So this is the last time I will write to you from South Africa. The next time I leave a post I will be back in Winnipeg. I have some mixed feelings when I say that. This whole experience has been amazing. It's hard to leave a place that has opened your eyes to so many things. But I'm very excited to see what impact this trip will have on my life back home.
So let's see. What have I been up to? I don't feel like this shift has been as eventful as the past one, but still a fun one. Jen and I managed to lock ourselves out of our room... on a Sunday. Which means no one has the key to let us back in. Not exactly sure how we did it still. But we went in to our room for a break around 10:30, and that was fine. Then at 12:30 we went to grab some lunch and couldn't open the door. So we tried any key we could find in the orphanage and finally gave up and called Michelle. We felt pretty bad though because it's her day off and she was having a lunch with some friends. So we told her to wait until she was done lunch, but she ended up coming before it was done anyways. Oops. Thanks Michelle!
I also let the kids listen to my IPOD this shift. I can't remember if I mentioned that in any of my other blogs. But last week I let three of the boys listen to my IPOD. The ones that Jen and I took shopping for school uniforms. I'm sure you probably know the song "Hallelujahs" by Jeff Buckley (I believe that's who it's by). Anyways, it was on the radio when we went shopping (only by some UK Idol I think) and the boys started singing along to the chorus part- that is jsut hallelujah 8 times in a row- really pretty song though. So I knew that I had it on my IPOD so I took the boys aside and let them listen to it. Anyways, I kind of forget that jsut because I can't really talk to the kids doesn't mean they can't all talk to each other. So it was supper time and the boys ran back to the living room to pray and by the time I put my IPOD back in my room and came back down, all the older boys were all pointing to their ears and asking if they could listen. So this shift I brought it out, knowing it would probably be a complete catastrophe. But it actually went well. I let two kids listen at a time, and let one kid look through my IPOD for a new song. And then every 20 seconds or so I would tell the kids all to give the ear phones or IPOD to someone knew. And who ever had the IPOD had to sit on my lap so I could supervise the songs being chosen and make sure they didn't break the IPOD. The 36 hours flight home would be a long one without music I think. So it all went well. When the kids got grabby I would take the IPOD away until they settled down again. They seem to listen a lot better to me when I have something they want. Funny how that works eh?
Otherwise, the big highlight of the shift was probably celebrating Zubenathi and Zain's birthday. They both had birthdays since Jen and I have arrived in Africa but we were off shift for both of them. So we decided to have our own little birthday party for them. It was a lot of fun. We took the two boys on a walk to Shoprite (we've done this with some of the other kids as well). But we walked over and let them pick out a treat and a drink to share. We ended up all getting ice cream and sitting out on the bench and figuring out the messiest way to eat the ice cream. The two boys won. They actually pulled the ice cream out of the cone and tried to get it in their mouths. I'm not sure if they realized at first that the cone was edible. Anyways, I got some really good pictures of the boys covered in ice cream... their faces from ear to ear and the hands up to their elbows. We got back to Masi and rushed them in to the bathrooms to hide the evidence from the other children. I think the kids are smarter than that however. But that's okay, because this shift Jen and I are buying them all KFC. So it will even out. And we also made them valentines day cards (you know when you fold construction paper in half and cut out a half heart so that when it opens its a full heart- yeah we did that) and we put a little chocolate in each one. So I think the kids will like that. We also got the Sisis all some chocolate and a coke. So it will be a fun shift for us I'm sure.
Anyways, I think that's all for now. I will write again, however, when I get home to tell you how the trip wrapped up. Thanks for reading so far guys. I really appreciate the support.
So let's see. What have I been up to? I don't feel like this shift has been as eventful as the past one, but still a fun one. Jen and I managed to lock ourselves out of our room... on a Sunday. Which means no one has the key to let us back in. Not exactly sure how we did it still. But we went in to our room for a break around 10:30, and that was fine. Then at 12:30 we went to grab some lunch and couldn't open the door. So we tried any key we could find in the orphanage and finally gave up and called Michelle. We felt pretty bad though because it's her day off and she was having a lunch with some friends. So we told her to wait until she was done lunch, but she ended up coming before it was done anyways. Oops. Thanks Michelle!
I also let the kids listen to my IPOD this shift. I can't remember if I mentioned that in any of my other blogs. But last week I let three of the boys listen to my IPOD. The ones that Jen and I took shopping for school uniforms. I'm sure you probably know the song "Hallelujahs" by Jeff Buckley (I believe that's who it's by). Anyways, it was on the radio when we went shopping (only by some UK Idol I think) and the boys started singing along to the chorus part- that is jsut hallelujah 8 times in a row- really pretty song though. So I knew that I had it on my IPOD so I took the boys aside and let them listen to it. Anyways, I kind of forget that jsut because I can't really talk to the kids doesn't mean they can't all talk to each other. So it was supper time and the boys ran back to the living room to pray and by the time I put my IPOD back in my room and came back down, all the older boys were all pointing to their ears and asking if they could listen. So this shift I brought it out, knowing it would probably be a complete catastrophe. But it actually went well. I let two kids listen at a time, and let one kid look through my IPOD for a new song. And then every 20 seconds or so I would tell the kids all to give the ear phones or IPOD to someone knew. And who ever had the IPOD had to sit on my lap so I could supervise the songs being chosen and make sure they didn't break the IPOD. The 36 hours flight home would be a long one without music I think. So it all went well. When the kids got grabby I would take the IPOD away until they settled down again. They seem to listen a lot better to me when I have something they want. Funny how that works eh?
Otherwise, the big highlight of the shift was probably celebrating Zubenathi and Zain's birthday. They both had birthdays since Jen and I have arrived in Africa but we were off shift for both of them. So we decided to have our own little birthday party for them. It was a lot of fun. We took the two boys on a walk to Shoprite (we've done this with some of the other kids as well). But we walked over and let them pick out a treat and a drink to share. We ended up all getting ice cream and sitting out on the bench and figuring out the messiest way to eat the ice cream. The two boys won. They actually pulled the ice cream out of the cone and tried to get it in their mouths. I'm not sure if they realized at first that the cone was edible. Anyways, I got some really good pictures of the boys covered in ice cream... their faces from ear to ear and the hands up to their elbows. We got back to Masi and rushed them in to the bathrooms to hide the evidence from the other children. I think the kids are smarter than that however. But that's okay, because this shift Jen and I are buying them all KFC. So it will even out. And we also made them valentines day cards (you know when you fold construction paper in half and cut out a half heart so that when it opens its a full heart- yeah we did that) and we put a little chocolate in each one. So I think the kids will like that. We also got the Sisis all some chocolate and a coke. So it will be a fun shift for us I'm sure.
Anyways, I think that's all for now. I will write again, however, when I get home to tell you how the trip wrapped up. Thanks for reading so far guys. I really appreciate the support.
*The picture above is of a bunch of the children crowding around to listen to my IPOD
I'm going to see you sooooooon!!!!
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