Tuesday, June 11

This morning we woke up to frost on the ground. Um, what?? We are in Africa, how is this happening?

Our schoolyard, with frost!

I went to the Day Care today (as I do every Tuesday) and they were all cute in their their scarves and hats and gloves, something that you would expect to see in Africa.

When I came back to school I got to play with one of our school volunteer's baby. Esther had found some children from our school wandering the streets today while she was doing some house visits, so she updated me on that and a prior case.

I watched grade 1 and 2 outside today until their older siblings got out of school, and then walked home with Magda, Mpilo, Thulani and Rachel. The Irish volunteers were back at the house and we talked outside (it was a lot warmer then) and then came inside and ate ice cream.

Monday, June 10:

This morning at school we had no electricity again. I talked with Colm about the school and showed him my office and he asked me if he would just be throw into a classroom, and I said that he wouldn't be. So 5 minutes later, as I am walking with him to find Sister Theresa and explaining things to him, we meet Sister Theresa and she said “You're not a teacher by any chance, are you?” and got thrown into the grade 4 classroom, since their teacher was absent. He is a teacher, at least, but I felt bad telling him one thing, and then two seconds later...

Because there was no electricity, I had to go to our little kitchen trailer for hot water. The lady inside was very nice, and was cooking oatmeal for the students for breakfast in the biggest pot I have ever seen.

Today I interviewed many children so we can see what the children need, and their background situations. And also to have proper case studies and files for them. One of the boys said that he liked coming to school and learning because he wanted to buy his family a bigger house. That was heart-breaking to hear.

I also found out that one of the children here had the opportunity to walk onto the field at a World Cup soccer match with a player. He will definitely remember that for the rest of his life, and he was all smiles when he spoke about it. He said it was very loud.

At the end of the day I watched the grade 1 and grade 2's outside while they were waiting for their siblings to get out of school.

The Priests and “Brothers to be” (and Colm who is staying with them) all had no power tonight, and we tried to get them to come over to at least have a hot drink, because it was absolutely freezing tonight. But it did not work out. All of us girls (there are now 6 of us) ate dinner together and watched Miss Congeniality under lots of blankets.  

Sunday June 9:

This morning we attended mass in Finetown, where a lot of our children from school live. Mass is held on the same property as the day care that the Sisters run, and where I go every Tuesday. Actually, our elementary school was first started in Finetown, and they used the big church building for all of the classes. We then went to the Sister's house, and while waiting for the new Irish volunteers, we all watched one of the soccer matches on tv. It is really funny seeing the Sisters all watching soccer and getting excited for it. The new volunteers came, and actually one of them, Mary Theresa, is the grand niece of Sister Margaret. There is also Amanda, Mary Theresa's best friend, and Colm who lives in the same community as them. 

Saturday June 8:

It was a boring day today, as it was just a day to sleep in. Later in the afternoon Magda and I went to the Sister's house for internet access. I also did some work from home. Magda, Anezka, Rachel and I all had dinner together, and we were expecting some new volunteers from Ireland to come tonight, but we finally got a call to say that they were coming tomorrow.

Friday June 7:

Apparently (How am I just finding out about this now?) every morning in our big hall, there is a session for any “Skills” student who wants to attend, which is run by Father Mbongasani (from Africa) and Father Sean (from Canada). We sang the national anthem and I was happily surprised that the four verses are in Zulu, Sutu, Afrikaans, and finally English. Luckily there were lyric sheets to look at and to try to follow along. Then we had a talk by Father Sean about riddles in the Bible, and Father Mbongasani does a talk each day about life skills. Then we put the chairs away and did Zumba. Seriously. There was a man who was up at the front, and we were all in lines, following along with him and some dance music. I'm not sure if they do Zumba every morning, but it was really fun to see 20 some guys and only a few girls dancing.

We found some more case notes yesterday in our office, so I typed up some more today.

Anezka and I went for bread, and because there wasn't that much, they actually gave us more today from the back. These loaves of bread were not cut properly in the machine, so some of them had holes in the bags, but only because of this reason.

While sitting at the gas station, getting gas, we saw a car accident on a corner nearby. What was really weird is that a firetruck came really soon after, like under 2 minutes. We are pretty sure it was just a coincidence. We don't think there was anyone severely injured, and it's a good thing the driver sits on the other side of the car, as if they were on the left side, they probably wouldn't have made it.

Today at Oratory after school, a couple girls decided to braid my hair in tiny braids, and one of them gave me a back massage at the same time. Hard life here, huh?

Oratory: 

I had purchased a football at a grocery store the other week, and the children were happy to play with it, but I had to teach them how to throw it, as they had never thrown one before. (Dad, are you proud of me for passing on this important skill you taught me as a child?)

After Oratory, many children were going to walk over to the SOS Children's village's soccer fields, so they all piled into the back of the truck, and we traveled like that. Again, really unsafe, but perfectly legal here, and so much fun!

Just chilling in the back of the truck, driving down the highway a tiny bit over a bridge, and then a side street:

We had the Fathers and “Brothers” over tonight, one last time before Anezka and Magda go home next Saturday. We had South African beer (which tasted like watered down beer) and South African wine. The Brothers stayed longer to watch powerpoint presentations the girls made of pictures throughout the year, and we played music and talked.  

Thursday June 6:

Today Esther and I went to visit the SOS Children's village, which is right down the road from our school. One of the social workers toured me around the facility, which was really beautiful. They have houses for children to live in who have been orphaned or cannot be taken care of (due to sick parents or are orphaned and their grandparents cannot take care of them anymore). They are placed into these houses and are raised as families by a “mother” figure and an “aunt” figure. I think this is a wonderful idea, as each child has their own family to grow up in, with brothers and sisters. The children are sent to school around the community, or are placed in their own kindergarten programs. When children become older, they help lead younger youth in programs. They also have family strengthening programs where they work with families and communities to empower them to effectively protect and care for their children. I really enjoyed visiting, and I will be working there on some Saturdays to come. They have SOS villages all over the world, which could mean job opportunities!

When we came back, Sister Theresa was talking to Esther about a brother of some children here who passed away from a drug problem. This is a big problem in the area, and this turned into me saying that I can run a drug-free/ healthy choices program that I had designed for my final undergrad social work project.

I helped again in the lunch room today, and the doctors came today, as they do every Thursday, and I helped over-see that.

At the end of the day, two girls were playing with my hair. Children here really like to touch our hair and they always say how soft it is.

Wednesday June 5:

Today was just a day of catching up on typing case notes that I have done.

At the end of the day today, I found a child with a University of Michigan Sweatshirt on, so I took a picture of him to post to my sister on her birthday tomorrow. What a nice coincidence! 

I made a birthday card for Laura and had many of the children sign their names during recess time. They went crazy over this, and everyone wanted to sign it.  I was surprised how full it was at the end of the day with so many names.  

Tuesday June 4: Today Esther and I were waiting for Sister Geovanna to pick us up to take us to the Kindergarten/child center, but she was busy, so we walked over there (about a half an hour walk) and we did a home visit along the way. The family lived in a small, one room shack for the 4 of them. The two little children, probably about 2 and 3 years old came outside and were eating apple and smiling at me.

When I arrived at the child center, I played with the children outside in their big playground area. And then I “read” the children the other African book I had brought from home, meaning we just looked at the pictures and I would say some English words and they would repeat them.

They ate pap for lunch, made of corn meal, (which looks like mashed potatoes) and gravy overtop with some potatoes in it. I ate some as well when it was offered to me. They eat pap with just their hands here, and they use utensils when they eat rice.

Anezka picked me up to get bread, but there was very little for us to pick through, and most of it had holes in the bags from animals that had gotten inside. We then stopped for ice cream at a BP gas station where we normally fill up the little truck we use (I was surprised to find BP and Shell gas stations here!). When we got back, I went to the lunch room, and helped there as well.

Then I was in the Crafts Skills class for a long time, as I really like being there, and because one of the ladies had brought African place mats that she had made for me to look at and purchase. I was also talking with some of the ladies for a long time.

At the end of the day, I wrote down more about the community and the difficulties here, as well as notes from prior home visits. I must keep track of these things for my Learning Objectives for my school.

Monday June 3: Right before I left to come here, Sister Jeannine in Toronto sent with me reusable grocery bags. Today Sister Margaret had me deliver them to the grade 6 class, because they had come up with the idea to start a recycling project and be the ones in charge of it. They were all really happy to receive them.

Esther and Sister Margaret and Theresa were dealing with the police today, so I was on my own, writing up my own case notes that I have done this past month, as well as other notes that I have taken.

I went for bread with Anezka, but there was none today.

Here is the bread factory and what the bread looks like in a pile on the steps: 

Sunday June 2: Today we went to mass, and then Rachel arrived at night. We spent a long time with her telling her about everything and giving her an “orientation”. She is from Alabama, and just got her masters in early childhood education.

By the way, here is a picture of the volunteer house where I live:

Saturday June 1

Today Anezka, Magda and I went to Southgate mall which was a really nice mall. However, it was very busy as it was payday yesterday. While waiting for Magda and Anezka by a store, I ran into one of the teachers at the school here, and she waited with me until she saw them and then snuck up on them and scared them. It was really funny. I bought a light winter jacket because it is so cold in my office in the mornings, and because the weather is just going to get colder. There are some cracks inbetween the bricks in all of the buildings, and since all classrooms and most offices lead to the outside, it can get cold inside of them.

After we got back, we started cleaning our house since it needed it, and because a new volunteer is joining us tomorrow from the United States for 6 months. While cleaning, I discovered a 5^th huge bedroom in our house. I guess I thought that the door went outside or something since it has always been closed up. It used to be the chapel here when this house was lived in by Sisters.

Friday, May 31:

This morning there was no electricity at the school. Luckily, they can cook with gas in the kitchen for the children's meals. We don't turn the lights on in the classrooms and offices, since the windows let in enough light, so I didn't even know the electricity was off until Esther said something.

Today I gave out some of the supplies I brought from home, like toothbrushes that I received from a dentist (Thank you, Dr. Mead!) and soap, lotion and shampoo from his wife (Thank you Deb!). Many of the children here do not have soap or toothbrushes at their houses, and shampoo is really out of the question.

I also typed up some more case notes today. Today at recess time for the students, I played a hand clapping game with them, where we all stand in a circle and put our hands on top of each others (like the “Down by the banks” game. But for this one, the children end up choosing an artist to sing a little clip of a song, so I heard them sing Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Chris Brown, Hannah Montana, etc. It was really funny.

After school, we had oratory. So we walked to the park with some of the children, and we were listening to my ipod on the way there. The children liked singing the Soccer World Cup songs from three years ago in South Africa , like “Waka Waka” and “Waving Flag”. The boys played soccer while the girls read books and made bracelets, and the baby Innocent came eventually, so I was reading a story to him as well. After Oratory, all of us girls walked home with the Brothers.

Thursday May 30:

Today about 50 children were super late, so Esther took their names down, and we will be monitoring them more. The problem is that most of them walk at least 20 minutes to school, and some even farther to get to school. And, due to family situations or parents working early, some of them must get themselves up without a clock and get ready by themselves. So, you really can't blame them for being late, but we have to teach them how to be on time.

I typed up more of Esther's hand-written notes on children's cases today, and organized and labelled the filing system.

We talked with two children today and I wrote out their case study. They have 8 family members living in a one room shack, and they just lost a brother. Their mother is in and out of the picture, so they must take care of themselves. We will be referring them to social services for help, but in the meantime, we gave them two food parcels to take home so at least they will have food.

When the doctors came today for the students, there were North Carolina pre-med students with them. They came to South Africa for 4 weeks to learn about the medical system here, and to tour around different hospitals and clinics. When I mentioned that I was going to school in Canada, one of them asked where, because he had lived in Calgary for a little while when he was younger for his dad's work.

There are more volunteers coming soon! We already knew about one teacher from Alabama, coming this Sunday for 6 months, but there are three more coming from Ireland next Saturday for a month.   

Wednesday May 29:

This morning the Sister's power was out, and they said that it may be because the city is trying to save electricity. So they sometimes shut off areas for a couple of hours, but there could have also just been a problem with it for a while. I typed up case studies notes today, and while Esther was dealing with an issue outside of the office, I was dealing with some troublesome kids in her office. As they were just sitting there, I made them do school work, which meant I was making up school work for them to do. Since they were in trouble and missing class, they might as well be doing school work. I went for bread today, but again there was very little. This is sad because for some of the children that takes a loaf home at the end of the day, this is all of the food the family will have that night.

There is a mother who comes to volunteer a lot, and she sometimes brings her almost 2 year old with her. He is the cutest baby, and now he is comfortable around me, as today he ran over to me and hugged a bunch of times.  

Tuesday May 28:

Well, the teachers never ended up showing up except for one, so I was put in grade 4 for the morning by myself, and then Anezka joined me after their breakfast time luckily. Again, I am thankful for the books that take place in Africa my mother gave me from a neighbor before I left, because it kept them quite for 10 minutes while I read the story to them. Anezka taught math and I taught English, and then luckily the children got to go home early after lunch. One of the Fathers here said that he must have us over for “drinks” after school because it was so crazy today!

After school Sister Geovanna took me to multiple to try to figure out my phone working here, but with it being “locked”, no one knew how to unlock it. (In Ghana, all of the phone places knew how to do this, so I figured that they could just do it here). We went pretty far away from Ennerdale, where I live, but it was nice to see the area outside of the community that I live in. I also was surprised to see a Kentucky Fried Chicken here!

Monday May 27:

Today we have been hearing from the teachers that they will not come to school anymore unless something changes because they are not happy with working here. Which means that Anezka, Magda, and probably me will be teaching all day tomorrow. Which is fine for one day, but we are all currently freaking out, as the children do not learn as much when we have to take over since we don't know the curriculum and they do not listen to us as much as they do with their teachers. Also, most students are already pretty far behind, and state testing is coming up soon. Today I worked on my Masters of Social Work goals/objectives while Esther was dealing with an issue with the police.Esther also pulled out many files she had hand-written, and I will be typing those up when I get a chance. I went to get bead with Anezka today, but it was hard to find good loaves of bread for the children. I also visited the crafts room, and when Esther came to take me away, all of the girls were yelling at her because they wanted me to stay. Esther and I talked a lot about culture today at the end of the day, which is always interesting to hear about. Today we walked home from school with the “brothers” as it was a nice day, and we wanted to leave school instead of waiting to be driven back home.   

Sunday, May 26:

Today we were at Lolli again for mass, and after mass Magda led her younger children youth group, and Anezka led her young adults bible study. After this, we were all invited to a woman's house, as her granddaughter had graduated the day before from the University of Johannesburg. So all of the younger children, Magda and I climbed into the back of our truck, and Anezka and “Nati”, (one of the brothers-to-be) drove us to the house. The children and us girls played “keep-away” for a while, and then we all sat in the garage with the many young adults. The graduate came out dressed in her cap and gown, and different people would go up to the front, and then in front of everyone talk to her and wish her well, inbetween all of us singing. Of course, most of the talks were not in English, and most of the singing, but it was neat to experience what their graduation parties are like. This took about 2 hours, and we were all starving when the food was finally ready. We ate a fancy pap, chicken, salsa, and sausage, and Nati, Magda, Anezka, me and Mpilo (one of the “brothers”) had VIP seats in the house on these really fancy seats. Their house was really nice inside, with a giant China cabinet, and many rooms.

We drove Nati and Mpilo home, which meant putting their bicycles in the back on the truck and cramming Magda, Mpilo and me in the back. Another very fun ride.

Saturday, May 25:

Today was a free day again. Anezka, Magda and I went to visit a lady who they had met before. She lives in a farther part of Finetown and she has started her own organization that helps to take care of those with disabilities. She has volunteers that help her to go and visit/take meals to over 80 children and elderly who are stuck inside homes in the area. Some of their parents/caregivers are not there during the day due to working, and some are ashamed of them so they hide them inside, as the perceptions here on those with disabilities are not as advanced as in Canada or the United States. We took her some food the girls bought here and toothbrushes and toothpaste I had brought from home so she does not have to use her own supplies. She is finally going to get funding from the government next year, which will help purchase food and other supplices, as sometimes she can only visit them without food. She wants to build a center for them to be brought to every day, so they can all be together, doing crafts, and eating meals together during the day. It was very powerful sitting there and listening to her speak about helping all of these people at her age.

Later that day I got to Skype with my mom, dad and Laura for a long time, and it was really nice to see them again.   

Friday, May 24

Today we didn't have school due to it being a feast day, and from the hectic week

Our flooding bathroom water problem is now“solved”; we now know that the flooding in our bathroom was actually from the ceiling, as we believe that the water was turned off again last night for a little bit, because there was more water on the floor of our bathroom, and the ceiling is now falling down a little bit.

We were up for mass for 7:30, and walked to the Priest's house where the three “brothers to (maybe) be” also live. It was the Feast of Mary Help of Christians, which is the most important feast day to Salesian Sisters and Brothers. We sang in one of their languages today at mass and had the words in front of us. It was still hard to follow along at times because sometimes the words were repeated when they were only printed once, but it was still better than at church when we don't have the words in front of us.

At 2pm every Friday, the girls and “brothers” host an “Oratory” session in the park in Finetown for any child who wants to come. We picked up the three “brothers” and because we have a small pick-up truck to use, we had to have me and the three boys in the back while two girls were inside in the front. (I should say right now that there is always one of us in the back of the open truck bed when us three girls travel. Totally unsafe, but perfectly legal here. (Sorry, mom). When we got to the park (a really nice green space with trees and some playground equipment), all of the boys there started to play soccer, while us girls waited for more to join us. None ever did, and Magda and Anezka said that this is mostly the case because even younger girls in the area must help their mothers with household chores like washing and cleaning. Magda had brought with her embroidery thread for the children to make bracelets (and she passes it out at school for the children to make bracelets after school as well). So we were making those, and then I ended up playing soccer for a little bit until a 2 year old boy came to us with his older brother, so of course I abandoned soccer to go play with him. His name was “Innocent” and he just sat on my lap for over an hour, and almost fell asleep on me.

After Oratory was over, we went to one of the shopping malls in the area with the boys, and while we were pulling into a parking spot, a man was saying how wonderful a site we were, since we conveniently were in the truck “coupled up” in three rows of African boy and White girl.

I finally got cash out of the ATM here. (I've just been using my debit card here). Their money here is in “Rands”, and Nelson Mandela is on the front of all of the bills, with different animals on the backs of them. We all got ice cream cones for 40 cents US from a fast food chicken place, and ate them on a picnic table outside.   

Thursday, May 23

Well, the day finally came for our grand opening. Thank goodness, because the whole week was pretty crazy and busy. The children arrived in their uniforms, and eventually members of the community started to arrive. My job for the day was to be the camera girl, so until more people came, I was talking to one of the priests from the area. This started my conversations/meetings with the following people:

Many priests who live here, either from the local area or from other countries,

Sisters who live all over South Africa from the area or from other countries,

The Archbishop of Johannesburg!,

A family from Alabama visiting the area for a few weeks,

People from local NGOs,

Local community people,

and representatives from the Board of Education.

We all gathered in our auditorium, where Sister Margaret showed the powerpoint I helped produce, and then we listened to the Archbishop give a talk, as well as a representative from the Mayor of the community. Then some of the older elementary students danced and sang, and some of the Skills students did the same. All of the “Crafts” skill students, learning to bead traditionally were wearing traditional African clothing and beading and it was lovely to see that. After all of the speeches, the catering skills class had prepared a very nice assortment of food, and so everyone ate and sat around and talked. Then the Archbishop blessed the school, and the South African flag was raised on the flag pole, as the children all sang the national anthem. Then everyone left, and the children left early from school as well.

Here is a link to some pictures if you aren't on facebook to see them: 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/set=a.4876748877452.1073741825.1259370088&type=1&l=719448d1e4

Pictures are worth a thousand words, right? :)

Monday, May 20- Wednesday, May 22:

This week we were preparing for the opening of our school, so Esther and some of the volunteer cleaning ladies (who have children in our school) cleaned out the library, which meant putting books on the shelves, and sorting out clothing and shoes that was stored in the library and giving some away to students who needed it the most.

The teachers have been taking exams this week at the University, so we were short-staffed a lot this week.

My new job is to go with Anezka to pick up loaves of bread that a local bread factory “donates” to us. This means that we drive the 20 minutes to the factory, and we get to pick through the unwanted bagged bread that is a day old or hasn't been cut into slices. Because it is just thrown in a corner outside on the platform that the trucks come to, we must look at each loaf to make sure it isn't moldy or has holes in the plastic bag by rats or other animals. We take the loaves back to the school and other Kindergarten center for the children to take home a loaf of bread each day. (That is, if there is any good bread for us to pick up, as sometimes we get there and there is none).

Esther is also the disciplinarian of the school, so throughout the weeks we have had children in our office if they are in trouble or have been late to school.

Tuesday I went to the Kindergarten Center and I walked with one class and their teacher to a trailer that has toys in it. It's a community development project run by the government (I believe) for children to come and play on the playground and inside. So the children played for a long time inside, and then outside before we went back to their classroom. Then I “read” them one of the African books that I brought from home, meaning that I showed them the pictures and said the animal names, as they don't really understand English. For lunch, all of the children ate “pap” with spinach, and I helped to pass it out and then ate some when it was offered to me to try. It was salty, but it was ok. After trying to get bread with Anezka (there was none for us to take on Tuesday), I helped Anezka with the afterschool care of the younger grades because they get out earlier and are waiting for their brothers and sisters to take them home. This was a very chaotic experience, as the younger children do not speak very much english, and the teachers were not there to translate or help them to calm down. I eventually read to them the book I read to the Kindergarten, but again just said the animal names to them.

On Wednesday, the students were allowed to wear their “normal” clothes, to get their uniforms ready for Opening Day. This was good for Esther and I, as we could see who needed to receive donated “new” clothes and “new”shoes, and I was in charge of the shoes. As the children walked to the lunch room, I was looking at their shoes to determine which ones were falling apart.

Also on Wednesday, any old empty boxes from the library were burned behind our school. So Esther, a volunteer and I brought them out in the empty field to burn them. It was really weird, but they burn the fields a lot here to clear them out. Sometimes the smoke from them is really thick and I am scared that they will just get bigger, but they always seem to die out by themselves.

Wednesday I met a volunteer from the University of Johannesburg who came because he didn't have any classes that day and “couldn't just sit around doing nothing”. So we unwrapped brand new chairs for the main office, bookcases and shelves.

Sunday, May 19:

Today Father Sean Sr. picked me up to go back to the church in Lolli (where we went last week) because Anezka and Magda went to a different church to say goodbye to some of the congregation. I wanted to go to Lolli because a guy from the United States who has traveled all around Africa producing local music for different areas and volunteering with the Salesian Brothers was going to be there. He had a layover in Johannesburg for 24 hours, and had volunteered here as well, so he knew Father Sean Sr. It was neat to talk to him, and he was really surprised to hear that I lived in Cincinnati for a year, as he was from there.

After church, I had to get back into the house by myself for the first time, which meant turning off the alarm when I entered the house. When we first enter the house, it starts to go off, but just a high pitch sound until we enter in the correct code. So, being how it was my first time doing so, I started to enter the wrong code, so the whole house alarm started to go off in a full siren, until I punched in the right one. I thought I would be ok, since I punched in the right code very soon after, but 20 minutes later a guy from the alarm company came to make sure that everything was ok. We have a secondary code that we must say to him in order for him to know that I actually live here.

For dinner, Magda and I tried to fry potato slices on the stove, but it was taking way too long, so I ended up cutting them into smaller pieces, and then smaller pieces still, so they ended up being french fries. But they still took forever to make, so the joke of the night was: “Africa. Where everything takes longer, even cooking potatoes.” That night I watched Big Band Theory with Magda.

Saturday, May 18:

Today was a free day, and I got to Skype my Dad and sister, Laura for the first time being here. I tried to show them the Sister's guard dogs outside, and they were both coming over to me, and one of them decided to just lay his head on my lap while I was talking to them. Super cute. I ended up coming back from the house late, and went to bed early to be up for church early the next morning.  

Friday, May 17:

Every Friday is a shortened day for the students. I had another “session” with the girl who had came to talk to me on Wednesday, and then worked on the powerpoint for Sister Margaret in her office. I went back to the Sister's house with them, and continued to work on the powerpoint while waiting to skype one of my good friends. (This 6 hour time difference is really hard for trying to skype people). I tried Rooibus tea today, a South African tea. It was horrible just black, but adding milk and sugar made it a lot better. Anezka came back today from the retreat she was observing, and it was nice to see her again.

Thursday, May 16

Last night Anezka brought out fruit tea from her room and said her mom had sent it to her yesterday in the mail. I was going to ask if you could get it here, and apparently you can't in the main stores. While talking about over-priced foods, she was really surprised that we can buy candies in movie theaters, when in Czech, they only sell popcorn and drinks.

Today at school in the morning, I walked into the grade 1 class, and they were all lined up in two lines singing without a teacher. (A lot of the time, the grade 1s are better behaved than the older grades). It was really fun to hear them singing in Zulu and English. I was then needed in the grade 3 class for a while, and we went over their homework from the day before, and then Sister Margaret showed me what she wanted me to do for a powerpoint presentation I volunteered to work on. After that, Esther and I went to talk with the Aunt of a child who was “missing” from school. She lived in a nicer part of Finetown, and here the families live in actual houses (though they are very simple and small), and have electricity and water in their individual houses. We sat in their small house for a long time, but besides the little bit of English spoken, I could not understand anything. Esther was finding out what happened to the child, since she had not returned to school in a while. It turned out to be a custody battle case, as the government gives money to households with children to help families. We had tea in their house, and then left. On the journey home, we ran into two young ladies working for the government passing out pamphlets with information on HIV/AIDS and Women abuse. Doctors-in-training came to the school today from the University of Johannesburg to see children who were sick and to give our vitamins and medicine to them. They do this work for free for our school, and they come every Thursday after school. After school, I showed Magda what “Angry Birds” was on my ipod, and she got addicted to the game. She had never seen/played it before.   

Wednesday, May 15.

Yesterday a lady came to the school looking to enroll her daughter in one of the “Skills” courses, and talked to Esther about her daughter. So today they came back and I talked with the daughter one-on-one in the social work office (she didn't want Esther there too) about her life. We made a goal sheet for her of things to work on, and I listened to her as she poured out her story of previous poor choices in life and how she knows she needs to return to school in order to have a better life for herself.

This morning, Esther and I sorted out over 200 blankets that were donated to the school. They were all different colours, but not very thick unfortunately. We handed them out to every child after they were done their lunch.

I also visited the grade 3 class today for a little while to see what they were learning, but because it was right before lunch, a student was up at the front telling a story in his own language so I didn't understand anything.

At the end of the day, we handed out meal packets to some of the poorest children, and then we attended a staff meeting. I also saw a student from the Skills class today wearing a “Run Calgary” shirt, so obviously it was donated and sent over here.

Next Thursday is the grand opening of the new school, even though we are there everyday, and the Mayor and Bishop is coming, as well as a lot of important people in the religious community, the surrounding community, and possibly some board of education people. The workers are still finishing up the school, and the school yard is looking really nice. I don't want to post pictures of the school until it is done! I am hoping to video record a lot of the grand opening, and then create a video with the footage, so I will post that (if I get it approved). :)

Tuesday, May 14.

This morning the grade 4 teacher was not there at the start of school so I was asked to walk the students to their room. They sang their morning songs and said their morning prayer, and after all of that, the teacher was still not there. (Some of the teachers are still taking their exams). So, the grade 6 teacher who came by told me to read them a story, and so I read a “Noddy” book to them, and then started a Venn Diagram with them on the chalkboard, comparing Canada with South Africa. When I showed them where Canada was on the map, (Not separated by countries, just continents) they said “No, that's America!”. Thankfully breakfast time came, so I was off the hook for a while when they were eating their oatmeal, but then I was still in charge after that. So I was starting to have them pull out one of their textbooks when one of the grade 2 teachers came in to take over. Thank goodness! I'm not that skilled in working with 8 year olds, and really had no clue what to teach them/what they were learning about. But mostly the problem was that they would not be quiet for me at all.

I met with the social worker, Esther, after that, and we went to the Kindergarten Centre the Sisters also run. This is where I want to be everyday, (with new black babies to love!) and I will be there for a couple of hours now every Tuesday morning. There were an insane amount of them, all playing in the fenced-in yard, on the playground equipment and playing “house” with some plastic dishes near the building. Only a few came up to me at first, so I walked to where more children were playing. This is where I started to get a following, so we walked to the grass and I got the 30+ of them to form a big circle (which was the fastest I have ever seen a group of children make a circle, and the best circle I have ever seen made by children). The funny thing is that most of the children do not speak/know English yet, or just know how to say “good morning” and “hello”. This obviously didn't matter as I was leading all of them in a “Monkey See, Monkey Do” sort of game, and they understood my hand movements of where to go/what to do. After a while of that “game” I took them all in the shade and more joined us (but there were still so many of them playing) and we sang songs they knew in English like the Alphabet (which they sing a little differently) and Baa Baa Black Sheep and we counted and it was so funny to watch them sit there and sing and then clap afterward. The teachers there were laughing at us too, and the children also sang some of their own African songs. I also taught them a song from when I was in preschool. When we went back to the grass, they eventually started playing one of their own games with clapping and going around the circle and then it was time for me to leave.

It was almost lunch time when we came back, so Esther and I ate ours, and then I helped serve food to the students in the lunch room and helped the students on “dish duties” to dry them. Esther and I talked a lot then about what she does and what I will do with her, and then it was the end of the day.

Magda and I came home, and then walked to the Sister's house to cook for them for once, but we ended up being able to heat up left overs from last night to make a casserole with noodles we made, so it was very easy.

It feels like I have been here for a very long time, and just my time at school these past couple of days have felt like at least a week. I received an email today from one of my best friends who is volunteering in Belize for 2 years, and it was sooo good to hear from her! Perhaps her love of Africa and children as well will lead us to work together one day.

Sunday, May 12

Today I went to church in Lolli, another city 10 minutes away. Everyone was wearing heavy sweaters, while I was sweating after a while in my thin sweater. That's what it is like here, because to them, it is their winter, and it is “cold” when it is 70*F.

Church was filled with traditional music with drums, and other percussion which reminded me of Ghana. However, the service was in their language, so clearly I didn't understand the 2 ½ hours of Zulu mass, but was surprised and amused to hear them sometimes use “clicks” in the Zulu language. And, sometimes an english phrase would be said throughout the sermon, so we could get the gist of it.

After church, Magda and Anezka normally run a youth program, but due to lack of students, only Magda's program ran. We talked about respecting each other and ourselves, and then made Mother's day cards. After church I also met social worker, Esther who I will be working with, and who was very happy to meet me. I will start work with her tomorrow.

We had lunch with Sisters, and Sister Margaret talked to me more about the school, about how these children attending are the poorest of the poor, and come from very terrible living conditions.

Weirdly enough, a full page of the South African newspaper at the Sister's today was of Justin Bieber. Um, what??

Tomorrow water is off in all of my community because they are doing something to the reservoir. This should be interesting, especially at the school. Our power is running out too. Here, you pay for the power at the electric company, and then are given a code you enter into your power box in your house to get more power. So kind of like reloading minutes on a pay-as-you-go phone. And it shows up on the screen how much you have until you run out.

Monday, May 13

Well, today was the hardest day I have had since I have been here. But I will start with my fun early morning.

First of all, this morning, Magda and Anezka both said that they had never heard of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. (It was when I was making my lunch for the day). In the Czech, they just have peanut butter and no jam with it. But they eat nutella, so that's great. They said that we can buy it here, and I am looking forward to that.

They also told me that they have something better than nutella, and pulled out kinder surprises!!! But, only kind of. There is a factory in South Africa that makes them, and when they aren't perfect, they donate them to the school the Sister's run. So it was just the milk chocolate and some crunchy almost “co-co puffs” in half the encasing. I tried to explain how they are illegal in the United States due to there being a toy enclosed completely inside a food, and Magda asked if Americans are not as smart as Canadians and Europeans, since anyone can see that the toy inside (which is fully encased in plastic) is not edible.

We drove to school, and saw many other children from the richer neighborhoods walking to school. The children that we have at our school come from two different slums, and would not be going to school if this school had not been built. The Sister's help all 240+ students pay for or acquire a uniform, and they must wear it every day to school. This helps them to not compare themselves to each other, though all of them are really poor. Before they blew the whistle for the students to all line up, all of the children were gathered in the front of the school (which is huge and new, by the way. They are still putting the finishing touches on it still, so there are workers everywhere still). At this time, I got to finally meet the priest from Halifax, Canada who has been very excited to meet me. He was just ordained a priest and just arrived in South Africa about 2 months ago.

When the whistle blew, the students all lined up in their grade levels (1-7) and one of the Sisters introduced me to all of the children, who all greeted me back. I just loved seeing all of them this morning, and got to talk to a lot of them. So today was very different because 3 of the 7 teachers were gone to take their teaching exams, and because the water was getting shut off. Grades 4-7 were divided from the younger ones, and while waiting for breakfast, they were singing in probably Zulu, which was really fun to hear. They sounded great, too, and were having a ton of fun moving to the music.

After breakfast, the water shut off, and so we walked some of the younger children back to their houses because you can't run a school with that many people and no usable toilets. While trying to get them to stay in 2 lines (which was completely impossible), some of the boys were teaching me how to say things in their language. Then I told them that I spoke Spanish, and they said “Spanish is what you eat”, meaning spinach. Which is just great, because of one of my favorite youtube videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyWgJZ476NE

When Sister had walked them to the railroad bridge, she let them walk the rest of the way by themselves since they were really close to all of their homes. The social worker and I continued on to the “slum” to talk to the parents of one child, and for me to see where and how most of the children lived. It was really heart-breaking, and tears formed in my eyes when I had the chance to look inside one of their “houses” made of sheets of tin nailed together. No electricity. Mostly tiny, one-room shacks, where I hear sometimes the children sleep on the floor with no bed. I've never seen poverty this bad before. Luckily, when the tears came, I was sitting with Esther talking to a parent, and had one of the girls' on my lap, and I could hide behind her. One of the houses had a little solar panel on his roof to generate a little light inside, but the light was not bright at all. Luckily, there are clean water taps around the “neighborhood” free for them to use.

Esther knew everyone in the neighborhood, and we would stop to talk to everyone we met (traditional African style), but she knew most of them. She knows more people than I do, (if that is possible). She would explain to people who I was, but in their language (she speaks all of the languages here, so about 4 plus English). So I would hear “language I can't understand...CHRISTINE... more language I can't understand... CANADA OVERSEAS... more language... Social Worker.” Everyone was so friendly and happy to meet me or just greet me while passing on the street. Africans are just so welcoming. When we walked back to the school, I found out Esther has been a social worker for 31 years, working in prisons and with delinquent youth in South Africa. The sisters asked her to come out of retirement to help them at their school. (This may be a good time to say that only half the school is grades 1-7, while the other half of the buildings are used for “Skills” programs for women and men to learn to obtain jobs. They have plumbing, electrician, carpentry, and sewing/traditional African crafts like beading, and I'm not sure what else yet.)

After school, Magda, Anezka and I went to grocery store, and it looked like a Canadian/American grocery store with food that I am used to. I found my tortilla shells and cheese (they have real cheese here unlike Ghana), so I was very happy. When the water was turned back on, the bathroom I use (we have 3 in our volunteer house) had flooded a little bit and we had to use a mop and a broom and dust pan to clean it up. The only reasonable explanation of where the water had come from was from the ceiling due to where there were water splashes around the flooded floor. The ceiling was not wet, but there is this random pipe opening, so another “I don't understand” moment. Anezka is gone for the week to another site to learn about a retreat they are running, so it's just Magda and me.

Since today was the feast day of Sister Mazarello, the founding sister of the Salesians (who the Sister's are apart of), we had mass at the Sister's house with 4 priests, 4 Sisters, and 3 20-something year olds who are living with one of the priests to see if they want to become one. They are from Swaziland, and Magda and I ended up being at the same table as them for dinner, and it was really fun to talk with them and the priest who was at the mass yesterday. One of the priests asked me if I was in Johannesburg last night. I was confused until they said that Justin Bieber was performing there last night. Why is Justin Bieber in South Africa?? Weird. So we teased the priest back asking if he was there, and he said no, that he wasn't a Bieliber. So funny!

Magda and I instantly became best friends tonight, and we are already making plans for me to come see her and Anezka in the Czech.

Thursday, May 9 

This morning, at 1:30 am, I awoke to a crazy amount of dogs barking. Apparently everyone in our neighborhood has guard dogs. By 2am I was wide awake, and I am guessing my body decided it was done sleeping. (Or was confused with the time zone). While I put my ipod on “shuffle”, it decided to play “Who Let the Dogs Out”, exactly when the dogs started barking again. Hahaha. Thanks, ipod. I love you too.

I finally got back to sleeping at 4am. I was up for 9:30 church, celebrating a Feast day. Anezka and Magda walked me to church and I caught up with two of the Sisters, as they had already gone to mass earlier in the morning. I felt great in the morning, but during church had one of my “dizzy/almost pass out” episodes, and the Sisters walked me back to their house for a little while, and then drove me back to the volunteer house where I slept some more. (I feel like all I do is sleep, but apparently my body really needs it after the insanely long flight, and change of altitude). Sister Margaret came to bring me lemon tea with homemade honey in it to make me feel better. The girls made pasta for dinner, and we ended up talking for 2 hours, getting to know each other more. They told me more about what they teach at the school, and Magda has to take one more exam for her social work degree, while Anezka has 2 more years for her teaching degree. They say they believe that I will be following the school social worker who works with the children, their parents, and does home visits. Awesome! We had real ice cream for dessert, and then all went to bed.

  Friday, May 10 

Today, I feel normal again! (If that is possible for me). I am finally getting my room organized, and trying to catch up on blogging. Today was only a half day for the school in the morning, so I was told to just sleep in again by the Sisters. They are celebrating Maria Mazarello, the founding Sister of the Salesians. The girls came back to the house to quickly eat, and then left to run activities for children, a common Friday occurrence. I will most likely be helping with this starting next week. I start my real work on Monday!

 The girls told me some wonderful news today: The girls were living in a volunteer house connected to the Sister's house until about a week ago when they were told that I was coming. The house only has room for two volunteers, so now we are in the bigger volunteer house. However, in 5 weeks when they leave, and the new American volunteer is here, the American volunteer and I will probably move back to the house connected to the Sister's because they do not like having just two girls alone here. (Although the house is gated, alarmed, and has guard dogs). This is fantastic because I won't have to worry so much about driving, and the alarm system in our current house, and also, I will have internet access all the time. Actually, constant internet is probably a bad thing; as I was glad I don't have it at night to distract me from prayer and blogging. But, it will be nice to be able to skype and upload pictures and my blog without worrying about only doing it rushed in the little time before and after dinner.

 We had dinner together again, and they seem to put cream in everything, like ice cream, and today's meal of soup with rice in it. They made me try it, and it makes it more creamier. It's just a weird concept. They also made me try a little of Anezka's homemade custard, caramel Captain Morgan's concoction. So good! It really rained tonight, apparently a rare occurrence for their “winter”. The girls had bought South African wine to celebrate their 10 month anniversary here, so we drank a glass of that tonight to celebrate.

 Magda told me tonight that they call traffic lights here “robots”. How weird. I've been saying a lot of "I don't understand" to the other volunteers about the way things are here, and they say they've been here almost a year and still don't understand.  I really like being here with them.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013. 

 Today I slept. As in all day. But I was told to do that, and really needed it. At about noon, I finally got up to take a shower, and thank goodness they have warm water here, unlike the dorms in Ghana. But they have to turn on a water heater in order to get hot water. So I was up for about an hour and a half, and then was tired again and went back to bed until 4:30. Then the other two volunteers and I went to the Sister's house to use the internet and to eat dinner with the Sisters. This apparently is a daily occurrence. So, after dinner, we stayed on the internet for a while, and then came back to our house. I got to meet “Lucky” and “Nala”, our guard dogs, and Lucky decided he really liked me by jumping up on me multiple times.

 My concerns right now:

 Last night I was freezing! I didn't expect it to get so cold here at night, and the large windows in my room make it super cold. I found another blanket in my room, though, and I can use the space heater in my room for a little while before bed. I will need to buy more warm clothes here.

 The volunteers have a car to use to get to the school we will work at, and to and from the sisters. Great! Except, first of all, I will be terrified to drive here due to the whole “driving on the other side of the road” thing. I'm still not used to it. But, mainly, they drive stick shifts here, and I don't know how to drive one. The two Czech volunteers here are leaving in 6 weeks, meaning I have to learn how to drive it. Oh dear.

 Thirdly, I am confused about everything. The volunteers talk with the Sisters about what's happening tomorrow, and who needs to do what/go where, and I'm just sitting there, confused. I know this will take time, and I'm half asleep anyway, so that's not helping. Tomorrow is a feast day, so school is canceled. Hopefully Friday I will get to go see what the school is like, and figure out what I am going to be doing. I'm excited to meet the social worker there and see what she does!

 Well, it's only 7:30pm here, but I am going to bed. I'm up at 6am tomorrow for mass, and then I don't know what else is going on. I need to start getting used to waking up early because I will begin work early every school day as well. It's only 1:30pm where you all are. Thanks again for all of your prayers and happy thoughts when I was traveling here. I REALLY appreciate you all doing that. :)

Orientation and Flying here:


 May 3-5: Orientation 

 My younger sister Laura, and my Dad dropped me off in Toronto to my orientation session before I left for South Africa. (My mom had to work) It just so happened that it was scheduled around the time I was leaving, so it worked out great for me. The Salesian Sisters were all so welcoming to me, and I ate dinner with them since I had to be dropped off early. The Sister who was in charge of cooking that night gave me chocolates and a fancy napkin in my cup at my place setting; it was really cute. The other participants arrived soon after, and the orientation weekend officially started.

Over the weekend I got to be good friends with two girls, Stephanie and Addy, both going to Cambodia at different times. Previous volunteers came back to tell us their stories, and to teach us the history of the Salesian Sisters, what to expect, how the Salesian Sisters operate their schools and development projects (exactly the way how we were taught in classes this past year), how to live in community, getting to know ourselves better in order to know how we best operate, etc. VIDES is actively involved in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in all of the places they work in the work, and is an International NGO with consultative status with the United Nations.

 May 6-7: Toronto to JFK, JFK to Dubai, Dubai to Johannesburg.

 Well, I didn't get much sleep last night, but that's what always happens before a big trip, right? Sister Jeannine took me to the airport at 3:30am! On my flight from Toronto to JFK, I slept, and from JFK to Dubai (12.5 hours) I also could really sleep as I had all 3 seats to myself. (I buckled myself in the middle, and could lay across all three seats. The plane had a great entertainment centre, and I could watch Friends, How I Met Your Mother, New Girl, etc. Awesome. And of course, Coldplay showed up again, having the option to watch their live “Paradise” video, and a documentary of their album. I slept a ton, though. The Dubai airport was cool, and it was neat to see the desert out of the plane window while approaching the airport. Also, I saw the Sailboat building, just like on the cover of Owl City's album.



 



 On my flight from Dubai to Johannesburg, I wasn't so lucky with free seats by me, and most of the plane was occupied. I slept most of the time as well, 8 hours. I like how on the flights, instead of the plane safety instructions in French and English like in Canada, it was in Arabic and English. (And the coke I got in the Dubai airport was in Arabic as well!) Our flight was late coming in, and there was a long line for getting our passports stamped. When the passport man heard that I was going to see the Salesian Sisters, he stamped it and I was on my way. (I was told this was the case when other volunteers traveled as well.) I didn't have to go through customs because I didn't have anything officially to declare. Which is probably a good thing, since my suitcases were full of pencils, toothbrushes, books, mini shampoos and lotions, etc, and I didn't know how they would feel about that.

 Two of the sisters were waiting for me with a sign with my name on it. Yes, like in the movies, like my sister Laura asked me. I was looking for them amid the rest of the people holding signs with names on them, and was thinking “man in suit, man in suit, man in suit, Ah! Sisters!!!"  They drive on the other side of the road here! I have experienced it before in other countries, but I am still not used to it. They took me back to their house, through the crazy traffic and I met the other two Sisters who lived there, as well as two other volunteers from the Czech, Magda and Anezka (pronounced “Annishka”), who has been here almost a year. They teach at the school. I ate homemade pizza with them, and tea (just like at home), was nicely greeted by one of their golden lab guard dogs who ran into their house, and then we traveled by car to the volunteer house, which is also surrounded by gates and has guard dogs. The volunteer house is really nice, and we each have our own rooms. I am so thankful that the other two girls are here with me.

 Since I am the first volunteer here from Canada, there was very limited information to give me before I came. While talking with the girls tonight, and drinking a glass of South African wine to celebrate, I had lots of questions answered. They are so wonderful and welcoming, and I'm already sad that they will be leaving in 6 weeks. However, before they leave, another volunteer will be joining us from the United States. As far as internet access goes, I will have access at the Sister's house, and apparently Skype works well. Yay!

 One of the volunteers here said tonight that “South Africa is not really Africa”. That was my main concern when I was placed here. However, I know that I am exactly where I am supposed to be. The Sisters told me while riding back from the airport, how people don't think of South Africa as poor, but in the area that we will be working, it is very poor. And, close to where we live, we passed by many “shanty towns”, little shacks, and people lighting fires outside to keep warm. It gets really cold at night here. Also, there is a social worker that works in the school here, and so she may end up being my adviser for my master's program practicum instead of one of the sisters. But, we will wait and see. Surprisingly, I am not as tired as I thought I would be. But, I did sleep as much as possible on the planes. We are 6 hours ahead of the Michigan, so it's not too bad. Anyway, I should get some sleep, but I will be updating my blog quite often! Goodnight!

Introduction:

 Well, it's back to Africa for me. This time, a different country and different purpose. I was in Ghana, West Africa in 2010 for a semester for undergrad at the University of Ghana. Currently I am pursuing a masters (graduate) social work degree in International and Community Development from the University of Calgary. My practicum is in South Africa, near Johannesburg. I will be interning through a Catholic organization called VIDES which have sites all over the world for volunteers from all over the world to volunteer in. I will be living with the Salesian Sisters there, and helping them carry out their development services for children and women. First of all, you can watch Coldplay's Paradise video. Although it was shot at first in London, it then pans to South Africa. Coldplay went to both places to film this video. I have always liked this song, and while traveling to check out the University of Calgary 2 Christmases ago, the entire album was available to listen to on the airplane. Maybe that should have been my first “clue" of where I would end up.

  Africa has always been my paradise. And it always will be. People tell me that there are children in the United States and Canada to help, and I don't need to go to Africa. Yes, that's true. But when your heart and your God tells you to go to Africa, you follow both of them. I'm living my dream. Dreams are weird things, sometimes. Like what made me like Africa in the first place? I'm thinking it was the videos and photos of children, calling me there. (Ask any one of my friends about my "black babies" and they can tell you how much I love black children.) And actually being there, playing with the children was the best experience in my life. The people there are always happy, especially the children.

 However, sometimes dreams force you to have to make sacrifices. Leaving family and friends is always hard. Trusting that everything will work out in the best way is difficult, but necessary when you are leaving everything behind.

The media makes Africa seem like nothing is there, and every child is starving. Not. True. This pains me that this is happening. In my studies, we have learned how the media does so, as well as how many efforts of people and NGO's trying to help really hurt communities instead of help them. I am so glad to have found and to have been accepted to study International Development as I have more knowledge now of how to help communities. South Africa was not my first choice for my internship. I was hoping for some of the other sites with the Sisters, like Rwanda or Zambia. But, the only available space for me was South Africa. I have very little information on exactly what I will be doing, and any logistics of the whole thing, but I guess that just makes this more of an adventure!