Much Excitement

The last week of work has been quite strange - Monday and Tuesday were holidays so I only started work in Lifeskillls on Wednesday. Even though we only had three days of class, we still managed to get a lot done by the end of the week. Wednesday was mostly spent trying to teach the children about seasons - why it gets colder during the year, why we have night and day etc. But some of the kids did grasp the concept of the Earth's revolution which was a big step! The next day when we tested their knowledge again, a couple of them remembered 'the northern hemisphere' and 'the Earth's axis'... That was definitely a highlight for me this week because you could clearly see their progression in essential general knowledge.

On Thursday both the Junior class and the Lifeskills class went to the local bowling alley for their end of term excursion. After an hour of bowling (which all the children loved), we still had some time left so we decided to take the kids to try out the crazy golf course. They were all fascinated when the golf ball went down a tunnel and came out somewhere completely different, it was hilarious to watch their expressions.

On Friday it was pancake and popcorn day so we all spent the morning popping, packing and selling. I was on pancake duty and I think we managed to make about 80, which we then sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. This whole process is great for the children, especially those with autism because they depend a lot on strict routine and get agitated if it's interrupted.

On Saturday we were invited round to Jenny's house for dinner. She's studying psychology and has chosen 'volunteering' as her topic of interest. Kathryn, Zoe and myself each had an interview, sharing with her the reasons why we volunteered, hardships that we've overcome, what makes a good volunteer etc. It was very interesting because I don't think any of us had asked ourselves some of the questions, so we learnt some things as well. After the interviews were over we sat down on the couch and ate pita bread filled with chicken - a perfect way to end the evening.

In other news: I think my family will have landed in Cape Town by now after a long flight from Heathrow. After they've spent a couple of days there they'll head up to Polokwane on Wednesday. On Thursday and Friday I'll show them around the school, introduce them to all the children and then on Friday evening we set off on our road trip to Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. This means that I won't be posting on my blog for the next 3/4 weeks, but I'll write a big update on my return. I'm so excited.  

Excursion

Winding down

It's getting close to the holidays now, and the atmosphere around the Enrichment Centre is very relaxed. This week in Seniors we slowly took the pressure off work and concentrated more on enjoying the couple of weeks we have left. After Zoe, Kathryn and myself arrive back from the month-long break, we'll only have three weeks left with the children before we fly home and that fact is starting to hit home! 

During my five days in Seniors we celebrated one of the boy's 12th birthday. Birthdays in the Enrichment Centre are always a big occasion and I've been very lucky by somehow managing to land myself in the class with a birthday almost every time... Much to the annoyance of Zoe and Kathryn. On Thursday during cooking we made a delicious pancake stack - basically pancake lasagne because we filled it with mince and white sauce. It was a huge hit with the children and everyone polished it off - I'll definitely be taking that recipe home with me along with bunny chow and marmite and cheese cake.

At Aftercare this week we had to move the children to the more sheltered playground because of the cold. It was actually warmer in Edinburgh than in Polokwane at various points last week! Kathryn and I also played a very funny game with one of the Grade 00 boys, Tchifiwa. He would sneak up behind one of us while we were sitting on the chairs and shout ARRRRGGGGGGG and then lean in close and wait for us to tell him to go and scare the other person. The funniest part was that he'd always run up to the person he was scaring, so you could hear him coming. Then he'd stop, take a huge inhale of air and finally ... ARGGGGGG. Later on we told him to go and scare one of the Grade 00 girls in the sandpit who had her back to him. She turned around when he was still about five meters away and gave him a very unimpressed look. Kathryn and I were almost in tears.

This weekend we also purchased some daisies from the nearby garden centre. We're going to plant them in memory a fellow Project Trust volunteer who tragically passed away in India about a month ago. We'll plant them in the memorial part of the Enrichment Centre garden, so she can be remember along with the children we've lost over the years. 

Fun and Games

The weeks are now passing by in a blur, I can't believe we only have five more weeks working at Mitchell House (excluding holiday time). The last few days in the Junior class were fun, but as usual everyone had their hands full!

I'm finding it hard to think of things to talk about in these posts, as everything seems normal now. It's funny when somebody from outside the Enrichment Centre comes in for a day because everything seems highly unfamiliar to them, but we're so used to the routine and the children's quirks that anything considered 'abnormal' is a typical day for us. In fact, if a day was 'normal' we would consider it strange!

We've been very lucky to have extra hands over the past couple of weeks because an ex-gap student, Ellie, returned to see the kids. It's been great getting to know her and very interesting to hear how much has changed since she was here three years ago. What's especially encouraging is when she comments on how much certain children have progressed - grown in confidence, improved language abilities etc. Hearing that really makes us feel that we are making a positive difference to these children's lives.

As well as work this week, a lot of games have been played. On Thursday (our cooking day) we decided to join the Senior and Junior classes together and have a braai in the garden. The children cut up the vegetables and made a delicious salad while the teachers took care of the wors (sausages) on the fire. After everybody had eaten we played a couple of games with the classes - 'duck, duck, goose' and 'what's the time Mr Wolf'?' One of the girls in the Junior class couldn't grasp the 'goose' part of the first game, and would just shout DUCK again but extra loud when she wanted someone to chase her.

'What's the time Mr Wolf' was very funny. One person plays the wolf and stands facing a wall at the opposite side of the garden from everyone else. Then the group have to shout: WHAT'S THE TIME MR WOLF? and the wolf will answer something like... 5 O'CLOCK, meaning everybody has to take five steps towards the "wolf". This goes on until the wolf decides it's DINNER TIME and turns round and chases them back, trying to catch someone in the process. Whenever one of the kids played the wolf, they'd always turn round to chase everyone but then run away at the same time... So we'd have to explain that no, you're the wolf, nobody is chasing you.

As well as all that excitement I have also discovered the wonderfulness of raw honey straight from the hive. Kathryn and I both bought a jar each and sit on our beds eating it with a spoon. I disgust myself but I'm just channeling my inner Pooh Bear. Next week I'm in Seniors and it's only two and a half weeks until my family arrive. 

Have a good week!