Now that I am finished my first aid training for the LSE I am just putting some finishing touches on the policies and procedures. In order to do this I had to send a lot of emails to the Living Hope “high-ups” so they could make decisions on what they want done (for example, if a child is hurt and is on route to hospital who needs to be called and what is the policy on debriefing staff involved, etc). This is the stuff I don’t necessarily really enjoy doing but it still needs to be done!
Things are going really well in Kids Club. Meagan came up with the idea that we should give each child their own workbook for the lessons we do with them. Now that I have my own car we can just store the books in the truck (which is actually in the front of the car…gotta love the Beetle!). So we made a cover sheet for all the books that the kids colored in and pasted onto their books. There is a team coming in soon (the week of Dec 1 – 5 that is hosting a Christmas party for all kids clubs at each location (OV, Masi, Red Hill, Capricorn). The OV part is on Dec 3rd I believe. Each club within OV has to come up with something to perform for the other clubs (song or dance or skit). I think we are planning on doing a skit so for the next couple of weeks we are just writing the skit and practicing. I will try to tape it when we do it so you can all see it when I get back. I will give you more details about the skit as we make it.
This was a good week for me to get my own car. Nathan managed to get all of the OV LSE (and I) a free trial at the Fish Hoek gym with a personal trainer. So off we went Thursday. The gym is pretty nice and the trainer did a few short sessions with us including a core training session…man were my abs burning! After the workout Meagan’s family invited me over for dinner. Thursday is also the Youth night so after dinner I went with Meagan to Youth. Meagan is the Youth Leader while Chris, Al, Melissa, and Diego (soccer player) are on the committee and rotate leading the Youth. It was Chris’ night to lead and he did a great job. I haven’t seen much of the youth since the Retreat so it was nice to see everyone again. I think I am going to come every week from now on since I have my own car. After Youth Meagan and I ended up going to Fish Hoek beach for coffee. We ended up staying out a bit late and had quite an adventure on the way home. I will tell you the whole story when I get back (or individually on msn if you want to know now) but I probably shouldn’t be putting it on my blog. Just know that it wasn't anything really bad and everything is fine and we have learned our lesson about my driving home at night!
A new volunteer from America came on Tuesday. Her name is Krystal and she is a married 28-year old heart ultrasound/X-ray technician. She is only here for 2 weeks so we decided to try and pack as much sight-seeing into this weekend as possible. Friday was a half-day only so after we were all off Danielle took Ryan, Al, Krystal, and I into Cape Town. There is a tourist attraction just outside of CT called Table Mountain. You can look it up online if you would like. Everyone except Krystal and I have been up it multiple times so they dropped us off at the entrance and went exploring the town for a few hours while Krystal and I went up the mountain. It’s kind of like the Grouse Grind where you can either hike up it or take a cable car. Since it was scorching hot and we had a time limit we took the car up. The reason it is called Table Mountain is because at the top it is flat like a Table. This mountain overlooks ALL of Cape Town and the Peninsula and the surrounding areas. The view is breath taking. I will try to put up pics when I can but we are not allowed to up/download at the Teamhouse so it will have to wait til I have time to get to an internet café.
Saturday the OV girls came to the Teamhouse. We are starting to plan things for the Christmas break. They have a mandatory 3 weeks off around Christmas so that gives us plenty of time to get into trouble :P. We decided that watching a horror movie in a big dark empty (the other volunteers went to the waterfront) house on a fairly deserted beach road right by the ocean was a brilliant idea so we ended up watching Boogey Man 2. Horror movies don’t seem to bother Meagan too much but Melissa and I were pretty freaked out…the fact that Meagan seemed to pre-empt a few of the most suspenseful moments by grabbing Melissa and I in an attempt to freak us out more didn’t really help.
Sunday Danielle took Al, Krystal, and I to Cape Point. This is the Southernmost tip of Africa. Again, I was able to take so many amazing pics that I will bring back, some of which have me in rock faces and on edges of cliffs where the others really weren’t too keen on joining me. Come on guys, trails are meant to be walked off! This place is also infamous for its baboons (which we saw…one was sitting on top of this guys car…sooooo funny) and zebra (which we didn’t see) as well as the Bonte Bok and Ostrich (we saw these as well). It was nice to be able to check a few more things off of the sight-seeing list, I have now seen all the major tourist attractions in Cape Town and most of the ones on the Peninsula in the Sun Valley area.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
CAR TIME!!!
Today I got my Beetle. This was actually one of the biggest obstacles in my staying longer (if I wasn't staying with ACTS then I would need to get myself to and from work somehow) so now that I have it I am really excited! I phoned to confirm in the morning and told them that I MUST be back at Noordhoek by 2 p.m. at the latest (for Kids Club). The lady assured me that I would be back by then as the driver was to collect me at 10 a.m. So I waited. 10…1030…1045…finally he came. He was a really nice, friendly guy and we chatted most of the way. I wasn’t exactly sure how far away the car place was until I mentioned again that I had to be back by 2. He was like…you mean back at Noordhoek…I said well technically back at Ocean View. Ya, after that we didn’t talk a whole lot since he was driving quite quickly…to be perfectly honest it was actually like I was riding third in the Ambulance with lights and sirens…except there was no lights and sirens…nor were people really getting out of the way (although people don’t really get out of the way for the Ambulance either :P). Anyways, we made it and Best Beetle was absolutely amazing with getting me processed ASAP. I was told I could pick my Beetle (there were so many there that were AWESOME and I was really excited). The guy took me outside and said “Well would you like the green one or the white one?” “The green one :( (no cool paint job for me)” It is a pretty cool car though and has a lot of character. It has been in the African Beetle Rally before and has the HUGEST rack on top I have ever seen. The roof rack is actually the most solid thing on the car! The car itself has been very well…loved lets just say. It’s name is Chug-a-bug and it really does have a lot of character. I bet each scratch and each bump and each rust patch (and there are quite a few) has a story to tell.
After we got all the paperwork done the Beetle Man (I forget his name so I shall call him Bug) drove me to the petrol station (yes they call it a petrol station…gas here is also known as a cool drink which is basically a carbonated beverage). The attendant filled the car up (you DO NOT pump your own petrol here) and Bug handed me the keys. I was SOOOOO nervous. I explained to him that I had not driven stick in many years and that I am used to driving on the opposite side of the road. Bug said “Oh well then you’re better off than most of out clients…they haven’t EVER driven stick.” So off we went.
Did I mention yet that we had to scream at each other when we spoke? This car has quite a bit to say and it does so quite loudly :P Ii has a radio but I think that if we turned it on that you would not be able to hear anything over the engine anyways so the radio is pretty useless. It didn’t take me very long to get the feel of the car and so long as I remember that the driver stays close to the middle of the road (like it is everywhere in the world) then I will be fine. There really was nothing to be nervous about. So back we went to Best Beetle for the car inspection in case I brought it back with more damage (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…not possible!) and off I went back to Noordhoek and Ocean View.
I phoned Meagan as soon as I left (it was now 1 p.m.) to tell her I may be a bit late. She said not to worry, as the drive was about 45 mins. So off I went down the highway. OH MY LORD I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO SCARED IN A CAR! It is really windy here and Beetles are quite small so I was getting blown all over the road. Ryan warned me that the drive home would be the hardest thing and he WAS NOT kidding! In the contract I signed I was not allowed to drive faster than 95kph and I see why. Not only would the engine probably fall out, but the entire car would probably be picked up off the road and thrown to who knows where!!! Just so you know though this car is only being used around Fish Hoek/Noord Hoek/Sun Valley which is city driving. I am NOT taking that car on the highway again EVER. Best Beetle asked if I wanted them to come pick the car up when I was finished and I said YES!
I pulled into OV at about 2:15 p.m. (Meagan had already called to make sure I was still alive) and we packed up the car with all the Kids Club stuff. Chris and Melissa came along so I could drop them off at the Multi (where their Club is). Driving around OV is quite an experience in itself. Meagan, Melissa, and Chris laughed at me as I attempted to drive around the kids, cars, dogs, and people who really don’t get out of the way until you are almost on top of them. That will take some getting used to as well. It is safe though as I am exaggerating SLIGHTLY, but I am really glad to have my own car and it is quite safe in OV. I think a HUGE part of the reason I had problems the first day is that the people weren’t moving because they were staring at my car in disbelief that it could actually drive still. To be perfectly honest I don’t really blame them! I will be putting pics up as soon as I can!
After we got all the paperwork done the Beetle Man (I forget his name so I shall call him Bug) drove me to the petrol station (yes they call it a petrol station…gas here is also known as a cool drink which is basically a carbonated beverage). The attendant filled the car up (you DO NOT pump your own petrol here) and Bug handed me the keys. I was SOOOOO nervous. I explained to him that I had not driven stick in many years and that I am used to driving on the opposite side of the road. Bug said “Oh well then you’re better off than most of out clients…they haven’t EVER driven stick.” So off we went.
Did I mention yet that we had to scream at each other when we spoke? This car has quite a bit to say and it does so quite loudly :P Ii has a radio but I think that if we turned it on that you would not be able to hear anything over the engine anyways so the radio is pretty useless. It didn’t take me very long to get the feel of the car and so long as I remember that the driver stays close to the middle of the road (like it is everywhere in the world) then I will be fine. There really was nothing to be nervous about. So back we went to Best Beetle for the car inspection in case I brought it back with more damage (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…not possible!) and off I went back to Noordhoek and Ocean View.
I phoned Meagan as soon as I left (it was now 1 p.m.) to tell her I may be a bit late. She said not to worry, as the drive was about 45 mins. So off I went down the highway. OH MY LORD I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO SCARED IN A CAR! It is really windy here and Beetles are quite small so I was getting blown all over the road. Ryan warned me that the drive home would be the hardest thing and he WAS NOT kidding! In the contract I signed I was not allowed to drive faster than 95kph and I see why. Not only would the engine probably fall out, but the entire car would probably be picked up off the road and thrown to who knows where!!! Just so you know though this car is only being used around Fish Hoek/Noord Hoek/Sun Valley which is city driving. I am NOT taking that car on the highway again EVER. Best Beetle asked if I wanted them to come pick the car up when I was finished and I said YES!
I pulled into OV at about 2:15 p.m. (Meagan had already called to make sure I was still alive) and we packed up the car with all the Kids Club stuff. Chris and Melissa came along so I could drop them off at the Multi (where their Club is). Driving around OV is quite an experience in itself. Meagan, Melissa, and Chris laughed at me as I attempted to drive around the kids, cars, dogs, and people who really don’t get out of the way until you are almost on top of them. That will take some getting used to as well. It is safe though as I am exaggerating SLIGHTLY, but I am really glad to have my own car and it is quite safe in OV. I think a HUGE part of the reason I had problems the first day is that the people weren’t moving because they were staring at my car in disbelief that it could actually drive still. To be perfectly honest I don’t really blame them! I will be putting pics up as soon as I can!
Week 8 (Nov 10 – 16)
This week was probably the busiest week I have had so far. Thank God that the ticket details all came together so Danielle and I could get back to Home Affairs Monday to begin the process of my passport extension. When we got there many people were standing around waiting for their passports. Since I had everything with me a small part of me was hoping that I could get my stamp that day. HAHA…wishful thinking or what! I gave all my documents and was told to come back in 3 weeks. I certainly hope that all goes well because I will be past the 30-day deadline to be approved for my extension with a changed return flight! Since it took so long at Home Affairs I had to go straight to Ocean View in the afternoon and was not able to work on the presentation at all.
I worked on my presentation Monday night and Tuesday morning and night to have it ready by Wednesday. It was a lot of work but I was pretty excited about it. I haven’t seen many of the other LSE since the training session we had way back in week 2. Wednesday morning came and was I ever nervous. Some of the Living Hope “high-ups” came for the liability portion of my intro where I explained EXACTLY what this course was and was not. It was purely informal and they would get their accredited course in the New Year. This was more of an informational session that would serve purely as an intro to any course they took. Since they don’t have a lot of first aid training it would help them out, and if something happened during the Christmas Holiday Clubs then they may choose to use some of the info they learned in this course to try to help one of the children. (Basically covering Living Hope and myself…the LSE understood what was going on). The training went SO WELL! I was able to get some songs for the compression timing. From what you have read in previous blogs you will know that these guys LOVE music and thought that doing CPR on fake people to the beat of the music was pretty entertaining. One of the PR reps came in and took some pretty good pics. They all got it after the first day, so I gave them paper to write 3 things they wanted to go over for the second day. That however, meant that I had to go home and prepare it ALL THAT NIGHT!!!! :S
The next day was review of choking/CPR, the Secondary Survey, and some of the minor First Aid they wrote on the paper from the day before. They also had A LOT of questions about how the body works and why certain things happen (for example, why do the lungs close when someone gets stung by a bee on another part of their body?). I certainly don’t need a South African First Aid certification to explain that! Basically, it went really well again. They can be a bit tough to handle sometimes since they (and I) have a bit of ADD (I think all people who work with children do) but most were really interested in what I was speaking about since they really see the need for it in their Clubs. Apparently quite a few of the Clubs have epileptic children and of course like back home they have heard everything from sticking your fingers in their mouth to hold the tongue back to trying to restrain the person by holding their arms and legs, etc, etc (which you DO NOT want to do…unless you want to be fingerless and have a choking seizuring child). Even after the day was finished I had people coming up to me asking more questions. I was very glad when it was all over though so that I can actually get some sleep again!
Kids Club is getting better and better. Meagan and I are starting to form a routine which is really helping with all the craziness. We usually do a big lesson 1 day a week, a craft one day, and just hang out one day (the days change though so we don’t have the kids just coming to the hang out day). Everyday though we have some play and game time, review of the lessons (we are doing the 10 Commandments now), some prayer time, the roll call, and they get their snack. I have been using my guarding whistle to bring the kids inside and have them sit. They know that 2 whistles means 2 lines (one boys and one girls) and Meagan made it a game the first week where if they weren’t in perfect lines then she would run to the other end of the room and blow it again, then run back…and so on which they thought was pretty hilarious. There are still a few children (the older ones with attitude) that are causing a bit of a problem but things are generally going really well.
I spent most of the weekend with the OV girls. Melissa’s friend Diego plays for one of the pro soccer teams and he had a game nearby so we all went to watch him. It’s basically exactly the same except for one thing which made me laugh hysterically every time I saw it. I think most people know that soccer is infamous for its dives…you know when the guys roll around on the ground trying to draw a penalty…and then bounce right back up completely fine. Well here every time someone even TRIPPED and fell on came the EMS crew with the stretcher. Even if the player got back up they HAD to sit on the stretcher and were promptly carried off the field. Then they were put down on the side lines where they got up and walked right back on the field. This happened without fail EVERY TIME!
I also got to experience some of the popular weekend spots. Friday night Leanne (family friend of Avril and John Thomas) took us to Happy Hour (6 – 7p.m. Friday nights) at the little pub down the street from the Teamhouse. It was PACKED! People here are just so much more relaxed and less intense though so it had a great vibe and I think we are planning on going every Friday from now on. Saturday night Ryan, Brenda, Al, and I went to a Tappas Bar called Pilanas. It’s RIGHT on the water with huge windows and has live entertainment weekend nights. It’s a really good place to unwind although it’s really expensive here).
I also sorted out getting my car for Monday (YESSSSSSSS). I will not be able to stay with ACTS much longer due to finances. I will be moving out of the Teamhouse soon so I will need to rent a car to get myself around. It will be from Best Beetle, which has a fleet of 70’s Beetles with ridiculous names and paint jobs. These cars have CHARACTER! Ryan has one named Booger. A previous volunteer had one named Bumblebee (you can guess why). I am pretty stoked about getting my car tomorrow so I can drive myself around Cape Town and get some of my independence back. Oh, for those of you who don’t know this the Bugs are standard not automatic. So I will be driving around a strange place with a standard (I haven’t driven stick in like 7 years) on the opposite side of the car on the opposite side of the road. HAHA. It’s ok though I’m used to the opposite side now and many volunteers (Ryan and Danielle included) have made the change just fine. Still though… I think I will probably be praying the entire dive back from getting my car!
I worked on my presentation Monday night and Tuesday morning and night to have it ready by Wednesday. It was a lot of work but I was pretty excited about it. I haven’t seen many of the other LSE since the training session we had way back in week 2. Wednesday morning came and was I ever nervous. Some of the Living Hope “high-ups” came for the liability portion of my intro where I explained EXACTLY what this course was and was not. It was purely informal and they would get their accredited course in the New Year. This was more of an informational session that would serve purely as an intro to any course they took. Since they don’t have a lot of first aid training it would help them out, and if something happened during the Christmas Holiday Clubs then they may choose to use some of the info they learned in this course to try to help one of the children. (Basically covering Living Hope and myself…the LSE understood what was going on). The training went SO WELL! I was able to get some songs for the compression timing. From what you have read in previous blogs you will know that these guys LOVE music and thought that doing CPR on fake people to the beat of the music was pretty entertaining. One of the PR reps came in and took some pretty good pics. They all got it after the first day, so I gave them paper to write 3 things they wanted to go over for the second day. That however, meant that I had to go home and prepare it ALL THAT NIGHT!!!! :S
The next day was review of choking/CPR, the Secondary Survey, and some of the minor First Aid they wrote on the paper from the day before. They also had A LOT of questions about how the body works and why certain things happen (for example, why do the lungs close when someone gets stung by a bee on another part of their body?). I certainly don’t need a South African First Aid certification to explain that! Basically, it went really well again. They can be a bit tough to handle sometimes since they (and I) have a bit of ADD (I think all people who work with children do) but most were really interested in what I was speaking about since they really see the need for it in their Clubs. Apparently quite a few of the Clubs have epileptic children and of course like back home they have heard everything from sticking your fingers in their mouth to hold the tongue back to trying to restrain the person by holding their arms and legs, etc, etc (which you DO NOT want to do…unless you want to be fingerless and have a choking seizuring child). Even after the day was finished I had people coming up to me asking more questions. I was very glad when it was all over though so that I can actually get some sleep again!
Kids Club is getting better and better. Meagan and I are starting to form a routine which is really helping with all the craziness. We usually do a big lesson 1 day a week, a craft one day, and just hang out one day (the days change though so we don’t have the kids just coming to the hang out day). Everyday though we have some play and game time, review of the lessons (we are doing the 10 Commandments now), some prayer time, the roll call, and they get their snack. I have been using my guarding whistle to bring the kids inside and have them sit. They know that 2 whistles means 2 lines (one boys and one girls) and Meagan made it a game the first week where if they weren’t in perfect lines then she would run to the other end of the room and blow it again, then run back…and so on which they thought was pretty hilarious. There are still a few children (the older ones with attitude) that are causing a bit of a problem but things are generally going really well.
I spent most of the weekend with the OV girls. Melissa’s friend Diego plays for one of the pro soccer teams and he had a game nearby so we all went to watch him. It’s basically exactly the same except for one thing which made me laugh hysterically every time I saw it. I think most people know that soccer is infamous for its dives…you know when the guys roll around on the ground trying to draw a penalty…and then bounce right back up completely fine. Well here every time someone even TRIPPED and fell on came the EMS crew with the stretcher. Even if the player got back up they HAD to sit on the stretcher and were promptly carried off the field. Then they were put down on the side lines where they got up and walked right back on the field. This happened without fail EVERY TIME!
I also got to experience some of the popular weekend spots. Friday night Leanne (family friend of Avril and John Thomas) took us to Happy Hour (6 – 7p.m. Friday nights) at the little pub down the street from the Teamhouse. It was PACKED! People here are just so much more relaxed and less intense though so it had a great vibe and I think we are planning on going every Friday from now on. Saturday night Ryan, Brenda, Al, and I went to a Tappas Bar called Pilanas. It’s RIGHT on the water with huge windows and has live entertainment weekend nights. It’s a really good place to unwind although it’s really expensive here).
I also sorted out getting my car for Monday (YESSSSSSSS). I will not be able to stay with ACTS much longer due to finances. I will be moving out of the Teamhouse soon so I will need to rent a car to get myself around. It will be from Best Beetle, which has a fleet of 70’s Beetles with ridiculous names and paint jobs. These cars have CHARACTER! Ryan has one named Booger. A previous volunteer had one named Bumblebee (you can guess why). I am pretty stoked about getting my car tomorrow so I can drive myself around Cape Town and get some of my independence back. Oh, for those of you who don’t know this the Bugs are standard not automatic. So I will be driving around a strange place with a standard (I haven’t driven stick in like 7 years) on the opposite side of the car on the opposite side of the road. HAHA. It’s ok though I’m used to the opposite side now and many volunteers (Ryan and Danielle included) have made the change just fine. Still though… I think I will probably be praying the entire dive back from getting my car!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Week 7 (Nov 3 – 9)
Sorry I have not written for so long. These past 2 weeks have been really really crazy busy for me. You will see why!
During the mornings I was slowly starting to put the rest of the details for the First Aid program together. I made the secondary survey sheet they will all learn how to use when they get their full first aid course in the new year. I also researched ideas for what Meagan and I could do in the Kids Club. We decided to start speaking about the 10 Commandments. Our kids are starting to get a bit unruly so we are going to speak about why we need rules and well as the “rules” that God gave Moses. Then we would come up with our rules together. This came about because Melissa and Chris also came with us and actually commented on how bad our kids were getting. After the first few weeks they had become used to Meagan and I and had started misbehaving. I had an idea about using a whistle (I had apparently kept my work whistle in my jacket pocket all this time) to bring the children inside and calm them down. There would be rewards for coming quickly, and consequences for not (those had yet to be decided). We were going to start Tuesday.
Tuesday turned out to be a really really hot day so we decided to take them to the beach on Tuesday and would go over rules the following week. Imagine about 150 kids and 4 adults. The walk took 30-45 minutes and the kids were actually quite well behaved. We went to Long Beach which is on the Noordhoek side (the same beach the Teamhouse is on but much further down the coastline). It was so hot that day and we had to carry all the food with us. The kids here are really helpful though and we all rotated carrying the sandwiches and oranges, as well as the backpacks that Melissa, Chris, Meagan, and I had. I have pics and some video (will have to wait til I get home for you to see it). I was wearing Capri pants and rolled them up (I was planning on just getting my legs wet). See, the thing about this beach is that it is a bit more dangerous than Fish Hoek since the current and waves are so much stronger. So my plan of staying fairly dry lasted until the first big wave came. After I was completely soaked I started swimming with the kids. Most did not have any bathing suits and swam in their underwear. Meagan was smart and had brought a rope so Chris and I stood about knee deep (chest deep when the big waves came) to mark off the boundary. Some kids played in the ocean while others did back flips off the huge sand dunes (the lifeguard in me was just slightly freaking out but that’s just how things are here).
After they swam we brought them out of the water to sit and eat. I had my back turned to the group and was taking pics of some of the kids playing on the playground when Meagan started calling for me. I turned around to see all of them crowding around one of the children. His name is Shawn and he is in Meagan and my club. He is one of the youngest (I think he is 4 or 5 years old). I wasn’t sure what was going on until I came a bit closer and heard him coughing and wheezing. He was choking on his sandwich. I ran over beside him to see how badly he was choking. His breathing was pretty ineffective and he was barely getting enough air to cough. I started thinking…ok here we are and I am going to start doing abdominal thrusts (if I have time) and this kid is going to go unconscious and I’m not even sure what the emergency number is. His eyes started rolling into the back of his head as I was about to landmark when he was able (Thank God) to get one last decent breath in and cough up his sandwich (biggest chunk I have EVER seen…poor kid has probably not eaten in a while and literally inhaled his sandwich).
For those of you who are keeping up with my blogs you will know that I was considering starting an informal first aid training program until it became apparent that I could not be insured here. One of the First Aid training companies here offered Living Hope an incredible discount to train all the LSE. This will not happen until the New Year. In about a month the Christmas Kids Clubs will start. Just in Ocean view alone they are expecting about 450 kids. The children will be fed, and if anything goes wrong a lot of the LSE really aren’t sure what to do. Shawn choking right in front of me made me realize that they need something NOW. I would never forgive myself if I had the chance to train them but didn’t and something happened at one of the Christmas Clubs. I emailed Avril Thomas right away. She got back to me and asked me for dates. Another American volunteer Pat Ball was an EMT back in America. She agreed to help me run the training session, as well as get some Actar/Annie dolls for CPR training. Another company agreed to sponsor the training and rent out their dolls at a very cheap rate. We set up the training for (what Pat and I thought would be) Nov 21st and 28th.
On Thursday Meagan escorted me to Cape Town (I was not allowed to go by myself…I was at the receiving end if many jokes from the OV people about this) to get my passport stamp. I had phoned on 2 occasions to ask what I needed and was told that since I am Canadian all I needed was my passport and 425Rand (about $50). Meagan decided that in order to have a full Cape Town experience we needed to ride third class on the Cape Town train. It was quite an experience for sure. First of all I was the ONLY white person in 3rd class riding there and it was quite obvious that Meagan and I were riding the train together. Apparently this is not a common sight on the train since almost EVERYONE else was staring at us. After a few vendors came by selling pretty much anything you could ever want, and the infamous blind man who plays his keyboard as he is guided by the arm by his friend (it was really sad actually…although he was really talented) we made it. Meagan asked where we were going and I said “Home Affairs.” She asked where that was and I said “Come on now I thought we were here for an adventure…I didn’t exactly get all the directions.” So off we went.
The first thing we did was get coffee and Meagan bought something called Koeksisters which are like GINORMOUS Timbits with coconut. They were pretty tasty. We eventually found a police officer who pointed us in the right direction. Home Affairs was an adventure in itself. We got in to find 4 or 5 different lines with no signs. I just stood in the shortest line to find out that we needed to go up to the second floor. When we got upstairs there were 2 lines (and no signs) but the nice security guard pointed us in the right direction. We sat down in chairs (as the line moves everyone just slides down a chair). Sitting directly across from us was a nun. I start pulling my cards out and Meagan says…
“Jess that’s a nun we can’t play poker in front of a nun.”
So I said “Ok we will play a different game then.”
“Which game?”
“Have you ever heard of Go Fish?” I asked.
“No what’s that game?”
“Here let me show you…”
and I proceed to teach Meagan Go Fish. As I started explaining the game the nun looks at us and says…
“What are you playing?”
“Go Fish.” I answered. “Would you like to learn?”
“Sure.” she says and Meagan, a nun, and I proceed to play Go Fish in Home Affairs, Cape Town while everyone else in the room was watching. Turns out she is from Ireland and is working here. When Meagan asked what her name was she said with the STRAIGHTEST face (Meagan and I had a bit more trouble keeping our faces straight) “I am Sister Mary.” (duhhhh). We played Go Fish and Old Maid for the 2 hours or so that we were sitting in the line. Finally it was my turn and I gave him my passport and my Rand, and he gives me an application. I stare at him blankly. On the application it asks for a Letter (stating my purpose for being in Cape Town) and a return ticket. I told him that I had phoned in twice already and was told that all I needed was my passport and Rand. He asked what the name of the people I spoke to was. I asked if I could tell him whether it would make a difference or not. He said no and that I needed to come back when I have all I need. “Oh, and by the way you need to bring it back within 30 days of your current passport stamp.” I looked at it and it said November 16th. This was the 7th and they were not open weekends. NOT COOL! I emailed home to get my ticket changed ASAP (THANKS!!!!!!! :)) so I could go back the following week to get it all sorted.
On Saturday we (Ryan, Danielle, Ryan, and I) went into Cape Town to explore. We went to Company’s Gardens (the Gardens dedicated to the Dutch/East India company that founded Cape Town). There was a lot of historical sites in the Garden (I have lots of pics). After we went to a restaurant called Mesopotamia. We sat on the floor in the restaurant and decided to get the group meal. For 150 Rand (about $11) per person we had a 3 course meal and a belly dancer for entertainment. Our meal lasted almost 3 and a half hours. It was soooo tasty. They actually bring the appetizers out and tell you about each one and everyone picks one to share. We could have just come for the appetizers for how full we were but that was just the first course. We will be going back for sure!
Sunday at Church I ran into Avril. She said that she really agreed that the LSE needed training and said that she agreed so much that she bumped the training days up to Wednesday and Thursday. My response was… “This Wed and Thurs?” Well yes Jess will that be possible? “Ummmmmm….yes….I think so…I will try….wow…that’s pretty close to today eh?” So began my second stress (Keep in mind I am still thinking about the fact that I may not get everything with my plane ticket sorted in time to be allowed to stay longer). I went straight back to the Teamhouse and started preparing for my presentation. It would be 3.5 hours on Wed and 3.5 hours Thurs and I hadn’t finished my teaching materials or arranging for all the dolls. I went home and started preparing.
During the mornings I was slowly starting to put the rest of the details for the First Aid program together. I made the secondary survey sheet they will all learn how to use when they get their full first aid course in the new year. I also researched ideas for what Meagan and I could do in the Kids Club. We decided to start speaking about the 10 Commandments. Our kids are starting to get a bit unruly so we are going to speak about why we need rules and well as the “rules” that God gave Moses. Then we would come up with our rules together. This came about because Melissa and Chris also came with us and actually commented on how bad our kids were getting. After the first few weeks they had become used to Meagan and I and had started misbehaving. I had an idea about using a whistle (I had apparently kept my work whistle in my jacket pocket all this time) to bring the children inside and calm them down. There would be rewards for coming quickly, and consequences for not (those had yet to be decided). We were going to start Tuesday.
Tuesday turned out to be a really really hot day so we decided to take them to the beach on Tuesday and would go over rules the following week. Imagine about 150 kids and 4 adults. The walk took 30-45 minutes and the kids were actually quite well behaved. We went to Long Beach which is on the Noordhoek side (the same beach the Teamhouse is on but much further down the coastline). It was so hot that day and we had to carry all the food with us. The kids here are really helpful though and we all rotated carrying the sandwiches and oranges, as well as the backpacks that Melissa, Chris, Meagan, and I had. I have pics and some video (will have to wait til I get home for you to see it). I was wearing Capri pants and rolled them up (I was planning on just getting my legs wet). See, the thing about this beach is that it is a bit more dangerous than Fish Hoek since the current and waves are so much stronger. So my plan of staying fairly dry lasted until the first big wave came. After I was completely soaked I started swimming with the kids. Most did not have any bathing suits and swam in their underwear. Meagan was smart and had brought a rope so Chris and I stood about knee deep (chest deep when the big waves came) to mark off the boundary. Some kids played in the ocean while others did back flips off the huge sand dunes (the lifeguard in me was just slightly freaking out but that’s just how things are here).
After they swam we brought them out of the water to sit and eat. I had my back turned to the group and was taking pics of some of the kids playing on the playground when Meagan started calling for me. I turned around to see all of them crowding around one of the children. His name is Shawn and he is in Meagan and my club. He is one of the youngest (I think he is 4 or 5 years old). I wasn’t sure what was going on until I came a bit closer and heard him coughing and wheezing. He was choking on his sandwich. I ran over beside him to see how badly he was choking. His breathing was pretty ineffective and he was barely getting enough air to cough. I started thinking…ok here we are and I am going to start doing abdominal thrusts (if I have time) and this kid is going to go unconscious and I’m not even sure what the emergency number is. His eyes started rolling into the back of his head as I was about to landmark when he was able (Thank God) to get one last decent breath in and cough up his sandwich (biggest chunk I have EVER seen…poor kid has probably not eaten in a while and literally inhaled his sandwich).
For those of you who are keeping up with my blogs you will know that I was considering starting an informal first aid training program until it became apparent that I could not be insured here. One of the First Aid training companies here offered Living Hope an incredible discount to train all the LSE. This will not happen until the New Year. In about a month the Christmas Kids Clubs will start. Just in Ocean view alone they are expecting about 450 kids. The children will be fed, and if anything goes wrong a lot of the LSE really aren’t sure what to do. Shawn choking right in front of me made me realize that they need something NOW. I would never forgive myself if I had the chance to train them but didn’t and something happened at one of the Christmas Clubs. I emailed Avril Thomas right away. She got back to me and asked me for dates. Another American volunteer Pat Ball was an EMT back in America. She agreed to help me run the training session, as well as get some Actar/Annie dolls for CPR training. Another company agreed to sponsor the training and rent out their dolls at a very cheap rate. We set up the training for (what Pat and I thought would be) Nov 21st and 28th.
On Thursday Meagan escorted me to Cape Town (I was not allowed to go by myself…I was at the receiving end if many jokes from the OV people about this) to get my passport stamp. I had phoned on 2 occasions to ask what I needed and was told that since I am Canadian all I needed was my passport and 425Rand (about $50). Meagan decided that in order to have a full Cape Town experience we needed to ride third class on the Cape Town train. It was quite an experience for sure. First of all I was the ONLY white person in 3rd class riding there and it was quite obvious that Meagan and I were riding the train together. Apparently this is not a common sight on the train since almost EVERYONE else was staring at us. After a few vendors came by selling pretty much anything you could ever want, and the infamous blind man who plays his keyboard as he is guided by the arm by his friend (it was really sad actually…although he was really talented) we made it. Meagan asked where we were going and I said “Home Affairs.” She asked where that was and I said “Come on now I thought we were here for an adventure…I didn’t exactly get all the directions.” So off we went.
The first thing we did was get coffee and Meagan bought something called Koeksisters which are like GINORMOUS Timbits with coconut. They were pretty tasty. We eventually found a police officer who pointed us in the right direction. Home Affairs was an adventure in itself. We got in to find 4 or 5 different lines with no signs. I just stood in the shortest line to find out that we needed to go up to the second floor. When we got upstairs there were 2 lines (and no signs) but the nice security guard pointed us in the right direction. We sat down in chairs (as the line moves everyone just slides down a chair). Sitting directly across from us was a nun. I start pulling my cards out and Meagan says…
“Jess that’s a nun we can’t play poker in front of a nun.”
So I said “Ok we will play a different game then.”
“Which game?”
“Have you ever heard of Go Fish?” I asked.
“No what’s that game?”
“Here let me show you…”
and I proceed to teach Meagan Go Fish. As I started explaining the game the nun looks at us and says…
“What are you playing?”
“Go Fish.” I answered. “Would you like to learn?”
“Sure.” she says and Meagan, a nun, and I proceed to play Go Fish in Home Affairs, Cape Town while everyone else in the room was watching. Turns out she is from Ireland and is working here. When Meagan asked what her name was she said with the STRAIGHTEST face (Meagan and I had a bit more trouble keeping our faces straight) “I am Sister Mary.” (duhhhh). We played Go Fish and Old Maid for the 2 hours or so that we were sitting in the line. Finally it was my turn and I gave him my passport and my Rand, and he gives me an application. I stare at him blankly. On the application it asks for a Letter (stating my purpose for being in Cape Town) and a return ticket. I told him that I had phoned in twice already and was told that all I needed was my passport and Rand. He asked what the name of the people I spoke to was. I asked if I could tell him whether it would make a difference or not. He said no and that I needed to come back when I have all I need. “Oh, and by the way you need to bring it back within 30 days of your current passport stamp.” I looked at it and it said November 16th. This was the 7th and they were not open weekends. NOT COOL! I emailed home to get my ticket changed ASAP (THANKS!!!!!!! :)) so I could go back the following week to get it all sorted.
On Saturday we (Ryan, Danielle, Ryan, and I) went into Cape Town to explore. We went to Company’s Gardens (the Gardens dedicated to the Dutch/East India company that founded Cape Town). There was a lot of historical sites in the Garden (I have lots of pics). After we went to a restaurant called Mesopotamia. We sat on the floor in the restaurant and decided to get the group meal. For 150 Rand (about $11) per person we had a 3 course meal and a belly dancer for entertainment. Our meal lasted almost 3 and a half hours. It was soooo tasty. They actually bring the appetizers out and tell you about each one and everyone picks one to share. We could have just come for the appetizers for how full we were but that was just the first course. We will be going back for sure!
Sunday at Church I ran into Avril. She said that she really agreed that the LSE needed training and said that she agreed so much that she bumped the training days up to Wednesday and Thursday. My response was… “This Wed and Thurs?” Well yes Jess will that be possible? “Ummmmmm….yes….I think so…I will try….wow…that’s pretty close to today eh?” So began my second stress (Keep in mind I am still thinking about the fact that I may not get everything with my plane ticket sorted in time to be allowed to stay longer). I went straight back to the Teamhouse and started preparing for my presentation. It would be 3.5 hours on Wed and 3.5 hours Thurs and I hadn’t finished my teaching materials or arranging for all the dolls. I went home and started preparing.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Week 6
Well I have quite a few updates for you. I will start with my Housing situation with respect to staying longer. There is a Christian employee of Living Hope named Ursula. She hosts a few international students from the University of Cape Town in her home. Another Living Hope volunteer (Becky) is staying with her right now. It turns out that a few of her girls are leaving so she will have space in her house. It was actually Becky who thought of the idea of my staying with them instead of ACTS to keep costs a bit lower. Normally ACTS and Living Hope don’t let volunteers stay outside of the ACTS organization but due to certain factors such as the length of my stay and Ursula providing a safe Christian home, both ACTS and Living Hope said it would be ok. I WAS SO EXCITED. There were still quite a few logistical things to be taken care of such as my transportation, extending my insurance, changing my ticket, and asking work for the time off, but as the week went by almost everything was taken care of. I will be renting a cheap car from Best Beetle, my insurance could be extended for a reasonable cost, and I could take up to 3 weeks off from work. The only things I have left to do now are change my ticket and go to Home Affairs in Cape Town to get my passport stamped. The total cost for me to stay another month is about $900 including absolutely everything (not too bad at all).
The First Aid program is moving along. I received a few generous quotes from different companies. I looked further into my getting certified and even if they could fast-track me a bit it would still take about 6 months :(. So for now it looks like I may have a qualified assistant to help me teach a quick informal course before Christmas, and then the Life Skills Educators would get a fully accredited Level 1 course taught by a certified instructor sometime early next year. If anyone has any desire to support this please let me know!!! There MAY be some funds available but we are still not sure. They really need this training (in all communities they are involved with 2100 kids in schools and about another 1400-1500 in Kids Clubs).
The Kids Club this week was a bit challenging. Now that the kids are used to Meagan and I some of them are acting up a bit. The fact that I can’t speak Afrikaans really doesn’t help. Most of them are amazing and really are quite helpful but a few seem to enjoy stirring up trouble. For those of you that didn’t read my first post, my housemate Danielle is a schoolteacher who actually teaches the LSE most of the curriculum used in Kids Clubs and schools. I asked her for some advice on how to handle the kids and she was able to help me come up with a few ideas that Meagan and I can start using next week.
Also this week the lease was up on the Crags so Thursday we moved into THE TEAMHOUSE!!! This is the place where we had our Holiday Club training…you know, the one with the AMAZING VIEW!!! I have a few pictures of the sunset our first night here that I will put up as the week goes on. Ya, that’s pretty much how it is here every night now since the weather is so nice (not to rub it in or anything :P). We also met our new housemate Al. He is a 30-something American and he fits in really well. Also staying here is Brenda (an employee of Living Hope from the US) and Leanne (family friend of John and Avril Thomas who is here for 2 weeks). Oh, I forgot to mention the gourmet chef who cooks here. Her name is Nadine and she is a fabulous cook! She also makes desserts!! I am going to need to be careful. Speaking of careful, I was able to weigh myself the other day and I have started running again. I stopped for about 3 weeks because I had a bad cough and my lungs couldn’t handle it but I am better now. The sand at the teamhouse is really soft and I tried running on it and discovered that it is about a million times harder to run on then the trails I am used to. I got the best quad workout I have had in a long time and I can barely walk after my runs. The beach here (Noord Hoek beach) is not as safe as Fish Hoek though so Al and I go together and stagger about 20 secs apart so we will be fine.
A few of you have asked about Halloween here. Halloween is kind of here but it is VERY different than back home. Here it is seen as Satan’s birthday so it’s not quite the fun candy-filled dress-up in costume party that it is back home. In fact, as I mentioned before this is the time kids go missing for child sacrifices and such so to answer you…Halloween is here but I certainly will not be participating in the local Halloween festivities. The American volunteers and I did, however, go to the Talley’s house for homemade pizza’s and games that were really nice.
Construction Day Friday found half of us at Maggie’s to finish her roof while the other half painted the outside of the Living Hope building in Capricorn. It started as 4 containers on a concrete block. They were located at each corner of the cement slab. A team raised funds to close the gaps so now there is a closed-in building with containers at each corner. The containers are not the same color as the rest of the building though so we were asked to paint the containers white to match the rest of the building.
It was a busy weekend for us! Saturday morning was the fundraiser for the Mobile Music Academy (Ryan’s project). Funds have been raised to support 4 kids in Capricorn who have absolutely amazing NATURAL musical talent. One day each week Ryan assists in their training and mentoring. I have pics and video of the fundraiser. The Academy was only just thought up in July and even in such a short time the kids have done so well! Basil is the oldest boy, then Michaela, and Bronwill and Winston are the younger boys. Sunday after Church we went to the annual Noord Hoek Country Fair. It was so much fun and we were able to enjoy doughnuts (yes, they have them here too and they tasted absolutely amazing). We go to check out the craft tables (people here are so talented) and catch some of the shows. The first clown show was hilarious! The second guy was pretty good. I have pics of both of them that I will put up later this week. Make sure you don’t try any of their stunts at home!
The First Aid program is moving along. I received a few generous quotes from different companies. I looked further into my getting certified and even if they could fast-track me a bit it would still take about 6 months :(. So for now it looks like I may have a qualified assistant to help me teach a quick informal course before Christmas, and then the Life Skills Educators would get a fully accredited Level 1 course taught by a certified instructor sometime early next year. If anyone has any desire to support this please let me know!!! There MAY be some funds available but we are still not sure. They really need this training (in all communities they are involved with 2100 kids in schools and about another 1400-1500 in Kids Clubs).
The Kids Club this week was a bit challenging. Now that the kids are used to Meagan and I some of them are acting up a bit. The fact that I can’t speak Afrikaans really doesn’t help. Most of them are amazing and really are quite helpful but a few seem to enjoy stirring up trouble. For those of you that didn’t read my first post, my housemate Danielle is a schoolteacher who actually teaches the LSE most of the curriculum used in Kids Clubs and schools. I asked her for some advice on how to handle the kids and she was able to help me come up with a few ideas that Meagan and I can start using next week.
Also this week the lease was up on the Crags so Thursday we moved into THE TEAMHOUSE!!! This is the place where we had our Holiday Club training…you know, the one with the AMAZING VIEW!!! I have a few pictures of the sunset our first night here that I will put up as the week goes on. Ya, that’s pretty much how it is here every night now since the weather is so nice (not to rub it in or anything :P). We also met our new housemate Al. He is a 30-something American and he fits in really well. Also staying here is Brenda (an employee of Living Hope from the US) and Leanne (family friend of John and Avril Thomas who is here for 2 weeks). Oh, I forgot to mention the gourmet chef who cooks here. Her name is Nadine and she is a fabulous cook! She also makes desserts!! I am going to need to be careful. Speaking of careful, I was able to weigh myself the other day and I have started running again. I stopped for about 3 weeks because I had a bad cough and my lungs couldn’t handle it but I am better now. The sand at the teamhouse is really soft and I tried running on it and discovered that it is about a million times harder to run on then the trails I am used to. I got the best quad workout I have had in a long time and I can barely walk after my runs. The beach here (Noord Hoek beach) is not as safe as Fish Hoek though so Al and I go together and stagger about 20 secs apart so we will be fine.
A few of you have asked about Halloween here. Halloween is kind of here but it is VERY different than back home. Here it is seen as Satan’s birthday so it’s not quite the fun candy-filled dress-up in costume party that it is back home. In fact, as I mentioned before this is the time kids go missing for child sacrifices and such so to answer you…Halloween is here but I certainly will not be participating in the local Halloween festivities. The American volunteers and I did, however, go to the Talley’s house for homemade pizza’s and games that were really nice.
Construction Day Friday found half of us at Maggie’s to finish her roof while the other half painted the outside of the Living Hope building in Capricorn. It started as 4 containers on a concrete block. They were located at each corner of the cement slab. A team raised funds to close the gaps so now there is a closed-in building with containers at each corner. The containers are not the same color as the rest of the building though so we were asked to paint the containers white to match the rest of the building.
It was a busy weekend for us! Saturday morning was the fundraiser for the Mobile Music Academy (Ryan’s project). Funds have been raised to support 4 kids in Capricorn who have absolutely amazing NATURAL musical talent. One day each week Ryan assists in their training and mentoring. I have pics and video of the fundraiser. The Academy was only just thought up in July and even in such a short time the kids have done so well! Basil is the oldest boy, then Michaela, and Bronwill and Winston are the younger boys. Sunday after Church we went to the annual Noord Hoek Country Fair. It was so much fun and we were able to enjoy doughnuts (yes, they have them here too and they tasted absolutely amazing). We go to check out the craft tables (people here are so talented) and catch some of the shows. The first clown show was hilarious! The second guy was pretty good. I have pics of both of them that I will put up later this week. Make sure you don’t try any of their stunts at home!
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Week 5
On Monday night we (Mandy, Ryan, Danielle, Kate (Mandy’s roommate), Rita (Mandy’s friend), some of the OV girls (Meagan, Melissa, Tracey, and Annie), and I went to Ryan Dalton’s rap concert. Ryan is an American volunteer who just fell in love with Cape Town (I think he has been here for 8 years now) and does a lot of fundraising through his concerts. He is a Christian artist who uses what he has seen in the communities in his songs. Some songs hit me pretty hard. A lot of his lyrics are pretty graphic. He is doing amazing things though.
The First Aid program development idea has changed a lot this week! Monday I got an email from Avril Thomas (wife of John Thomas who started Living Hope) saying that she wanted me to go ahead with developing a full first aid program. I am really excited about it! As the week went on however, conversations with people back home as well as here resulted in the program changing. Since my certifications aren’t valid in South Africa and due to insurance and liability reasons, I really shouldn’t be teaching the First Aid, although I can still develop the program and assist whoever does teach it. So began my search for First Aid organizations/donors. The best options I have discovered thus far are a full Level One program valid for 3 years for about 385Rand per person (about $48CAD). This is REALLY cheap, even for here. The other option I am still looking at is with a company that is affiliated with Living Hope. We are still negotiating the price, although they said they can certify me here for about 2000Rand ($250CAD). Of course there will be additional costs for renting supplies and equipment, which must be factored in. Which option we take depends a lot on the funding that is available. I will keep you updated on what we decide. I am also considering fundraising for it so if you are interested in helping please let me know.
The new Kids Club is really a lot of fun! On Monday Meagan and I got the kids to make little fish attached to straws and were taught about how the disciples were fishermen before being called by Jesus. They usually get 1 or 2 Biblical teachings a week. On Tuesday we made South African flags. I have pics of the flags; it was a pretty big hit! The kids are starting to get used to me and are actually listening…well…kind of. The Club continues to grow as the kids bring more friends and family. The other pics I have are of the first week of the new Club when Meagan and I went door-to-door promoting it. On Wednesday we brought some sports equipment and face-paints to just hang out with the kids and play with them. Most of them don’t really have a chance just to hang out and play with adults in a positive environment, so days like today are really important for forming relationships with the kids. Thursday is the planning day, both for the Kids Clubs and for the school lessons the Life Skill Educators during the day. They really have such a huge impact in this community and are doing amazing things for these kids.
Fridays the long-term volunteers (Danielle, Ryan, Becky, and I) along with Mandy and the Talley’s are starting to work on people’s houses in the communities. Our first day we started in Capricorn on a woman named Maggie’s house. Half of us started a veggie garden in her front yard, while the other half fixed the ceiling in her house which was leaking and water-logged and falling off. We finished the garden but didn’t quite get the ceiling done, so we will be coming back next Friday. I certainly hope it doesn’t rain, although it hasn’t rained here for about 2 weeks so I think it will be ok! (not to rub it in or anything).
On the weekend the OV girls came over to hang out and stay Sat night. Most of the pics I have are of breakfast the next day which was quite an ordeal! They don’t really eat breakfast, so they were pretty impressed with the pancakes, strawberries, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream that we had. Not the healthiest breakfast, but it was pretty tasty that’s for sure! Sunday morning I went to their Church instead of KOK. Their Church is pretty amazing!!! As I mentioned before their worship is quite active and a lot of fun. After that we went into what I estimate is about an hour of prayer. Their services are really charismatic, that’s for sure! Close to the end of the prayer time Meagan brought me up to her pastor. He had quite a few encouraging words for me, one of which was regarding my money situation with respect to staying here (which I hadn’t talked to ANYONE about from here). I was pretty blown away actually, especially since most people here fundraise to come and there is NO way he would know that I did not really fundraise (other than grad gifts I got from my parents and family which were very generous). Other than Becky and I, almost ALL other volunteers did not pay out of their own pocket. He said that I didn’t need to worry about it, that things would be taken care of soon, and that people I didn’t really know well would be able to support me in my decision. So it will be very interesting to see what happens now! I will keep you all posted for sure!
The First Aid program development idea has changed a lot this week! Monday I got an email from Avril Thomas (wife of John Thomas who started Living Hope) saying that she wanted me to go ahead with developing a full first aid program. I am really excited about it! As the week went on however, conversations with people back home as well as here resulted in the program changing. Since my certifications aren’t valid in South Africa and due to insurance and liability reasons, I really shouldn’t be teaching the First Aid, although I can still develop the program and assist whoever does teach it. So began my search for First Aid organizations/donors. The best options I have discovered thus far are a full Level One program valid for 3 years for about 385Rand per person (about $48CAD). This is REALLY cheap, even for here. The other option I am still looking at is with a company that is affiliated with Living Hope. We are still negotiating the price, although they said they can certify me here for about 2000Rand ($250CAD). Of course there will be additional costs for renting supplies and equipment, which must be factored in. Which option we take depends a lot on the funding that is available. I will keep you updated on what we decide. I am also considering fundraising for it so if you are interested in helping please let me know.
The new Kids Club is really a lot of fun! On Monday Meagan and I got the kids to make little fish attached to straws and were taught about how the disciples were fishermen before being called by Jesus. They usually get 1 or 2 Biblical teachings a week. On Tuesday we made South African flags. I have pics of the flags; it was a pretty big hit! The kids are starting to get used to me and are actually listening…well…kind of. The Club continues to grow as the kids bring more friends and family. The other pics I have are of the first week of the new Club when Meagan and I went door-to-door promoting it. On Wednesday we brought some sports equipment and face-paints to just hang out with the kids and play with them. Most of them don’t really have a chance just to hang out and play with adults in a positive environment, so days like today are really important for forming relationships with the kids. Thursday is the planning day, both for the Kids Clubs and for the school lessons the Life Skill Educators during the day. They really have such a huge impact in this community and are doing amazing things for these kids.
Fridays the long-term volunteers (Danielle, Ryan, Becky, and I) along with Mandy and the Talley’s are starting to work on people’s houses in the communities. Our first day we started in Capricorn on a woman named Maggie’s house. Half of us started a veggie garden in her front yard, while the other half fixed the ceiling in her house which was leaking and water-logged and falling off. We finished the garden but didn’t quite get the ceiling done, so we will be coming back next Friday. I certainly hope it doesn’t rain, although it hasn’t rained here for about 2 weeks so I think it will be ok! (not to rub it in or anything).
On the weekend the OV girls came over to hang out and stay Sat night. Most of the pics I have are of breakfast the next day which was quite an ordeal! They don’t really eat breakfast, so they were pretty impressed with the pancakes, strawberries, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream that we had. Not the healthiest breakfast, but it was pretty tasty that’s for sure! Sunday morning I went to their Church instead of KOK. Their Church is pretty amazing!!! As I mentioned before their worship is quite active and a lot of fun. After that we went into what I estimate is about an hour of prayer. Their services are really charismatic, that’s for sure! Close to the end of the prayer time Meagan brought me up to her pastor. He had quite a few encouraging words for me, one of which was regarding my money situation with respect to staying here (which I hadn’t talked to ANYONE about from here). I was pretty blown away actually, especially since most people here fundraise to come and there is NO way he would know that I did not really fundraise (other than grad gifts I got from my parents and family which were very generous). Other than Becky and I, almost ALL other volunteers did not pay out of their own pocket. He said that I didn’t need to worry about it, that things would be taken care of soon, and that people I didn’t really know well would be able to support me in my decision. So it will be very interesting to see what happens now! I will keep you all posted for sure!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Week 4: NEW PROJECT!!!
Over the past few weeks my projects have been changing but I didn’t want to share it until I knew what was going on. As I mentioned previously many of the staff including the LSE do not have first aid training. What started as a small, short workshop for the LSE and support workers (home-based care) is turning into a huge project. In my development of the short workshop I discovered that there are NO policies regarding emergency response. So if a child is injured, for example, the LSE have no procedures to follow. When you think about how many children are attending the camps (at least 400 in OV alone, more than 400 in Masi, about 100 in Red Hill, 100 in Capricorn…and the list goes on for each community) it is absolutely necessary that the LSE have some idea of how to help an injured child. In fact, most people are not sure what the emergency number is even (they don’t have 911 here). So I started asking around to the high-ups for Living Hope and they soon realized the need for a full First Aid training program for all their staff (180 and growing). They have asked me to develop it from the ground up, from the actual training in first aid to their policies regarding what to do if a child breaks a bone (it is not as easy as calling 911 here), to actually writing down the legal documentation for all of Living Hope to be approved by the Board of Directors. I am really excited about this!!! I will have to draw from all my training and experiences from Lifeguarding to BC Ambulance to pretty much everything in order to complete this.
After Youth Camp last weekend Meagan was driving me home when we passed a Church in Ocean view. She said, “Oh, that’s where I will be working tomorrow (instead of doing the Club at the Multi-purpose center).” I asked her what she meant and she said… “Oh I guess I should have told you, Nathan was wondering if you would mind helping me out starting a brand new kids club at the Methodist Church instead of helping Timmy and Julie in Mountain view?” I was so excited!!! So it would just be her and I building this new Club from the ground up. So now during the day I would be preparing the First Aid policies and procedures, as well as preparing to teach all of Living Hope/Living Way/Living Grace staff, and in the afternoons I would be preparing for Kids Club and running the new club with Meagan.
The first day of club (Monday) was a lot of fun. Melissa and Chris brought some Multi Kids and helped us out for the first day. We played capture the flag, which was a lot different then back home. The kids went crazy and pretty much dogpiled on the buckets with the balls inside. At the end of it there was a lot of laughing, a few tears, and little pieces of streamer everywhere (they had streamer bracelets on that the kids on the other team would try to rip off to get them “out”). We got the kids to clean up, then Meagan talked to them for a bit, then we prayed and sang a worship song, then got their names and fed them. Oh, I forgot to mention that Meagan was dressed as a clown and I was a cowgirl with face painting and everything. Now to put this into perspective, imagine this over-crowded community with lots of kids running around, and this face-painted clown with the wig and everything coming down the street with a white chick (white people usually don’t go into these communities) who is wearing a cowboy hat with a horse painted on her face followed by all these kids screaming and running around and being…well…kids. Needless to say, we attracted quite a bit of attention. On Day 2 and 3 of the Club Meagan and I went door-to-door around “The Flats” to promote the club. Some people were really receptive and asked us to come in a sit down for a while. A lot of the kids already knew Meagan from the presentations she does in the schools and were really excited that we were starting a new Kids Club in their area. Others were a lot more reserved, or were Muslim and were not quite as open or excited about the club. After we walked around we went back to the Methodist Church where there was about 30 kids waiting. We played a few games that I played in camp when I was young (Red Rover and Giants, Wizards, Elves), took attendance, and fed everyone. Kids Clubs only run Mon-Wed with Thursday as the planning day and Friday the training day. Meagan and Melissa wanted to learn how to play poker and I always have my cards with mw in my bag (the same cards that caused so many problems at customs in the Airport…stupid cards…I should have thrown them out :P) So we spent part of our lunch on Thursday playing poker. Of course the other OV LSE gave me a hard time about promoting gambling and bringing in my crazy Canadian customs but I know they just wanted in on the action ( :); they were kidding don’t worry, these guys are never actually serious).
PEPFAR is the company that supports a lot of what Living Hope does and have said they want at least 80 kids in this Club (with only Meagan and I running it that will be a challenge). Well after the first 3 days (not all of the surrounding areas even knew about the Club yet) we had 72 kids on the register. Cool!!!
On a more serious note, Danielle said that the body of a 3-year-old girl was found murdered in Masi on Monday. A lot of rumours were flying around that it was a Zimbabwean couple that murdered her. There is a lot of racism and bad pride in Masi because this Black community has a lot of history and pride in their culture and land. They don’t always appreciate people from other places coming in to take their land (a lot of Zim people migrate here; most of the community is made of people from the Eastern Cape). A lot of the Zim stores were raided and looted. It later came out that it was not a Zim couple, but possibly a Zim Sanghoma (Witch Doctor; I’m not sure of the spelling) that told the couple to do it. Apparently a lot of people rioted on Tuesday. It got so bad that Tuesday night the Police shut down Masi to all traffic (no one in or out). This is the season for children going missing due to sacrifices since Halloween is coming up, which commemorates Satan’s birthday here. On Wednesday a rumour started that another woman was missing in Masi and that her body had been found with her breasts cut off. Masi was still in a bit of panic and people were obviously scared and fearing for their and their children’s lives. A woman named Faith is involved in Living Hope. She owns the house that the murderous couple lived in. The people of Masi were mad that she allowed such a couple to live in their community, so some of the citizens torched the house that the couple lived in, as well as the house that Faith currently lives in. She now stays in a bungalow that she works in behind the preschool. On Thursday we heard that some of the LSE in Masi have organized a March with the preschool kids and some of the Kids Clubs kids through Masi to show that the kids aren’t afraid. Danielle was able to go see the March (she was actually the only white person there). What it turned into was completely incredible. Not only did the preschool kids and Kids Club kids march, but children in grades 1-3 were pulled out of school to join the march through Masi. They were equipped with signs that said things like… “My body is my own” and “We have a future, don’t destroy it,” “Stop the killing,” “I deserve to have a future” and other things in both English and Goza. Danielle got some pictures that I will put up soon, but she estimates that there was between 400 and 500 kids. With this many young children you would think that it would be chaos, but they were all really serious and walked nicely in long lines through the town. They seemed to understand what they were marching for and took it quite seriously. I really hope this is the end of what is happening there. Apparently the missing woman was found and there was no woman with cut-off breasts, so things should start to calm down…hopefully!
Friday afternoon Meagan and Melissa picked me up (Friday afternoons have ended early for me since there is no Kids Club; starting next week all the volunteers will be doing something like Habitat for Humanity on Fridays working on peoples houses which should be a lot of fun!). We headed out for Weinberg with Melissa so she could get fitted for a bridesmaid dress. On the way we got a Gatspy, which is pretty much the most AMAZING THING EVER!!! Basically it is a sandwich on bread filled with different veggies, a kind of meat (chicken, beef, or bologna), and FRIES!!! It is actually pretty tasty, you should all try it sometime!
This past weekend was really restful for me. The weather here is absolutely amazing (except for one cloudy day we have had straight sun for over a week!!) so I went to the beach by our house on Saturday. I realized that I have been here for over a month and haven’t gone in the ocean yet; I have run by it many times but I haven’t swam, so it was time. The water was really warm surprisingly, and so incredibly clear. It was pretty much the temp of the pool back home!! The beach was packed though, and I got to meet quite a few people. I will be going back very soon, that’s for sure!
At the end of week 4, I am totally immersed in what I am doing here. I am really enjoying it and time is flying by way too quickly! Sorry for taking so long to put up more updates, I will try to come on every weekend!
After Youth Camp last weekend Meagan was driving me home when we passed a Church in Ocean view. She said, “Oh, that’s where I will be working tomorrow (instead of doing the Club at the Multi-purpose center).” I asked her what she meant and she said… “Oh I guess I should have told you, Nathan was wondering if you would mind helping me out starting a brand new kids club at the Methodist Church instead of helping Timmy and Julie in Mountain view?” I was so excited!!! So it would just be her and I building this new Club from the ground up. So now during the day I would be preparing the First Aid policies and procedures, as well as preparing to teach all of Living Hope/Living Way/Living Grace staff, and in the afternoons I would be preparing for Kids Club and running the new club with Meagan.
The first day of club (Monday) was a lot of fun. Melissa and Chris brought some Multi Kids and helped us out for the first day. We played capture the flag, which was a lot different then back home. The kids went crazy and pretty much dogpiled on the buckets with the balls inside. At the end of it there was a lot of laughing, a few tears, and little pieces of streamer everywhere (they had streamer bracelets on that the kids on the other team would try to rip off to get them “out”). We got the kids to clean up, then Meagan talked to them for a bit, then we prayed and sang a worship song, then got their names and fed them. Oh, I forgot to mention that Meagan was dressed as a clown and I was a cowgirl with face painting and everything. Now to put this into perspective, imagine this over-crowded community with lots of kids running around, and this face-painted clown with the wig and everything coming down the street with a white chick (white people usually don’t go into these communities) who is wearing a cowboy hat with a horse painted on her face followed by all these kids screaming and running around and being…well…kids. Needless to say, we attracted quite a bit of attention. On Day 2 and 3 of the Club Meagan and I went door-to-door around “The Flats” to promote the club. Some people were really receptive and asked us to come in a sit down for a while. A lot of the kids already knew Meagan from the presentations she does in the schools and were really excited that we were starting a new Kids Club in their area. Others were a lot more reserved, or were Muslim and were not quite as open or excited about the club. After we walked around we went back to the Methodist Church where there was about 30 kids waiting. We played a few games that I played in camp when I was young (Red Rover and Giants, Wizards, Elves), took attendance, and fed everyone. Kids Clubs only run Mon-Wed with Thursday as the planning day and Friday the training day. Meagan and Melissa wanted to learn how to play poker and I always have my cards with mw in my bag (the same cards that caused so many problems at customs in the Airport…stupid cards…I should have thrown them out :P) So we spent part of our lunch on Thursday playing poker. Of course the other OV LSE gave me a hard time about promoting gambling and bringing in my crazy Canadian customs but I know they just wanted in on the action ( :); they were kidding don’t worry, these guys are never actually serious).
PEPFAR is the company that supports a lot of what Living Hope does and have said they want at least 80 kids in this Club (with only Meagan and I running it that will be a challenge). Well after the first 3 days (not all of the surrounding areas even knew about the Club yet) we had 72 kids on the register. Cool!!!
On a more serious note, Danielle said that the body of a 3-year-old girl was found murdered in Masi on Monday. A lot of rumours were flying around that it was a Zimbabwean couple that murdered her. There is a lot of racism and bad pride in Masi because this Black community has a lot of history and pride in their culture and land. They don’t always appreciate people from other places coming in to take their land (a lot of Zim people migrate here; most of the community is made of people from the Eastern Cape). A lot of the Zim stores were raided and looted. It later came out that it was not a Zim couple, but possibly a Zim Sanghoma (Witch Doctor; I’m not sure of the spelling) that told the couple to do it. Apparently a lot of people rioted on Tuesday. It got so bad that Tuesday night the Police shut down Masi to all traffic (no one in or out). This is the season for children going missing due to sacrifices since Halloween is coming up, which commemorates Satan’s birthday here. On Wednesday a rumour started that another woman was missing in Masi and that her body had been found with her breasts cut off. Masi was still in a bit of panic and people were obviously scared and fearing for their and their children’s lives. A woman named Faith is involved in Living Hope. She owns the house that the murderous couple lived in. The people of Masi were mad that she allowed such a couple to live in their community, so some of the citizens torched the house that the couple lived in, as well as the house that Faith currently lives in. She now stays in a bungalow that she works in behind the preschool. On Thursday we heard that some of the LSE in Masi have organized a March with the preschool kids and some of the Kids Clubs kids through Masi to show that the kids aren’t afraid. Danielle was able to go see the March (she was actually the only white person there). What it turned into was completely incredible. Not only did the preschool kids and Kids Club kids march, but children in grades 1-3 were pulled out of school to join the march through Masi. They were equipped with signs that said things like… “My body is my own” and “We have a future, don’t destroy it,” “Stop the killing,” “I deserve to have a future” and other things in both English and Goza. Danielle got some pictures that I will put up soon, but she estimates that there was between 400 and 500 kids. With this many young children you would think that it would be chaos, but they were all really serious and walked nicely in long lines through the town. They seemed to understand what they were marching for and took it quite seriously. I really hope this is the end of what is happening there. Apparently the missing woman was found and there was no woman with cut-off breasts, so things should start to calm down…hopefully!
Friday afternoon Meagan and Melissa picked me up (Friday afternoons have ended early for me since there is no Kids Club; starting next week all the volunteers will be doing something like Habitat for Humanity on Fridays working on peoples houses which should be a lot of fun!). We headed out for Weinberg with Melissa so she could get fitted for a bridesmaid dress. On the way we got a Gatspy, which is pretty much the most AMAZING THING EVER!!! Basically it is a sandwich on bread filled with different veggies, a kind of meat (chicken, beef, or bologna), and FRIES!!! It is actually pretty tasty, you should all try it sometime!
This past weekend was really restful for me. The weather here is absolutely amazing (except for one cloudy day we have had straight sun for over a week!!) so I went to the beach by our house on Saturday. I realized that I have been here for over a month and haven’t gone in the ocean yet; I have run by it many times but I haven’t swam, so it was time. The water was really warm surprisingly, and so incredibly clear. It was pretty much the temp of the pool back home!! The beach was packed though, and I got to meet quite a few people. I will be going back very soon, that’s for sure!
At the end of week 4, I am totally immersed in what I am doing here. I am really enjoying it and time is flying by way too quickly! Sorry for taking so long to put up more updates, I will try to come on every weekend!
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