Right now I live in Jeffery’s Bay South Africa.
Every week here looks completely different. We have done construction, sessions, church services, beach ministry and much more. We have moved a couple of times but for two weeks we are in down town Jeffery’s Bay.
Right now and for the rest of South Africa I do ministry at a school called Itemba, which is located in the squatter camps. The kids speaks Xhosa so there is still a language barrier between us but some speak a little bit of English.
I wake up at 7 to eat breakfast with the 24 other girls we live with. (Porridge or yogurt)
At 8 We sometimes stop at first light for a cup of coffee. A cute coffee shop ran by some people in our ministry.
At 8:15 Since we live downtown Jeffery’s Bay right now we walk to the school. We take a 15 minute walk through the slums and see where our kids live. There is glass covering the streets leading to make shift homes. The kids home is just a hard place.
At 8:45 I am in a class of 4-5 year olds and it can range from 12-20 kids. These kids go through more than most of us can think of. At 5 violence is already a language for them, they already know curse words, and they speak of physical things they shouldn’t know.
Yet these kids have captured my heart. Just typing out this blog I want to shed a tear for each of them. When I sit down to help them they crave for my “Good job” followed by a high five. It is amazing when you give them time how much they do learn. There are kids who hit, fight, and scream every time the teacher leaves. Yet I just hold them take some of the hits and just look at them. They melt because they are seen.
At 10-11. Recess time. There is 70+ kids running around everywhere. I get to see some of the kids not in my class that I have grown close too. We do hand shakes we have made up with together. There is always at least 5 kids hanging from me. I give lots of hugs, I do so many shakes, and at times they get me on the ground to play with my hair (that is crazy). A lot happens at recess but it is great!
11-12 I am back in the class room. We usually continue doing our lesson for the day. Coloring shapes. Learning motor skills. Or learning Afrikaans.
At 12 The kids take a nap. So we get a break for lunch and to breath a little bit.
At 1 We serve lunch to all the kids. They line up and file through the kitchen as we hand them their bowls of food.
1:45-2:15 We go back out with kids and this is my favorite time because we really get to hang out them and be their friends! My couple of friends hug me at the end, we do our handshake, and they walk me to my after school program.
2:30-3:30 I help with the after school program. Some kids have a lot of trouble with writing and simply counting numbers. So I help them with the basics so they can do the homework they are assigned. Lately I have been the actual teacher for first graders teaching them Afrikaans… yeah that is interesting 1) I am not a teacher 2) I don’t speak the language 3) there is 15 crazy kids. Yet it is fun seeing them understand how to write. They feel a little bit more confident in themselves when they leave.
3:30 We take our 15-20 minute walk back home.
4:00 Do team time, eat dinner, all the other things that take the night!
I don’t want to leave Itemba. Yes, after every day I am exhausted. But these kids are still kids. They still want to play karate. They want to be heard. They want to be seen. They want to be loved. They are so fun to play with and go crazy with.
Yet I know there are places everywhere like this and my heart is really breaking for the kids. Maybe I want to be a teacher?! We will see what God has for me ha. I will post a blog more about the kids that have stolen my hearts on some later blogs.
