In Memory

This post is probably quite unexpected, it is for me too, but I felt like I had to write it before getting back and writing about the travelling.

Earlier this evening I recieved some very sad news from one of the teachers at the Enrichment Centre. She phoned and told us that one of the children passed away this morning after spending a few days in ICU. Obviously it's a huge shock, none of us were expecting to lose anyone this holiday. Especially because all the kids seemed healthy before we left. 

I would like to dedicate this post to the little girl who died this morning, she was truly a joy to work with and had such a fantastic personality. We are so lucky to have played a part in her life and I will miss her greatly when we return to school. 

Here's to you kiddo! Thank you for letting me get to know you. Rest in peace.

 

Final Week!

The last few days have gone by quite slowly, and that's probably because school has finished and we're just waiting to get on our way. All the children left for the Summer holidays on Wednesday after Prize giving so we had to provide our own entertainment for the remainder of the week which felt strange and slightly boring...

The Prize giving was a lovely way to end the term because myself, Kathryn and Zoe were given the opportunity to help the Enrichment Centre children receive their prizes. We were paired with the kids that have difficulty with walking or are wheelchair bound and walked onto the stage with them to collect their certificate, (that's the closest I've ever come to receiving a prize at Prize giving). The ceremony went on for quite a long time and by the end we were left with two of the boys and they both fell asleep. It was such a funny image - both boy's heads right back, mouths open and snoring... I think it captured how everyone else was feeling by the end. But it was a great morning and we were all really proud of the kids for working so hard, most of them have improved in something since we've been here and it's been a privilege to witness that improvement.

Before the children left we had a 'water day' in the Enrichment Centre and we set up a big water slide and bouncy castle for the kids to enjoy. They all loved it and some of their reactions as they went down the slide were hilarious. One girl would keep her mouth wide open with excitement all the way down, meaning that by the end her mouth was full of soapy bubbles. It was a great way to say goodbye at the end of the year and it feels strange that we're not going to see them all for six weeks!

On Tuesday my day was made when we rescued a little kitten off the Enrichment Centre roof. We were working inside the office when we started to hear a series of tiny meows coming from outside. It took us a while to realise that the noise was actually coming from the roof but when we did, we climbed onto building, wrapped him up in a towel and brought him down. After that it was decided that his name would be Mitch because he was found on the roof of Mitchell House. He was then taken home with one of the staff members and collected the next day by a re-homing centre which would provide him with the necessary medication, food and water.

Little Mitch 

Safe and sound

  On Thursday we left in the afternoon for the Enrichment Centre Staff Social which was a night spent on a farm in Tzaneen. Much like the farm at the Buddhist retreat it was very green compared to Polokwane and the farm itself was absolutely beautiful. It had a very open plan interior with big glass doors leading out into the garden where there was a pool overlooking the dam and valley below. We actually went for a raft ride on the dam and were warned about the local crocodiles and hippos - a swim definitely wasn't an option. Later that evening we set up a fire and had a braai with chicken, lamb chops and boerewors (South African sausage) and afterwards played charades while toasting marshmallows.

It was such a great evening but my favourite part by far was when all the teaching assistants just started to sing. One lady, Rose, stood up when we were all a round the fire and started to shout lyrics in Sepedi. The next thing we knew all of the assistants were up on there feet singing traditional South African songs. After they started it off we all got up and started to dance, and they showed us how to "dance like South African".

The forest next to the farm

Pure luxury!

Raft ride

This will be my last blog post for a while. We're finally starting our journey down the eastern coast on Tuesday and won't be back until the 3rd of January. If I come across some internet access between now and then I will try to squeeze in a blog post between all the exciting things we'll be doing. If not then I wish you all a very early Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Gabotse!

Travelling essentials (Spongebob tissues)

Mainstream, Monks and Mechanics

This week has been a long one with lots of things happening, lots to prepare for and lots of memorable moments. I was back in Mainstream this week working with the little ones which was, as always, exhausting but highly entertaining. 

Because it was the last full week of term before the summer holidays, Santa paid the Grade 00s and Grade 0s a surprise visit. Sadly Santa's beard was a bit too big for his face and kept falling off, and from that some of the kids worked out that it wasn't actually Santa but the director of sports... But apart from that minor slip the morning was a huge success. All the children loved going up individually to get their presents and getting a turn to sit on "Santa's" knee. After that the week was completely Christmas themed and I spent a whole day with the Grade 00s making little Santas, decorating trees with glitter and playing Christmas games. I'm pretty sure I was loving it as much as they were - if not more.

On Thursday we had the EC Christmas concert and after weeks of preparation it couldn't have gone better! All the kids managed to stand up in front of everyone and perform, which for some of them was a huge achievement. The costumes and stage props that we'd been working on for days ended up looking great and the compliments were rolling in by the end of the show. 

One of the older boys from Lifeskills will be leaving us after Christmas to study at a local music college so he decided to stand up and say a few words before the concert was over. The speech started of well but then started to deteriorate when he just started thanking everyone in the audience individually. It was very funny but we had to step in when a child ran across the stage and he ran after the kid thanking him for making an appearance. 

After such a hectic and exciting week I was very much looking forward to spending the day at the Buddhist retreat. I thought it was going to be a very relaxing experience but I couldn't have been more wrong - it was actually the most exhausting day of the whole week! 

We started the morning by getting picked up outside the hostel by Niki, one of the teacher at the school who had trained to become a monk for three months. He was telling us that he also spent ten days training in a cave, not able to see daylight, having to go to the toilet in the same space and just being alone with your thoughts in the dark for the whole time. I can imagine it must seem like a lifetime. A psychologist has to be on hand because the experience can actually be maddening, but you're allowed to leave whenever you want.

After getting picked up by "The Plum" (Niki's small purple car), we drove for an hour until we reached the jungle in which the Buddhist retreat is situated. The roads through the jungle are the roughest I've ever experienced and the bottom of The Plum took quite a bashing. At one point we all had to get out of the car so that Niki could drive up a particularly tricky road... About another hour later we finally arrived at the retreat.

The farm building in which the Buddihist retreat was held was absolutely beautiful. It was like we were in a completely different country. The contrast between the setting of Polokwane and the farm was huge. Compared to the hot, dry and dusty landscape surrounding Mitchell House, this place was misty, cool and lush with vegetation and when there was a break in the mist you could see the surrounding valley from the porch of the farm house. Down the road a little bit from the farm, there was a small area of pine forest and that really reminded me of the woods we have up in the north of Scotland. You couldn't ask for a better place to meditate!

We started the meditation at 8am and carried on until lunch, with small medication walks in between. As well as silent meditation we practiced chanting and learned more about the Buddhist culture. In total I think we meditated for about 7 hours and I found myself drifting off at various points... But apparently in Tibetan Buddhism the monks fall asleep all the time so I didn't feel too guilty.

After a surprisingly tiring day, we started to pack up and get ready to leave. Sadly when we tried to start up The Plum we found out that the bashing she took was more serious than we thought so Niki had to do some quick mechanical work. That's when we came up with the phrase "monk by day, mechanic by night."

Turn Up The Heat...

In the last week we have really experienced the variety of African weather. Apparently summertime is usually very unpredictable - it can be 35 degrees one day and then raining and cold the next. For somebody used to Scottish weather, experiencing so much heat at this time of the year is strange... I think my body is still expecting to go into hibernation mode. It is however, quite funny seeing staff wandering about the school wearing a Santa hat accompanied by shorts and a t-shirt. And because of the current postal strike in South Africa, everyone's joking that Santa will take this year off - the kids don't find the idea too amusing though.

This week I continued working with the Lifeskills class which was lovely. The kids are making great progress with their performances for the Christmas Concert and all the costumes are almost finished as well. One of the dances is very traditional and I get to wear a very fetching Zulu outfit along with all the other girls. The boys have to wear leopard skin and headbands. I'm personally very impressed with one of the kid's progress with the song Umbrella by Rihanna - she's gone from knowing almost no words to singing each line perfectly. She suffers from epilepsy and has difficulty remembering and pronouncing words, so I decided that the best way to help her remember the words was through actions. By working on a couple of lines each day and then rehearsing what we'd previously gone over, she improved slowly and steadily and now - almost two weeks later - she's singing them better than RiRi! It's a huge achievement for her and an extremely rewarding experience for me being able to see that my method of teaching actually worked!

I also had the pleasure of meeting one of the Lifeskills students who has been out of school since we arrived. Her absence is sadly due to sickness, but she'll hopefully be well enough to come back soon. It was her 18th birthday on Monday so we all sang Happy Birthday in the various languages of South Africa and finished by having a very impressive cake. Her Mum then handed out personalised face cloths with a thank you message on the back to all the staff - I was very touched as it was my first introduction to her.

In other news: I sent off my Christmas parcel yesterday (hurrah!). It will hopefully reach home by next week and then I'll leave it up to my parents to hand out the cards. I had to send it via DHL so that it wouldn't be affected by the current strike - a little pricey but worth it. We've also been invited by one of the teachers to accompany her on a weekend Buddhist retreat in the mountains in two weeks time. I think it's going to be so interesting and I can't wait to see the mountain setting. Since being here we've only visited the mountains once and I do miss them because living in Scotland you grow so used to that kind of environment.

Next week I'm back in Mainstream and I can't wait to see all the little rascals again. I'll definitely have some funny stories for my next post. Before I go I'd like to add a quick link to a video I took in Swaziland. I've had great difficulty trying to upload videos for you all to see and finally found a solution by creating a Youtube account where I can post all my South Africa footage. This particular video was taken when we went to visit the cultural village in Swaziland and the local choir performed for us - Enjoy!

Cultural Village Choir

Summer Flowers

Summer Flowers

A very desperate sign 

Morning walk to the Enrichment Centre

Christmas Market

This week I was back with the Lifeskills class and our time was either spent practicing dances for the Christmas concert, or getting things ready for the Christmas market which is being held later today. Because the Lifeskills class are older and more independent, some of the kids are doing solo performances for the concert. You Raise Me Up by Westlife and Umbrella by Rihanna are two of the chosen songs that are going to be sung, and I can assure you that I now know these songs better than the artists themselves. We've also interpreted some actions for both songs just to jazz it up a little bit.

Lifeskills is the class I have been placed with for the concert on the 27th so we're stopping the rotation of classes for next week meaning we can continue practicing with the children. I'm helping one of the boys during the dances which is very funny. He's quite a lazy individual and he sometimes needs encouragement to lift his arms or move his feet so I'm almost taking the role of a puppeteer! But the kids are already performing the dances and songs so well that I think the concert is going to be a complete hit. Sadly being with the Lifeskills class means that I don't get to take part in the Sid the sloth number, but I can dance from the sidelines... Can't let those moves go to waste.

Today the Enrichment Centre is hosting a Christmas market and we've been preparing for that all week as well. The children in Lifeskills have made about fifteen bottles of lemonade and ten jars of pickled cucumber to sell later this afternoon. As the gap students we've been put in charge of decorations, so for the last couple of days we've been painting, sticking, cutting and pasting. Hopefully the outcome will meet expectations!

This week we were also lucky enough to have the Swaziland volunteers join us. They arrived on Wednesday and helped out at the Enrichment Centre all week - it was great to have the extra hands and show them around our project. I felt so proud introducing them to all the kids. Telling them about each child really showed me how much I've learnt about each of them over the past ten weeks. I know what each personality is like, what they find funny, what they don't find funny and what they need help with. It was lovely to suddenly see this proof that my connection with each of them is growing.  On Saturday we decided to go out for a meal and see a film as a goodbye treat. The film we chose was Interstellar and it completely blew us away... It is now my new favourite film and I insist that if you haven't seen it yet - go! When the movie finished everyone in the theatre just remained in their seats with this look of awe on their faces.

In other news: this weekend we had the privilege of looking after Stuart the mouse who is a very cute individual. We had to hide him from the cleaners but he'll be leaving the hostel on Monday so the pressure will be off. On Thursday I experienced one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen - the picture below doesn't really do it justice. The way the light hit the clouds against the vast, flat African landscape made everything seem tiny in comparison.

Sunset

Stuart Little

Stuart Little

Sid costume

Christmas market decorations

Christmas market setup

Christmas Concert

Now that the Christmas holidays are only three weeks away all the classes in the Enrichment Centre are focusing on their performances for the Christmas Concert. I was working with the Senior class this week and had the opportunity to help out with their practices - some of which were very funny. My personal favourite dance piece that they're doing in called 'Continental Drift' which is rapped by Sid the sloth from Ice Age:

Click here to watch!

The kids are very good at remembering the dance moves and it's so funny to watch them get into it. I had to make a cardboard cutout of Sid for one of the girls so she can wear it during the performance and it just completes the dance number. Seven dancing sloths and one cardboard sloth aimlessly wandering about it the background is bound to get a standing ovation. 

At Aftercare this week we had a very dramatic afternoon when a girl in Grade 3 managed to cut her finger using a guillotine. The guillotines here are much more hazardous because the blade that you use to cut the paper is a massive knife that you pull downwards instead of sliding it across. The teacher left the room for five minutes and in that time, the poor girl sliced her middle finger extremely badly. So badly, that when we were called to help we didn't need to ask where it was because of the trail of blood that led us to the classroom. When we got there she was already heavily bandaged up and had been taken good care of. We just stayed with her until her mum arrived and took her to hospital. When we were cleaning up the classroom afterwards, we came to the conclusion that she must have hit a vessel in her finger because the blood had even hit the walls... But thankfully the next day we got a phone call to say everything was okay - the finger was fine and she'd be coming back into school. As for the guillotine, it has now been placed out of reach.

In happier news: on Friday we took part in the staff charity cycle. It was at the local Polokwane gym and you had to cycle on an exercise bike for an hour while alternating between standing and sitting position. It was a lot of fun and really nice to spend some time with the other teachers away from the school environment. We saw them all again yesterday when we went to the Polokwane Game Reserve for a staff function which was held under a beautiful grass roof. The evening consisted of a Braai (a South African BBQ), some talks from the Principle and a nature walk around the safari with the children. We didn't actually see any nature on the nature walk because of the noise that the kids were making, but it meant everyone else got some quiet time. We were told before going on the walk that, "if you see a rhino, walk around it and not towards it" which put us a nervous state of mind before setting out with fifteen children.

On Monday I'll be back in Lifeskills and I'm really looking forward to learning some more Christmas dances and seeing all the kids again. On Wednesday the Swaziland volunteers are coming up to spend a few days here to experience life at our project - it'll be great to see them all again and discuss our Christmas travel plans! 

Charity cycle staff T-shirt

At the event

The nature walk

Staff function venue

A very unwanted nighttime visitor

Goodbye October

Now that  I've settled into work and life here at Mitchell House, it's harder for me to think of new and exciting things to write about. The last week was a pretty normal one (as normal as you can get when working with the Junior class), but as always there were little things that happened throughout the week that made working with the children enjoyable - or in some cases - exciting.

I've explained before that the Junior class is the most tiring and testing class in the school, and some points this week really proved that. 'The Runners' of the class seemed to be extra hyperactive which resulted in more biting, scratching and dashes for the classroom door... When I was playing with one of the other children on the carpet, I was jumped on from behind and tackled to the floor. I now have a very fetching bite mark on my shoulder! Of course it's not their fault that they can sometimes be aggressive, and it's usually because they're frustrated at not being able to ask for what they want.

Because both of the boys are non-verbal they own a file that contains a variety of symbols for 'water', 'food', 'trampoline' and so on. During class time I'd frequently be led to the trampoline by one of the boys where he'd present me with a leaf to stroke his face with. It might sound like a strange thing to do, but they react very well to sensation and it calms them down very effectively.

My highlight of the week however, was when we took the Junior class swimming. Helping to teach each child how to swim was definitely one of the most rewarding things I did last week, and to see the utter joy on their faces at experiencing something so different was amazing. The swimming sequence consisted of two lengths front-crawl, two length back crawl, blowing bubbles and jumping in from the side and getting out again. We put the wheel-chair bound children in rubber rings which they seemed to love - one of the girls couldn't stop laughing the whole time she was in the water. It must have felt so good for them being able to move without the restrictions of a chair.

In other news: we'll be starting work on the library bookcases soon, painting a dragon on one of them and a fairy tale castle on the other - hopefully the outcome will be a success. We've also found various activities to do on the way to Cape Town including quad biking and the highest bungee jump in the world at Bloukrans Bridge in Plettenburg... It's a total of 216 meters high. The less thrill seeking activities include a visit to 'Hole In The Wall' - a huge coastal arch at Coffee Bay that looks beautiful - and a couple of coastal walks around Port Elizabeth. That should get me a couple of brownie points when I start my geography degree next year!

Pizza to celebrate Halloween

Bloukrans Bridge

Springtime

Last week I completed my first full rotation of work at Mitchell House, ending up back in Mainstream with the Grade 00s. For some reason I always find working in the Mainstream school much more tiring than working in the Enrichment Centre, which is strange because the children in the Enrichment Centre require a lot more one-to-one attention. But one thing I’ve noticed about being in charge of the Grade 00s is how many arguments you have to solve… Every five minutes a child comes up to you and complains that “someone called me a chicken” or “she called me cute”. The latter complaint is a common one with Lechlabile, the smallest boy in the class, who I frequently catch checking out his arm “muscle” in the classroom mirror. By the end of a week working in Mainstream, plus the extra four hours at Aftercare, you really appreciate the weekends!

During my time off last Sunday I decided to do some sketching. I’ve brought so many lovely sketch books with me and I have to try and fill them by the time I leave. So I walked over to the Enrichment Centre garden in the afternoon, settled myself into one of the blue hammocks, and tried to sketch a nearby tree. The gardens at the Enrichment Centre are so beautiful and I’m worried that my pictures don’t do them justice. It’s now springtime so everything is starting to bloom and smell amazing, much stronger than any of the flowers back home. My theory is that because the landscape is so barren, the flower’s scent is much more powerful in order to attract the occasional passing insect… As well as the flowers, the birds here are also amazing – their colours are like nothing you could ever see in the UK. Yesterday when I was walking back to the hostel, I saw a bird about the same size as a sparrow but its chest was a stunning red. The contrast between its brown back and bright red breast made it look like someone had painted on the red colour (it was that bright). Some mornings we’ve also seen some Ibis – a biggish bird with the defining feature of a long, thin, curved beak – traditionally linked to Egypt and the Egyptian God with the head of an Ibis. I think Egyptian Ibis are black and white and are referred to as the Royal Ibis, probably because of its connection with the God. 

Along with the changing vegetation and wildlife, the weather is also becoming much more tropical. At 1am on Wednesday morning we experienced our first proper South African storm. You can tell it was a big one because usually at one o’clock in the morning we’d be asleep but because of the noise we all woke up. The thunder during a South African storm makes any storm in the UK seem like nothing – the hostel walls were actually shaking because of the noise. The hostel was only completed in February so the shaking wasn’t due to any infrastructural problems…

In other news we have finally booked our Christmas travel and now that everything is finalised, I'm so excited to get underway. Yesterday we booked a 14 day Bazbus ticket that allows you to travel down the eastern coast of South Africa, getting on and off wherever and whenever you please. We've decided to spend a few nights in Durban, then travel onwards to Coffee Bay, Port Elizabeth, Plettenburg Bay, Mossel Bay and finally arrive in Cape Town on Christmas Eve. We've discovered an elephant sanctuary in Port Elizabeth that - for £8 - offers an hour to ride the elephants and then a further 45 minutes to feed and wash them. For our stay in Cape Town we've booked a tour of Robben Island, a day of shark cage diving and a vineyard tour. I also want to go and watch a rugby match at the stadium and climb Table Mountain and Lion's Head... so there will be plenty to do! Surfing is obviously also on the list, but because we're travelling down the coast I assume there will be many opportunities to try out the South African waves. 

Lifeskills

This week I was working in the Lifeskills class, the only class in the Enrichment Centre I hadn't worked with yet. The Lifeskills class holds the oldest group of teenagers (I think the oldest is 18) and the aim is to help them become as independent as possible. This is achieved through weekly work placements at the Garden Centre, running their own popcorn business within the school and getting them to help with chores around the classroom. What I personally loved about working with the lifeskills children is that all of them are given the opportunity to learn the basic skills required for any person who wants to live independently and I think it's fantastic that they're given the same chance as everyone else.

One of the difficult things about working with classes in the Enrichment Centre, especially in Lifeskills, is that all the children suffer from different disabilities which affect them in different ways. In Lifeskills the main aim is to increase their independence and prepare them for the outside world but some of the children will always require a little bit of assistance.

One boy, for example, suffers from epilepsy and is unable to communicate effectively with the people around him. He understands when you ask him to do something but will usually only communicate in Sepedi, a common language in South Africa. This does mean that I now know the Sepedi word for 'orange' which is Lamunu... and how to say some other basic phrases like 'hello' (Dumela), 'how are you' (O kae?) and 'I'm fine' (Ke gona). Like many of the children in the Enrichment Centre he also responds well to music and if you start singing the South African National Anthem he will take the lead and sing all four verses right to the end.

On the other end of the spectrum there is a boy in the Lifeskills class who suffers from autism but is extremely capable of doing his own work. Like many people who suffer from autism however, he doesn't fully understand how to interact socially which could prove a problem when he leaves Mitchell House. So while with one child we're focusing on a whole range of skills, with another we're just focusing on social interaction.

On Thursday we celebrated one the boy's 16th birthday by going to Ten Pin Bowling. We started of the afternoon by handing out cake and crisps while one of the other boys gave a birthday speech. The speech started of really well but then started to go down hill when he started talking about "how annoying the birthday boy could sometimes be.." At that point we quickly interjected, thanked him for his speech and gave him a piece of cake to stop him talking. When we had all finished eating we headed over to the bowling alley and got into teams, mentally preparing ourselves with team pep talks... The funniest part of the whole day was when one of the boys (the one who suffers from epilepsy) confidently walked up to the alley and just dropped his bowling ball. The ball then crept down the isle at a snails pace but somehow still managed to knock all the pins over... When the screen came up with a massive 'STRIKE!' he just turned a round, smiled and sat back down again. What a technique!

In other news, last weekend I took part in the Polokwane Walk for Cancer which was held in the city stadium. We went along with one of the teachers and spent a few hours walking laps of the running track and occasionally stopping for a cinnamon pancake... Overall it was a great evening and it was fantastic for us to get involved with something so special.

On Monday I will be back in the Mainstream classes with all of the little Grade 00s. At Aftercare yesterday I asked one of the boys if he was excited to have me back in his class and he replied with, "You don't have to come to my class, just come to my home so we can play Power Rangers." I said that the offer was extremely tempting, but that my lack of Power Ranger knowledge would let me down so how about I just help him out in class on Monday. He replied, "Fine. But don't forget your laser gun."

Polokwane Walk for Cancer

Polokwane Walk for Cancer

Swaziland

Hello Everyone!

We've just arrived back in Polokwane after spending a fantastic week in Swaziland. For the duration of our stay we lived with the Project Trust Swaziland volunteers and we couldn't have asked for better hosts. Jade, Izzy, Joe and Tom  made us feel right at home and even introduced us to parts of their project. Unfortunately we didn't have time to travel to Mozambique, but we've already planned to spend a week there during the Easter holidays.

Last Thursday evening we were dropped off in Manzini (the city where the PT volunteers live) and were instantly met by a very excited Jade, who led us back to their accommodation. It's the first time we've all seen each other since arrival so it was really interesting to hear how they're settling in. They also introduced us to this game called '30 Seconds' which is very similar to 'Articulate' so we had quite a few competitive games over the course of the week...

On Friday the girls took us to one of their projects, Mccorkindale's Children's Home. Two of the children had their birthdays so we brought along a cake and played some party games (musical statues and toilet tag). It still amazes me how friendly the children in Africa are. The moment we arrived they ran up to us and gave us the biggest hugs. It was so heartwarming to be shown such kindness from children that have so little. When we were leaving the kids piled into and onto the van and wouldn't get out until we reached the gate. Even then we had to double check for stowaways in the back...

On Saturday we visited Manzini market which is the biggest market in Swaziland. It was amazing to see all the different handmade crafts like hair clasps made from coconut shell. After looking around the market we drove to Swazi Candles, a very small workshop where they hand make wonderfully colourful candles. You had the opportunity to watch a couple of men making some candles and they'd sometimes mold the warm wax into the shapes of various animals. The workshop was situated on the outskirts of Manzini and it was great to get away from the hectic town centre. It was a very picturesque setting - a little wooden hut surrounded by trees - so we decided to stay there for lunch.

A couple of days later we had a girls day out. Myself, Zoe, Kathryn, Jade and Izzy drove to Mantenga Falls, a waterfall that's also near a cultural village. We spent the morning swimming around the waterfall and it was great to jump into the cool water after spending so long in the sun. At one point Zoe shouted, "I just saw something under the water!!"  and in response we both scrambled onto a nearby rock... After agreeing that it was probably no more than a stick, we jumped back in. But when we arrived back at the hostel and mentioned to the other volunteers that we went swimming at the falls, they responded with, "You did what?! You do know there are crocodiles in there?" That was definitely the most exciting thing that happened during our stay, even though it was unintentional.

After spending some time at the waterfall we went to see the cultural village which was very interesting. We were taken on a guided tour of the village, which was built to replicate a traditional Swazi homestead. The guide led us round all the different huts, showing us where the boys slept, where the girls slept and where the elders slept. We were told that the men of the village always went first when exiting the huts to check for danger and protect the women. At that point in the tour all the women nodded with approval. He also explained that if the village came under attack, the prettiest village girl would step out of the hut and act as a distraction. Usually, he said, the attacker would then just give up and ask for her hand in marriage. Overlooking the village was a huge cliff that the Swazi people call Execution Rock. If anyone in the village committed a crime they would be taken up there and pushed off the edge. An easy solution, but not very pleasant. The guide then reassured us that they don't practice that form of punishment anymore.

Overall it was a fantastic week and we got to experience so many new things. The planning of it was very last minute, but in the end it worked out surprisingly smoothly. On Monday we start work again and I'll be working with the oldest group in the Enrichment Centre which I'm really looking forward to. After spending two weeks away from the children you begin to really miss them... I'm only a month in so I can't imagine what the goodbyes will be like in August!

Swaziland here we come!

On the way to Swazi Candles

Swazi Candles

Swazi Candles

Candle Maker

Mantenga Falls

Swazi Dancers

Traditional Swazi Grass Hut

Goodbye Meal

Sunset on our last night

Senior Class

This week was our final week before the holidays and I spent it in the Senior Class. Compared to the Junior Class it was a very relaxed atmosphere with nobody trying to escape from the classroom and no biting!

The children in the Senior Class are aged 10 - 14 and suffer from a range of disabilities. There is a girl with Down's syndrome, a boy with cerebral palsy, a couple of children with autism and a couple with brain damage. This means that each child has different needs to the next, so you constantly have to adapt your communication techniques depending on who you're interacting with. The boy with cerebral palsy for example could be your average eleven year old, but he is unable to join the mainstream because of his fragile physical state. He is extremely socially aware and you can have a very nice conversation with him. He actually shares the same birthday as me and when I told him it was all he talked about for the next couple of days. We planned our joint birthday party which is going to be an 'Underwater theme' and gave everyone different creatures to dress up as...

Earlier in the week I was chosen to help the Enrichment Centre children at the swimming gala which was a lot of fun. The kids had to swim one length of the pool while holding a float with us helping alongside them. The boy I was helping suffers from autism so he was a good swimmer but I don't think he fully understood the meaning of a 'swimming' race because when we reached the shallow end of the pool he just stood up and started to run... We did manage to get him to start swimming again but I think he was just very determined to win the chocolate bar.

There was also an 'International Day' festival at the school. It hosted stalls from all around the world that allowed you to try different foods - some nicer than others. When we investigated the South Africa stall we discovered some dried worms and I tried one because I said to myself before coming to South Africa that I would try something interesting. I wouldn't recommend them for taste...

Last night I had a very nice Skype call with my family. It's the first time I've properly spoken to them in a month so it was great to see them all (cousins included). To my immense joy our cat was also included in the Skype call and I think some people got a bit offended when they compared my reaction to seeing them with my reaction to seeing him. But never the less, I obviously love and miss you all and it was lovely to see you all again. And Tom - if you manage to do well in your upcoming prelims I will get you a very cool Christmas gift.  

Apart from that it's been quite a quiet week with everybody getting ready to leave for the holidays. As I mentioned before we're planning to go to Swaziland but are still trying to figure out some cheap transport. At the moment the only thing we can find is a bus that costs over a hundred pounds and we're debating whether it's worth spending that amount of money on transport for just five days away. But we definitely want to go somewhere so if we can't find a cheaper way then we'll go for it. I think we'd rather spend a lot of money and see something than not see anything new.

So I don't know where I'll be next Sunday but if I'm here I will write another blog post. If not then you'll hear from me in two weeks time with some travelling stories!

The Worms

Trying the Worms...

The Grade 00 Concert - A Great Success!

Concert Light Duty