Amelia in South Africa 2

Amelia in South Africa – Month 2

2 months ago today I left for Heathrow airport ready for the flight to South Africa, I’m now sitting in the staffroom at Mitchell House. We have been made to feel so at home here and really involved in the school, even if we don’t know half the teachers names, they all know ours and everyone here says hello, how are you, with the conversation still carrying on as you are halfway down the corridor.

In my piece for the magazine last month I mentioned how we had come at the end of term and we were heading off to Kruger National Park and Swaziland in the holiday. Kruger was incredible, we saw so many animals in just the 2 days which we spent there and enjoyed sleeping in the ‘log cabins’ at a back packers just outside of Kruger which turned out to be garden sheds with bunk beds and curtains! We then headed down to Swaziland in our hire car where we spent a week visiting girls in Big Bend at a Project Trust project there. As we were driving down through Swaziland the temperature was 38^oC and we felt like we were about to melt. Swaziland was incredible. The project is based at Sisekelo High School but the girls drive out to 3 different projects. A pre-school, with over 60 children, which they run themselves with the help of 1 local lady who acts as translator, but can only be in 1 of the 2 classes at any time. Kate and Ashley also work at another pre-school where there is more staff but we did not visit this project whilst we were there. We did also visit their soup kitchen project which they use the leftover food from the hostel which they live in to make a soup twice a week. Any and all food goes into this soup, it doesn’t taste good but for some children it is a life line. These children are a mixture of children who live in an orphanage with Aunty Velma and children who walk from other villages. I can’t put into words the emotions we all felt as we watched these children singing whilst we were setting up the soup and bread. Their appearances can be likened to the children that you see on the adverts on TV for sponsorship but their smiles and happiness is far from it. Some of the children wore ripped clothing, with others just wearing shorts but after eating soup they played like any other child in the world with some of the most amazing smiles. There were also 2 children about the age of 5 or 6 who had little siblings strapped to their backs with towels, with one child who looked about 6 months but we were told was nearly 2 crying whilst the others were singing. Aunty Velma then gave her a small piece of bread and the crying stopped instantly. The child was crying because she was hungry, but so much hungrier than the hunger we complain of as we are waiting for a meal. Driving away from the soup kitchen we all had such a different perspective on so many things and had seen a situation which we will never forget.

When we returned to Mitchell House after the holidays we quickly got into the swing of things. I felt that it was only after the holidays I have properly settled into the work in the classes, last magazine I promised more information about each of the classes but I have run out of time so next month I promise. I still haven’t sorted out getting pictures onto the computer so I promise next month I will have photos to share.

The weather is so unexpected at the moment. One day will be in the 30’s the next it will drop to low 20’s. I’m sure even low 20’s sounds hot compared to the weather in England but here it feels cold. We have also experienced some of the most amazing thunder storms with thunder incredibly loud and lightning which fills the whole sky. That’s something I was not expecting in South Arica!

Thank you again to anybody who donated to my fundraising, Amelia