Once again, I taught Grade R all day. We are starting to get into a routine and the
students are starting to know what to expect.
I haven’t had one of the students all week and I’m not sure why – it
could still be related to the initiation ceremonies. I have one student who is quite stubborn and
yesterday I had to isolate her because she refused to listen. She is quite and catches onto concepts
quickly, but likes to do things her way.
Today, I was talking to another teacher about her and both of her
parents have passed away and she lives with her grandmother. An older brother is being fostered by a local
pastor as the situation with the grandmother is not ideal. Once you hear these stories, you understand
the student a whole lot better and just want to hug them all the time.
It is interesting to see how the kids treat the
teachers. If a teacher wants a cup of
water, a student will eagerly run and get it and then wait around while the
teacher drinks it so that she can bring it back. Yesterday, on the way to school, I stumbled a
bit over a curb and one student right away said “Sorry teacher”. I need to ask someone what this student meant
by ‘sorry’ as it definitely wasn’t here fault.
I’m wondering if there is some cultural connation here.
Since it is Friday, the last hour of the day was spent
cleaning classrooms. I did not do it
with my Gr. R’s as they are too small, but all the other classes did. This involves taking all the desks out of the
classrooms, wiping them, sweeping the floors and then washing the floors with
buckets of water. It is quite the
process, but runs very smoothly.
Before I left, I spent about $200 of clothing for
children. This money was from different
people who have given money to me. Today,
I gave this money to the teachers here and they were very appreciative of
it. They were talking about which
students could use it the most and the need is very great. I also have a lot more money that was given
to me. I hope to be giving some of this
to the school. The principal said they
might use this money for putting rubber flooring in the classrooms to keep it
somewhat cleaner. As well, I will be
giving some money to the Mukhanyo Distance Office to help them as they provide
study guides to students who are unable to come to the college. So, thank you to everyone who has donated
money/clothes – the need is great here and it will be put to great use.
Tomorrow, we are going to Pilansburg Game Reserve. It is about 1 ½ hours away and I am taking
three of the women from the Mukhanyo Distance office. Tonight, we went grocery shopping for the
trip and I know we won’t be going hungry – we bought 21 pieces of KFC chicken
(hoping that there is a microwave there or else we will eat it cold), 3 2L bottles
of pop, 5 medium-sized bags of chips, chocolate bars and a dozen muffins. This was the third time I drove my car and it
is getting much better. I think I only
stalled three times and one of these times was due to the park brake being on
(Ooops). I am looking forward to seeing
zebras, elephants, giraffes and possibly lions tomorrow!!
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