The children

Haai, ja? 

Or, hi, yes? In Afrikaans! 

since I have some catching up to do, let's jump right into it: 

The volunteers

I have met some awesome people from around the world! There are volunteers from Germany, the Netherlands, England, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Ireland, India, Canada (woo!), and most of all, the US. I cannot believe how many Americans are volunteering with DTR! One thing that is quite funny is that when most volunteers say where they are from, they say their home country. Americans introduce themselves by saying which state they are from, which in this pool of volunteers, is mainly California. 

Our roommates Amber, Kristin and Nini are all American, hailing from Tennessee, New York and California. 

Sadly, since we all have planned different lengths of trips, Amber left after our first week, Kristin after our second, and Nini leaves on Monday, before we head out to Robben Island. It will be only the three of us in our house for our last week of volunteering!

Something that is very popular with the volunteers is the Friday night market in Muizenberg. It is very much like Market Collective back in Calgary, although the Friday Market is mostly food. Ever since our first week here, volunteers have been raving about the beef wrap that is sold there, which, if I do say so myself, is really quite good! It has fresh roasted beef layered into tomatoes, avocados, some type of coleslaw mixture and (i think) mayo chipotle sauce. It's not a very African dish, but it is really good. 

Speaking of food, OH MY GOODNESS the food here is great! I have been eating quite a lot of what would be considered Indian food back home. It's hard to get tired of the intense taste of curry and stew, especially when it's eaten with warm rooti (called roti back home) and fennel seed rice. Here, this type of cuisine has its own African twist on it, and is called Malay food. It stems from the people who immigrated from the Middle East and South Asia to South Africa. Seriously, I love this food! 

We also went to a restaurant called Gold in Cape Town which offered African drum lessons, traditional African entertainment (dancing, singing, drumming, puppet) and African food from all over the continent. I can honestly say that I have never had such an incredible dining experience as that in my entire life.

Our favourite wifi spot and volunteer hangout:  (Slow Life)

Waterfront eats in Cape Town

Denise and Kristin

Amber and Nini

Trying Ethiopian

Fortunately, some of the volunteers are teachers and have alot of experience in the classroom. They understand how to discipline children (and boy, do they need discipline) while they teach them how to learn. I am so glad that I was paired with Nini to care for our class, since she is a special education teacher back in California. I also feel quite lucky to be working with Teacher Saeeda, who is a full time teacher at Sunrise. Some volunteers feel that the teacher that they are paired with either doesn't do enough or doesn't involve them in their classrooms, but Saeeda welcomed us with open arms and an open heart. I have learned so much about caring for children from these two people, especially since many of these children are hardened by their situations or have been neglected, so teaching them can be more of a challenge. 

The kids may also be acting out because of their poor health. Our class has kids that age around 5 years old, and already some of their teeth have rotted out of their heads. It's a physical representation of neglect, since these children obviously do not brush their teeth because they either do not have toothbrushes, or have not been taught to brush. Their financial situation doesn't help, since many people in the township cannot afford a doctor, let alone a dentist. 

I want to again thank my dentist's office for donating the dental supplies. I cannot believe the state of their dental health, and those supplies are very much needed. Healthy teeth aren't good for you just because they are healthy, but they affect your ability to get hired and stay in a positive mood, among other things. 

On Mandela day, (July 18th) there was a dental demonstration for the kids using the supplies that were donated. From the bottom of my heart, Thankyou! 

(there are no pictures of the demonstration as it was held at the library in the township, and bringing electronics was too dangerous)

Our class

Saeeda and I 

As well, many of the kids have HIV, and it has been a sad two weeks as one of the children's parents died from the disease. There is a lot of death and violence in the townships. I am so so so lucky to have grown up where I did, free from any of the violence and disease that I have witnessed here. 

but, something that is inescapable when working with children from any part of the world is the cold and flu. In the last two weeks, I have watched most of the volunteers slowly catch the cold, until it was my turn. Oh my lanta, I do not remember any sickness taking that much energy out of me as much as this cold did. But, it probably was worsened because my body is fighting off a rash that I caught from the kids! My doctor joked that people always come to Africa and end up taking something back; this rash should clear within 6 months to a year. Thankfully it's not serious, but it is not fun being itchy all of the time. Luckily I have adorable children and beautiful scenery to distract from the scratch! 

I will never forget the sound of the children calling for me and other volunteers by literally screaming TEAAACCHHHAAAAHHH across the play area. It is both the most adorable and alarming thing I have ever heard! They literally will not stop until you pay attention to them, and when there are 300 of them and a few of you, you can imagine that the screaming never ends... Unless you silence their screams with unified singing! The songs that we sing with the kids are so incredibly catchy that I find myself singing them after program. Some songs are native to Sunrise, and in turn have such a wonderful African feel to them.

That's all I have for now, until next time!

Jenn