The reason why I want to adopt an African child

For starters, I apologize for not posting an entry sooner but the internet at our house has been out for a week due to a storm we had last Tuesday.  We knew this was going to happen coming into it but we never realized it was going to happen this quickly.  So with that being said, sorry about not responding to emails/updating this until now. 

Living in Kwazula-Natal has been amazing so far and I have been learning a lot.  Driving was difficult at first but has gotten much better.  My job placements are terrific and I am enjoying everything South Africa has to offer.  We went to the beach in Durban last Saturday and already had a braai (BBQ) with some of our friends from the Kloof church we attend on Sunday nights.  We’re all happy that our social calendar is picking up and we hope to go camping sometime this month with our friends from Kloof. 

Now onto the actual blog.  Every Tuesday and Thursday, I drive about 15-20 minutes on a very windy road into the Valley in a car with no AC or radio (living simply right there) to a place called 1000 Hills Community Center.  I’m still trying to get my sense of direction to find out where it is in relation to our house/view but I believe it is behind a mountain that we can’t see around/over from our house.  The same Valley we see outside our house is the same Valley I work in but just a little further away (I think its Northwest but you know me and directions!).  The Valley of 1000 Hills is the whole area we are in and around.  The houses all differ in size, shape, and structure with some being huts or shacks, and others being nicer homes that are bigger and higher up in the Valley.  From what I understand, the lower you go in the Valley/further down, the “poorer” the houses and families are.  I put “poorer” in quotes because I have been told that some of the families in the Valley do have money and/or working parents/relatives.  The nicer houses sit further up the mountains and hills such as our house and property that is on top of Botha’s Hill and looks down into part of the Valley. (This whole concept of “looking down” at the people of the Valley has been discussed in our community already and will surely be discussed more in the future.  Hence that will be another blog topic.) 

As I pull onto the street where 1000 Hills Community Center is and then down the driveway, I am welcomed by people of all ages walking towards the Center.  There are kids who will attend the school, adults who will be going to the clinic and others who are there for a meal or just to be there.  The center itself does a lot of different things from a baby clinic on Tuesdays, an open clinic on Thursdays, a daycare/preschool, some basic trade classes, and a food parcel that includes a meal each day as well as giving out packets of food each day to families in need.  It is a pretty amazing place that was all started by a woman named Dawn who is known as “a mother to strangers” and the real founder of the center.  Dawn can be pretty overwhelmed at times which has caused for some butting-of-heads with past volunteers.  The first day Pat, the director, took us all there to see the site, things were kind of hectic and the person who I was supposed to talk to about working in the classrooms wasn’t there so we had to go back the next day.  Eventually we got it a tour of the classrooms and I was able to talk to Julie who oversees all the classes for the children.  I’m pretty sure there are over 1,000 kids in the school part of the community center which is fitting for the name!  There are six different class sizes based on age: 3 months to 1 year old, 1 to 1 ½ year olds, 1 ½ to 2 year olds, 3 year olds, 4 year olds, 5 year olds, and Grade R which is our kindergarten.  Each class is in a different room/building on the property.  When Julie first took us around to the classes and explained how they were set up, she mentioned that the toddler room (1 ½ to 2) needed some help which of course I was jumped right into with a big smile.  The first day we came to the site with Pat we drove up to a bunch of little kids playing outside with soccer balls in the driveway which we all thought were the most adorable kids we have ever seen and of course those are the same kids I’m working with! J  Julie explained to me that the head teacher, Fikile, came directly from a sugar cane field and had no experience teaching.  She also said that the other co-teachers (there are four others, plus me) didn’t know how to interact with the kids enough.  They thought that you didn’t need to interact with them until they were in Grade R which I found baffling but I just nodded my head and tried not to react.  Luckily Julie didn’t agree with this statement and wants me to help the teachers interact with the kids more by taking out puzzles and things that will keep the kids attentive but maybe also learn some basic shapes, colors, and manners.  This seems like a simple task but it’s very difficult when you a) don’t know the language and b) there are 46 (!) kids in the class.  All of the kids speak Zulu and so do the teachers.  The teachers know very little and broken English which is very hard to communicate with them but I have figured out simple phrases and motions/movements to interact with everyone.  Luckily, we are starting Zulu lessons soon so hopefully that will help me learn some basic words and commands. 

The amount of kids in the class is unbelievable but always makes for an entertaining day.  A typical day usually starts around 7:30am when I get there but some of the kids are already there.  Kids can come anytime between then and 8-8:30am.  For the past few days we have been changing everyone into their “uniforms” which are little while 1000 Hills tshirts and blue of pink shorts based on gender.  It helps to know who is a boy and who is girl so I can start trying to learn names (and how to pronounce them) but the process of changing every kid at the beginning of the day and then again when they go home is a little ridiculous.  Around 8:30-9 depending on the day we sit the kids down for breakfast which is like a porridge/cereal and a piece of peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  Some can feed themselves while others can’t.  Most get it all over the place/themselves which is always funny but typical toddler behavior.  After breakfast, the teachers clean up, wipe down the tables and chairs and stack them in the corner of the room, and sweep the floor.  Next is usually play time which can consist of outside play or inside play with the puzzles.  The first day I tried to take a couple kids a time to a table and have them do the puzzle which worked well for a while but there were too many kids and it was taking too long.  The other day we put them on the floor which was even more of a disaster because each teacher can’t be with one puzzle and a small group of kids.  I’m hoping to find a better system but feel uncomfortable stepping over any of the teachers.  Lunch is the same process as breakfast but with curry and beans or fish and rice.  This is even more messy and quite the process.  Sometimes a couple of the kids will fall asleep during lunch or after they eat lunch but before their pudding which is pretty funny because they fall asleep in their chairs or with their head on the table.  After lunch we do the whole clean up process again and then its time for nap time.  Fikile lays down blankets and mats on the floor throughout the room and puts each child on their stomach in rows so they can sleep.  The kids usually sleep from 12:30-1:45pm depending on if they already feel asleep during the morning or if they just don’t want to sleep.  Then we help the kids change back into their clothes and I leave by 2pmish to get back to my house so I can go to St. Theresa’s the boys home with my roommates.  It doesn’t seem like we do a lot/it’s a long day but with 46 kids in the class, everything is a process!  It’s not hard work to interact with the kids because they are so adorable but I hope I will be able to help some of them interact more and learn more throughout the year.  The site is great so far and if you saw these kids you would no doubt fall instantly in love with them.  I know I sure did!  


Feel free to check out the 1000 Hills website: www.1000hch.co.za 

South african fact: The traffic laws aren't really traffic laws here.  This morning I was driving Kellie to work and an 18 wheeler pulled a U turn across four lanes of traffic on a busy street.  Quite entertaining that people let it happen!