First Volunteer Day

I had an amazing day!! Today was my first day at my volunteer placement, "Home From Home." It was my first day back in two years and I'm so excited about all the postive changes I've seen. Truly wonderful....where do I start?

Well, the drive out to the township was uneventful...but the same route as before and everything was very familiar. Shocking to most, but suprisingly enough, I didn't find it really shocking..I guess it just is what it is. The shacks, the poverty, the little barefooted children, the trash, the women handwashing clothing in the buckets outside their plywood, sheet metal and plastic tarp covered homes........while it seems like such a sight....I've learned that some of these people have other options but choose to live this way. Even though their living conditions are nothing like our standards, they have a sense of family and community and they don't want to leave. They watch after their neighbors, their children, their neighbor's children. They want to stay with their clans. They have their families, their neighbors, their businesses.....yes their businesses. Some of them have salon's, shoe repairs, barber shops, bars, etc. I still love this town, the city, the suburbs, and the poor townships. This is Cape Town.

On the way to my creche (preschool), we stopped at another home and picked up two little boys to take to school with us. They are orphans in a home for cerebral palsy kids. The boys were 6 and 4. The 6 year old boy is named Chumani and the 4 year old they call Morgan. Neither boy can walk, but Morgan is able to sit up on his own and can drag himself around with his arms. Chumani isn't able to sit up. Morgan doesn't speak but he laughs, and he dances in his chair and he smiles. Chumani is raised in a home with multiple language speaking adults. He can speak 4 languages!! He is smart as a whip and just a beautiful little boy. While he doesn't speak all 4 languages fluently, he can speak enough to get by. He can speak Xhosa, Afrikaans, German and English and I am truly smitten with him. He is just a total joy. I wish I could bring him home with me.

We arrived at the creche and Dann (my volunteer partner) carried Morgan in and I carried Chumani in. We set them in chairs (Chumani in one with arms to keep him in it), and as the other children arrived we greeted and sat with them. I walked around and was very happy with what I saw....the playground filled with new climbers, swingsets, and sliding boards!! Someone donated the new items and it was wonderful to see. What they had before was old metal, worn out, rusted, broken down sets. They also have hired a man that does work outside of the creche. Someone planted a garden for them with fruits and vegetables and he gardens for them and does odd jobs around the house. He also must be keeping the playground clean. It used to be littered with all sort of dangerous trash, metal soup can lids, glass, etc.....now it's pretty clean and much safer for the kids. I saw the teachers I worked with before and they remembered me and were happy to see me again. I met the new teachers and the children. I even recognized lots of little faces from my last visit. It seems as though all of the children have remained healthy since my last visit, however some have graduated preschool and moved on to primary school, so I won't get to see them!! :( But it's wonderful that they are learning and thriving and I couldn't be happier.

The school is part of an orphanage and they have since hired a manager to oversee the homes and the school. So there is much more structure. They no longer accept children that are still in nappies (diapers), it was just too much. They now have 3 classrooms and additional teachers. They have a class of 5 year olds, a class of 4 year olds and a class of 2-3 year olds. I am working with the little guys. The structure is awesome...the kids are better behaved and learning more. Our class pretty much just sings songs...lots of songs and plays on the playground, because they are so young.

It was great to hear the South African teachers singing in their loud booming voices in their native language. I absolutlely love it. The kids stand in a circle and they sing along and clap and dance. Music....singing and dancing is such a strong part of their culture. When I was here before, my other volunteer partner and I taught them musical chairs....and it stuck. It was awesome to watch them line up the chairs and play!! The kids love it!! They also sang some songs that they've learned from other volunteers....The Wheels on the Bus, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, etc.

They now have a chest freezer in one of the rooms. They opened today, to get packs of chicken livers out for lunch and I saw a freezer full of food!! Finally....MORE FOOD! The kids had a healthy portion of rice and chicken livers. Before, they had very little protein! They have more food donations and are able to provide more for the children.

We played outside for quite sometime. I pushed and pushed and pushed more children on the swings today! And my little buddy Tumani sat in a baby swing that would support him and we did some swinging and some talking. He really is quite a smart boy. He asked me what my name was again and I told him "Rhonda" he replied with, "I'm Tumani!" He gave me a big old smile and pointed to a few of the kids on the playground and told me who they were. When they called for lunch I asked him if he was hungry and he touched his stomach and said, "Yes, I'm hungry." I took him in for lunch. When we were picked up by our driver we take Tumani and Morgan back to their home. I carried him in the van and asked him where he wanted to sit and he pointed to me and said, "with you." Ahh...the little angel got me....hook, line and sinker.

I will take a camera to school one day next week and get some pictures. And with any luck I will be able to upload them. I'm not sure the internet connection is strong enough here, but I will try again.

Well that's it for today. I'm tired and sunburned and need to be well rested for another amazing day at the creche.

I am so very hopeful for them!!

We are only at placement until about 12:15, then we are picked up and brought back to the homebase. We had lunch, and briefing with the program manager to let her know how our first day went and if we had any issues or concerns. Then a few of us walked into town to pick up a few things at the store. We came back to a language lesson....man Xhosa is hard to learn..of course I remembered nothing from my trip before.

Then a group of us went out to dinner for some Thai food. I'm making some really good friends and am again so grateful to be here.

Well I am off to bed. It was a busy day, I'm sunburned and tired. I need to rest up for another busy day tomorrow.

Goodnight!