Never Give Up

Evening,

Last night it was raining so hard that I thought my cabin was going to get swept away.  It was remarkable how hard it was coming down.  It has also been 45*F and raining all day today.  This African weather better get ahold of itself and quick.  I need to go hiking with Miss Bahamas this weekend!

My day started with the weekly assembly at the middle school.  I stood with the other teachers at the front of the gym and watched as a few hundred kids sang a few songs.  My heart was melting.  The unified sound was so soulful, smooth, and powerful.  Essentially the songs they were singing in Xhosa were speaking of hope,hard work, and believing in their futures.  Unreal.

The kids at the preschool have been calling me "Buhte" "Hi Buhte" " Come here please Buhte" .  Today I found out that Buhte means brother.  This was another heart melting moment.  There have been a few other men in the preschool over the last few weeks and they are not being called Buhte.  I don't know how I'll ever leave these little guys.  Today Buhte was teaching the shapes to the little ones!  It was a thrill and they were so excited to learn.  Quick, how many sides does a cube have?  

I then made it over to read with my 4th graders.  The Story Of King Zim.  Great read.  Tons of pictures!  The kids continue to improve with their reading comprehension.  This is great news and quite impressive considering they are all learning English as a second and in some cases, a third language!

6th Grade maths was next.  Today we worked on deriving common denominators to determine whether fractions are bigger or smaller than other fractions.  It was very challenging to try and instruct the students.  This was a difficult concept for most of them and I had to chose my words carefully seeing as I was instructing in their second or third language.  I think we did pretty well considering all of this.  Not in a million years could I have ever imagined myself being a math teacher!  Funny how the world works.  AND, tomorrow, I am doing Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet with the high school kids!  OMG!  Maybe I'll try and get THAT on youtube.  Hatchy Matchy.  I'm going to drown.

After school, I teamed up with Frances and her after school art program.  Last week we had a dozen kids.  Today we had just one.  The heavy rains are reason enough to keep kids home from school here in the township.  If they get soaked walking to and from school, in most cases, they are living soaking wet until the sun dries them out.  Some had "rain gear" ie trash bags over their heads.  Most did not.  This served as another powerful reminder for me to not take things for granted.

Frances worked on how to draw hands today.  Again, I'll let you be the judge. (Disregard the date on the picture.  I have no good reason as to why that's what I put.)  After the lesson, a painting fell from Frances' things.  I immediately complimented her on the amazing picture of a man that fell out.  She kindly told me that said picture was painted by Picasso.  Sounds familiar...

Tomorrow I will be going to a new school where I will be sitting in on a class as they watch the movie 127 Hours.   Following the film, I have been asked to give a lecture on never giving up!  I am to draw from my own experiences and the story of Aron Rolston, the guy 127 hours is based on.  I know his story well.  He should be the one speaking tomorrow!  Not me.   In any event, the pressure is on as one of the big wigs from The Kusasa Project will also be sitting in on my lecture.  I am really looking forward to this.  Hopefully, I can leave these kids with a bit more confidence to believe in, and achieve their dreams.  Tonight I am going to think long and hard on how to craft and deliver my message.  The cornerstones will be some combination of NEVER GIVING UP ON AN EDUCATION, FINDING HAPPINESS IN LIFE, SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES and FAMILY/FRIENDS.

Wish me luck.  I'm hoping to crush this tomorrow.  This is why I came to the middle of a township in Africa.  I desperately want to make a difference and tomorrow is an excellent opportunity for me to do just that.

Love,

Mark/Chops

PS. I resorted to buying ice cream on the walk home from school tonight.  Still fighting the weight loss thing.  Dad, a pint of Haagan Dazs is $11 here!  Thank god for the McGilvery Family inheritance you don't live here!  I bought the African ice cream. $4.50/half gallon.

Pretty Sweet!  There are so many Safari pictures.  I may just try and include one or two a blog.

Give me a hand!  This isn't too bad.

The Future Is No Place To Place Your Better Days