Rough day

Since the Fun Day on Saturday, the House kids have been seeking out specific volunteers to play.  Until Monday this week, I wouldn’t have said any of the kids were attached, but one of the House mothers summed it up well, “IF you give a child love they will love you and cling to you forever.  Love is what a child needs and they will like you and love you back.”  It’s such a simple concept, but I found it, in this temporary situation, heart-wrenchingly true. 

Connie, the Playschool teacher, left with some of the mamas and volunteers to get a First Aid certification.  We had the whole day with the kids on our schedule.  We sang their favorite songs, “Little Sunny Girl/Boy” and “Jesus Loves Me” with a cool “Telephone to Jesus” verse which the kids morph to sing for each child.  For instance, “Telephone to Kitha,” or any other the other kids, and they laugh and glow when their name comes up.  After singing we read them the story we wrote for them.  We had simple sentences and pictures to describe the situation we entered into and the situation we left.  We began by describing House with loving House-mothers and children. We wrote a sentence about each child’s favorite thing to do.  We ended by telling the children that we had to leave, but we still love them.  Annnnnd there is another CSB|SJU group coming next year.   We think that about four of the children were old enough to understand what we were saying, but I don’t want to underestimate all of the younger kids.  Maybe they got something out of the story.  I teared-up quite a bit, and a few fell.

During free time I chased Mvuyisi (Isi) and Nolutho, and threw them up in the air a bit.  I took kids off of tables and out of the stuffed animal bin.  I attempted to redirect them until snack time.  After snack we tied on some smocks and painted.  I took home five post-card sized paintings.   We also put our handprints and all of the kids’ handprints on a large piece of cardstock and hung it in the Playschool as a remembrance of our time with the kids. 

The Bongulethu Playschool

A clothesline pic, my fav.  And the African sky.  It really is different down here.

Kwe-Kwe.  He is a new kid at House.  We first met him at the fun day on Saturday, and he grew on us fast.  Can you see why?

Again, what a little darlin.

Isi bein' sneaky. 

They're a little confused....

Then they started to get it.  Anne gave them all a farm animal silly band as a good-bye gift.  For the record, a silly-band is nothing more than a fun thing to put in a two-year-old's mouth.  I hope they don't choke. But, according to the group I volunteer with, TIA (this is Africa).  They don't do "choking hazards" here.

Isi, checking his silly band out.

The "big kids" eating their lunches.

Armed with spoons and awaiting their lunches.

What a talent, eh Mhandi?

Our hand print pic.  All of the volunteers from House.

Right before we left, we had popsicles with the kids, said our good-byes to the staff, and read the story a second time.  I was holding Isi, and he was clinging tighter, like he knew I had to leave.  I tried to swing him around a little, and he wouldn’t laugh or giggle.  I tried to encourage him to run around with the other kids and he wouldn’t.  So, as the rest of the group started filling out, I set him down, and he started crying.   He was hardly taking a chance to breathe and I just felt terrible.  I felt guilty that I created this attachment, but I will be grateful for the knowledge he gave me.  #1.  So many kids need love, homes, and have so much love to give back = I want to adopt when I’m ready to be a Mom.  #2. Like Elisabeth said, “If you love a child they will like you.”= I shouldn’t feel guilty for loving.  #2 is the only consolation I have for leaving Isi crying on the floor today.

We had a quiet bus ride home, and we were back on a bus at 1:30 on the way to Pendla Primary School where the Pendla volunteer group planned Family Night at the school.  The classes prepared performances and CSB|SJU provided soup, PB sandwiches, an apple, and a juice to each person who participated. 

The plan was for extra volunteers to arrive early to help prepare the meal, but when we got there everything was done.  So, we had two hours to stall before the activities started.  My immediate reaction was to belly-ache because I have so many final papers and exams to prepare that I could be spending my time much more wisely.  But, I just thought, “There’s only one option: Have fun with the kids.”

I no sooner walked to the back of the schoolyard and was drafted onto a soccer team.  I played with the school boys the full two hours.  We played soccer, four square, volleyball, and even took a break to take goofy pictures with Taylor’s camera.  I felt like I was playing with my younger boy cousins with our seemingly endless Ping-Pong tournaments in Gma n Gpa’s basement.  The actual program that followed was all right.  It was pretty stressful to serve hundreds of people a meal and see all the trash thrown on the ground.

Trash is a big problem here.  There are mounds of garbage everywhere that municipal employees don’t collect garbage every day.  So… that means anywhere except where rich white people live, there is a lot of garbage.   People do not view it as their responsibility to dispose of their trash.  So, after the meal at Pendla, you could see kids walking away drinking juice out of a Styrofoam cup and just throw it on the ground when they were done.  This is not one child; it is true of almost every child at the school.  The schoolyard was incredibly messy after the night was done.

In any case, it is really important for the parents and other supporting family members and friends to be involved at the school because it is very uncommon here.  Despite disorganization, and at times chaos, tonight, I would call it a success.  Now I want to sleep, but alas, the homework.