Hi all,
Well, I couldn't get internet access last weekend - we took turns and some of us just didn't get a chance. If you don't hear from me you could always go to Ken's blog - he's probably more detailed than I am. Go to africanyouthoutreach.org and look for all of our blogs and then just click on Ken's.
Anyway, we've now held both weeks of our camp. the first week was really great. the kids ranged from 10-15, with most 11-15. Rebecca (founder of ayo) led the first 2 days with us jumping in once in a while. That was really good to experience because there is a trick to working with translators - knowing how much to say at once, etc. WE worked with 6-8 translators - and they are really fun people. Some components that we added to the camp included small groups - we divided the kids into 5 groups of about 5 the first week and 7 the second week. It helped us all make connnections and learn the names of the kids. (that was quite a challenge when kids' names had clicks in them:) Anyway, our content was self esteem, HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections, condom use, drugs and alcohol, rape (tough topic when girls in south africa are more likely to be raped than to learn to read). WE did a ton of fun things in between all of the heavy stuff. They all made hero books - a 9 step process where they examined positive aspects of their lives. The second week seemed to be intimidating to me, at least, because the kids were 15-26 with the concentration around 18. I don't have experience with that age or these topics with that age, so I was worried. It was incredible though, they were a wonderful group and the rest of our team did an awesome job with the teaching. WE really are a great team. This group of kids had more english speakers, so it was fun to interact with some of them without interpreters. The last day, Thursday, was pretty hard at the end. We had a traditional braai - cooked out over a fire and had great food. When everything was cleaned up the kids were grouped together and sang to us - and said wonderful things to us. All but Ken got into the car sobbing - We plan to go to their school next week or the week after to visit and reconnect. Same for the younger kids from the first week.
The next two weeks we'll be doing a variety of things - translating some stories the older kids wrote, building a play structure and the new Ingwavuma Orphan Care site, I'm going along with some video - ographers who are doing something that they might want input on or else want to help me get more video - not exactly sure, we will also do some home visits. WE're all looking forward to that as well.
So the big news for me is that I'm not coming home as planned. I will be calling the travel agent to arrange a change in my ticket. I'll stay for the last week and then continue to Cape Town for 3 days with my friends. After that I don't know how I'll leave. I am in love with this place and everything we've done.
I want to write about our fun weekends - we've seen so many animals and we've taken so many pictures. We have a blast together every day and night. Yesterday one of my highlights was getting so close to a hippo that she blew snot on me. (not in the wild but not in a zoo, either) I'll try to post again tomorrow and write about the weekends.
Cheri