October 11th

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