Interns/Volunteers in South Africa!

Christina and Emma’s South Africa Adventures! WK11

October 25, 2009 on 3:29 pm | In Christina and Emma's South Africa Adventures! | No Comments

On Wednesday at RPS, there was a school-wide fund-raising wheelbarrow race. It was so fun to see the kids get excited and cheer for their friends. The kids had to push the wheelbarrow back and forth as many times as possible in a set period of time (and for the third graders and older, a classmate was in the wheelbarrow). It was a competition between classes, and some of the teachers and kids got so into it.

Many classes had cheers, painted their faces, and dressed up in theme colors. For example, one class was the cheetahs, another was the lions, and another was the frogs. Our personal favorite, though, was the class of Zulus. We really enjoyed watching, but given that it was in the middle of a day on a Wednesday, it probably could have been scheduled a little better–most of the teachers had lost all hope of actually continuing their lessons after the festivities.

There were some other funny moments this week. We recently started reading a version of “The Princess and the Pea” with the kids, and each group, without fail, has found the word “pea” to be excessively amusing. A few third grade boys were laughing about it for about five minutes!

At Zuurbekom, we moved onto organizing the nonfiction section. We are using a slightly amended version of the Dewey Decimal system, which we now both love and hate. (We also have a lot of respect for librarians.) Some of the books, which had been donated from other libraries, were already labeled with their Dewey Decimal number, which was a pleasant surprise. For the others, we just tried our best to guess… We’re also using colored dots to make the system more kid-friendly and accessible. (Thanks to Mrs. D’Innocenzo for her advice!) We also are pleased to report that all of the books that were checked out have been returned, and that the second-graders have now been able to check out books twice.

Today, we decided to go to the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg. We went to it three summers ago on our first GLP trip, but we now feel like we have a much better understanding of the country’s history and culture. It was interesting to revisit South Africa’s complex, fascinating past. We also went to the house of the Thabisile principal for a family party. It was very nice to be included and to meet some new people here.

Hope all’s well with everyone!