This week has been wonderful and I feel so very special because I received not 1 but 3 packages this week. Holy Cow! Or... "Holy Hannah!" (as I like to say.) My first care packages. They took more than a month to arrive, so I have been anxiously awaiting them! The funny part is that I owed 25.00 Rand (roughly $4.00) on each of the packages for customs & clearance fees and the post office charges to park there, but again, that’s South Africa and the governments way of making money. It’s okay though. I don’t mind the charges and the packages made me SO HAPPY! I was in the best mood this week! Thank you everyone.
Thank you Jennifer Douse (my wonderful friend and realtor from South Carolina). Yours was the first I received which was carefully packaged and delicately decorated with paper colored Fall leaves which flew everywhere as I excitedly ripped open the package. The leaves made me feel so at home with the fall harvest. I will use those to decorate my little room for the Thanksgiving I will miss at home. I loved the warm, long socks and fleece cheetah print pajama bottoms! I used them immediately and was so very warm and comfy. It has warmed up here so I will use the beautiful hat for winter in Michigan when I return. The pumpkin flavored granola bars are delicious! The American trashy gossip magazine cracked me up and I couldn’t wait to go home and enjoy it to catch up on the Hollywood gossip. I laughed as I turned the pages. My immediate first response was “Ahhh....” and I smiled as I turned each page. Then after about only a 1/4 of the way through the magazine I thought “I do not miss this crap at all.” and I shook my head very disturbed thinking about Hollywood life and how obsessed us Americans are to keep up with their unrealistic, stupid lives. I saw headlines regarding Lindsey Lohan and Jennifer Aniston fighting over the same dude - this was dated Sept 27th. (I'm a little confused, when I left America is August Jennifer was apparently sneaking around with her ex Brad Pitt and pregnant, which was upsetting Angie. Guess Jen is a little lonely these days.) Lindsey’s fake lips, perfect hair and skin just made me cringe. I suddenly realized where I was again and laughed thinking “ Oh my goodness, I am in AFRICA!” It was a cool moment. After I was done skimming through it, I tossed the magazine on the floor and was so happy and thankful for my life and the opportunity I am experiencing here.
The next two packages came from two of my very best friends. Thank you Maelyn and thank you Stephanie! Maelyn, I will gladly hand out the beautiful bible verse cards to the children at Kuyasa and also in Enkhanini. I have run out of stickers for the children at the end of class, so the cards will be perfect! Stephanie, as I emailed you, your package made me smile and I appreciated every bit of it so very much. I loved the picture and the drawings from the girls. Thank you to all of you! I know it is expensive to send packages as I saw the price stickers. I feel very loved.
Tomorrow (Saturday) a group of us are going to paint a local shelter in Stellenbosch. On Sunday I am going to try out a new church near the place I am staying. I hope it is in English. Next week I will finally begin working with the older kids at Kuyasa in career & personality testing. I am anxious to work with the teenagers. I will be working with the kids that I went to camp with, so I am anxious to continue to build those relationships. I have also started going to the local Kayamandi township highschool to lecture for one hour to the 9, 10 & 11 graders regarding study skills. 3 of us are going there twice a week to talk to each of the classes. We will be going there for a few weeks to hit all the classes. I can’t believe it, but the kids literally have NEVER been taught how to study and they don’t get any help from their parents, since their parents didn't know how to study either. It is a complete foreign concept to them. I was utterly shocked the first time we went in and I asked the kids about their current studying and the lack of it. They are not taught to take any notes during their classes or how to study at all. They had never heard of study partners or groups, nor do they use flash cards, highlighters or anything like that. They don't ever re-read any of the notes if they happen to take any at all. I don't know how they learn anything. So very sad. (MACY ELLIS, this is why on Face Book I told you to STUDY and be appreciative that you can.)
It amazes me how little these kids know about how to study and that their teachers continue to pass them through. Most of them have dreams and ambitions about attending a University and a lot of Bursary’s (scholarships) are awarded to these children if they apply, but yet when they arrive to a Trade School, College or University they can’t handle the pressure and don’t have any of the skills needed to study or pass the courses so most of them drop out. Then they end up back at their township never being able to get a good job to afford to get out or live in anything besides their shack. It is a sad, vicious cycle. The principle of the high-school requested that Kuyasa send some folks to help out, so that is why we are working with them. We will only be going for the next few weeks while the kids are preparing for their finals before holiday. I hope that some of them actually get something out of it. Unfortunately we are going there early in the morning, so most of them stare at me with glossy eyes trying to stay awake. I am doing the best I can to get their attention, keep it interesting and trying to use some humor to keep them awake. I have always been interested in teaching and thought maybe that would be a next career choice for me, so this has been interesting!
On a last note, I watched the movie “Hotel Rwanda” again last night on my computer. I had watched it in 1994 when it first came out, but hadn’t seen it since then. That movie affected me so much differently this time. It is a true story about the Genocide in 1994 and the slaughter of over 1 million Tutsi’s in Rwanda. Being here now, living as part of the African system is so different. It makes me so aware of the problems and issues the blacks face here and how separated the blacks & whites still are today. I watched it with a different view point and I was emotional and choked up more this time. When I watched it in ’94 I was young, immature and couldn’t relate or comprehend the sad reality of their lives. There is a part in the movie where Don Cheadle (Rwanda hotel manager who housed over 1,000 Tutsi refugees ) tells Joaquin Phoenix (American film crew) that he appreciates that they are filming the massacres because once the Americans or British see the footage they would send help and come rescue them. Joaquin is tipsy at this point and bluntly says “Paul, when America sees this live on TV they will think “Oh that sucks, those poor people” and go back to whatever they were doing and not think twice about it again.” That comment hit me like someone stabbed me in the stomach. That is exactly us. That is our culture. We see tragedies on the TV all the time and we say “oh man, how awful” and go back to our easy little lives and complain about our stupid issues. No one does anything about it and thinks that everyone else will take care of it. I do the same thing. I'm not trying to judge at all... just speaking the truth. And what can we do? Nothing really. Actually I don’t even watch the news. I’m too busy to watch the news. My parents know this and are always on my case about it. They laugh because I won't pick a side and I yell at them for trying to convince me to love our president or hate him. (And I wonder why my parents are divorced.) The news is too depressing for me, so I avoid it purposely and live my life in an ignorant bliss. But I still find things in my EASY little life to complain and worry about. I still find reasons to be depressed. I find excuses to cry. How pathetic am I?
Watching the movie “Hotel Rwanda” once again living over here in Africa was heart wrenching. It reminded me why I shouldn’t be depressed or ever complain again. If you haven’t seen it, I suggest you go rent it or put it in your Netflix que. It is so true to African culture. Everything about the movie. It's set over 10 years old, but it's still so realistic. The people, the kids dancing, the love for one another & family commitment, the land, the houses, the streets, the locks on the doors and light switches outside of the rooms, the drinking, the rapes, the crime ...everything. Maybe you will watch it again with a fresh perspective. If anything, you should watch it to get yourself in a good mood and realize what a SAFE and good life you have.
On that note, have a wonderful weekend and be appreciate this weekend for everything you have in America. Appreciate your family and tell them how much you love them.
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