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| Lindsay learning her way around Cape Town |
I
can’t remember the last time I have felt this tired. That being said, it is the
most amazing tired I have ever experienced! These past two weeks have felt like
one constant motion. Since I last wrote I went to a Xhosa speaking Baptist
church, visited 18 internship sites of my fellow co-educators, gone to another
jazz club, completed a transportation exercise, visited Muizenberg beach, and
explored the city of Cape Town with friends! And after doing all of this I took
a three-hour nap to try to make up for all of the energy spent!
It
was really nice to see everyone’s internships. We’ll be spending about 24 hours
there every week until the end of the semester so it was nice to see what and
where people will be spending so much of their time while on this trip! There
are so many amazing organizations where people are working, an orphanage for
HIV/AIDS infected children, a health clinic that provides free care to about
400 people everyday, and schools that serve the underprivileged children in
townships. I urge you to read other’s blogs as they can go into what their
organization is doing to help and the role they are playing in it! The coolest
part of visiting everyone’s placement was seeing how animated they were about
the work they are going to be doing. I personally can’t imagine putting on
scrubs and going to work in a health clinic, but those that are, are absolutely
stoked! And I experienced the same rush of anticipation when we visited my
worksite, Christel House.
Firstly,
noticing the stark contrast between the school I will be working at and the
other 2 schools where students are working was both sad and inspirational.
Christel House is a school that is privately funded and started out of the
pocket of one wealthy woman, Christel DeHaan. She believes that those with
wealth need to share it and boy does she deliver with that statement. Christel
House South Africa is one of 5 schools that she has opened and I encourage you
do more reading on the school and its philosophy (http://www.christelhouse.org/).
As soon as we entered the gates I knew it was something different. The facilities
are absolutely pristine compared to other schools we had visited and the
services they provide for the children are incredible. From food to
transportation to health care, this school supports all of their children and
their families. Not to mention that all kids are there on scholarship, so
essentially all of this care and education is free to them.
The
first rooms we went to were the Grade R rooms, which is the equivalent of
kindergarten. Unfortunately it was during naptime so we couldn’t play with the
kids, but it was still one of the cutest things I have ever seen! Next we went
to the library that was absolutely amazing. The room was filled with books on
South African history, science, and even fictional stories in Afrikaans and
Xhosa to keep kids interested in reading. There was a class waiting outside as
we were leaving and all of the kids were too eager to talk to us, they wanted
to know our names, how old we were and when I told them I was going to be
working on their school their eyes lit up! Probably the most moving thing that
happened was when two girls tugged on my arm and asked me very energetically if
I knew Ms. Sam or Ms. Brandi who were two students that were placed at this
school last year. Ms. Sam happens to be one of my best friends from UConn and
my roommate from this past fall and when I told them this, their jaws literally
dropped. Seeing the impact that past students have made on these learners (what
they call students here) has only made me more excited to start. The impact each
has on the other is so great and so moving I can only hope to have that much of
an impact on the learners I’ll be fortunate enough to meet and work with.
Unfortunately
there is a small dark side to my story, once you get past the beauty of the
school and long-lasting connections made within them, it becomes sad when you
see the conditions of other schools that serve kids from the same areas. The
lack of funding and staff in these other schools is overwhelming. Some classes
will have 70 kids in them with one teacher whereas at Christel house the
maximum grade size 60 kids and that is distributed between other classes.
Though it is amazing that for a select few an amazing education and school is
available, it’s upsetting that so many won’t have nearly the same experience.
So
many amazing things have happened this week that I’m sure others have covered!
(Check out Melissa’s blog for a exciting story about our travels back from the
beach on the train in rush hour traffic).
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