just stare with blank faces. Most of the kids speak xhosa (I don't know how to tell you how to pronounce this phonetically because the xh is pronounced with a specific "click"). We take language lessons, but its only an hour once a week, so I can only say veeerrry few phrases. Molo Sisi!!!! Is greeting for girls, they all giggle when I say that to them. This past weekend was a big internationa kite flying festival downtown that benefited my school. A day before the festival several of the people came to a local park and demonstrated the kites for the kids.
they were in heaven, it was so much fun. THey each got a mini kite of there own and had a ball.
she loves to pose for the camera, I have about 15 similar pics to this one.
Another difficulty with my school is that it isn't even a school as we know it. It is completely community based and ran as a non profit. So there are no trained teachers, or resources, we depend on the mothers in the community and donations such as the kite festival to help the kids. My classroom is small, but we have a few tables and enough chairs for everyone. I've bought crayons and paper and a few other small puzzles for the kids to play with. In the mean time I've begun to evaluate the kids on an individual basis to determine the best course of action for their education. I never thought I would have the opportunity to do so, and I'm certainly not sure if I'm the best person to be doing this- but honestly, I'm the only one who wants to. I truly believe these kids can be taught and I want to give them the best life possible. The smallest change in this school can make a huge impact on their lives. I want to give the program something that will last once I'm gone, something that can help them reach more kids than just my 17.
On a lighter note,
I swam with great white sharks.
pause for my Mom to catch her breath...
It was the most exciting and exhilarating thing I've ever done. We drove about 3 hours down to the word capital of great white sharks, took a short boat ride out, them started throwing fish over board and waited for the fins to appear. Then, we got in wet suits and jumped in a big cage and waited. It was amazing. There were about 4 around our boat including a baby shark. It was cute, I guess for a shark. The biggest one was about 9 feet long. I'm waiting for my underwater camera to get developed. Then we went out further and went looking for whales. We found a mother and her calf and got sooo close, they swam right under our boat. i bought the dvd of our dive, so we'll have to have a big party when I get home and we can catch my freak out together.
I've been spending a lot of time with my roommates, bonding and taking in all the sights of the city. We went to a local open air market and haggled with all the vendors. I've been buying tons of presents for everyone at one...speaking of presents...
My birthday is this weekend!!!! the big 2-3. We're having a bbq in our backyard then walking downtown to the rugby stadium for a sod out semi final game. I'm going to buy a jersey tomorrow, we're painting faces and definitely going to have a good time. everyone here is really nice, I love getting the chance to meet and become friends with people from all over, so I'm in heaven right now. There's about 26 of in the house right now, and we're getting 4 more next week putting us at full capacity. I share a bathroom with 6 other people right now, so I can't imagine adding anyone else to that line.
Not only does turning 23 make me feel old, but it's 9.30 pm and I can barely keep my eyes open. On that note, goodnight, I'll post more soon (for real this time).
imub.
I've moved to my permanent placement for work- it's a small school for mentally and physically disabled children whose parents need help taking care of them during the work day. I'm in a class room of 17 kids, ranging in ages from 5 to 16 all with varying challenges. The kids are great, so enthusiastic and willing to try anything. My biggest problem is not the different capacities of each kid, but the language barrier. Everything has to be "show" there's no "tell" in my classroom because they just stare with blank faces. Most of the kids speak xhosa (I don't know how to tell you how to pronounce this phonetically because the xh is pronounced with a specific "click"). We take language lessons, but its only an hour once a week, so I can only say veeerrry few phrases. Molo Sisi!!!! Is greeting for girls, they all giggle when I say that to them. This past weekend was a big internationa kite flying festival downtown that benefited my school. A day before the festival several of the people came to a local park and demonstrated the kites for the kids.
they were in heaven, it was so much fun. THey each got a mini kite of there own and had a ball.
she loves to pose for the camera, I have about 15 similar pics to this one.
Another difficulty with my school is that it isn't even a school as we know it. It is completely community based and ran as a non profit. So there are no trained teachers, or resources, we depend on the mothers in the community and donations such as the kite festival to help the kids. My classroom is small, but we have a few tables and enough chairs for everyone. I've bought crayons and paper and a few other small puzzles for the kids to play with. In the mean time I've begun to evaluate the kids on an individual basis to determine the best course of action for their education. I never thought I would have the opportunity to do so, and I'm certainly not sure if I'm the best person to be doing this- but honestly, I'm the only one who wants to. I truly believe these kids can be taught and I want to give them the best life possible. The smallest change in this school can make a huge impact on their lives. I want to give the program something that will last once I'm gone, something that can help them reach more kids than just my 17.
On a lighter note,
I swam with great white sharks.
pause for my Mom to catch her breath...
It was the most exciting and exhilarating thing I've ever done. We drove about 3 hours down to the word capital of great white sharks, took a short boat ride out, them started throwing fish over board and waited for the fins to appear. Then, we got in wet suits and jumped in a big cage and waited. It was amazing. There were about 4 around our boat including a baby shark. It was cute, I guess for a shark. The biggest one was about 9 feet long. I'm waiting for my underwater camera to get developed. Then we went out further and went looking for whales. We found a mother and her calf and got sooo close, they swam right under our boat. i bought the dvd of our dive, so we'll have to have a big party when I get home and we can catch my freak out together.
I've been spending a lot of time with my roommates, bonding and taking in all the sights of the city. We went to a local open air market and haggled with all the vendors. I've been buying tons of presents for everyone at one...speaking of presents...
My birthday is this weekend!!!! the big 2-3. We're having a bbq in our backyard then walking downtown to the rugby stadium for a sod out semi final game. I'm going to buy a jersey tomorrow, we're painting faces and definitely going to have a good time. everyone here is really nice, I love getting the chance to meet and become friends with people from all over, so I'm in heaven right now. There's about 26 of in the house right now, and we're getting 4 more next week putting us at full capacity. I share a bathroom with 6 other people right now, so I can't imagine adding anyone else to that line.
Not only does turning 23 make me feel old, but it's 9.30 pm and I can barely keep my eyes open. On that note, goodnight, I'll post more soon (for real this time).
imub.
Friday, October 2, 2009
first week down
So my first week in Cape Town is over, and I have to say I'm obsessed.
The city is incredibly unique and the people are really exciting. This week has been a whirl wind of meetings, tours and getting acclimated with the city. The kids are on school holiday this week (spring break-esq) so I didn't get to go to my actual placement yet, but I did have a great experience. I went to a day care center for kids whose parents are working so they couldn't stay home alone. I watched about 25 6-16 year old students. I went in every morning, we had prayer, and introductions (yes, everyday because these names are ridiculously hard to pronounce and remember). Then we had a game time where we played American games like Simon Says, The Sun Shines On, and they also showed me some fun south African games. Then after a quick break we usually had an activity about teen pregnancy, AIDS, or some other educational session.
i became obsessed with a couple of the boys and pretty much fell in love. Today they performed traditional African music and even let me participate. The kids were so excited to share their culture with me. I gave them my digital camera at one point, and let me just say, they were hooked, my memory card is full. I'll definitely be adding some of those pictures shortly. Even after just a few days, I'm already attached. Since I start my work at another school next week, I had to say goodbye. But luckily I have permission to go back to this school and work after lunch a couple times a week. I'm really happy I'll be able to stay in these kids lives for a couple more months.
Have to keep this post short, I just took 2 tylenol pm and I'm about to pass out because we have an early 5 am wake up call for SHARK CAGE DIVING tomorrow!!!! Ahh I can't wait. I'll be sure to update after my first big adventure tomorrow!
love,
Kel
The city is incredibly unique and the people are really exciting. This week has been a whirl wind of meetings, tours and getting acclimated with the city. The kids are on school holiday this week (spring break-esq) so I didn't get to go to my actual placement yet, but I did have a great experience. I went to a day care center for kids whose parents are working so they couldn't stay home alone. I watched about 25 6-16 year old students. I went in every morning, we had prayer, and introductions (yes, everyday because these names are ridiculously hard to pronounce and remember). Then we had a game time where we played American games like Simon Says, The Sun Shines On, and they also showed me some fun south African games. Then after a quick break we usually had an activity about teen pregnancy, AIDS, or some other educational session.
i became obsessed with a couple of the boys and pretty much fell in love. Today they performed traditional African music and even let me participate. The kids were so excited to share their culture with me. I gave them my digital camera at one point, and let me just say, they were hooked, my memory card is full. I'll definitely be adding some of those pictures shortly. Even after just a few days, I'm already attached. Since I start my work at another school next week, I had to say goodbye. But luckily I have permission to go back to this school and work after lunch a couple times a week. I'm really happy I'll be able to stay in these kids lives for a couple more months.
Have to keep this post short, I just took 2 tylenol pm and I'm about to pass out because we have an early 5 am wake up call for SHARK CAGE DIVING tomorrow!!!! Ahh I can't wait. I'll be sure to update after my first big adventure tomorrow!
love,
Kel
Monday, September 28, 2009
"you would not believe your eyes"
So I'm not really sure how to write this post.
Yesterday was amazing, we had orientation in the morning, a big bbq in our backyard and then went for a driving tour around the cape. the city is absolutely beautiful, mountains on one side and the most stunning white beaches on the other. the city was full of old and new buildings, skyscrapers, small shops, people, and i saw my first wild zebra! The house is gorgeous, incredibly old and so big. Apparently some famous writer used to live here and she was famous for some illustrious affair with an artist. It's actually an historical site. After a quick walk around our local neighborhood, we had a big dinner then hung around the house, played cards, shared music, showed pictures, unpacked and just settled in.
The people are all unique hailing from all over the US and UK. There are about 10 volunteers who have been here for a while and 11 new ones that started with me. I'm sharing a big bedroom with 5 other girls, and one bathroom! umm...yeah, not so fun. Especially because I have the top bunk, super lame.
Which I suppose brings me to the hard part...today.
We were split into 2 groups and sent on a driving/walking tour of the townships in Cape Town. I went on the morning tour, and had a leader named Richard who was from the cape and grew up in one of the townships, Langa. Our driver, David was also from the city, but grew up in District 6 (I'll get back to the significance of this in a bit).
There is so much history behind this city. While I had researched, read and known of many of the misfortunes of this city, nothing could have prepared me for today. There was so much more that went into the racial discrimination in south africa then I found on the internet and in the books. I want to share them with you, but honestly, writing them like this seems to be trivializing them. When I get home, I promise to share what I learned about the history. But look it up yourself and read all you can, the stories are incredibly moving. Just a few stories that hit me the hardest: the government would set up their people and put them in positions to kill them. At one time it was illegal for a group of 7 or more black boys to be in a group, but 7 boys were told they were being taken to a job interview and when they reached a road block, it turned out it was all set up and the driver led them straight to soldiers waiting to shoot them. Just a year before the apartheid ended, a young Stanford girl was stoned and stabbed to death because she was mistaken for a white south african visiting the townships where it was considered a no-go for whites. And today, her parents work along side her actual killers to try and end racism. The lies and corruption that occurred during apartheid is mind boggling. But today, South Africans only want the truth. Anyone with any information about what took place during those years, must step forward and share every detail, and will be granted amnesty. But if they are found to be hiding anything, or do not step forward are sentenced to prison. Right now there are about 20 people in prison for covering up their actions, but there are countless people who have been granted amnesty. South Africans only want truth, I think that's so brave and incredibly moving.
Back to my tour: There are really no words that can describe the poverty I saw today. there is really no way of knowing how many people are living in townships in cape town, but the one I was in today has about 60,000 people, but only room for 10,000. It's called Langa, and is one of the oldest townships in SA and Cape Town. I have never seen or being exposed or even knew that poverty existed on this level. I almost feel bad for writing this because I do not have the words to describe the emotions I felt, the houses I saw, or the people I encountered. But I will say this, above anything else, the people were friendly and smiling, we were invited into homes. People want to share their stories in the hopes that world knowledge will ultimately change the situation. I am not naive, this will not happen in my lifetime, but hopefully with time and education, this unbearable conditions will be bettered. While in SA there is finally a democratic government, the poverty has already hurt future generations. HIV and AIDS, crime, drug abuse, and so many other external forces affect this population.
I'll attach a few pictures, but I do not want to be disrespectful of the people I met today. I refused to take pictures inside homes, and never took a picture of a person without asking for permission. I want to share these because I want you to know what's occurring here, and what I'm doing here.
I haven't read over this post, and I'm sure it is very confusing. But I just wanted to jot a couple things down while they were fresh in my mind. As the days go by, and I spend more time in the townships and with the people, I'm sure I'll have more concrete and understandable posts. But for now, I hope at the least this will spark your interest as it has mine.
Love,
Kel
Sunday, September 27, 2009
day 1
So I finally made it to my house in cape town. let me just say, that I was completely right and there is no way that the plane could make it all the way to joburg without some kind of issue (steven and mom). and wow, look at that we stopped on senegal! boom.
secondly, opting for a window seat, bad call...on south african airs, there's a gap between the seat and the wall so that whole brilliant plan of being able to lean and sleep comfortably, gone. the food blew, and my company was a bunch of old people traveling the world, needless to say they needed help with the movie screens in front of us, and they wanted to talk about life. seriously.
but other than that, I got to meet 3 girls I would be living with and we were able to connect right away. So it was nice walking into the house with some other new people.
The house is huge, granted it was dark and raining when we pulled up, but from what I could see in my jet lagged haze, its gorgeous. Big yard, fenced in, guards out front. I'm living in a loft with 5 other girls and we share one bathroom!! Everyone in my room is 21 and up and all just arrived as well.
I'm about to head down for breakfast before I start orientation all day, then hopefully I'll get some time to go out in the city. Oh and another plus...my mac charger for some reason isn't working. Luckily I'm borrowing another girls, but I guess that's just an excuse to go shopping. gotta look on the bright side.
Love you all
Kel
Friday, September 25, 2009
Here goes nothin
So I'm sitting at the airport basically four hours early, while this may seem a little extreme to some, I've missed one too many flights in my travels ( aka coming home from Poland). So my mom, rich and I are here trying to delay sending me back to my gate. I'm definitely excited, nervous, sick to my stomach, happy...plus pretty much every other emotions you can imagine all rolled into one.
I land tomorrow night and I'll try and update as soon as I can.
Thanks for all the calls and well wishes
kel
I land tomorrow night and I'll try and update as soon as I can.
Thanks for all the calls and well wishes
kel
Thursday, September 24, 2009
blog etiquette
if you click the "follow" button on the right of this page, you'll get an email update every time I update the blog. do it.
1 day before departure
Ahhh...
So I"m just about 24 hours away from leaving for Africa and I am beyond overwhelmed. This is almost ridiculous. I guess I can give some background information for anyone who isn't familiar with my new adventure.
I'm headed to Cape Town, South Africa for 2 months to volunteer with Cross Cultural Solutions. I'll be living in the city but volunteering in the townships. For anyone who doesn't know what that is, educate yourself and look it up. My job is teaching special needs children. And that's all I know. No clue how old they are, how many kids, what their disabilities are, or if they can even speak english. Needless to say this is definitely where the anxiety is coming from.
Even though I'm incredibly scared, I cannot wait to get to SA. Cape Town (from everything I've researched and from friends who have visited) sounds like the most beautiful city. I already plan to go on a safari, go shark diving (!!), hiking, dancing and enjoying the nightlife. I'm stoked to say the least.
Back to today...
so far I've packed up my apartment (hell), sold my car ($250 big ones, thank you man at exxon), and pretty much uprooted my entire life for this.
I fly tomorrow from Dulles, and after a loooong 20 some hour flight, I get in late Saturday night. I'll try and set up Internet asap and start documenting my life as it unfolds. No guarantees how often I'll be able to share things with you, how interesting they'll be, or lets be honest, how funny and entertaining my writing will be, but I'll try.
love always,
and holy shit wish me luck,
Kelly
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