Generosity, hospitality and gratefulness.

Thursday July 22, 2010-Created by Valerie

There was no school for Richard and Ismay today due to a retirement party that started at 9:00. So Richard was off to get speckled with paint, along with Cam and Andrew. Once there, they also continued the long process of cleaning up the yard of the community centre. Holly had another day at the preschool there, very much like those before.

Ismay joined the others at MBonge where she taught a 9th grade class. She reports that her regularly assigned school, which is smaller, is more organized and disciplined. Susan reported a “great day”, believing that they accomplished a lot. She wants us to be reminded of being aware and careful with regard to contact with bodily fluids of children, aware that some could be infected with HIV/AIDS. Deborah had a better day, doing unplanned but well received activities. Kate had 42 children to herself but coped well and Anya received news that a husband had been selected for her. The fifth grade class shared by Michelle and Valerie participated enthusiastically in math and language.

This afternoon, most people went to Mthatha, eventually. Shopping was on the agenda. The last group arrived very late, just before the shops closed. Mthatha, late in the day, is very loud, busy, crowded, and dangerous to pedestrians. Michelle stayed behind and worked with a few children. Dinner was late, and as I write, it is late.

I think about many experiences here and know I can never really convey them to anyone who was not here. The young children fetching water, the dust, the generosity and hospitality of the elders, the hard life, the gratefulness of both students and elders. How dangerously close pedestrians are to vehicles, and how grateful students appear to be for so little. Please remind me when I complain.

Thought of the Day: “Umbuntu- the essence of being human. We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, where you are connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity” –Desmond Tutu.