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