A great day!

Molweni!

Although it rained most of the morning and we were stuck inside at the creche, it was a pretty great day! I spent most of the day in the daycare room with Morgan, with the exception of a few trips to the classroom to check on Chumani and change his nappie.

Yesterday, while I was at Robertson, another volunteer went with the boys to school. Kelsey knows both boys very well as she volunteers at their home, where the other CP children live, along with my 2. Morgan did not have a good day at all. He was not in a good mood and was pinching and scratching everyone. They even had to put him in a crib, to contain him while he through a temper tantrum. Kelsey said it was an exhausting day. Chumani on the other hand always has a great day. He is always happy. Morgan was fine today..in fact, he had an awesome day. The teacher feels maybe it was because I wasn't there yesterday that he was so out of sorts. I'm so hoping that's not the case, as I'll only be here another week and half. I am starting feel guilty. Both of these boys are orphans. Maybe Morgan's behavior has something to do with being abandoned. What if when I leave he feels abandoned again? I hope my being here and spending so much time with him, isn't causing him more harm than good. If I could bring both of them home with me, I would. I need to get picture of Morgan. I'll try to get that done tomorrow. I want to show you the other little guy that owns a piece of my heart. I could tell he was very excited to see me this morning, as he hadn't seen me since Friday!

I was talking to a local a few days ago and he was talking about Skoli's. He said a skoli is what we call a gangster. I told him there was a little boy in the daycare named Skoli. He said that wouldn't be his name, but what they call him, because he is probably naughty. He is in fact that! He is usually the more aggressive child there. He takes toys from kids, pushes, somewhat of a bully. He got put in timeout today for quite a while. He is always being scolded by the teachers and I also find myself telling him no and stop. While at first it seemed kind of funny that they would call the little boy Skoli....it's really quite sad. That would be like you calling your toddler, Bad Boy all the time. So much for positive reinforcement. Skoli is the name he answers to and I thought that was his actual name until I had this conversation. I asked the teacher today what his real name was and she doesn't know. She only knows him a Skoli.

I walked into town this afternoon to buy more poster board. I made up two posters for each classroom with each child's picture and their name under it. Not only did it help me learn all the names in the classrooms, but the children love to see their picture!

In language class we learned something really neat tonight. Traditionally, most Xhosa children are named by their Aunt (I believe he said it was usually the father's sister). They are given a name that means something. He gave a bunch of examples and most of the names mean things such as; joy, blessing, gift, given, hope, beauty. I thought that was just wonderful. He did say though, with so many teens now giving birth, that the tradition isn't followed like it used to be. There are a few children at my school that have American names. I'm not sure if they've actually been given American names or if they are just nicknames they use. I need to try and find that out. We have a Morgan, Hilda, and an Amanda. Another volunteer works at a primary school with 3rd grade children. She has a student with a Zulu name that is hard to pronounce, so when she introduced herself to Irma (our volunteer), she said her Zulu name, but then said, "Just call me Cynthia." So I think maybe they sometimes just go by easier names.

Oh yeah! The last time I was here, there was a little boy that I was particularly attached to. His name was Msisi. He was about 18 months old, I think, when I was here before. I was hoping to see him again on this return trip. I was so anxious to see how he was doing and how he had grown and progressed. I didn't know a whole lot about him, as I was so attached, I felt the less I knew the better. I wasn't 100% sure he was an orphan and I wasn't sure if he was HIV+. When I arrived this time, he wasn't here. I was so disappointed and very worried that perhaps something happened to him, but I was afraid to ask. I was so afraid to find out something terrible. Today I finally got the courage to ask. It took a few minutes for the teacher to figure out who I was talking about, since it was so long ago....but she got it! She said, "Ohhh...the light skinned boy that was little and used to cry and cry and you held him all the time." EXACTLY!! She said she thinks he is fine. He stopped coming because he lived a good distance away from the creche and they were having a real problem with transportation. So that tells me two things: he has more than likely remained healthy and may not be positive. And it also tells me that he has a family! He is not an orphan! The orphans that attend that creche live right across the street from the facility. So YAY Msisi!! :)

Well...I guess that's it for today. I can't believe I'm almost 1/2 way through my third week! The time has just been flying! I already hate the thought of leaving here, but I am so anxious to get home to my own family!

Sala kakuhle!