What we've done this week:
- Visited Cape Town: We had Monday off this week because it was a national holiday (more on that in a bit), so we took the long weekend and stayed in a hostel in Cape Town. On Saturday, we climbed Table Mountain, which is one of the seven wonders of nature. I love climbing the mountains in Colorado, but this experience might top it. Then, on Sunday, we visited the botanical gardens in Kirstenbosch. Even though many things weren't in bloom because it's their winter, it was still incredibly beautiful. Finally, on Monday, we visited Robben Island, which is where Nelson Mandela was in prison for 26 years. It was quite an eerie experience to see the place where he endured hardships and abuse for so many years.
- Participated in Cultural Day: Last Friday Chantel invited us to a Cultural Day with some youth from another townships. Townships are the areas where the blacks and coloured were relocated to during the apartheid era. Chantel, the founder and director of Volunteer Mzansi, does a lot of personal and professional development training for the youth in the area. This program she helps with is called "Fit for Work. Fit for Life." It is a seven week course that prepares these 18-24 year-olds for going onto higher education or the workforce. On Friday we met about 12 of the 17 "youth" that are in the program. We gave a short presentation on the American culture and even performed the Wabash Cannonball and the K-State fight song for them. Then, they gave us a presentation on their culture. We heard about the Cape Town coloured culture, the Republic of Congo culture, and the Kosho (pronounced Ko-sha) culture. We also learned some traditional cultural dances and we ended up teaching them The Wobble. Classy, I know.
- Spent time with our host family: I don't know that I've ever fully explained the host family I'm staying with. So, here it goes... I'm staying with the Marshal family. My host dad is an ordained pastor, but he works for the city doing landscape work during the week. On Sundays he runs a church out of their garage. My host mom runs a creche (pronounced "cresh"), which is like a preschool, from her home. We have six host siblings, three of which still live at home. We have two host sisters who are in grade 11 and one host sister who is grade 6. One of our host sisters who is in grade 11 is not biological to the family. She is a family friend of the Marshals and her family lives in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, which is known as a very impoverished part of the country. She chose to come live with the Marshals a few years ago and they have adopted her as one of her own! Even though those are the only ones living in the house, it seems there are always family members coming in and out of the home. Family is very important to the coloured culture, so the door is always open here! Earlier this week our host sisters taught us the South African version of dominoes and Kaitlyn and I taught them how to play UNO. It made for a fun time and lots of laughs!
- Taught Grade 2: So, Kaitlyn and I thought we were done with grade 2 after last week...but it turned out that we weren't. The teacher that we subbed for last week is retiring and she left mid-morning on Tuesday to visit her daughter and new grandson. They didn't have anyone lined up to cover the class for the rest of the week, so they just handed the 36 eight-year-olds over to us. The first week we were at Marine, the students were taking exams. These past two weeks the teachers have been working on marking (or grading as we would call it) all of the exams, but the students aren't allowed to leave until all of the marking is completed. So for the past two weeks the students have just been sitting in their classrooms working on whatever they want, because the teachers are too busy marking to teach or make lesson plans. It was very frustrating for me to see all of this wasted learning time, so I was very excited and thankful to have this experience to actually teach the students and put to use the knowledge I gained from my education courses this past semester. Kaitlyn and I have spent parts of our evenings making lesson plans, which has proved to be harder than I thought. Since we weren't given any direction when we were handed the class, we weren't sure what the students knew and were learning in class. After asking some of the students and digging around through the teachers' books and resources, we had somewhat of a foundation. So, the past few days we've been teaching them new spelling words and working a lot on reading since the literacy rate is so low in this community. While the past few days have been a struggle, it's been also a joy to see the small steps of progress they've been making along the way.
What I've been learning:
- God wants us to serve out of an overflow of our love for Him. The two times we've been in Cape Town our group has been approached by A LOT of beggars. While it probably has something to do with the fact that we are eight, white females wearing bright rain jackets, it's still been quite a culture shock. It's not that I've never seen people who are homeless or hungry, but just not to this degree. I see people in Kansas City, Kansas holding up signs asking for money on the street corner all the time. But the people in Cape Town actually come up to us, sometimes walk beside us for a while down the street, and literally beg us for money. It's been a heart battle for all of us on the team. By giving them money, are we simply feeding an addiction? Or are we really helping them out? While we are not the ultimate judge of that, it's still a struggle. Many times someone on the team will give the coins they have in their wallet or the leftover food they have from the restaurant. After bringing this struggle to Chantel, she spoke with us about the fact that we should not give out of guilt. We worked hard for the money we have and it's okay that we don't always give. We should give when we truly, genuinely feel that is what we should do. At our Bible study last night we discussed 2Corinthians 8:1-15, which talks about how the people of Macedonia gave generously, even in the midst of a trial...but that their giving came out of an overflow of their love for the Lord. Yes, the Bible tells me that I should give to the poor and the needy. But the Bible also tells me that God loves a cheerful giver, someone who gives generously because they love Him...not because they feel it is their duty. This week I'm excited to seek Him more and wait for Him to reveal how I can give to others out of my love for Him. I would appreciate any prayers in this area!
- How the people in Ocean View discipline. While I was in the grade 6 and grade 7 classroom the past couple of weeks, I got a pretty good glimpse at how the teachers are Marine discipline their students: yelling. They are always yelling at them to sit down, be quiet, and to stop hitting each other. Words of affirmation aren't really a thing here, so the students never hear what they are doing right. This form of discipline results in a lack of classroom management and chaos amongst the students the majority of the time. We were faced with this hurdle when walking into the grade 2 classroom again on Tuesday morning. The students have never been taught how to listen when a teacher is talking, how to raise their hand quietly, how to sit in their chair properly, and how to follow directions from a teacher. They've only been taught to respond to yelling...and they don't even really respond to that. Kaitlyn and I had to go hard on them the first couple of days and it was a battle of maintaining consistency in order for them to learn how to behave: "Where should you be sitting if you have a question for us?" "I need eyes up here and voices off. I'll wait until every student is following this instruction." "Hitting each other is not okay. We use our hands for helping, not hurting." These things are okay at home, so they become okay at school. It's been exhausting, but incredible to see the progress they made in just three days. They are bright, energetic, and fully capable young beings...so it was really exciting today when they got quiet and gave us their eye contact the FIRST time we asked for it.
- About the youth in South Africa: South Africa celebrated "Youth Day" on Sunday and they didn't have school on Monday because of the national holiday. This holiday was formed after the apartheid era ended to celebrate the freedom that the children now get to experience in the country. It was fitting that we got to spend the day with the South African youth on Friday, because we got to speak with them what it is like to be a youth in the country and the social issues they are faced with on a daily basis. Much of what they talked about to us was the corrupt government, teenage pregnancy, and obtaining jobs. One of the things I was struck by most is how the teenagers here don't work, because of two reasons: their aren't enough openings and they don't have experience. Many jobs won't hire people without experience...but if they can never get hired, then how can they ever have experience? The youth that Kaitlyn and I specifically talked with said the biggest factor in being successful in the country is their parents. If youth have parents who care and inspire them to do more with their life, then they will go to college and get a job. But if the parents don't care, then often times the youth will end up getting into drugs and living on the street. The youth really are the future of the country, and their are tons of adults who are trying to help these teenagers get on the right track here!
At the start of our three hour hike up Table Mountain.
This is part way up our hike. Toward the home stretch, we hiked through the valley of two mountains. There were beautiful flowers, greenery, and waterfalls to look at as we hiked.
I've seen some pretty incredible views at the tops of mountains, but never seen mountains AND the ocean at the same time at the top. It was a pretty incredible site!
Reppin' K-State Proud at the top!
This was looking out over the Atlantic Ocean. The sky and ocean met until it just became a blur of white.
Spreading some Wildcat pride over Cape Town!
The top of the mountain is HUGE, so you can walk around the entirety of it. One side is mountains and the Atlantic and the other side is overlooking Cape Town.
This is at the botanical gardens on Sunday, which is kind of at the base of Table Mountain. Beautiful day for a walk through the gardens!
We purchased an inexpensive picnic from a restaurant at the gardens and enjoyed lunch outside on the grass.
This picture reminds me of Kansas wheat...hoping you all are getting rain!
Ran into a geology professor from KU in Cape Town this past weekend. Go 'Cats!
This is Nelson Mandela's cell. Robben Island is truly amazing...the man who gave us a tour is an ex-prisoner of the political prison. Many of the workers at the museum are either ex-prisoners or ex-wardens. The tour guide made a point to discuss with us the importance of enemies now being able to work together for good.
While the prisoners were residing on the island, they would endured hard, manual labor each day. They worked heavily with limestone, which has a horrible effect on vision. Nelson Mandela actually can't cry anymore because the limestone dried up his tearducts. The prisoners worked with the limestone to create and build all of the roads that run throughout the island.
Along with not listening very well, the students at Marine are known for fighting and hitting A LOT. Hitting is also an acceptable form of discipline for some families, and many of these children have either seen abuse or been abused. Kaitlyn and I wanted to teach them how to use their hands for helping, not for hurting. So, we wrote a little poem and had them trace their hands on the paper along with the poem. Today, they wrote five sentences about how they can use their hands for helping. We don't claim to be poets, but the poem is listed below:
God gave me two hands
for helping, not hurting
I will use them to show love
to every living being
Logan is sweet, but mischievous. Here she is with her sentences and hands.
After the students were done with their hands and sentences, we stapled them together and put them on the bulletin boards around the room. These two sweet girls stayed after school a few minutes to read how their classmates will use their hands for helping, not hurting.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of the prayers and words of encouragement these past few weeks. Even though I am thousands of miles away, I feel so loved and supported. Thinking of and praying for all of you!
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