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