Chatham Hall in South Africa 2008

This morning we returned to our plot of hardscrabble earth in the Mitchells Plain township. It is as desolate a stretch of ground, as true a wasteland, as one could imagine. There it sits, between two-year-old Heinz Park Primary School and a chain fence that demarcates the school’s bounds, beyond which stretches shack after shack after shack, separated by dirt yards and streets. We used shovels and picks to break through the baked soil, and we dug up bricks, chunks of cement, nylon bags, nails, and rocks, rocks, rocks.  It seems that our patch of earth was the dumping ground for the school’s builders.

Our task: dig trenches and large, circular holes, fill them with organic material, sift the dirt back into them, and create garden beds, which we watered and planted.  We cart away the stones and other materials that have sifted out of the dirt. We are also constructing a compost pile and a large above-the-ground planting bed. I cannot not imagine a more radical change for this plot of sand. Turning a desert into an oasis, of sorts. How improbable.

I’ve been fighting a stomach virus, so my energy was low. Ten cracks with the pick or twenty shovels full of dirt, and I was winded. The sun, which in South Africa is relentlessly direct, was an unsupportable weight for me. I was thirsty all the time. I became dizzy, even a bit disoriented. At moments I wondered who I and where I am.

So, angry with myself, I had to sit often and for long periods of time. And there, with my back against the wall of the primary school, in a sliver of shade, I observed and thought.

There is a smell in this section of the township-a combination of charcoal, bad food, and dust. In the door of one tin hut, no more than the size of a large Chatham Hall bedroom, a baby, sitting on the dirt floor, played with what looked like a tennis racket. A whining dog hovered in the yard. I thought of this scene multiplied by millions before me.

Two adolescents climbed to the roof of the shack next door and watched us work.  From the open window above me, the shouts of grade-school kids. What was being accomplished in that classroom?  Three barefoot children appeared at the fence. In midday this massive township seemed like, well, a ghost town. So little life.

The gardens took shape before me. Hacking. Digging. Sifting. The organic material added the smell of rot to the air. Flies began to hover.  And then it struck me that perhaps I was being told to take notice this morning, not simply to get caught up in the task at hand. Perhaps I was being instructed in how to take on the burden, to notice it, to feel its heft. I have read the books and studied the history, but I had to sit and feel the oppressiveness in my body to understand even a fraction of the reality of this place. The sun stared at me in a staggering negative. The land resisted every overture. The body and the soul simply become weary here.

Two days ago, Palm Sunday. This weekend, Easter.  Holy week. I had brought Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship with me for my Lenten reading. But there, before me, the township was my text. Perhaps, unawares, I had traveled to Mitchells Plain in a pilgrimage, of sorts. A challenge to the body, mind, and soul. The challenge of Lent.

What hope in the wasteland? There was my Lenten question. As I sat watching others hacking and digging into that desolate earth, so I felt something forcing me to go deep within myself. To crack through a resistance in me. To see if there is that solid grounding of hope and belief. Doing so made me weak and tired.

Modest seedlings before me from a thoroughly resistant earth.  Miles upon miles of ramshackle emptiness beyond. How much work of the heart, soul, and body there is to be done. A staggering challenge issued to me in my deep weariness. The cost of discipleship. The challenge of Easter.

It is Thursday morning, and we will be getting into our buses for the last time in about two hours. I cannot begin to reflect on the entirety of our trip – what it has meant to us and what it has meant to the people we have had the privilege to serve – but I can say that it has touched all of us in some way. An instantaneous connection with a young schoolgirl or schoolboy, a sense of awe atop a geological landmark, the anticipation of a garden ready and waiting to bloom… all these things will remain with us. Collectively, we probably have over 4000 pictures of our eleven days here. While our images will remind us of what we have experienced, the feelings we have for our South African adventure will be far more enduring.

For everyone who has been keeping up with our trip, thank you for adding your comments, and don’t go away! Over the next few days and weeks, more pictures and thoughts will be added to this commentary. We hope you will continue to be awed and inspired as we were, and that you will look forward with longing to the opportunity to join next year’s group in South Africa.

Soil for Life

The last several days have been hard work that has also been very rewarding. While we hope that our efforts at the Lawrencia Primary School are preparing the learners there for a better future, our work with Soil for Life is helping motivated groups of individuals within the townships to create a better present. The gardens we helped to prepare, clean, fertilize, and plant will provide a continuous source of healthy nourishment as well as much-needed income for disadvantaged communities. The gardens are a source of honest work and create an immense feeling of pride for Pat, Sandy, Albertina, and all others involved with the program, and their vision and hope could not have been more inspiring.

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Robben Island

Our afternoon trip to Robbin Island on Wednesday was a powerful experience. Although we could not hope to get a clear sense of what life was like on the island throughout its history, either as a medical facility for those stricken with leprosy or as a prison for political activists and common criminals, the tours we received there were informative and enlightening. It is amazing to consider that the democracy in practice today in South Africa took root in the very prison blocks and cells we visited. The stories of creative and secret methods of communication, challenging unequal living conditions, and the realization of long-awaited freedom give testament to the conviction of Nelson Mandela and others that were involved.

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Tonight we met with Bandi Biko, sister of Steve Biko, the political organizer who was killed by the apartheid system and immortalized for Americans in the film Cry Freedom. She is now organizing a home to care for about 250 children whose parents suffer or have died of AIDS in Capetown. It struck me that Bandi was the most famous but only one of the many amazing individuals we have met during our time here. Carol Jooste who was the organizing force behind our work at Lawrencia School and who took us to the Hospice and to visit AIDS patients in Bloekombos Township is one of those people who have such a clear vision of a world that can be a much better place to live for all of us that it inspired us all. Susella, who is in charge of the Hospice, was another such person. The Hospice was not, as in the U.S., a place for people in their last few weeks of life, but a place for people to recover from grave illnesses until they are able to return home. Susella, a white South African, created such a peaceful and beautiful place for the patients surrounded by flowers and cleanliness. Mr. Peters, the assistant principal of Lawrencia School is another such person as is Pat Featherstone who started Soil for Life. And then there were the many young students, including two young boys from Heinz Park Primary School who helped us plant beets and other boys there who showed us their medicinal herb garden. When one is around such people day after day, their vision for South Africa affects the way we see the poverty and struggles. We see the actions that are transforming the society instead of dwelling on the physical signs of despair and hardship.

– Ann Beal

For the past two days, we have been working with a group called Soil for Life. Here are a few pictures of what we were up to – the blog entry will be up later…

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Today we saw a completely different side of South Africa. We started off going on the cable car up to Table Mountain. Miraculously, there was almost no wind or clouds today, which made the view even more spectacular. This magnificent view of Cape Town and the surrounding area had many different effects on people; Rebecca Schwartz wanted to fly (because of the height and refreshing breezes) and Amanda Stewart wanted to do yoga (because the top of the mountain was so peaceful and natural).

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Next we went to the local market at Hout Bay where we haggled and bargained with the locals. It was a great way to learn more about their culture and at the same time buy souvenirs. Among the items purchased were bracelets, bowls, hats, and even a giraffe (made of wood)!

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PENGUINS! They were so adorable that we all just wanted to take them home with us!

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The last stop of the day was Cape Point where we felt like we were at the most southern point of South Africa. We went up in the lighthouse, where we almost got blown away. Literally! We had to hold Min A, Lina, Rebecca Smith and Kaitlin down. On the way back to the city we all felt ebullient when we saw baboons in the fields. There were babies, mothers, and a “baboss” watching the group.

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Continuing our trip back, we passed farms of ostriches and saw a couple of wild deer. We made it back to the hotel a few hours later, ready to sleep.

Old People Annotations

• We were very fortunate today to have no strong wind or clouds on Table Mountain. The mountain had been closed for three days because of high winds and a “tablecloth” on the mountain (amazing stratus cloud cover that literally “falls” off the side of the mountain).
• The cable cars themselves were very interesting – the interiors rotated so that everyone got a decent view!
• The plant biome featured in the Western Cape Province is the smallest and most diverse of the world’s six floral kingdoms. Many different varieties of the shrub plants that make up the fynbos, or “fine bush,” greeted us on top of the mountain.
• The name “Haut Bay” means “Wood Bay” and was named such because the Dutch settlers found good wood for building ships in the region.
• On the road from Haut Bay to Chapman’s Point, buses are only allowed to travel in one direction because the roads are too narrow for them to pass each other on opposite sides. In addition, this stretch of road contains overhanging fences for catching falling rocks, each of which can support a tremendous amount of weight.
• We learned quite a bit about penguins today, but the best part was seeing them in action. They wandered around the dune shrubs paying relatively little curious attention to tourists, swam and “body-surfed” in the water when they needed a cool-down, and made sounds resembling that of a braying mule!
• Several of the adults found Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope the best part of the day. For one, as the girls have said, the winds were phenomenally strong, and sustained! Our own Sherry Slayman enjoyed the “wind tunnel” effect at the top of the lighthouse so much she kept walking through the windiest part! At the top lighthouse area, there was also a sign which told us that the distance from our location to New York City was over 12,000 km (almost 7,500 miles).
• Three intrepid chaperones (Ms. Slayman, Mr. Kahuda, and Mr. T) made a mad dash from the lighthouse to the Cape of Good Hope, covering the descent from Cape Point and the round-trip on the trail to the Cape of Good Hope in less than 1 hour. We really hoofed it! The winds were just as bad on the promontory at the Cape of Good Hope, but we can say that in one sense, we’ve been to the “Bottom of the World!”
• The baboon group leader is not really called a “baboss” – that was a Mr. Kahuda funny.

Starting the day earlier than normal – 7:30 am – we all boarded the bus and started the trip to see a beautiful view at Signal Hill instead of climbing Table Mountain because the hurricane like winds did not permit. The view of the city and Robbin Island were lovely but not as exciting as climbing Table Mountain would have been. Some were able to get their amusement from watching the Rector literally trip his way from one place to another in his excitement.

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We went from there to the Malay Quarter. Many of the buildings, mainly houses, were amazingly bright but surprisingly fitting in color. We dodged cars, took pictures of the 18th century cobblestones, jumped up and down like idiots, and watched in amusement as Dr. Fountain’s hat was blown away. We went to an adorable store, Monkey Shop, which of course had a monkey theme. The outside of the building was painted in a bright, sunny yellow and decorated with orange monkey faces smiling from ear to ear. Most of us bought a few hundred rands worth of souvenirs like beaded pigs, angels, or bowls made out of colorful recycled telephone wire.

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Our next stop was a historic fort, The Castle of Good Hope. Though this place was full of beautifully historic paintings, a table that seats 106 people, and a dungeon, this adventure was disappointing. The dungeon was only two rooms and like any other museum, we were not allowed to touch anything. This can be hard for a group of hungry, curious, teenage girls who are still tired. All of us ended up either sitting on benches in the shade or laying out on the grass waiting for adult stragglers. The group on the grass, of course, inspired a picture, so we all moved to the ground. The formation was everyone laying on everyone else’s stomach or lap. I don’t know about anyone else but I felt like a big cat sleeping in the sun. When the picture was done, we were all too comfortable to move and resisted until Mrs. Knight mentioned that lunch was next on the menu. This had the immediate effect of us jumping up from the ground and walking briskly to the buses.

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The trip to the Botanical Gardens was torture. The bus was hot and, in my opinion, could not have moved slower. However, we were rewarded with two large boxes of sandwiches, cokes, and water being delivered to us; chicken salad has never tasted so good. We savored the food and finally made it inside of the gardens. “They looked like a Monet painting,” Susan Sun could not help but say when we got there. The time in the gardens were more amusing that I thought they would be. We ducked birds and took lovely pictures. Rebecca Schwartz ducked massive sea gulls while we tried to escape the labeled green forest and make it back to the bus on time, which the adults once again failed to do. While on the bus waiting for all of our chaperones to arrive, we managed to teach Susan a new word: punctuality.

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When we left the gardens and finally arrived at the animal rehabilitation center were were all dead tired. None of us were excited to see any animals until we saw people petting live cheetahs. Perking up almost instantly we wanted to go play with the big cats. After a tour and a few movies we learned some interesting facts: cheetahs mostly fly when they run, their entire stride is 8 meters, and when it comes to experiences, even those with a mortal fear of animals will touch a predator to say they did. We were able to pet a 3 yr-old male cheetah, Enigma, who enjoyed us so much he decided to mark some of his visitors as his territory. “Lina and I didn’t get it too bad, but Dr. Fountain was soaked,” remarked Rebecca. “It was a little uncomfortable, but how many people can say they were peed on by a cheetah?”

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We left the center and went back to the Malay quarter for dinner. The food was delicious, though I was a little unsure about the dips they gave us. We were also given a brief history on the area we were in by an expert. When we finally left, everyone was full and happy. It was an odd day, to say the least, but petting the cheetah had to be the highlight of my day. I miss the children and the amazing boys from Bishops school, but I cannot say that petting the cheetah was not exciting!

– Vickey Casey

The morning began for me and Bus #2 with purchasing 24 cartons of milk and 100 apples at a Shop Rite on the way to Lawrencia. The lights did not go out in the supermarket. However, our bus did get stuck in a traffic jam caused by construction that had us crawling through the countryside.

Both buses arrived late a Lawrencia, so we all had to scramble to get things done before midday. Plus, we shifted groups this morning. The eggs did not cook in time for the egg salad sandwiches for the children’s 10:00 a.m. breakfast, so our cooks had to switch to peanut butter and jelly, Wheat-a-Bix cereal (in the milk we had purchased), and the apples with which we had originally been 100 short. Half of the library team had a full day of hard scrubbing ahead of them to get those walls clean, plus help with the breakfast preparations. And Carol’s team took off to visit homes in the township.

The other half of the library crew, my group (Sherry, Rebecca Schwartz, Vickey, and Mr. Peters–plus our trusted driver, Lenny) headed off for another day of shopping–more chairs, paint so that the Lawrencia students can put the print of their hands around the windows in the library tomorrow, a bench or two, some poster materials, and a vacuum to clean the new rugs. We dragged ourselves back to the school at 2:00 p.m., having purchased everything on our list.  (Plus new grater and potato masher, added to our shopping list via an urgent phone call, to turn the hard-boiled eggs in the refrigerator into egg salad.) We found the library already filled with Lawrencia students reading books and being read to by our students and adults.  (Axi seemed to be trying to organize some of the books with a few of them. Well, they were sitting in a scattering of books on the floor). The walls shown with new cleanliness, as did the floor.  The room felt taken care of. So did the children.

I took off within a few minutes to visit families in the townships with Carol. When I returned, the students, after having carried in all the new stuff, with our students and adults had set up the wooden chairs for the tables and tied the cushions to them, assembled the benches, unfolded the canvass chairs, assembled the battery-operated vacuum cleaner and plugged it in to charge, and arranged everything so that the library felt as if it had begun to expand to fill the whole room.

Tomorrow—paint the bulletin boards with a fresh coat of white, construct the posters, get the hand painting done, while the meals and other visits go on.

Still, even given all of the preparations and purchases, as always at the center of it all, a lot of holding of hands and hugging. Our girls literally promenade around the school grounds with lines of Lawrencia girls arm-in-arm. Like a Victorian painting. Parading. So much touching. The students simply cherish affection. But, then, don’t we all.

Hello, world! We apologize for the delay in posting yesterday – your faithful blogger, Mr. T, was very tired and went to bed early on Thursday night. There are two major activities we have continued since Wednesday: working with the children at Lawrencia School and working with the needy and the ill in Bloekombos township. The entries on these will have to be split up. We’ll talk about the kids today!

We want to answer a few questions from the commenters… Thank you, Sacred Heart Geographers, for following our trip. To answer your questions: 1) Yes, we have working cell phones. Some members of our group have cell phones that work internationally, but others of us have rented cell phones (to keep in touch with each other on our trip) or use other means to call home. 2) Unfortunately, we have not seen any elephants or shrews. The area where we are spending our nights is an urban area: Cape Town is a very large city (you can find a lot of information about it online). However, we will be going to some natural preserve areas over the weekend, and we hope to see penguins, ostriches, and baboons! 3) We do feel quite safe. The people we are working with have been very nice, and we have excellent guides to help us. However, we have to be especially careful in the evenings, because the downtown area of Cape Town is like any other large city. Parts of big cities can be dangerous, so we travel in groups and use the well-lit streets!

The last two days have been extremely busy for us. We spent Thursday and Friday at the Lawrencia Primary School in Bloekombos, completing one of the most difficult yet rewarding experiences I have ever undertaken. The hardest part was saying good-bye to the learners and teachers this afternoon. The day concluded with a very moving and impassioned assembly with an abundance of singing, dancing, hugging, handshaking, and emotion.

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“The whole Lawrencia School experience definitely went beyond the expectations I had about our work there. Building a library for the children was an eye-opening experience. To see the children so happy with a simple book was heartwarming, so heartwarming that Amanda, Ridgely, Rebecca, and Mr. T cried!

“One thing that we learned today at our last day at the Lawrencia school is that age is only a number. One student, Curt, who is thirteen, showed us that something as simple as dancing can make you happy. I just wanted to stick him in my suitcase and take him home!”

– Rebecca, Ridgely, and Amanda

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Mr. T indeed cried during the closing festivities, and many others struggled to hold back tears. Even more emotions rose to the surface at a group meeting a few minutes later, when Mr. Peters, the Assistant Principal, told us that he was very appreciative of all we had done for them during the week. He was amazed at how we could leave behind our own status and spend our money to travel all the way to Bloekombos to be the servants of their community. He proclaimed himself an “ordinary man,” but we believe the hard work he and his colleagues are accomplishing is truly extraordinary. I personally hope that we can continue to be servants to those in need, especially the learners at Lawrencia, for years to come.

We arrived at Lawrencia School at 8:00 a.m., with a light rain falling, and immediately formed three work groups—one to prepare the morning’s breakfast for the three hundred students (a sandwich of baloney and tomato, a bowl of maize, and an orange), one to travel with Carol on her rounds to visit AIDS patients in the township and at the township’s hospice, and one to determine what we might do in terms of creating the School’s first “library.” I am in the last group.

The night before Ann Beal, Sherry Slayman, and I had headed to the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront looking  for books in both English and Afrikaans for children in grade school and middle school. We arrived at Lawrencia this morning with a stack of these books. A beginning. Books in search of a place.

Our team (Ann, Ken, Axi, Hae Min, Vickey, and Rebecca Schwartz) entered the room that was being proposed as a possible library—stored papers everywhere, unused tables and cabinets like misplaced persons, a dysfunctional electric heater, walls covered with grime, a bulletin board  covered with pencil marks, and many discarded items. We began by empting the junk (with help from some young boys at the School), keeping a large wooden piece with cubby holes that might function as a bookcase, some cabinets that might work, a couple tables. Simply emptied the room became promising.

We talked … If we placed a rug at the middle of the room, we could create a center, a focused space. No way we could fill the whole room. The cubby-hole piece on its side could be a room divider. Perhaps we could find bean-bag chairs somewhere. And a few reading chairs … Without much difficulty we persuaded the administrative head of the school to head off with us to shop … The walls? They need painting. But we had the janitor clean a small section, and the difference was noticeable. We would wash all the walls, not paint them this year. Off we went in our van …

First ended up at a curious monstrosity called the HyperMarket—a more-than-Walmart kind of place. Two girls went to the paint department to find a swatch that matches the walls in the room (kind of lime green—dirty lime green at this point …) We peeled back stack upon stack of rugs, from single-color to geometrical patterns to bold abstractions. A red-rust abstract pattern caught our eye—we purchased two of them. On our way to the furniture section, we found cleaning brushes and buckets.

It took us three furniture stores to find the chairs.  Orange and white bean bags (four of them). Small metal chairs with colorful woven seats for small people. And four chairs in the shape of hands (bright, bright colors!!) that made us laugh. And two pillows with covers of the South African flag.

Done, or at least tired after almost three hours. Still need those chairs for the tables, and perhaps a couple just for comfort for sitting and reading by the older kids. Maybe tomorrow. Then, one stop at a Home Depot kind of place on the way back to the school for cleaning agents.

The students emptied the van when we returned, carrying everything on their heads. They oooh’d and ahh’d, and applauded. The rugs went down. The cubby-hole case was moved to its side, filled with the books, and some books, opened, were place on top. We placed the chairs and the bean bags around the rug. Quite abruptly, the empty room found a center and a purpose. The children filled the chairs. They gathered our girls into a circle on the rug and began teaching them chants and dances. Children picked up the books as if they were magical, looked at and read them, and placed them back delicately.

After they all left, I closed the door to the room, arranged everything in order, and looked. A beginning. Tomorrow we scrub.

I cannot think of a more dichotomous way to spend a day than Wednesday, March 12. During the first half of the day, we had the pleasure of spending more time with our young friends at the Lawrencia School in Bloekombos. During the last half of the day, we had the pleasure of the company of a group of high school boys from the prestigious Bishops School in Cape Town. Two different communities, two different lifestyles, two different futures… at the moment. We hope our work here will inspire and encourage the less fortunate to achieve and the more fortunate to give.

We started our day off with making breakfast for the Lawrencia School – all 300 of them! Their smiles and their thank you’s were heartwarming!

– Vivian Roussel

Hugging the children good-bye was like being killed with kindness especially after a horrible defeat in net ball. We really did not want to leave the children and for a while I did not even want to meet the boys, but they turned out to be great.

– Vickey Casey

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During the course of the day, part of the group essentially worked to create a library. We took an unused space, filled it with colorful chairs and carpets, and added the books Ann Beal commented on yesterday to some second-hand shelves. The room immediately took on a life of its own, and students swarmed to see it and be a part of it. Rebecca Schwartz declared, “I have never seen so many people happy to see a chair in my life.”

Later in the evening we travelled on the day we traveled on to the Bishops school and mingled with the boys. They exceeded my expectations!

– Rebecca Smith

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Today, the opportunity to walk and ride through Bloekombos township with some others in the group was probably the most important experience I have had on this trip to date. We got to experience first hand some of the very important work that Carol Joost and her colleagues do, from serving a hot meal out of a metal shipping container to helping TB patients who come to the clinic for treatment to visiting HIV patients at home and at a hospice. In the process, I feel like we developed a much more complete understanding of the challenges that face the residents of this community. There is complete and utter desperation around every corner, and yet there is (and always must be) reason to be hopeful for a better future. I hope that everyone in the Chatham Hall group gets this chance as planned.

– Kyle Kahuda

All seems to be on target following day one. We arrived at the Lawrencia School today, had a tour and met the students, ate a wonderful catered lunch, and then set off on different projects—one group leading a soccer clinic, another heading into town to look for books for a library that we are helping to put together at the School, and another driving to the supermarket to buy food for breakfast for 300 students for the next three days.

I was in the last group, and we had at least eight carts filled (hundreds of oranges and bottles of juice, large quantities of cereal, numerous tubs of butter, dozens of loaves of bread, massive jars of peanut butter and jelly, a tall stack of egg  boxes, the store’s complete supply of apples and oranges …) by the time we got to checkout. Our carts filled the length of one aisle in the store. When we had arrived at the store, it was already on generator power because of the power shortages in South Africa. “Usually two hours,” the manager of the store told us when she realized that we were going to be her shoppers of the day. She directed us to a checkout booth that she would work for us. The registers were humming happily on generator electricity.

With two carts to go in our check-out process, and the others already loaded into the car, the generator went out as well, and we stood in the dark, unable to leave the store, fearing that we would have to unpack the dozens of boxes already in the car, return them, and either check them out again (we were already late for our meeting with the other groups) or the next morning (which would make it impossible for us to cook breakfast). The managed immediatley and naturally reached in her pocket for matches, struck one, and lit an oil lamp next to her register. The faces of all in our group swam out of the darkness.

We waited. The students laughed. We chatted among ourselves. We were silent in the dark. We waited some more. Then, miraculously, after twenty minutes, up went the lights and the cash registers, and, to our good luck, ours with the original, incomplete total. Checkout proceeded, we piled into an overloaded van, and off we went. A wonderful event with fellow travelers — student and adult — and store workers who simply took things in stride, were patient, and, well, I guess, were rewarded.

“We haven’t even begun to fulfill our planned obligations at the school, but the joy with which we were greeted today made us all excited about the rest of the week.”

- Kyle Kahuda

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That about sums up our day. The students and adults alike dove right in after some brief introductions, working with the students in their classrooms with great enthusiasm from the first moment.

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“I enjoyed geting to know Mr. Green, an English teacher at Lawrencia School, who, together with Mr. Peters the Vice-Principal, traveled with us on a shopping trip to look for books for the new school library they are putting together. Eleanor Earle ‘46, Nancy Tebeau and Julia Morrison (mother and grandmother of Kaitlin), Hae Min Bang, Axi Walker, Kyle Kahuda and I selected books for the new library and classroom use. We all pitched in, and through individual donations started the ball rolling.

After dinner tonight, Dr. Fountain, Sherry Slayman, and I went down to bookstores at the Victoria & Albert Waterfront to buy many more books, in both Afrikaans and English, this time using the wonderful donations that many generous people gave us for our trip. After meeting with so many of the children this morning in grades 1 through 9, it was great to anticipate the pleasure they will take from reading everything from Leperit die Sebra to a simplified version of Treasure Island to a Multilingual Illustrated Dictionary in all three of the languages spoken at the school: Xhosa, Afrikaans, and English. Four additional books rounded out our purchases, and we can’t wait to present them to the learners.”

-Ann Beal

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Among today’s highlights included:

• A soccer game played using a brand new soccer ball we brought to the school, which resulted in lots of fun for the learners and two own goals and sore legs for Mr. T! The 7th-9th grade boys who played were really amazing, and several are hoping that soccer will be a means for them to escape their current socioeconomic situations.
• A grocery store trip interrupted by a store-wide power outage, which trapped Dr. Fountain, Sherry Slayman, and several other students and adults inside the store! Power was eventually restored, and the group purchased breakfasts and lunches for the next three days (pictures coming soon).
• A dichotomy of activities aside from soccer ranging from intense game of “net ball” (a game similar to basketball) to the learners teaching us how to lose at chess! Whitney Henderson, Chelsea Hermann, Ridgely Knight, Rebecca Schwartz, Rebecca Smith, and Amanda Stewart exercised their brains and brawn (pictures coming soon).
• An experience with hair and an anonymous serenade that can best be explained with photographic evidence and student contributions to the blog!

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We made it!  After 30 hours of driving, waiting, flying, sleeping, stretching, more waiting, more flying, and more driving, we are finally settled in at the Breakwater Lodge in Cape Town. The students are in excellent spirits, and I am awake enough to type a coherent post. We have been met with much courtesy and excellent finger foods, and the entire group is excited to get going.

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We have an early start tomorrow – 8:00 AM – and that will be the routine! Everyone back in the U. S. will more than likely be asleep when we get going (2:00 AM… night owls, anyone?), but we’ll be thinking of you while we get to work. More to come tomorrow…

…in a way we won’t get to see it!  Here is a picture of downtown Cape Town (even though it’s flat!) and Table Mountain courtesy of Google Earth.