Life at Botshabelo = Never a Dull Moment

It’s only Thursday night and there is already much to tell…

Saturday afternoon I said goodbye to Sarah & Jennifer. Boy, I have to tell you that I am SO extremely grateful for their visit. As you read in the last blog post, their trip was ACTION-PACKED! I swear, I haven’t laughed that hard, that loud, or that much since I’ve been in South Africa. Not only did I have a blast with them…but the kids are still asking about the girls and want to know when they’re coming back! After the long ride to the Joburg airport (seriously, you think traffic is bad in YOUR city…), Joseph (partner to one of the Cloete daughters, Leigh, who does most of the driving for Botshabelo) took us to Magaliesburg, which is the nearest city to Botshabelo, to chill for a few hours with his crew. Joseph just turned 27, so most of his friends are around my age---and they were so ayoba (Tswana for cool). Ayla & I sat outside at the Magaliesburg carwash (which, is really nothing like the carwashes we have in the States. Instead this was just four big logs standing upright with a net overhead—in Joseph’s friend’s front yard), and drank beer while talking with the guys. It was interesting to note that we were hanging out with only guys, because the women were literally “in the kitchen” preparing dinner. But they were really friendly and open to talking about anything and everything. This one friend had recently been released from prison and thought it was really cool that two white girls wanted to hang out with a bunch of black guys. Living in a post-apartheid “New South Africa,” this made me wonder how long he had been in prison…

On Sunday, Ayla & I attended our first church service here at Botshabelo. Con leads the children in song, worship, and bible lesson. Let’s just say that I’m happy to hear that from this coming Sunday on, the older boys will take over. God bless Con, but I think his sermons go right over the kid’s heads (he’s a very intellectual type). But…phew…the singing…man, have those kids got rhythm!! It’s the kind of singing that touches your heart and sends goosebumps all over your body. Simply beautiful. Later on we took the Grade 3-6 boys and did a “Guy’s Afternoon”---where we focused on team building and cooperation. Since we’ve been here, Ayla & I have been collecting all of our recyclables (thanks to yours truly, Ms. Green Lover): things like milk cartons, coke bottles, paper towel rolls, etc. etc. We split the boys up into 3 groups of about 7 and let them choose which recycled items they wanted for their team. Then, they had half an hour to get their creative juices going and build whatever they wanted…as a team. Overall they did really well, as I don’t think I heard one swear word or saw any fights break out! Plus, they definitely stretched their imaginations: we had backpacks made out of juice bottles, a CD player from a cereal box, and toilet paper binoculars!

Trying to decide what our group should make



Toilet Paper Binoculars: perfect for bird watching



Monday was an official holiday in South Africa: Human Rights Day, which commemorates the Sharpeville Massacre that occurred on March 21, 1960, when South African police opened fire on a crowd of black protesters, killing 69 people. The confrontation happened in the township of Sharpeville, in what is now the Gauteng province (I live in Gauteng!). But Human Rights Day pretty much just meant that the kids didn’t have to go to school and that Ayla & I got to hang out with Josh’s family all day at a really beautiful “artist retreat center,” where artists can go to create in the middle of nature. We got an official tour of all of the art pieces—incorporated into the surrounding grounds—by a woman who works there...and then we got a second (and if you ask me, better) tour from Josh’s 8-year-old cousin, Gabriel. :) Wow, what a freaking cute kid!! We ended the day with a delicious picnic lunch and profound conversation about politics, spirituality, and life with Josh’s family and their friends.

Ayla & I with the Katz Family!



Tuesday and Wednesday have been filled with various Botshabelo happenings: mostly funeral planning for a mother of three kids who live here (8, 12, and 15 years old) who died last week. The kids hadn’t seen their mom since she dropped them off at Botshabelo, a little over two years ago. The oldest kid went to the hospital and identified his mother and met his aunt (who lives in Cape Town) for the first time—she hadn’t seen her sister in 25 years—because, well…one word: Apartheid. Families were literally torn apart and dispersed all over the country, much like blacks in the States during slavery. We prepared the house where the vigil is going to take place tonight, started cooking (traditional African funerals have TONS of food—they feed everyone who comes and stay up all night drinking tea & eating cookies), and took a trip up to the Botshabelo cemetery to choose a plot for the mom. Some of the older boys started digging the grave at sundown. As Marion explained it to us, they had to wait for nighttime to start digging because African tradition sees death as a part of night, and the ancestors would get angry if they would have dug during the day…so hopefully they finish before the vigil starts. Although the passing of this mom is extremely sad, I am grateful for the opportunity to take part in this process.

Otherwise, yesterday I assisted Marion in changing bandages on an older man in the village who got 3rd degree burns all over his arms this past weekend. She had to cut off some of the skin that was peeling off…some people might think that it was pretty gross, but I thought it was SUPER cool (Dad, you'd be so proud). I am certified in Wilderness First Aid, but we NEVER did anything as hardcore as treat real 3rd degree burns in my training course! Apparently, the clinics and hospitals in South Africa don’t give two you-know-whats about simple things like burns, so Marion has learned how to treat burns so she can give the kids & villagers quality healthcare. Geez, what does this woman NOT do?!?! I thought it was really interesting that she let the kids watch as well—a great learning opportunity for fire safety and first aid.

Doing arts & crafts with some of the kids at my house



The kids made my outfit completely out of construction paper! Check-out my cool new hat, belt & fan!



Oh, and also, Ayla & I have been doing some developmental assessments on the babies: observing their play and watching if they have a dominant side for grasping, throwing, kicking, seeing, writing etc. etc. Brings me back to the good ol’ days at Any Baby Can. Of course, I love playing with babies…so getting to spend time with them one-on-one makes me really happy. It’s amazing to see the individual differences that have begun to emerge within each 2-3 year old…I’m looking forward to hearing more about their stories and various traumas to see how it’s all manifesting in their development.

So tonight is the vigil and tomorrow is the funeral. Sending much love to the kids and their family—and to all of you!