Thursday 14 July 2016

This one time when I lived in South Africa....


Greetings one last time from South Africa,

It is with great pleasure that I write to you one last time from sunny South Africa. It is with incredibly mixed emotions that I am leaving the country tomorrow night. This experience has been eye opening, magical, challenging, rewarding, rich, full of patience, and one that I will take with me for the rest of my life. The last few weeks of work were truly spectacular with quality time at the school, over two hundred children attending our programs during the start of the winter holidays, and some great final memories with the kids.

A few weeks before the school closed for the holidays, the grade sixes and sevens went to Durban for a wild and crazy blitz-style field trip to four different tourist attractions. Sadly only about 80% of the kids could afford to come as the trip cost approximately $16 CAD. We stopped at the Shark’s Board (a learning aquarium-style facility focusing only on sharks!), Ushaka Marine World, did a harbour cruise, and took photos at the 2010 World Cup stadium. The kids had a blast and several of the teachers did too as they disappeared half way through to have an extended lunch! We returned home late as how can you fit in all those fun adventures in one day!?

The new Ukulapha interns arrived in South Africa to take over from us and they joined us for our final few days of school. With classes winding down, there wasn’t a whole lot for us to do educationally, so we were able to clean up, pass along any documents the new folks would need, and spend time with the kids. On June 24, we were sent off with a cultural tribute to our time in Slangspruit. Each grade from grades 4 to 7 performed a drama, skit, or song and the choir sang as well. The teachers individually thanked us and we were able to express our gratitude at the end as well.

Over the past six months I have seen many children grow so much. Saying goodbye was really hard as some of the kids really appreciated the love, attention, and support that we gave them. Remember that many of these kids do not come from homes that we may come from in Canada with loving parents, resources, food readily available, and opportunities. To be a part of these children’s lives since January has been one of the greatest honours that a human can hold. To have witnessed them become a bit more confident, to pass math after working so hard, or just to see them smile each time we encountered each other on the school ground is a privilege that I am so glad I got to be a part of. Working at Slangspruit Primary School has reminded me of the truly important things in life and I thank the kids of the community for welcoming us and unknowingly teaching and reminding us of what really matters in life.

Following the closure of the school we did see many of the kids again the next week at the day camps that we held for the grade six and seven students. You may remember that we held similar programs for the grade fours directly before Easter in March. This time around we had a huge turnout, some days with sixty kids showing up for breakfast, a whole bunch of fun, lunch, and then more fun before heading home around 3:00pm. Canada Day was our last day and it consisted of the leadership kids coming for one final morning of good times with us. We played a giant game of capture the flag and then got down to business organizing the next few months of projects. I am especially going to miss these kids as I have gotten to know many of them so well. They are the future of this country and I am so glad for this!

Following the leadership day camp, which was the actual last time of seeing the kids, I went straight to Durban with a friend to catch a flight to Johannesburg to go and meet up with friends from Canada, another friend from here, and my brother! After a really fun weekend in Johannesburg with Gabby, Ntando, Luyanda, and Mthobisi eight of us headed to Kruger National Park for the safari of a lifetime! Just like so many times before, I had to switch hats from development worker in Slangspruit to curious traveler looking to experience the amazing sights, animals, and cultures of South Africa.

If you have never been to Kruger National Park, you need to put this place on your list. It is nothing short of extraordinary! We spent three days in the park seeing some of the most beautiful scenery, animals, and natural wonders that this earth has to offer. You name it; we saw it! See photos below of lions eating a buffalo, a leopard with a kill in a tree, the very rare African wild dogs, a cheetah taking it easy on a Friday, and the gentle giants (elephants) that roam in search of greener places. We definitely saved the best for last, visiting Kruger at the end of our trip.

These last few weeks have been amazing, traveling around the country with new friends and old. The relationships that I have made here with the kids and people in the community are what make it so difficult to leave tomorrow. This is the second time that I have temporarily lived in another country and combined, these two experiences are two of the richest times of my life. Thank you to everyone here in South Africa and in Canada that have supported me along the way and shown me kindness as I found my feet living in a new place. I am looking forward to seeing family and friends in Canada, eating sushi, riding my bike, petting Brandy, and enjoying BC’s summer. But these things don’t make it any easier to leave my favourite continent and the people that I shared this life changing time of my life with!

Cheers from down here,

Russell

“The longer I live, the more my mind dwells upon the beauty and the wonder of the world.” – John Burroughs




Grade sevens performing a skit at the final assembly

A keen grade four homework club student

The grade four homework club crew on the last day of school

Proud students showing me their report cards

The final assembly, 1100 people!

The little girls that we tutor came for a sleepover and wanted to do a fashion show. I was security for the models and DJ

Eighteen lions eating a buffalo

Elephant bath!

Hyena mom and two cubs

A cheetah scanning for impalas

Cam and I at Blyde River Canyon

Gabby and I enjoying the sights!

Eight African Wild Dogs came for a morning visit 

A leopard snoozing after making a kill

The crew! 

One last visit to Cape Town

Checking out the fish at the aquarium

One last hike through the Drakensberg

Amazing new friends that I made!


Monday 13 June 2016

Bold and brave campers at Hella Hella


Greetings once again from South Africa,

I hope this message finds you all well, wherever you are in the world. Here in South Africa I am at the point in my internship where the end is near when looking at a calendar but in my head and my heart I’m not quite there yet! As time goes on, the connections I’ve made here have grown and solidified – which of course makes sense. The longer I stay here the more I feel connected to the school, kids, teachers, friends I’ve made, and community, making it all the more difficult to leave in four and a half weeks. I will continue to prepare the kids and myself for our departure as best I can, but in the mean time, I’ve got some pretty amazing stories to share with you about the happenings here since I last posted.

Before I get to telling you about camp (the majority of this blog post), I will fill you in on some fun adventures that I’ve been on in the past month on the weekends. Three of the past four weekends I have spent in what has become my favourite place in South Africa. The Drakensberg Mountains are strikingly beautiful with their steep cliff faces and vast ruggedness. At the end of May, our landlord brought Brynn and I to Sani Pass in the Southern Drakensburg. It was our first time to the Southern ‘berg and certainly wasn’t my last as I took the rural route through Underberg two times following our first weekend at Sani Pass! Currently I am typing this blog post from a log cabin overlooking a valley edged by jagged peaks and steep mountaintops.

And just east of the Drakensburg Mountains is a quaint little spot called Hella Hella. It shares the natural beauty of the ‘berg with clean rivers and towering peaks. And this is the place where we spent two nights with 47 leadership students from Slangspruit Primary School (June 3-5, 2016). Our camp was beyond successful from start to finish. The kids learned, played, ate, shared, and made memories that will last a lifetime.

Upon arriving at Hella Hella, we were greeted by a family of antelope on the hills behind the camp. What a superb welcome from Mother Nature; a sign of the true magic that was about to come our way all weekend.

I had eight grade 6/7 boys in my cabin. They were so excited to see our room that they could barely contain their excitement. When they saw the bunk beds, all the anticipation of their weekend away came exploding out of them as they ran to claim their territory. I learned that none of them had ever slept on the top bunk before and most have to share a bed with several other people at home. With lots of blankets (remember its winter here now and in the mountains it can get close to freezing level), our own bathroom with hot showers (these were VERY popular), and a giant soccer field right outside our front door, it was the time spent in the cabin that was a highlight for most of the kids.

I feel that it was these above simple pleasures combined with challenging and new activities that made the camp as successful as it was. During our rotational group activity time, the kids got to experience a nature walk with sensory games, a teamwork challenge obstacle course, a writing workshop where the kids got to express their views of leadership, and a little rafting trip up the river. So much valuable informal learning for all!

I led the rafting trip where the kids got to experience paddling for the first time. We began up the river and immediately tested the group by encouraging them to slowly and carefully switch from one boat to the other. They got a kick out of this and did a great job and no one fell in! Our final adventure in the rafts was scoping out the zip line. The daunting cliff where the zip line begins hangs over the river. Zip liners must bravely jump off the rock and swing down over the chilly river below. Before reaching the bank on the other side, you must drop into the water and swim back to shore or hop into the awaiting boat.

Just above I mentioned the word ‘bravely’. We discussed being brave in our opening ceremony and it was a task that the kids didn’t take lightly. They were brave and bold all weekend long in trying new things and conquering any task thrown their way. All the adults mentioned the bravery witnessed on the weekend and we were very impressed with the students.

On Saturday afternoon the zip line opened and everyone at camp headed to the riverbank to try on a life jacket or get a good seat to watch the action. A grade six student was the first to try the zip line and he enjoyed it so much he was one of the last to use it at the end of the session. Many kids did get to go two times. The river that the kids dropped into was like swimming in the ocean at home in March. The look of shock and horror was present on every single child’s face as they surfaced from their dunk. It was difficult to breathe and with weak swimming skills, the kids needed a minute to catch their breath. As I have mentioned many times now, this was a highlight of the camp and a moment of triumph over a fear of heights, water, and the cold for many brave campers.

Another memorable aspect of Hella Hella was the food. From the moment we told the kids about camp, food was a source of concern and an anxiety due to the nature of hunger and cost associated with not only camp but whether or not they would have to provide their own food. We assured the kids that they did not bring any food at all. Thanks to the generous support of so many people that made this camp possible, we had a bit of extra money to put towards food to include things like meat in our menu that we would not have been able to eat if we had just raised the bare minimum amount. On the Saturday evening we had a BBQ with bratwursts and the campers were thrilled. Food was another major highlight for many of the kids.

Of course one of the common concerns we heard throughout our time at Hella Hella was that we just didn’t have enough time there. Thus the children were very pleased to hear that the bus was running very late and we would have a few more hours to bask in the camp glory at Hella Hella. We led a small debrief onsite and held a more thorough one once back at school a few days later. Discussion around feeling safe from dangers that are present in the community, learning camp call backs to get everyone’s attention, and getting to try playing rugby and field hockey were some of the items that the kids brought up that we hadn’t heard before. We also discussed how everyone treated each other with respect and how we can use what we learned at camp to better the school and the community.

To end off this description of our incredible trip to Hella Hella, some of the kids wrote what camp meant to them and what they learned:

“Leaders can’t be selfish, you have to be brave to try the zip line, and don’t think that you are ever alone.”

“I would say it was great and we have many more games that we had never played in our life.”

“The water for bathing in the shower was cold and it started to be hot after a few moments.”

“It was like we were in a five star treatment hotel because everything was perfect!”

Our two days at Hella Hella have been spoken about dozens and dozens of times since returning a week ago. It was an absolute pleasure to witness the leadership students from Slangspruit experience camp for the first time. To see it through their eyes with their grateful and excited comments and smiles was nothing short of extraordinary. Thank you to all of you that made camp possible.





Khethiwe the chef!


Soccer amongst the mountains

Carolyn with one of our highly motivated leaders!

Rafting!

Checking out the zip line

Getting ready to leave for camp (sorry the photos are not in order)

ZIP LINE!

Getting ready for rafting

Rope swing over the pond!

Team challenges at the cargo net

Friends having fun!

Taking a break from all the fun

Delicious breakfast!

The birthday boys of the weekend 

Cool dude!

Such great balance! 

Flying high above the river!

The challenge course was an all around hit!

Tired friends at the end of camp

Hot chocolate for breakfast

Boys being boys!

Model pose! 

Vuks and a happy camper :)

The whole crew! 

Grade seven girls - so happy to be at camp

Waiting for the bus to arrive

The bus ride home.... this was a common theme

Wednesday 18 May 2016

Off to camp we go...


Greetings from South Africa,

I want to share a conversation with you that I had with a student the other day.

“Russell, my mom still doesn’t believe that we are going to camp! She couldn’t come to that parents meeting you had, are you sure we are going? And will we stay in tents or cabins?”

Three weeks ago we told the group of fifty Leadership Council students that we were going to spend a weekend at a camp at the beginning of June. The group got on their feet and screamed. They hugged each other and jumped up and down, unable to control their excitement. They didn’t believe us that they would have this kind of opportunity and at no cost to their families.

To provide some perspective for you, most of these kids have never had a weekend away. There is the odd school trip for a few hours but vigorous fundraising has to be done, putting pressure on the students and a financial burden on the families. But a weekend away with rope swings, a challenge course, a zip line, a river to swim in, and lots of friends to share it with is practically unheard of here. I am someone that believes in the power and magic of camp (are you surprised?), getting a group of likeminded people together in a wilderness setting to learn, experience, and share. I cannot wait to see our 50 hardworking leadership students arrive at Hella Hella Outdoor Centre where the cabins, field, river, and mountains are all theirs for an entire weekend!

I responded with, “Yes Bayanda, we are going to camp, we wouldn’t tease you with something like that. And we will be staying in cabins; there will be three groups of boys and three groups of girls.”

“So we will get our own cabins then?”

“Yes, they each have bunk beds.”

I didn’t receive a verbal response following my answer. The smile said it all as Bayanda’s eyes wandered to the other side of the room. I could see him imagining what this camp could possibly look like. He was happily daydreaming.

At the moment, the teachers are translating the registration, waiver, and medical form from English into isi-Zulu. We will spend the June 3-5 weekend at camp. The other day four of us went to see Hella Hella Outdoor Centre (Click here to visit Hella Hella's website). The setting is nothing short of spectacular with a river winding through a valley with Drakensburg-style mountains on every side of the camp. The kids won’t have seen anything like it before.

The weekend will consist of further teamwork and leadership training for the students. To our knowledge, all fifty students are able to make it and we will use a variety of facilitation techniques to engage the kids. Between the group of adults attending, we will draw on North American style summer camp ways, leadership techniques from my masters program, local Zulu traditions, and social work ideas from our intern who has a social work background. And of course, being in a camp setting, this learning will be surrounded by fun, laughter, and support.

“I can’t wait to tell my mom. I think she might believe me now. Are you sure we don’t have to pay? When do we get the forms? I can’t wait to go to camp!”

For me, this is what it’s all about. Bayanda is such a shy boy; I could barely get a peep out of him when I met him. Now he is excited about school; he is brave and asks questions in class. Recently, he came up with the most popular idea for our current drought awareness project. He achieved high marks on his midterm tests and most importantly he is confident in his ability to succeed. And he is excited every Thursday for our Leadership Council meetings. 

If you are interested in learning more about how you can send a kid to camp, please click on the link below. We have negotiated an incredible rate of $36 CAD per child for the weekend at Hella Hella. This includes transportation, accommodation, and food. If everyone receiving my blog email sent one child to camp, our fundraiser would be complete. Currently, we are half way to our $1800 goal to send our fifty leadership kids to camp. So we need your help to get the rest of the group there! Thanks so much and I look forward to updating you after our weekend in the woods!

Slangspruit Leadership Council goes to camp! Click here to learn more and donate now

Meet the kids below! 

Several of the leadership council students posing for a photo
 Some of the boys from the leadership council
 Voting for the order of the projects that the kids want to take on. 
The first project was a litter clean up and awareness project. The leadership council arranged a class vs class challenge to clean up the school. It was hugely successful!