The Hefty Blog - Overview and Final week

Final Week in South Africa

It was only a fortnight ago, but let's see how memory serves..

In a nutshell: I tried to live every moment and enjoy each second of my final week, but of course it was tinged with the sadness of leaving, and speckled with fond farewells from the community partners and friends. In particular the coaches, who thanked me for my time and input over the last 2 months. I have a lot of respect for Bulelani and Nyaniso and by the end of my stay they had the same for me too.
Leaving GAPA was tiny bit heart breaking as some of the kids were just managing to remember my name. Two girls even had a competition over a couple of days about me - one wanted to call me Coach, but her friend wanted to call me Zak. So they kept repeating my 'names' and whichever one got them my attention was the winner. I kept switching up when I turned around and pulled silly faces which got them in fits of giggles! I couldn't leave GAPA with one last charge around the football pitch with the boys, Kholosa (a little boy who's name, which means trust) decided I was fun this week. He deliberately came to my table on craft activities and always wanted me to be on his football team! It was a challenge to set him up to score, but we made a great partnership! After leaving once the grannies didn't believe I was really going this time which was a lovely lighthearted farewell.

I remember being hailed by my colleagues that week as well - for (with the help of my fantastic volunteers) finally completing and writing up all the assessments at the 2 township primary schools! I've never really stopped to think about how many classes and 'learners' we teach out on the sports project. Until John thought to analyse the data sheet will fill in everyday. He found that on average we see maybe 3-4 classes everyday, which equates to over children. Every morning. So for two schools.. with grades 4 - 7.. with 2 classes in each grade.. that's close to 900 children assessed over 3 weeks. Good job team. I think the cake in a cup did keep everyone's spirits up!

Over my final weekend I went up table tops again and had an awesome last meals with my closest friends. Let's glance over the violent illness I had for most of it and get straight to overviews!

Volunteering Abroad

International volunteers are essential to projects like the ones I experienced in Cape Town, South Africa. Although they would welcome South Africans to the project with open arms it just doesn't happen. This led me to wonder why that may be. And led me to question why I had to travel half way round the world to volunteer as a coach in a primary school in a disadvantaged neighbourhood. Perhaps it's because I haven't been subconsciously bombarded with prejudice and taboos. I understand my country and my area very well, yet I wasn't prepared to volunteer at home. I probably have no idea how incredibly dangerous Khayelitsha and Langa actually are. I was always sheltered and stayed with the community partners, and have a very positive experience of working with people in townships. Inside looking out is very different from the outside looking in. My ignorance was actually my strength when embarking on my volunteer placement. It meant I had an open mind and gave people a chance, one: because I wanted to, two: because I had no idea what to expect. Going forwards I believe I would like to continue to volunteer and work with social impact organisations not only abroad but closer to home. Parts of Sheffield are among the most deprived in the U.K and although the background and challenges are completely different and present new challenges, they should deserve a chance too.

Becoming a Staff Member

What a journey I have had. Only in writing this and thinking about do I realise what I have done! Being an ambassador was a fantastic opportunity and one which I grasped with two hands! I grew into the role accepting new responsibilities and managing my new relationship dynamic with the volunteers. My favourite part however was in the morning where we had a staff meeting to reflect on the day before, so everyone was on the same page. I gained a new insight into the different projects and really saw the impact we were making. Such as the informal preschool centre getting recognition by the government and receiving new funding for her practise, thanks to the support we have given her and her team. The most impactful however was from the girl impact project. 

A young boy from the community partner had been sent to the local cash store (convenience store) to buy food. Along the way he was stabbed. There was talk in the community of vengeance against the attacker. However some of the teenage boys started to discuss and bring up points they had learnt from our volunteers. Discussing how to tackle to situation peacefully to prevent gangsterism and future conflict. A decision was made, and our forum for talking and role playing situations like this had just prevented violence. This is the impact we can make. A level of maturity and awareness was show by these boys that is admirable in adults, amazing.

On a more lighthearted note, volunteers get to live, work and gain a unique insight into a country and a more 'real' experience. Not to mention broadening your horizons with new experiences and relationships with people from across the world. I would thoroughly recommend it, you have no idea what doors it may open to you. 

Thank you South Africa for everything.

Drop In

I'm putting this blog out there because today, I finally unpacked my suitcase.. So my trip is officially over - despite the fact I arrived home almost a week ago! So I'm going to round of this blogger page with a hefty post, which should encompass everything from my final week, to an overview of being a staff member and volunteer at an international charitable organisation, as well as a quick note about my plans for the future.

But for now I'm touching base, I did find my way back home to the UK. My days at the moment consist of seeing family and organising my next adventure - skiing season in Canada! I will be blogging these exploits too on another page.
In the near future however I am going shopping to fill the gap in my gear tomorrow! I will also be seeing my little scouting group, who helped me with fundraising by buying my chocolate buns! I will be talking about South Africa and its history, and about my volunteer stories and sharing with them some games and songs that I learnt.

Finally, remember to stay posted for my big final blog and pictures! I will go through and add pictures to my past blog posts and will have to see if I can make a accessible folder at the side somewhere..

Until next time!

CatchUp: Weekend and Last week!

So they're tearing up the pavement outside the volunteer house and all the way down the street - something about new cables? Anyway, I have no clue if it is correlated or not but we've had at least 3 black outs in the last week. Which is not cool if you want to connect to the Internet and write a blog. Some people at HQ have started calling it TIA (this is Africa!) That being said.. Here we go!

The End of Last Week

More super fun sports in Khayelitsha and at GAPA. Notably at GAPA on Thursday we had our weekly meeting with the grannies which was particularly fun this week, as we were recapping the signing workshop we had taught them last week.  Apart of the 'each one teach one' initiative where the grannies and volunteers teach each other different things! Andreas, a Danish teaching volunteer worked in a special needs school where certain children didn't / couldn't speak, so they used some sign language to communicate with them. It was really enjoyable to learn and was wonderful to see everyone remembering together all the different words!

On the same day we had a numerous volunteer group as the 'Girl Impact' vols came to GAPA to speak with the older (9-14 year old) girls. Girl impact is an incredible project as it gives girls a forum to discuss things like early pregnancy, contraception, women's rights and puberty. Things that they normally wouldn't be able to talk about. Which is awesome.. But it left the other grade 4-7's (the boys) low in number when they came to do sorts with us.
So we used the situation to our advantage, and marked out a football pitch using the whole of the outside area, then made teams mixing 4 kids with 4 vols on each team, even using bibs! This sort of organisation is rare at GAPA which is normally a baby step away from caos, which made our football match even more special! I had the most amazing time! And so did the boys, even this week they have been coming up to me saying 'man of the match' pointing proudly at his chest, also star striker/goal keeper - after the names I kept calling them!

The whole of Friday was a highlight also! We stayed out in the primary school all day, that's right! No planning that afternoon because we went to street cricket! We closed the road outside the primary school from around 1:30 till 4 o'clock to hold an inter-school street cricket and street football tournament- it was incredile! We used old oil drums, painted bright orange as wickets, and proper 5 a-side goals to take over the street and play sports! Despite our equipment, the kids and the STOP sign we still had cars and buses winding through the street mid-game! It was insane, but it really felt like 'street' cricket, having to pause for a car enhanced the experience. Needless to say, it was a busy street with yet more schools adjacent to it. As the children were let out of school they stopped to watch and support the matches. Having spectators cheer, and to see the net ripple as you score a goal in football is a unique and magical feeling, to see the delight in all the players faces was truly special.

In addition the cricket games were just as unreal - you would think that when a kid smacks a ball over a couple corrugated iron shacks and stone walls that the batsmen will run for 6. But, the kids are up and over walls in an instant! Plus the local residents know the sports coaches and help find the ball for us! Some houses were playing musical, others cooking braai, it was a fantastic atmosphere and a unique experience that I will be one of the highlights of my trip for sure.

Weekend Exploits

I felt as though I had a nice, long relaxed weekend. Saturday comprised of the Old Buiscut Mill again for the delicious foods and iced tea. On the menu today was rice crispy, banana and Nutella crêpes, followed by Korean chilli rice noodles in a chicken chow mien. Not to forget the freshly chopped coconut that we drank and ate!

Sunday was more adventurous. Annika met Darron whilst walking her dogs at the TEARS project in Ocean View. Now Darron used to work at TEARS for 7 years! And now he owns a surf school - so he invited her and myself down for a lesson! It was 'lekker bru' which is Afrikaans for 'amazing bro!' He's such a cool guy who not only has the body of superman, owns a pizzeria and surf shop. But he also runs an outreach program for vulnerable children from 9-14 years old from the local deprived communities. I have a lot of respect for that man. When I can I will update this blog and talk more about the surfing and outreach program because it's really interesting and impressive, but right now the Internet cafe is closing!

Love to all my familly xxx until next time!

CatchUp

Last Week

Thursday, Friday was more of the same on project - what stood out for me was the planning session on Friday. You might think 'planning' - how boring. But it was really good!

We have a challenging group of teenagers at our Home From Home project: The orgnaisation was set up in 2001 during a time when these children were orphaned from HIV/AIDS and needed a foster home. It has grown and grown with the children since then, and now we have our first teenagers in the OVC (orphaned and vulnerable children) project which is a totally new dynamic. Games and activities which we have played with them in the past are childish now, they require fresh, current themes and activities to keep them engaged; but also with a focus on improving their levels of English. With this in mind we had a Lion House brainstorming session which produced a load of amazing ideas:

• Talent show theme: to given them a project they will want to return to every week, as the session we run are optional classes. It will also help them stay focused and give some consistency to activities that various volunteers will facilitate.
• Talents / Characteristics name acrostic which they can present at the end of the day. For example: Zealous Active Kind for my own name. Feedback from that day was very positive with the kids being a little shy but also proud of their talents and themselves which is great.
• English lessons using music: the kids love music and dancing no matter what age, so creating a fill in the gaps activity with song lyrics should be perfect! It will be completely new to the group and they won't even realise how good it is for their English - listening, reading and writing all in one! We HAD to use this one right away - so we created a fill the gaps exercise for the song 'One Dance' by Drake and they enjoyed it so much they asked to do it again next week! Well done team!
• Other ideas for future weeks include - a performance, writing a letter to a local celebrity in order to persuade them to put you in their talent show, and also making themselves a 'hollywood celebrity star' as a certificate at the end of the project. 

I was so excited at the time to use them this week, and I'm so pleased they have gone down so well. The kids loved it and it really shows - volunteers have come back so positive and I think the talent show theme is going to be a fantastic project for them and give them a real confidence boost.

Last Weekend

On Saturday a group of us visited the Old Biscuit Mill - an old building transformed into a bustling international food market! It was incredible! The noise, the smells, the colours.. You don't have enough time or stomach space to try everything! Which is why we're planning to go again this weekend..! Annika managed to find a Flammkuchen kiosk ran by an elderly lesbian couple from Frankfurt who even offered her a job! They sold traditional Flammkuchen (thin, crispy dough with creme fresh, onions, bacon and spinach) as well as the best citrus ice tea I have ever tasted! I also got to savor wonderful green tea and delightful Belgian waffles too.

Afterwards we wandered the craft, furniture and fashion stalls ajecent to the complex and I bought yet more souvenirs.. Everything is just so beautiful here, I wonder if I will be able to fit it all in my bag for the return journey..

Love to all my family - more blogs on the way I promise! xx 

What's My New Gig Like?

In short.. It is amazing! I almost forgot how much I love being out on project! It was so nice to get back to work and I've had a great start to the week.

Monday

First day as a staff member and I was thrown right in. I received a call mid way to project from my boss, telling me that my project has moved location and that I have to coordinate with the driver a new drop-off and pick-up spot. No problem - we went to the hockey pitch adjacent to Langa stadium, ready to spend the morning doing a hockey and netball workshop with 70 kids. With the assistance of 30 teenagers from Wimbledon Girls High School hockey team.

We were invited to help run the session by Sporting Chance - local organistaion that employ the coaches we work with day to day at the primary schools, the same one that is running the street cricket! Our job was to help the Girls run their session, because we already know how to control and explain drills to the kids. However when we arrived and I asked if they were excited to carry out their plan, they looked at me with blank faces... Time to step in and regain control of the situation!

I set about splitting Girls into groups of 3 to run their own drills (they know so many drills just off the top of their heads due to their own training, that they had no problem thinking of some to do.) Then we did a boys / girls split - one half of the astro pitch would be for hockey, the other for netball. Each group of Girls would have around 8-10 kids to work with for 30-45 minutes. Then all the groups would come together for a game for the last 15 minutes to put into practice the skills they have been taught. Finally they would finish the game, go grab a drink and swap sports.

Once we had structure and everyone understood the plan and their role, we completed a flawless day - it was perfect! Everyone had an amazing time - kids and volunteers alike. We even managed to snap some lovely pictures too! I had some good feedback from the coaches regarding my impact too, which made me feel even better about the day. Not a bad first day on the job!

Tuesday

In the morning we were back to normal at Mokone primary school, Langa. Today we were doing end of term assessments with all the classes, to see how our coaching sessions have been impacting on their performances. We set up 5 stations: Sit and Reach(flexibility) Standing Long Jump(power) 3 minute shuttle run(stamina) Illinois run(agility) and 1 minute sit-up challenge(strength)
We tried to get as many of the kids as possible through each station in an hour, and we went through 3 classes. It was a full on morning- which was not aided by the cold windy weather!

Afternoon saw my first trip to GAPA since I returned! It was great to see all the grannies again and the kids even remembered me from team ZIMBABWE! We played circle games and songs with the grade R/1's, grade 2/3's did a nature collage in crafts and then the 4-7's played cricket in sports. It was incredibly slick - we have a particularly great team at the minute it seems! My role as staff member was blissfully straightforward.

Wednesday

Back at Khayelitsha primary school this morning where I reunited with Bulelani (the resident coach) where we had 4 hours of mixed activities such as: basketball dribbling/shooting/passing, obstacle shuttle runs and a balancing/catching station. It was a hot, busy day which was exacerbated by the intense heat of the sun! But we managed to get a good balance between doing the activities and letting everyone cool off in the shade.

Afternoon at GAPA was similar to the day before except we were making friendship bracelets! I surprised everyone with my knowledge of braids, and it came in very handy - thanks Han! Another highlight was a duck-duck-goose variation with a wet sponge. We called it drip-drip-drop! On the 'drop' you squeeze all the water on the persons head! It was great fun and very appropriate in the heat.

If the rest of the week is as good as the start I will be very happy indeed. Love to you all xxx

CatchUp - Suprise! I'm Still In Cape Town!

I should be back home in Sheffield right now, after taking a 11 hour straight flight from Cape Town to  Heathrow, London.. But, I'm still in Cape Town! That's not just because I missed my flight or have decided to run away from home.. It's because I have been offered a job at African Impact!

Yes! I made such an impression during my 4 week volunteer placement that they invited me back. My role is called 'Ambassador' which is just like a 'volunteer coordinator' but with less administrative tasks. This is an amazing opportunity for me that I could not refuse! I start tomorrow, and have three more weeks in Cape Town. I'm extremely fortunate to be approached in this manner and I want to take full advantage of this opportunity! A key part of my role will be connecting with the volunteers in the house, answering any questions and helping them get accustomed to life at the Lions House, but also ensuring the projects run smoothly and I will be responsible for helping volunteers have the most amazing time - like I did!

I returned back to the lion house this weekend to the lovely welcome of my friends! They're happy I'm back and I was thrilled to see them again. That night (Saturday) we went out to the Green Point stadium to watch the local team CapeTown City take on Baroka FC. The teams colour is pink, as they support the fight against breast cancer so a proportion of all merch goes to charity - I got myself a scarf and some of the others even had thier hair sprayed pink!

The first half was rather dull, with the standard of play being described as 'cute' by my Dutch friend when comparing it to European footy! The 2nd half heated up quickly with 2 rapid goals from BRFC which got the away fans screaming and one even streaked into the pitch! It was hilarious and distracted most of us from the counter attack of CTC - which resulted in a goal! 2-1 was the final result but I enjoyed picking up some chants and our little group even managed to start a Mexican wave!

I'm really looking forward getting back onto project so.. Love to all my familly xxx see you tomorrow!

Good Morning From Paradise

Paradise is the name of the hostel by the way, it's pretty nice here!

It was our last night together as a tour bus squad and we spent it together around the pool table, darts board and fire. The food was great, drinks lovely and company even better.

Yesterday we went adventure cave exploring in the Cango cave systems as well as touring a Cango wildlife conservation centre and in 15 minutes I'll be walking with elephants!

Just thought I'd check in, fill you in tonight when I have a night of luxury at a hotel in Seapoint.

Island Vibe

New hostel and I've only just managed to get into the wifi! I'm well and happy and am currently writing this blog out in the sunshine, looking out over Jefferys Bay. Famous for surfing I managed to spend an hour out there yesterday - it was great! Not only that but the dunes in this area is perfect for sandboarding, being a snowboard enthusiast I just had to try it!

We spent 1.5 hours out there running up sand dunes and gliding down again, it was bliss. Our instructor was called Sim and he was so chilled - and was at one point in the top 3 sandboarders in South Africa. I'm now super excited for Canada! This was just a warm up!

And those were the supplementary activities! The big garden route tour stops have been ace the last couple days. Bungee jumping one day to safari the next. Yesterday was the safari and we got very lucky, we saw 3/5 South African big 5 - lions elephants and buffalo! And then lots of various antelope and warthogs and mongooses!

I need to run, bye! The bus!

Bungee!

I made it! The adrenaline rush was incredible, wind rushing through your hair, flying towards the ground. I have a certificate saying that one of the side affects of bungee jumping is euphoria and an addiction - and I have the bug!  I couldn't contain my excitement for it all day and now I want to do it again!

Later this evening when we arrive at our accommodation hopefully I will sign into wifi again and do a catchup for last weekend and tell you more!

Just letting you know I am safe and happy! No need to worry!

Backpacking The Garden Route

To finish my month in South Africa with a bang I booked to do a 5 day backpacking bus tour of the Graden Route. Along this route you see the 3 natural beauties of South Africa, the water, the landscape and the wildlife. We have seen Mussel Bay, where the Europeans first landed in the 1500's when on there want to India. It was revisited many times by the Portuguese and Dutch after the first landing after word spread of its incredible natural beauty.

I left yesterday morning and departed on a 4 hour rode trip to the start of the route, rolling hills and grand mountains flew by, vine yards and game parks too. Ŵe even noticed ostriches, elephants and blue cranes on our journey. I slept a lot in the car but whenever I was awake I tried my hand at running the music for the tour bus! We made a couple stops, but most notably for lunch at the 'original aloe factory shop' where they hand fields full of aloe plants and a factory floor you could go and look at.

Our first activity was in the afternoon, we canoed the river Touw, a extremely clean slow river which is protected by towering peaks covered with trees on either side. It was like travelling up a jungle stream, and in the afternoon sun it was stunning! My partner was a Samsung junior marketing manager from Frankfurt Germany.

We stayed the night at a backpackers lodge called Afrovibe on Myoli beach. It is absolutely beautiful and I added some more sunset pictures to my collection. We ate pizza and drank with sand between our toes gazing into the fire that kept us warm.

Today, we are going bungee jumping!! Off the highest bridge in the world! But it won't be the stereo typical up and down movement that makes you ill, instead it's a pendulum motion where you will be back up on the bridge in no time. 2 hours to go and I'm so excited!
Love to all my familly xxx see you tomorrow!

CatchUp Continued!

Wednesday

GAPA TRIP! The team needed to be ready for 8:30 in the morning so we could start preparing the resources for morning activities, make 120 odd packed lunches complete with sandwich, yoghurt, fruit and juice. It was quiet a task! But we did it in record time, and I even found some face paints so that we could decorate ourselves, the kids and grannies in their national colours.*

*A quick note about that last remark - to try to organise and control 120 kids we separated them into 10 teams. Which were named after 10 countries so that the kids could bond with their team and leaders more. It worked so well! I was in team ZIMBABWE! So we created our own chant which we repeated throughout the day, we even had shouting matches with chants from other teams!

The beautiful thing about this trip was also the fact that all volunteers and staff member were working in the same site together. Including administrative staff, Shecky and Jane the catering staff and even the Tears (animal care centre) volunteers - who argued about joining in because they prefer dogs over humans; and certainly puppies over children! But we were all in the same boat and had an amazing time in the glorious sunshine. The designated photographer Lyda managed to snap some photos where we all (at least) looked like we were enjoying ourselves - even the Tears volunteers.

After singing and playing though out the morning in the park at Seapoint - looking right over the sea - we sat down for lunch. It was so funny, the grannies kept on trying to charm themselves into getting more food! Then when everyone was finished and there was seconds, the children didn't get a look in.

The end of lunch signalled the start of the afternoon activities, in other words, the Bud Tour! Everyone was incredibly excited to be given the chance to ride the tourist bus, it's something they would never normally have access to. We managed to fit everyone on 3 open top buses, all sitting down with their eye-spy tick sheet and headphones plugged into the audio tour guide.. And off we went!

Everyone was intently listening to the audio tour guide - my grannie Thandi even wrote a full A4 side of notes! They loved it, and as I pointed out famous monuments the tour guide was explaining they kept shouting 'Teacher! Teacher!' And pointing to the eye-spy challenge - eager to find them all! This wasn't just a pretty rode trip in an open top bus, it was an educational experience for the youngsters and grannies and us too! Everyone learnt something new about Cape Town that day. For half the volunteers it was that the sunshine here can burn you badly if you're not careful!

Thursday

Back to Fiks in the morning and GAPA in the afternoon. The kids were very surprised when I arrived on that day, as the day before I had gone to the local hairdressers for a haircut. The story behind this is that we arrived home from project around 5pm, so we immediately headed out to find a barber shop (me and Matt - another volunteer who also needed a haircut) but all the up market barber shops were closed! So Matt tells me "I know one more barber shop but it is the most African" I nodded in agreement and we headed there. 

Fortunately it was still open, and we had to climb a shoddy staircase to the 2nd floor of a small building. It was a room that was meant to be one shop floor - but they had added an extra one for the men's section. So we sat down and began to tell them the styles we wanted. Originally I just wanted short back and sides with a little bit of length taken off the top with scissors. But they had no scissors! All the serve only require shaven heads of various lengths! So I asked them for the longest length possible with a razor, which was 5. And it was a little shorter than I expected let's say..! But for R50 it was fine, and it was a cultural experience too!

At GAPA there was a change of plan, the grannies had sat a meeting with investors in the morning and they were also tired from their excursions form the day before, so no kids came at all! Instead we had a lovely meeting with them during which they expressed their gratitude for the trip. Explaining that even themselves, who have lived in Cape Town all their life, learnt so much that day and saw sights that they never would have experienced otherwise. One grannie said that when she worked in the city, she often saw that red bus drive past full of tourists. And she thought to herself, one day, maybe one day she would sit up there and witness the beauty of Cape Town like this for herself. And we fulfilled that dream for her.

After we had closed the meeting with my leaving speech and kind goodbyes, we busied ourselves by doing some gardening in the vegetables patches the grannies tend to, so that they can home grow some veg for the children. It was really enjoyable just chatting and working with everyone to Thulanis music, plus Sandiso taught me a thing or two about different plants.

When we returned home it was the usual duties of observations and preparations but instead of just dinner, we had a special guest - Sarah who came with free pudding and a sales pitch about various tour opportunities. But more importantly the food! She gave use Malva pudding (rich syrup laden cake with saffa) , Koeksisters (sugary doughnut twist) and milk tart which is like a creamy custard tart. All of them were gorgeous, especially with a cool glass of Rooibos ice tea.

The Days Go Slow, Weeks Go Fast!

What I mean by this is.. I can't believe I have finished my months volunteer work at African Impact - I can't believe my last week went so quickly and I haven't blogged about it! Prepare yourself to be filled in big time! So much has happened!

Overview

This past week has been half term for the students of South Africa, so my pupils from Khayelitsha and Langa were not in school. Which meant my weekly schedule was changed - instead I would be doing 'holiday club' at the foster care centres I volunteer at: Home From Home and a new organisation that I have never personally been to but other volunteers work there regularly, called Filelela (Fiks,) Normally at Fiks they work with babies and toddlers to develop their cognitive motor skills, but my job as a sports volunteer is to facilitate fun active ssssions for the primary school age kids who are home from school for the week. Which is what is within my comfort zone a bit more, and what I excel at. However the dynamic is much different here. The kids all have a stronger relationships with each other and you are with them on a more personally level, it their home, in and around their mamas who look after them.

But even more exciting than holiday club is the mid week GAPA trip!!!! On Wednesday we are taking approximately 128 GAPA kids and grannies on a open top bus trip around Cape Town. That is certainly one of THE highlights of my trip. A fantastic day I can't wait to tell you about!

Monday

Morning: Fiks. My first introduction to the care centre and the 14children, it's very different to any of my previous projects. We started off the morning with circle songs such as 'Good morning train' which is now permanently stuck in my brain.. "The good morning train is coming, how are you? Choo! Choo!" Fortunately the kids knew all the songs already so I could sing quietly and learn them as we sang.

Then we transistioned from circle songs to circle games with a foam ball. As coaches we have become accustomed these games and know them well. However the kids were slightly too young and due to their vulnerable position the kids emotions were a delicate business. If someone was out sometime there would be fighting, crying or tantrums. Which I am not used to dealing withm but we coped and generally let them fizzle out or coax them back into a new game.

We definitely were not prepared enough the first day. Normally a session is keeping lots of kids entertained in a large playground for up to an hour. So we could recycle similar games and drills all morning. At Fiks it's a smaller group of various abilities which we have to control and keep occupied for over 2 hours in a 4mx8m concrete rectangle. Fortunately I have stockpiled a whole host of games and songs that we could cycle through. And some we could make up or even let the kids play amoung themselves. I really enjoyed it!

Afternoon: Home From Home Holiday Club. Normally at this afterschool club get 15-20 kids. Monday we had 5. Which made the plan we had challenging to follow through. So instead we did the circle games that we know they love and got the few other kids there to join in too. We played some frisbee and don't fall in the water also. It was nice to spend more time with a few of them and get to know the characters better.

Tuesday

It was bloody hot on Tuesday! To the point where the kids were too hot to be bothered to run around and play - they would much rather lounge about in the shade and talk. So at Fiks we got out the chalk so they could draw on the floor in the shade, and also introduced them to 3sticks - a hop, skip, jump game that get progressively harder. A local favourite. 

Then at Home From Home it was the same story- but with more attitude because they are slightly older! Fortunately we had planned for this over lunch so we played Dutch party games! (My partner volunteer is Dutch so she taught them typical Dutch games.) After a game of cat and mouse ( a free for all touch rugby game played with bibs) we went into a game called spykepöpe (spike-a-pooper) which is hilariously fun! We tied skipping ropes around their waists with one end hanging down like a tail. You then have to run over to a bottle and squat down and thread the rope into the bottle! It looks so wrong and they thought it was hilarious! And seeing as we made it a competitive 1 vs 1 race they loved it and kept challenging each other for the rest of the sessioo! We even had a knock out competition!

Weekend Pursuits

Saturday

So we had planned on jumping out of a plane.. With a parachute of course! And I wanted to be able to talk about it and write a blog about it afterwards to prevent my family from worrying too much beforehand. It was a good job I didn't mention it because in the end our jump was cancelled! We traveled for an hour to the air strip waited for another 2 hours there only to be told the wind had picked up to such an extent that they had to cancel the rest of the jumps for the day.

So we headed back home a little dejected after wasting 250 ZAR on transport in addition to not getting our adrenalin rush fix. So instead we decided to transform a poor start to the weekend into a great Saturday afternoon. So I bought some veg, cheese, nutella and strawberries and made a vegetarian rice salad with a sweet chilli dressing. I only mention it because I was dead impressed in how it turned out! We then took that picnic to Kristenbosch botanical gardens- a world famous botanical garden that has been recommend to me multiple times.

It didn't disappoint, a vast beautiful garden became our playground. Huge trees with contorted branches rose into the sky. We got to walk in amongst the canopy on a raised wooden bridge, looking out over the park. And then wander around admiring brightly coloured flowering bushes and plants as well as Zulu statues - which were kind of freaky.. But in a good way!

Sunday

A lazy morning meant that we had finished brunch by 11:30 so we only had an afternoon left to fill! (But the posh beans on toast I had were delicious.) So we went to Camps Bay to sit and enjoy the glorious sunshine which was desperately welcome after a dismal past week. I expected the sea to be lovely and warm due to the sunshine but it was freezing! As in I let out a little girly scream when a wave managed to swell far enough up the beach touch my feet, not my manliest moment.

For our afternoon meal we got some seafood, to tie into the beach trip, and sushi by the beach is pretty amazing. Although we were still pretty full from brunch!

A pretty short extract from this weekend, but my mid week post about the project will be a good one I promise! Holiday clubs at the foster centres and a GAPA field trip around Cape Town (today) which I can tease you with and say was INCREDIBLE - so much fun and the kids and grannies are such sweet hearts!

Until next time! Love to you all back at home xx

CatchUp: End Of Term Chaos

Thursday + Friday

This last week has been the final week of school for all the children at the primary schools, so its been an abnormal week already. There have been end of term tests and for the last two days of term there weren't even any lessons! When we arrived there were children playing outside everywhere, it was so confusing. So we hid inside the staff room with our equipment - which the kids really wanted to play with - and waited for the principle or coach to come around so we could ask whats going on, and what we should do!

That's when we got told all the lesson had been suspended and that we could go outside and join the kids whenever we wanted. In typical African style we had to adapt our plan to accommodate an unknown number of children. We decided against cricket in case we were mobbed and the children couldn't get a fair turn. So instead we brought out a netball and tried some small circle games, commencing with a simple throw and catch we quickly attracted a crowd of children. So I stepped up and changed the game, in order to keep the peace between the kids I would stay in control of the ball and we played flinch. A game for all ages that can be taught easily, I stand in the middle with the ball and pretend to throw it. If I don't throw it and you flinch you are out. If I throw it to you and you don't catch it you are out. Otherwise you throw back the ball and carry on the game. It was a lot of fun and the children would flinch in groups which everyone found hilarious and I played the part well to make it more fun.

When I realised the game was becoming stale I started another one of my favorites - Tomato ball (everyone stands in a circle with open legs which becomes your goal - and you have to protect your goal.) Normally only suitable for groups of up to a maximum of 15, I had to be adapt again and create a variation to involve 30+ children. So again I stayed in the middle and helped the ball on whenever they hit it in a particular direction. That way the ball was always moving quickly which makes the game more challenging but also I could make sure all the children were getting an equal amount of game time. It was exhausting.

Luckily the other volunteers decide to initiate a limbo so I got to rest a little. Although as soon as we started a line it began to grow, and grow, until we had at least 60+ kids wanting to limbo one after the other! It was insane. The final game we played was the largest game of mingle ever. 60+ kids skipping about singing the mingle jingle (which I had to lead every time) and then I had to shout a number or colour above the din. My voice was a little sore to say the least in the afternoon. Soon it was definitely time for a staff break.

The afternoon was delightfully peaceful in comparison. At GAPA we planned a day around the exciting trip next week, for example we played four corners with Cape Town landmarks like the Castle of Good Hope. We also planned to use the parachute with the younger children in the classroom, but it was being used by the grannies for something else. Instead we tried to do it outside. And it was crazy - all the kids just ran towards it so we played other games instead!

In the evening we hiked Lions Head as a family, one of the 3 peaks surrounding Cape Town so that we could watch the sunset from the top.

Full Weekend (from last week.. sorry!)

Saturday: community tour & concert

The community tour was one of the days I was looking forward to the most out of everything I could have done here in Cape Town - getting to really know, understand and get a feel for the location and culture of the people was a depth I craved. My inner geography geek was like a sponge - ready to soak up all the stories and information on the incredibly interesting history of the country and area. And I will do my best to dispense this knowledge in a later post, so definitely look forward to that.

That took up the majority of the day, and afterwards we had planned to try and hike Table Top Mountain but the weather wasn't great so all we would have been able to see would have been clouds. Instead we relaxed at the house and talked and played games before heading to Cape Town city hall for a gig as a part of the Fringe Festival - an indoor event over three days in the city hall. The act we went to see was called the HatchettGroup

Sunday: I survived shark cage diving & a sunset on top of Signal Hill

I had to be up at 4:30am on Sunday to be picked up by the shark cage diving company bus. Me Aane and Andreas (the Scandinavian lads I bunked with) managed to get out of bed on time and catch the bus just fine. We were met by a tall broad man with a thick South African accent and with even thicker arms. And by the force of his hand shake I knew we were in safe hands! Thankfully once we were on the bus we had a nice 2 hour journey / sleep to Gansbaai. The Gansbaai area in the Western Cape is a hotspot for marine life - it has lots of naturally well protected bays thanks to the peninsula. Which makes it the perfect spot for whales to bring up their young. One of the volunteers I am currently working with is going to do a 2-3 month internship there after having volunteered at AfricanImpact, as she wants read marine biology at university.

When we arrived we witnessed a beautiful sunrise over the South Atlantic Ocean and got to eat a spot of breakfast and be briefed on the do / don'ts of shark cage diving. As in don't poke anything out of the cage when the sharks come past! He also explained how all the procedures worked and got everyone settled, and reduced the nervous tension in our bodies. For example. he told us the metal of the cage gives off a small magnetic field, which is uninteresting for the shark. It senses this and this alone so cannot actually tell there is anything alive inside the cage. You are one object.

Once that was over we got changed into our swimming gear to wear under the wet suits (we had been warned that the water is extremely cold.) And then wrapped up warm for the 15 minute boat journey to a shallow bay not far from seal island. Fun fact: most of the time sharks don't eat the seals because they are too hard to catch so wouldn't be worth it. The shark could even come off worse if the seal gets too close behind it and decides to bite the shark! The boat we used was only just big enough to carry all 20 crew and passengers on the lower deck and then it had a small upper deck as well.

When we finally dropped anchor we changed into wet suits and was expecting a 30 minute - 1 hour wait for any sharks to arrive. But almost immediately we had a 3m shark investigating the bait - it was so exciting! I managed to get a great view from the front of the ship. Next came the actual diving - the cage we were in was very small, so could only fit 5 people in. Furthermore it was always attached to the boat so you didn't have to be fully submerged all the time and there was no 360 view which would have just complicated things. All you had to do was hold onto the bars and stick your face underwater for 5-10 seconds at a time to water a shark lazily glide past. As the water is so murky the visibility was no more than 2m, so to see the shark it had to come close, and boy did they! It was fantastic, they're such majestic creatures and they came close enough to touch! One even clipped the cage with its fin!

sorry for the late post but hope it was okay! limited time at the wifi cafe! xx

Crossing Off The Top 3

Today I finished my list of South Africa cuisine that I had to try during my time here.
1. Chickens feet
2. Fatcook
3. Smiley - today's lunch!

A smiley is the local nick name for a boiled then braai barbecued sheeps head. After having read the book Khayelitsha, in which smileys are mentioned often as a delicacy and a socialable dinner that is fairly common in the township, I had to try one. It's amazing that I was able to try this meat and for such a good price - particularly after sharing the cost between 5 other people. I was a little disappointed we couldn't carve the meat off the head ourselves but unfortunately we didn't have a knife to do it with. Instead it was already butchered after it was cooked and we got to dig into all the pieces. I found it really interesting to know which part of the head I was eating. But the girls who weren't trying it were less eager and made faces throughout!

Personally I found that I enjoyed the cheek and tongue the most. The cheek was the most like a normal cut of lamb meat, whereas the tongue was very similar to the consistency of liver. Each mouthful we got to season with a special mix the came with the similey which comprised of a lot of salt and some other red spices like perhaps paprika or chilli/curry powder, I'm not sure but it sure tasted good!
The part that I had the most trouble with was the ear - it was manly cartilage which was in a layer between two layers of meat/fat that was only very thin. The crunch was very unusual and was a bit difficult to follow through with. All I could do is remember the crispy pigs ear we used to treat my dog with when I was younger.

Monday

In other news I've had a great past couple of days - Monday saw the arrival of new volunteers. It's so fun not to be the newest anymore! I get to share my knowledge with them instead and I love to talk so I'm really enjoying it! For example two new people joined me for HomeFromHome so I taught them the peanut butter and jam sandwich ritual! This week we made King/queen crowns after having a quick chat about English monarchy and how it links to politics in the UK. It got real messy real quick but I had a blast making my own crown with them.

Tuesday

Tuesday was a mixed day - in the morning we had to stay in the classroom to complete the end of term PE tests with the kids. I tried to make it more fun for them by doing actions for the coaches explain atoms but I'm the end I was stuck marking all the papers, but I was in the company of a really funny coach who was in a talkative and cheeky mood which created a fun atmosphere for us.. Fortunately HomeFromHome made up for the morning. Accompanied by the new sports volunteer we proceed to facilitate a really fun and engage sports lesson where all the boys and girls were playing together really well with good sportsmanship. 4 corners worked well as a warmup especially as I added anew command called 'break it down' which got the kids dancing! They love to dance so it went down as well as I had hoped so much so they we used it Wednesday too!

Wednesday

Smiley was the obvious highlight but project was super fun today too. I really enjoy doing multiple classes for 30mins as we can get them running around exercising amd playing games. 4 corners, the numbers game and buddies up was so much fun!! And the new volunteer loved to learn the new games like Sharky Sharky. Which was fun as always - Mingle was a very popular game today which got everyone involved and singing. And as I was captain I lead the game which strained my voice just a little! Then I spent the rest of the day playing cricket with the grade 2-3s which was really enjoyable in the Cape Town sun / rain! Yes it was a bit cold and wet today, reminds me of home.

Until next time xxx love to all my family xx

So then in the afternoon it was GAPA

CatchUp Weds Thurs Fri & RealTalk

Let's do a quick highlight reel the of the past week (take #2)

Wednesday 

Another day on project at the Khayelitsha primary school. Only this time our classes for grade 1 had cancelled because of assessments. So instead we taught the classes which were free and had to adapt our plans. One grade we taught was the grade R's which was amazing as they are at the age where they will follow any instruction to the letter which is just adorable.

Again we got to snack on the local fast food, they boil bread rolls in oil and create a savoury donut type bread roll called a fatcook. Then they fill this delicious bread with various things like burgers or onions and relish or sausage or even chips. It's great, going into the project I didn't know whether I would eat very well but I probably eat more here than when I'm at home!

The afternoon project was GAPA (Grandmothers Against Poverty And AIDS) an after school club ran by elderly members of the local community who we call the Grannies. In the Xhosa culture elders are respected so much because of their knowledge and experience. Today was extra special because it was a staff members (of 2 years) last day. So one of the Grannies gave a extremely powerful speech about the importance of our voluntary work. The passion and strength in her voice was incredible and filled me with pride, and her words rang true. She explained that she would stand up and shout to anyone who will listen and together as one we could bring about change for her country and her people. We have taken the first steps by shedding our prejudice and simply playing and talking to members of the township, most people in South Africa would never even consider doing such a thing. So by having international volunteers that can help broadcast what they have learnt is invaluable.

Thursday

Morning project is the primary school in Khayelitsha, with the grade 4's that we missed the day before because of assessments. They were so excited to be outside playing and doing sport so we had so much fun. We played one of my new favourite games with them called BuddiesUp. Where in pairs of one girl and one boy they need to do certain actions together, reacting to my signals. For example switching places in the line or giving piggy backs etc. It's so much fun! Another new game we played was a game called 'mingle' where they sing a song which goes.. "I like to mingle, miingle mingle mingle!" And repeat ad needed. Then when I call a number they must make a group containing that number or else they are out! 

Me and Åne had become a well oiled machine by today. We work so well as a team, we take it in turns to take the lead explaining and synchronise doing example drills to the others explanation. The relay races we did worked really well, making them practise catching for their coordination, and then skipping ropes too. This activity worked the best today because we had lots of 30 minute classes due to assessments in school, so the fact that we could re use the same cone layout was really useful.

GAPA afternoon: today is the day where you can buy items that the grannies have crafted to help fund the project. They have a range of different knitted toys, hats and mug cosies as well as ornate necklaces and bracelets made from the traditional coloured beads. I just had to buy some presents for my familly! In addition to that I was the captain so I had to lead to the 'each one teach one' meeting with the grannies where this week they taught us a song. This was complicated as half the grannies had to cater for the business men/women from the board where the rescuers funding. So there was actually only one granny in the meeting! So instead I convinced her to fetch some kids to help me learn the 'make a circle song' in Xhosa - it sounds so fun and all the kids know exactly what to do when they hear this tune! Afterwards with the kids we played games like 3 sticks, benchball  and tomatoe ball which was all great fun.

 

When we got home from project we had a delightful evening as the Happy Africa Foundation was hosting a pub quiz at a local establishment called 'A Touch Of Madness' which has great local craft beers and nachos. Despite the two volunteer teams coming joint last it was a great night with the volunteers and members of the public alike all pitching in and getting involved. Lyda took some amazing pictures on the Facebook AfricanImpact page.

Friday

So, Friday- the half day. Where we spend the morning on project which means Khayelitsha primary school for me, and then planning in the evening. The morning was a lot of fun, even though we only had two classes before we had to leave (because we had the responsibility to pick everyone else up.) we did races and then an obstacle course which was really hectic. Lots of kids trying to go round a small obstacle course all at the same time was carnage but great fun. Åne did a great job of setting it up and getting everyone doing the stations the right way.

When we got home we planned the next week ready for the new volunteers to follow with me on Monday - as Åne would be leaving on Monday! Which is super sad - I'm going to (am) missing that dude as my sports buddy. His Instagram and Facebook has so many good photos I might just have to adopt all his galleries.

In the evening after dinner we decided to have a quiet night ready for the community tour the next day.. Which I will write a whole post about because there was such a vast quantity of interesting historical and present information about the various townships we working in and around and just general history of South Africa which is fascinating.

To the weekend! Cheers! 

Brief

I did write a blog yesterday which talked about last week but it deleted itself instead of uploading.. So, I am okay. Last week was great and I will have to rewrite it at some point today. But right now I'm up so early to catch a bus that's going to take me and some other lads shark cage diving. Should be amazing but right now I'm just trying not to fall back asleep!

More blogs coming soon! Love to all my familly xxx

CatchUp, RealTalk: Tuesday Brings A Change Of Plan

Manifestations In Langa Create An Interesting Start To Another Great day. 

Today kicked off with drama. Originally the sports crew were heading to Langa - the same place as yesterday- which I was super excited about because I enjoyed it so much. Plus, this time I would have my phone on me so I could take some great pictures of our sport lessons, with Table Top Mountain in the background. However, that's not quite how it unfolded because in the morning we discovered two situations that would cause problems for us.

Number one was that all the train lines in and around Khayelitsha were out of order, so some of our staff members couldn't meet us at HQ in Observatory. So instead decided to rendezvous at the school.. But as you can probably guess from the title, that was not a simple journey:

RealTalk

All this stems from the conversation I had with Thulani (the bloke trying to meet with us, a knowledgable and talkative guy whom I trust for news like this.) So, there are two roads into the township Langa, and both were blocked in protest by unhappy residents. Recently the government is trying to convert parts of the informal settlement into formal houses, built by the government. However the waiting list is so long that people are become restless as the rate at which construction is taking place simply isn't quick enough. With limited houses being given out, they were unhappy about the selection process - with rumours of corruption. The people just want a secure place to call home.

So in order to show that they are unhappy they shutdown the township by blocking roads and burning tires. Not in a malicious way to hurt anyone - just to disrupt people's daily lives and make the news so their voices will be heard. Nevertheless the police showed up in force to refuse entry to the township, protect the new houses.

CatchUp 

We had to be flexible and adapt, so we picked Thunlani up from the motorway and headed to the other primary school in Khayelitsha. Our coordinator Vicky matter-of-factory said to us it's 'just what you have to deal with sometimes in (south)Africa.' So some kids got to have some extra sport lessons! They were very excited about this - especially the little Grade R's (preschool age.) With whom we played many games like 'Sharky Sharky' with lots of different animal combinations where we had to make the sound of our animal before they ran. It's was super fun and they are just the cutest! They will happily do whatever you ask of them which is perfect for us coaches.

Then in the afternoon we travelled to the HomeFromHome project nearby, which means peanut butter jelly time! Plus we brought some string and scissors to make bunting out of the craft people the children made the day before. When we hung it up in the library room where all the mamas and teachers stay they couldn't believe how good they looked! Saying that they wanted to get some larger pieces of fabric so they can copy the designs and sell them! It was really sweet and I was very proud of them all.

On Tuesday's we do sports with the group instead of crafts so today we played a lot of team games like 'tomatoe ball' and the 'caterpillar game' which was fun. But we noticed that the girls were losing interest and the lads were getting rowdy in rough and tumble so we commenced a game of football. I had a blast playing for the orange team - despite the 4-3 loss and getting too sweaty I'm the process.

In the evening after project we planned our weekend - we're going on a community tour of Khayelitsha led by Thulani which should be incredible. Ideally followed by a cable car to Table Top Mountain. Then Sunday is SHARK CAGE DIVING followed by camps bay beach! So it's action packed and I hope to make full use of my pay check from Chatsworth today!

Love to all my familly xxx see you tomorrow! 

CatchUp: I Love Mondays

New School and the Sandwich Dance

This morning the bus was not a volunteer bus, it was the lads on tour bus! We had the transport to ourselves which was slightly strange seeing as there are only about 6 staff and volunteers out of 25 that are male. So naturally it was all girls and football talk.. No not really, it's Monday morning for crying out loud! 

But saying that I had probably the best day yet today. Everything at the primary school went according to plan. The kids were slightly older than what we normally teach so it was so refreshing to be able to challenge their abilities with some more complex drills. Today we focused on passing and dribbling the ball with various relay games and drills that we made up ourselves - it so satisfying to use the same cone layout for 5 different things so that you don't have to constantly change the playing field. During the lesson we also did some endurance and agility runs to tie in with the specification for physical education in schools, within their age bracket. 

So we completely smashed the morning in regards to coaching, and then to put the icing on the cake the sunshine was so lovely and warm (don't worry I did put on my sunscreen) which made our unhindered view of table top mountain just stunning. I've never gotten over how unreal it looks and I don't think I will get tired of its majestic peaks even when you can see it from anywhere in the city.

The afternoon only continued to snowball my amazing morning. At Home From Home I was practicing my German dancing (benefits of having tipsy German friends) whilst making sandwiches because I was in such a good mood. So when I got into the classroom I was motivated to have a good session. As it is South African heritage day this week I had planned some craft activities for the group. However, before we got stuck in, we compared my British traditions to Xhosa and South African traditions. It's was so lovely to have a discussion with the kids and I was genuinely learning so much from them. Weddings and ceremonies about entering manhood particularly stuck in my mind and interested me.

Our first activity was to make bracelets out of craft paper and decorate them with traditional South African patterns. Some of the designs they produced were really creative and certainly reflected their country, it was just what I wanted to see. I even got to make one myself with them, seeing them so engaged and the way I was interacting with the group was perfect - just how I want the sessions I run by myself to unfold.

Half the lesson was based on this craft, and with a short interlude of an intense national quiz we proceeded to designing an outfit for the paper men I had brought with me. We managed to get some off cuts from the local textiles store, so we had a whole bag full of brightly coloured, patterned fabric. Which we cut out and stuck  to the figures. Again the kids loved it and when I showed the staff back at HQ they couldn't believe how good they looked and how sweet it was that they had put all this effort in and really connected with my lesson. As you can imagine the tidy up at the end was an absolute nightmare but it didn't detract from the experience at all.

Love to all my family xxx catch you tomorrow!

Memorable Moments from the Weekend

Dancing, Hop On/Off and the Amazing Adventure That Almost Happened

Friday night kicked off my first weekend in Cape Town with free time so explore as I pleased. First of all a small group of us travelled to the waterfront mall to have a wander around the shops. Some of us wanted to buy a cheap phone for the free sim the staff members gave us , personally I was on the look out for a new baseball cap as a useful souvenir. I found the perfect one and have worn it everyday since! Then we had a quick drink before heading back to Obz (Observatory the suburb in which we stay.) 

All the volunteers met at 'Jerrys' a local bar in time for the football match - Liverpool vs Chelsea. (I'm just glad we didn't do the same with the Man Utd game the next day.. Enough said.) Everyone was in high spirits and by the end of the match all the girls had lost interest in football and much preferred a round of tequila - lead by the lovely, loud, latina - Andrea of Mexico. The party carried on into another place, a favourite spot for the volunteers to listen and dance to some RnB/rap music and then to an amazing bar full of pool tables. There must have been over 20 tables and also some arcade machines dotted around the place. The two things I remember the most there was the Malibu and Coke tasting great and the number of songs by the Arctic Monkeys! A little bubble of Sheffield thousands of miles from home. 

Saturday was when most of the volunteers went on a wine tour - I'm far to unrefined for that sort of stuff.. In other words I don't like wine.. Luckily another volunteer was of the same opinion so instead we went into Cape Town city centre to explore using the bright red tour bus. We managed to walk down long street (a notorious street dominated by bars and nightclubs) which was quite lovely during the day. In particular a cute little cafe called Lola's where we stopped for some roobios tea (tea from the Cape) and cheese cake. Then we explored around the area - like Bo-Kapp a colourful Muslim district with beautiful houses and a mosque. As well as the company gardens which was lovely, lots of pretty flowers, fat squirrels, majestic trees and birds that will scare the life out of you with their deafening squawk. Yeah that happened to me!

The other highlight was the tour guide from the 'pentagon castle' which was a pretty puny fortification compared to the massive ones in the UK. He was incredibly knowledgeable and super fun. Especially as he asked where everyone was from, so he could point at a citizen of the country he was giving a history lesson on. Naturally the Dutch and English (me) got a lot of attention but it was in a lighthearted manner which was really funny. But the key moment was at the end. He obviously lived and breathed this history. The passion was incredible, so when he gave a speech about historical attitudes and how to move forward it was inspiring. I remember the way he made me feel rather than specifics words he said. However this phrase stood out: 'Only when we free ourselves from shame and blame can we move forwards' 

Sunday was the day that might have been. Don't get me wrong the morning was magical, half of us sat down at a local cafe for breakfast. I had French toast with syrup and fried banana but the eggs benedict looked amazing, not to mention the French toast with fruit nuts and Nutella.. Can't believe I didn't choose that in hindsight! But fortunately I have a sweet friend who donated some strawberries to me so I was a very happy boy.  

Now for the nightmare part, we split up to get ready for a nice easy hike around the silver mines reservoir. Or at least that's how it was recommend to us. When we told the taxi driver where we wanted to go he just looked blankly at us. Bless him, I had just woken him up from his nap in the car. So he callled HQ on the radio trying to find this place and we just went round in circles for like 15 minutes. It was laughably terrible. It was going to cost a lot and take us 1hr to get there according to the radio. That was NOT what we were told. The fair was far too much for us so we aborted mission and went into the city centre. And tipped the bloke well for the fiasco we had caused. 

And so we embarked on a relaxed cultural tour of the city - of course I was now the guide having spent the day before in town. Company gardens again, a quick pop round the informal markets and then we went to the South African national art gallery. The security was hilarious - the 'safe' lockers for our bags could be lifted up.. Maybe I just have a criminal brain, the others thought I could be a master thief. It was a shame you couldn't take pictures because there were some freaky statues and powerful artwork- as you can imagine coming from a country with such a recent emotional history.

I feel that covers just about everything - I have learnt a lot this last week and going forward I will try and do more frequent smaller blogs and now I have a couple RealTalk and Heart2Heart topics to share too. Stay tuned! Love to all my family xx

CatchUp: First Week in Cape Town!

The Plan 

As a Sports Volunteer Coach I have my week planned out by the organisation - where I will be volunteering and with what age group. And for the last week because I was new they had planned out activities for me to do as well. As I did not plan the games so worked better than others so naturally I created a flexible session where I could focus on certain activities that the kids understood more/enjoyed the most.

Pretty reliable games quickly presented themselves: 'BenchBall' and 'Sharky Sharky' were well know games by the kids and they always had a blast playing them. On the Tuesday we played a game called 'don't fall in the water' where yoga mats we brought with us were the islands and the ground was the sea, and they had to get from one side to the other, without falling in!

Unfortunately on Friday there was a terenchal rain storm all morning. We set out on the bus in the morning cautiously optimistic that we could still do a session with the kids despite the rain. But it was soon obvious that we would not be playing any games outside. Huge puddles blocked half the streets down the narrow township tracks, relentless rain made me empathise for the inhabitants of the informal houses - they don't look too waterproof!

So when we arrived we had to stay in the little hall, without doing any classes. So to keep busy we started planning activities for next week - me and Aane shared our knowledge of different sport drills, it's so fun to learn all different games from different countries. I feel like I have an endless supply now! After we exhausted the planning process we decided to get some more chicken feet again! But still we had time to kill, so the coach from school went to get a class and we hastily set up a benchball game. Imagine having 40 kids in a classroom that would be full with all of them sitting down, but all running around like crazy headless chickens!They had a great time though, and I helped keep everyone safe on the sidelines and made sure there were no fights because green team was winning so much!

In the afternoon we planned for next week and organised what equipment we will need and packed it all away, ready. Me and Aane already thought of so many things it was easy, and then all the staff members were very impressed with us. I'm so excited to start next week and do the sports we planned! I'm confident it's going to be loads of fun and will work perfectly.

 Now we could relax and enjoy the weekend.

CatchUp: Coach! Pass The Chicken Feet

First Day At School

Wednesday was the first day me and the other sports volunteers spent at the primary school in Khayelitsha for the whole morning - and then at GAPA in the afternoon. GAPA is awesome but that will be for another time. 

A quick note about Khayelitsha (Kai-lisha) it is the 2nd largest informal settlement in South Africa just outside of Cape Town, and it is also the fastest growing township. Officially 1 million people live there but in reality it's more than double that number.

We come into primary schools because physical education is not a compulsory lesson within the curriculum so they need coaches and volunteers to facilitate 1 hour for them each week. Because of this they're so excited and have so much energy which is awesome. If you can engage them and direct that energy into your activities then it's so much fun. At first we helped the school employed coach with his lesson - making sure the kids are doing the drills correctly, and not cheating.. They're so competitive!! And my fellow volunteer coach Aane, feeds off of this energy - he loves it.. And so do I! From now on we will try and make everything a game or competition to give the kids that extra kick.

It's amazing how quickly I had to pick up some Xhosa words to control the children. 'Baleka' became a integral command and my body language was so important when communicating. But obviously I could not run a session by myself. The most fun part of the whole day was playing 'buddies up' with the children, where you have to react with your partner - doing certain movements - when the coach shouts. The slowest pair are out! The joy on my partners face when she was lifted up the highest for the piggy back was the cutest thing. Ever.

Then after all the activities - my Xhosa supervisor/African impact employee - convinced me and Aane to give him 10 rand to pick up some chicken feet - popular street food sold in Khayelitsha which is very cheap. He brought back around 10 of them in a greasy brown paper bag. He then proceeded to teach us the correct way to eat them. First pull of the bone and suck off the meet and skin attached. Then what's left is the actual foot. The trick is to bite off the claws first making sure to find any meat attached, and then just pop it all in at once! Fiddle around with it around your mouth and give it a little crunch, fatty bits, skin and chicken flavour is the best way to describe it. And then you simple spit out any cartilage and bone that you have picked dry. It was really fun experience and I am not a fussy eater and found it rather tasty!

In the afternoon we did similar activities with children in the after school project GAPA. The little boys charging round with a football was especially fun. As well as the little girls who were trying to teach me various hand clapping games.

Back to the house in the afternoon/evening for a family meal and discuss weekend plans. Hopefully me and a couple others can hike up Table Top Mountain or even hit the beach. Definitely dancing surfing in the South African sea! Probably will be more pleasant than Cornwall!

Days are so busy and enjoyable I'm finding hard to find the time to blog as I'm so preoccupied with volunteer stuff and socialising on an evening. To my family: love you all xxx and  I'm having an absolute blast with a group of wonderful people in an amazing part of the world. Learning so much everyday - it will take me forever to say everything!

First Day In Cape Town

Catch Up: Exciting First Day with African Impact

I arrived at Cape Town International yesterday morning at 10am where I was met by two lovely African Impact staff members, along with a fellow volunteer who caught the same flight as me! I felt instantly welcome and the car ride home was buzzing with excited conversation about ourselves, our plans and how amazing it is to be in Cape Town. Even though I was amazed by the natural beauty of the cape flats and table top mountain I couldn't help notice the mass of informal houses that we swept by. Stretching for miles in all shapes and sizes were corrugated steel sheets, haphazardly fixed together to provide shelter. Passing by Luntu and Khayelitsha I reflected on the years of geography lessons about 'favelas' in Brazil and the shanty towns of India. It's very different seeing them in person. But I am prepared to work with an open mind and from my background research the people are extremely warm. I remember feeling just such an overwhelming pull to the place - I wanted to experience it and learn about it. I was excited!
And then when we got back to volunteer HQ and met the rest of the gang I knew this experience will be amazing.

Fortunately, because I landed in the morning, I got chance to join the project in the afternoon in the township (informal settlement) of Khayelitsha. I went to the HomeFromHomw after school project. (I got a personal introduction to the program which I will condense for you now: ) This is a daycare initiative for 10-14 year old fostered children to get them off the streets after school. Studies show that this time from 3pm till 5pm is when children are at their most vulnerable, as they are without adult supervision. With substance abuse, gang crime and other antisocial behaviour is common in the township it is very dangerous.

This project is ran mainly by the 'mamas' ( mothers ) with support from us volunteers. They also get a snack and a meal as added incentive to come and to make sure they have some food.

Another volunteer had a plan already in place for me to deliver to the children. So we sat down in the classroom and I gave a brief lesson on Ireland and Celtish traditions and then they coloured in a Celtic knot pattern. And for being so good they got to play a game of guess the flag afterwards.

Because it was the first night I felt it was important to meet everyone and get to know them, and there was also a lot of general information thrown at us so that the house could be run efficiently and everyone knows they're jobs and the routine. Now I feel comfortable (and have the wifi password) I think on a night I can blog about the days experiences. But we will see if that is sustainable or not.

I can't wait to tell you about my first full day on project and all the facinating details I learnt during the induction about the charity and the area. So stay tuned.

Sitting In Heathrow

The Special Day When I Travel To Cape Town

Right now I have found a quaint little 'Grande Brasserie' with good music and a coffee. Despite the women opposite me eating like a half starved chimpanzee, I'm enjoying the atmosphere. And I'll tell you what: I've had a wonderful morning. My family have made me feel very special. I had my favourite breakfast (PANCAKES!) and a sunday roast dinner to send me off right with the tastes of home.

With 2 hours to wait until my flight I feel as though a blog is a great way to kill some time reflecting about my already emotional day. Having to wave goodbye to my family was tear-jerking. 
So far I have passed with flying colours. Which is slightly out of character for me. I'm not some control freak, detail driven individual who plans and organises well. Which is probably why I'm so good at seeking help and I'm definitely going to keep on improving these skills over this year.

Let me define flying colours: I haven't forgotten anything, I didn't lose anything the day before (actually, I did have to fish my wallet out of some dirty chinos. But I promise I knew they were there..) and I've ticked off items on my checklist to buy at the airport! I now have a way to charge my various devices ( that could have been a disaster) with a funny looking South African plug and a new USB Apple lead. And I still had change left over for a coffee.

I've also been thinking about how I am going to manage to keep doing the blog and send my family and friends updates. So to maximise efficiency we now have a Instagram account: boywriteshome 
and at least 2 family whatsapp group chats. Now all I need to do is find a decent wifi cafe in Cape Town and we're golden.

I also have a couple ideas for organising the blog too. In the subheading I'm going to list the area I am going to talk about, to minimise the waffle. And they're going to be divided into 3 categories: 
1. Real Talk - where I will try to share some of my experiences and pearls of wisdom that I have picked up over the summer so you don't make the same mistakes as me!
2. Heart2heart - if I ever get emotional and want to talk about my family at home or something special I witnessed while volunteering this will be it he subheading.
3. Catch Up - this will be the majority of posts when I tell you about my day to day exploits.


And that's about everything I wanted to say today! Next time I will be reporting back from Cape Town, South Africa! How surreal! I'm still waiting for it to hit me, maybe it'll happen when I arrive, or on the plane journey? Speaking of which I best go catch a flight..!

Getting Started

How Do Adventures Start?

My Gap Year Plan, Why Take A Gap Year, and My Progress Thus Far.

When it comes to gap years or traveling advice I am not an expert by any stretch of the imagination. However, in an effort to help those; who like me need/needed some encouragement I have this... JUST GET STARTED!
But those three simple words are much easier to say than to adhere to. For example I have been waiting since February for a special day to punctuate my first blog and make it a special occasion (which was a great excuse to procrastinate.) However now, with 3 days until my gap year 'starts' I have finally decided to bite the bullet. And you, the reader, have a lot to catch up on.

The Master Plan

Which really isn't a master plan, it's just the 3 things I really wanted to do going into my gap year.

1. Become a Snowboard Instructor
2. Spend summer 2017 being a camp councillor on a North American kids summer camp
3. Volunteer abroad

Now three things doesn't seem too bad but believe me, these simple and naive wishes quickly filled up my time and emptied the money in my savings account! I've listed them in the order of my personal desires, in reality they will happen in the order: 3, 1, 2. So yes, I have managed get all the cogs in motion to make all of this happen - but I did not do this alone. In fact almost none of this would have happened without the input of my loved ones and their overwhelming support.

In other words.. after realising what I wanted to achieve, they were the ones who frankly yanked my head out of the sand and made me face the daunting, terrifying, exciting prospect of spending a year fulfilling some of my life long dreams. It too big to take in all at once, I struggled to grasp the reality of it many times but by breaking it down and sharing my worries and research; its happening.

Why Take A Gap Year?

For me it's a chance to take a break from the education system which just seemed to drag on through sixth form and didn't engage me as much as I wanted. It's a period of time to reevaluate my aspirations and make sure that if I commit to going to university I am doing a course I will love, and it will be worth the £27000+ of debt and the arguably more expensive - 3 years of my life.

That commitment scares the life out of me, I want a bit of adventure and life experiences before I get tied down with all these seemingly 'grown-up things' to an 18 year old boy. I'm the only one out of my circle of friends taking a gap year. Many of them seriously questioned my decision with reasons like 'you will be behind everyone else' - life this isn't a race between each other, and the fact that everyone expects a kid with a brain to go to university annoys me! It makes me question why.

So instead I'm taking productive gap year. Getting work experience, following my passion for youth work and sports education, and living my dream of traveling and seeing that massive, exciting world we live in.

My Progress Thus Far

It has not been easy sailing, planning a whole year is tough but it has taught me a lot. Now this post is already pretty long so I'm going to promise you more details of the planning process and my hard work that I am so very proud of for a later post. All you need to know for now is: 

I'm flying to Cape Town, South Africa on Sunday. Volunteering there for a month, the taking a 5 day safari trip in the surrounding area.

October-November when I get home I will see friends and family and work a lot ( in order to keep people happy and so that I can afford to eat for the next 8 months..) 

November 23rd I will be going to Panorama Resort, Canada to become a snowboard instructor and to work the ski season- and then over the summer I will remain in Canada become a camp councillor over the summer. Even thought that still needs to be ironed out- I know what I need to do.

So I have a lot report on this blog, and it will only grow as time goes on. So stay tuned!