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.