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