Today I read a letter I wrote to my class (in Xhosa) explaining why I had to leave. After I read it a girl, sesethu, got up in front of the kids and said "Joshua we will miss u forever always, u always play with us and make us laugh. We will love u forever even until we leave ukhanyo, even until we are old grannies we will love and remember you we will never forget you Joshua." As she said that I of course started tearing up, and when the kids saw me crying they all started crying as well. I went to the front of the room and asked for a hug and all the kids came up and gave me a 45 person crying hug. That's a moment I will never forget. After school, a girl named Kuhle came up and gave me a big bag of letters from all the kids. When I got home that evening I told myself not to get too emotional as I read them, but that was never gonna happen. I made it through the first 20 without crying...but after that I was broken. Each letter I read turned the crank more and more on the water works. I knew that I made a little difference in these kids lives but I never realized how much I have actually impacted them.
"Joshua why you leave? I'm so sorry what happened to you. I need you Joshua you are best friend. I love you Joshua I never forget you." - Siphelo.
"to Joshua. I want to thank you for teaching us. You make us laugh and you play. When you are here i happy, when you not here I sad. You love kids and we love you. Thanks. The person who wrote this is siyathemba."
You see? There's 42 more of those...and I still get to sneak into their class and see them whenever I want...I can't imagine the goodbye that will happen when I leave them forever in a month. I hereby make a promise to return to Cape Town and Masiphumelele at least one time for at least a little while over the next 5 years. I want to see my kids grow up.
Cheers
Joshua
Wednesday, 19 October 2011
Monday, 17 October 2011
October 7th, 8th, 9th
I enjoyed this specific 3 day weekend at a music festival an hour inland from Cape Town entitled Rockin the Daisies. If you're interested in learning about it, youtube "Rockin the Daisies" and you'll see how awesome it is. I'd rather not go into too much detail, seeing as how some crazy stuff happened and I don't want my family members reading about those things ;) so if you have any questions about it, feel free to ask, and Ill answer over the privacy of email or fb chat. I mostly put this post on here so when I look back at my blog in a couple months, in a year, in 10 years, I will remember that I was a daisy, and a proud one!
Cheers
Cheers
Garden
We started building a garden for the school on October 3rd. It is now the 17th, and although we hve no doubt made some progress, I am at the point of pure boredom. I would rather not go into detail about how difficult it has been to get to the point where we are now at...just thinking about how difficult a process this has been kind of makes me angry. I did not sign up to come to South Africa and work on a big piece of grass that seems to be straight out of hell. One part of the grassy area we are working on is a spot where kids go to the toilet, it literally is just a horrifying location that smells of feces and urine. Another area has trash bags buried a foot underground, that have been there for so long roots have grown through them. Another area has trees that need uprooting, which isnt as easy as the orcs in Lord of the Rings make it look. Another area is scattered with bricks buried a foot underground. The entire plot has enormous 20 ft long planks stuck 3 inches deep that needed removing, 150 lb stones that are also buried and needed removing, is also littered with a decades worth of trash. After working on the area that smells of poop, I didnt eat anything for two days, it smelled so horrific I nearly threw up on 5 different occasions. Literally, I was on hands and knees dry heaving, I was just lucky that my appetite had gone so I didn't have anything to throw up. The only thing that keeps me working on the garden is the hope that after we go, someone will finish it for us, and in the end there will be a nice useable garden (that we helped contribute in building) that will be used by the school. Gotta think about the kids.
I just want to go back to my classroom. I miss it so much.
Cheers
I just want to go back to my classroom. I miss it so much.
Cheers
Sunday, 16 October 2011
October 1st
Today was a pretty damn gloomy day. Will just informed our group that the Western Cape Education Department has asked the principal of Ukhanyo to assess the abilities of the primary schools teachers. Usually I would say fantastic! Since Ukhanyo needs as much help as it can get, it seems like a logical step to assess where in the school they do need help, and where they do not need help! But the Principal has interpreted this request from WDEC as "we need to know how good your teachers are at their job, so take the volunteers out of the classroom." Andrew, Neal, Jenny, and I have been forced out of the classrooms where we have taught for the last month. Why? Not because we are doing a poor job (in fact the teachers freak out whenever we aren't assisting them, they really depend on our assistance), not because our help is needed elsewhere, just because that is how the principal has interpreted the WCED's request. I took it rough when I had to move out of my first class, and I had only been there for 2 days. I've been in Miss Xhabsy's class for a month...I have become so close with my class I can't explain it. I bring kids presents when it is there birthdays, I share my lunch with them, they do me a favor whenever I ask them to, they smile and give me a thumbs up whenever I see them (and vice versa), I know all of their names...I am heart broken that I can no longer teach them. It seems ludicrous that the WCED wants to help the school and as a method of assistance they are removing the help that we as volunteers offer. I guess it just gives us a little insight on how poor the education system is here in South African townships.
A not so happy cheers :(
A not so happy cheers :(
Wrap up of September
Sorry about the lack of blogs once again guys, in all honesty its just a combination of the internet being slow in our house and the fact that Im too lazy to wait for pages to load. I've typed up multiple blogs on my iphone, but I haven't put any on the internet. Ill spend the next half hour doing so....here's the first one, the wrap up of September.
So I initially signed up for PE, but when I arrived at the school we were volunteering at, I immediately recognized that my skills would be put more to use in a classroom. So I moved from the court to a grade 3 class (I later realized that this class was a class of all the worst kids in at that age in the school. Every teacher at the end of the year takes their worst couple of kids in their class, and boots them out. All of these "delinquents" get put into the same class, so we are left with a class of all the worst behaved kids in the grade. That was my class) and helped teaching. After 2 days though I was moved from that class to a grade 4 class. I was sad at first to leave, but after a month I have become so close with Miss Xhabsy's class (the teacher) that I could never have imagined not being moved. Not only do I always get to play with them and get to hear them laugh (which makes me tick, I love it so much), I get to grade their papers and enter marks, so after a couple weeks I could see who the bottom and top students were in terms of grades, and all the ones in between. I know my class so well that I know all 43 kids names (not as easy as it seems when the names arent derek, alex, and tim...they are vuyolwethu, athenkosi, xolile, qhamani, emihle, amahle, lihle, lisakhanya, sibabalo, nomnikelo...you get the point). And its not just my class that I love. The whole school is awesome. I can't walk 2 feet around the school grounds without hearing some little shout "Josh-ew-ah!" and wave me over, only to have him/her punch me and run away so I chase them down and tickle them to death. Every day I play with the kids so much that when I return home at 4 o clock, my shirts and shorts are stretched out, torn, and brown with dirt.
On 4 different days, all of Masi's water connection was just shut off. So, of course, Ukhanyo lost water, so on these days school was let out by 11 o clock. Its insane!! In a geographical area the size of down town Mercer Island, 45,000 people are crammed into back-to-back tin shacks, and they don't even have the gaunruntee of water. Amazing how different some parts of the world can be. And I don't mean half way across the world either...just down the street from Masi are 3 story houses with Nissan 350z's hanging out in the drive way and sprinklers spraying their freshly pruned gardens...its disgusting how people just let Masi go on existing the way it is without even considering helping the Xhosa people at all.
Every Monday and Thursday, the mulungus (white volunteers) play the pe teachers in a 5 aside match. I started out a little rusty, but as the games went on, my play has been improving and improving. The last couple games I've been scoring goals like crazy! Pastor, a 20 something security gaurd for the school, has been watching me play, and as he is an excellent player as well, he wants to bring me with him when he goes to a trial for ajax cape town...we'll see how that works out!!
If you've seen the picture of me standing with a friendly faced lady with my Beastside sweatshirt on, thats moms. She calls me her son, and promises that she wont let anything happen to me. She works in the administration with the other ladies, and is oh so sweet, as are the other ladies (Zakes, Bongz, Linda, and Belinda). I went out to Zakes house one day with Moms and Bongz and a couple Masi guys (who happened to be police officers) and we had a braii and danced to music and joked around...it was great. They taught me the song Loliwe by Zahara (look it up on youtube) which is just beautiful, whenever I listen to it when I'm back home, it will bring back vivid memories of Masi. I sing Loliwe when I walk around Ukhnayo and Masi, and everyone, from students to adults, laugh and laugh because they love hearing me sing it so much. I should record a video of me singing it in front of some people because it really makes any situation brighter and more fun.
My first month in Cape Town makes me never want to leave!!! I've learned so much its crazy...I'll post my next blogs later on today. Thanks for reading!! Once again, ask me whatever questions you want, I love questions!
Cheers
Joshua
So I initially signed up for PE, but when I arrived at the school we were volunteering at, I immediately recognized that my skills would be put more to use in a classroom. So I moved from the court to a grade 3 class (I later realized that this class was a class of all the worst kids in at that age in the school. Every teacher at the end of the year takes their worst couple of kids in their class, and boots them out. All of these "delinquents" get put into the same class, so we are left with a class of all the worst behaved kids in the grade. That was my class) and helped teaching. After 2 days though I was moved from that class to a grade 4 class. I was sad at first to leave, but after a month I have become so close with Miss Xhabsy's class (the teacher) that I could never have imagined not being moved. Not only do I always get to play with them and get to hear them laugh (which makes me tick, I love it so much), I get to grade their papers and enter marks, so after a couple weeks I could see who the bottom and top students were in terms of grades, and all the ones in between. I know my class so well that I know all 43 kids names (not as easy as it seems when the names arent derek, alex, and tim...they are vuyolwethu, athenkosi, xolile, qhamani, emihle, amahle, lihle, lisakhanya, sibabalo, nomnikelo...you get the point). And its not just my class that I love. The whole school is awesome. I can't walk 2 feet around the school grounds without hearing some little shout "Josh-ew-ah!" and wave me over, only to have him/her punch me and run away so I chase them down and tickle them to death. Every day I play with the kids so much that when I return home at 4 o clock, my shirts and shorts are stretched out, torn, and brown with dirt.
On 4 different days, all of Masi's water connection was just shut off. So, of course, Ukhanyo lost water, so on these days school was let out by 11 o clock. Its insane!! In a geographical area the size of down town Mercer Island, 45,000 people are crammed into back-to-back tin shacks, and they don't even have the gaunruntee of water. Amazing how different some parts of the world can be. And I don't mean half way across the world either...just down the street from Masi are 3 story houses with Nissan 350z's hanging out in the drive way and sprinklers spraying their freshly pruned gardens...its disgusting how people just let Masi go on existing the way it is without even considering helping the Xhosa people at all.
Every Monday and Thursday, the mulungus (white volunteers) play the pe teachers in a 5 aside match. I started out a little rusty, but as the games went on, my play has been improving and improving. The last couple games I've been scoring goals like crazy! Pastor, a 20 something security gaurd for the school, has been watching me play, and as he is an excellent player as well, he wants to bring me with him when he goes to a trial for ajax cape town...we'll see how that works out!!
If you've seen the picture of me standing with a friendly faced lady with my Beastside sweatshirt on, thats moms. She calls me her son, and promises that she wont let anything happen to me. She works in the administration with the other ladies, and is oh so sweet, as are the other ladies (Zakes, Bongz, Linda, and Belinda). I went out to Zakes house one day with Moms and Bongz and a couple Masi guys (who happened to be police officers) and we had a braii and danced to music and joked around...it was great. They taught me the song Loliwe by Zahara (look it up on youtube) which is just beautiful, whenever I listen to it when I'm back home, it will bring back vivid memories of Masi. I sing Loliwe when I walk around Ukhnayo and Masi, and everyone, from students to adults, laugh and laugh because they love hearing me sing it so much. I should record a video of me singing it in front of some people because it really makes any situation brighter and more fun.
My first month in Cape Town makes me never want to leave!!! I've learned so much its crazy...I'll post my next blogs later on today. Thanks for reading!! Once again, ask me whatever questions you want, I love questions!
Cheers
Joshua
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