Spring is here....

Sunday was a beautiful day!  The birds were singing, the sun was shining, flowers were blooming, everything was alive with the signs of spring.   Following mass, where our children were the little angels that they are, we all went outside and played the morning away.

Lunch was baked chicken, butternut squash, coleslaw, beet salad and was absolutely delicious!!  We had two birthdays to celebrate; so Namavah, Sikelelwa and I made a vanilla birthday cake with chocolate frosting.  Oh, it was so good!!  Then it was back outside where we blew bubbles galore and read lots of stories.  Dinner was scrambled eggs with homemade bread - again, so very good! 

Shortly after dinner, Siyathemba (See-yah-tem-bah) and I sat down to do some reading.  As often is the case, one of the littler ones will wander over, climb up into your lap, and listen or practice along silently.  Before I knew it, little Nomandla (No-man-dlah), who is one of the triplets, had fallen asleep in my lap.  Siyathemba and I continued with his reading.  There are so many special little moments like this throughout my day.  These kids are just amazing and I love my time with them. 

Monday morning arrived early and we were on our way.  Both of the children's schools are surrounded with a locked fence, and we always make sure our older children are delivered safely inside the school grounds, while our younger children are delivered safely inside the school before we depart.  Today as I walked the five younger ones into the school, I noticed the two teachers were not present, so I hung around to wait for them.  They soon arrived and shared that someone had stolen all the copper piping.  The school had no water.  The teachers were in the process of organizing the delivery of water.  Unfortunately this school will be canceled until Friday when they will be able to again have running water.  The copper pipes are a hot commodity over here as we had our pipes stolen last week.  It is a shame.  Can you imagine stealing from a pre-school?

Our pre-school teacher at the home was not able to teach today, so once again Tyler and I took the lead with teaching our little ones.  We did much better than last Monday, however I have noticed that they sure do behave better for Miss Christine.  I think it is that big ruler she carries around with her!

It was another lovely spring day and the children couldn't wait to play outside.  You should see them do the "Hokey Pokey,"  they are so cute when they turn themselves around!!  When the older ones arrived home from school, they quickly ate their lunch, and we headed out for riding lessons.  The farm was wild today.  There was one baby goat who was only one hour old when we arrived - so cute!!  And did I tell you last week, there were twin goats born?  Baby goats are the cutest!  And today four little shetland ponies were horsing around - I just had to say that!  They were adorable!  The goats (about 60 of them), all came right up to us looking for food.  And when it was time to feed the big horses, they became wild and had to be separated so as not to hurt the new filly.  I don't know what was going on, but our four had a tough time concentrating as there was so much happening all around them.  It is a great little farm, just crazy today!

Following dinner, I read the children some of their favorite stories.  I told them I had to leave tomorrow and how much I loved them and my time with them.  I wasn't sure if they all understood, however they all gave me a big hug and a big kiss.  We finished our stories and I tucked them all in - going into their different rooms.  The boys sleep in a round hovel - that's what it sounds like and I am not sure how to spell it.  The round hovel is a typical Xhosa home.  The round hovel is one round room with a light in the center.  I share this because it is a great room for making shadows with your hands on the walls which we usually do before the boys go to sleep.  So tonight we were playing with shadows and then it was hugs and good night.  I returned to my room in a puddle of tears and started to pack. 

Soon after Tyler shared that the boys were upseet and I might want to talk with them.  I returned to the round hovel to find the four older boys in tears - they did understand that I was leaving.  This is definitely my hardest goodbye.  As tears were flowing down my face, I shared with them how happy they made we.  I told them that I would tell everyone what good boys they are, how they work hard at school, and how they are great big brothers to their younger sisters and brothers.  And I wanted them to know that Auntie Rita loves them very, very much.  I was able to comfort them and waited until each one fell asleep.  I returned to my room in tears. 

We will take the children to school tomorrow and then Lana will take me on to East London to continue my travels. Tomorrow is going to be a very tough day for the biggest kid........    

Comments

[John Vitek]

Nice of you to pony up the pun for your audience!

I'm sure all the kids (including you) will have such happy memories of your time there.

[Yui Chan]

You know, I figure that after completing a couple of these volunteer stints that one would somehow garner enough composure to get through a goodbye. I see now that it doesn’t get any easier.....it actually gets harder. I guess that’s what makes each and every experience along this journey oh so special and keeps you coming back for more.

As a testament to your heart of gold, once again, you are high on life my dear! Smile, cuz you are so loved!

[Lori Lepak]

It sounds like you had a wonderful experience with these children....It is so hard to leave after establishing such a close bond.
I am keeping up with the logs, think of you often and look forward to hearing about more --- I can't wait to hear about the 225 children at your next home!! Take Care
Lori