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| Addo Elephant Butt |
GABBY - We woke up to find the Allderman family not quite bright –eyed and bushy tailed. We discovered that they had been up until absurd hours worrying and skyping with their son, Josh. Apparently he had made a turn for the better overnight, which was nice to hear. This morning Sarel was going to take us to the Crèche . The Crèche is a daycare/young-aged school program that educates children in Xhosa. Sarel drove us a couple minutes down the road, turning onto a dirt path with giant potholes, and into a small township. On our drive through the township towards the Crèche we were looked at with curiosity and disdain by most of the residents. I had worked in a township during my study abroad experience in one of South Africa’s most notorious townships, Khayeltisha. This township had sturdier structures, but the “houses” were still so small and crammed. While driving, we stopped to allow wild donkeys and pigs to cross the road. Before entering this township, we were educated by Corinne, Sarel, and the Alldermans with some striking facts. 80% of people living in the townships are plagued with HIV. Alcoholism, rape, theft, and drugs are common in most townships. It is incredibly unsafe to enter a township at night. Corinne will not drive there by herself because it is extremely dangerous as a lone, white woman. We were told a horrible piece of information; when a woman has a healthy baby, they are given R250 from the government. If they have a baby that is suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome, they will be given R1250. Often times in the districts, pregnant women will drink in hopes that they will bear a child with FAS to reap the financial benefits. Some people here are nonsensically desperate because of the rampant poverty. Eventually, we got to the day care center around 8:30 and walked into one of the classrooms. We were greeted by about 50 rugrats shouting at us in Xhosa. I briskly walked over to a group of them, and was swallowed in mini hands and arms looking for high fives, hugs, and thumbs up. Any form of attention is welcomed with a heart-warming smile. We followed a group of 5 year olds to their classroom and had a seat in plastic chairs made for a human a quarter of my size. A couple teachers trickled in and shook our hands using both of theirs to cup our one in between theirs. They immediately made me feel safe and accepted. The kids were fascinated by any facial expression we made. Ben and I made faces as the kids rolled with laughter. They were served a breakfast of pap, which is a common African dish made of corn meal. It looks sort of like mashed potatoes, but has a consistency like Cream of Wheat. The children sang a prayer thanking God for the food and everything. As they ate, I found little opportunities here and there to teach them a couple English words. They were all fluent in Xhosa. I don’t think any one of them had much experience with English, besides the songs and prayers they were taught at the Crèche . One boy fell off his chair. I helped him up and said, “Ouch”. I demonstrated what ouch meant by hitting my hand against the table and saying, “Ouch”. All of a sudden, the entire classroom erupted by saying, “ouch” pronouncing it with a sh at the end: “Oush”! I had about 40 kids hitting their hands on the table and crying, “oush”. I tried to quiet them since I felt I was causing a bit of a disruption, but it was certainly amusing to hear and see. I also attempted to demonstrate the difference between clean and dirty. One boy kept rubbing his hand on the carpet and showing me. I told him that was dirty. Then I demonstrated clean by rubbing my hands together and showing him. I think he understood after a couple demonstrations. After breakfast, a portion of the class headed into another classroom. We stayed in the same one and circled up for story time. The teacher animatedly read a biblical story about the creation of the world. She made it all the way to Adam and Eve before breaking for creative drawing. Ben and I wandered around distracting more kids, but getting to know them as well. I learned that mm bali i kama lako means What is your name in Xhosa. I can tell you that I butchered that spelling, but that’s how you pronounce it. I was lucky that there weren’t any clicks in that phase, so I was able to ask quite a lot of children their names. I remember a girl named Lilitha because she was an instigator. She loved attention, but often sought it by acting out. After creative drawing we went out to recess for about an hour. Ben and I were put to some serious work. I played soccer, pushed kids on swings, helped them on and off the seesaw, and held kids who just wanted a hug. Ben found a posse of boys that only wanted to swing on his arms. There was a jungle gym structure there, but it was deserted due to the new, walking, white human that was called Ben. It was amazing to watch Ben light up; giving the kids piggy back rides, playing some form of basketball, and swinging them around. The children became increasingly more comfortable around us, which made us more comfortable around them. After recess, we came inside and the teacher asked me to read a story to them. I read Goldilocks with the best teacher voice I could muster. After each page, the caretaker would translate for the students in Xhosa. I felt so lucky to pseudo-teach the beautiful African children. By the end of our time, the kids had completely messed up Ben’s watch, making it impossible to tell the actual time. They had also started biting and tickling us because we would give them a reaction. The kids loved any form of attention we were willing to give. Sarel came right after lunch time to pick us up. We said our goodbyes and gave our last hugs, high-fives, and handshakes. I could have taken 10 or more of those kids home with me, but I know these kids of families. Ben and I left feeling fulfilled, but exhausted from the attention-seeking children. It was an eye opening experience and we hope we will be able to get back to the Crèche another day.
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| Addo Dung Beetles |
After the Crèche , we grabbed ourselves some lunch and got back to work again. Ben and Sarel painted a chair, while I
stripped off some more paint. When we
finished, Ben and I walked to the local store next to the reptile centre and
picked out ice cream bars. The kids at
the Crèche took a lot out of us, so we relaxed for the rest of the day and finished
it with a home-cooked meal of jambon (ham) and potatoes. I’d say it was a productive day filled with
wonderful kids and served with a side of self awareness and humility.
*We didn't take any pictures of the children at the Crèche because we wanted to put the time into getting to know the children before
sticking a camera in their face. The
next time we go, we feel it will be appropriate since we will know their names and
recognize their faces. We will not
simply refer to them as those cute, African children.
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