MOVING....

So yesterday marked exactly 6months since I arrived in South Africa. What a crazy time it has been. I've had my highs and my lows but overall it has been absolutely incredible. I found being back at project after our travels has been quite hard. After spending so much time with the other volunteers home had never felt so far away and although I've never once felt like coming home I was suddenly missing my friends and family more than ever and the thought of still not seeing everyone for another 7months was really tough. I was also moved cottages the day I arrived back so I was with a completely different group of children. In the end we found our feet again and were back into routine and I love my new cottage and never thought I'd enjoy working with teenagers as much as I have. I have been helping Karabo (one the the youngest boys) learn the alphabet. It's has been a challenge but its definitely proven that my patience has improved over the last 6months. Myself and Linsey have also been running daily homework sessions with 5 of the boys that go to a special needs school it can also be very challenging at times and even getting them to turn up is half the struggle but it has been extremely rewarding too. We've taught a few of the children to swim which has been one of the highlights for me. As well as obviously doing all our hospital visits and homework sessions. Quite a lot of our time over the past 6 weeks has been spent visiting our friend Alex in hospital. On the way back to his project in Botswana after Cape Town he was involved in a horrific car accident. We are extremely luckily that he is alive and is recovering quickly. He was airlifted to Johannesburg to a lovely private hospital where he was looked after very well. He flew back to the Uk on Monday and is starting his rehabilitation there in the hope to be back at his project in Botswana before long. Here is his blog post about the crash if you have time I really recommend you give it a read:  

http://www.alexhdobson.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-last-ten-weeks.html?m=1

Clearly the last 6 weeks have been a complete mixture of emotions. I have  also celebrated my 19th birthday and spent a lovely weekend in Magaliesburg for Erin's 18th (unfortunately she only joined us for an hour of the holiday as her partner Melissa was sick in hospital - she is fine now) 

So now we are into the second half of our year and with that comes a whole new bunch of challenges especially as WE ARE MOVING!!! 

Myself and Linsey will be moving to Umtata (now known as Mthatha) in the Eastern cape. We will be working at Bethany home which is the project we were originally selected for but for various reasons couldn't go to in August. We have given this decision hours and hours of thought and along with Project Trust we think it is the best way forward. Although I always thought I'd be spending the full 12 months here at st Mary's in Johannesburg this opportunity is too good to give up. We are so luckily to be able to spend 6months in urban Joburg and 6months in the more rural part of South Africa in Umtata. We will be working with very young children. In the mornings we will be teaching in a pre school and in the afternoons will be taking care of the babies. We will also have our own tiny flat where we can cook for ourselves which is one thing we've really missed. Life at our new project is going to be very different and no doubt it will take a while to adjust to and will come with all its different challenges. We are both very excited about the move and extremely grateful for Peter Wilson and the rest of Project Trust for making this happen. 

We plan to travel to the eastern cape next Saturday which means leaving here next Friday. This morning we had tell the children the news which definitely wasn't easy. I know it is going to break my heart on Friday having to say goodbye to the kids. We've become so close to them and they really do feel like family, some of them even call me 'mummy'. However St Mary's and these wonderful children will always have a special place in my heart and I hope to come back to visit them as soon as I'm back in South Africa after this year. 

MOVING...

So yesterday marked exactly 6months since I arrived in South Africa. What a crazy time it has been. I've had my highs and my lows but overall it has been absolutely incredible. I found being back at project after our travels has been quite hard. After spending so much time with the other volunteers home had never felt so far away and although I've never once felt like coming home I was suddenly missing my friends and family more than ever and the thought of still not seeing everyone for another 7months was really tough. I was also moved cottages the day I arrived back so I was with a completely different group of children. In the end we found our feet again and were back into routine and I love my new cottage and never thought I'd enjoy working with teenagers as much as I have. I have been helping Karabo (one the the youngest boys) learn the alphabet. It's has been a challenge but its definitely proven that my patience has improved over the last 6months. Myself and Linsey have also been running daily homework sessions with 5 of the boys that go to a special needs school it can also be very challenging at times and even getting them to turn up is half the struggle but it has been extremely rewarding too. We've taught a few of the children to swim which has been one of the highlights for me. As well as obviously doing all our hospital visits and homework sessions. Quite a lot of our time over the past 6 weeks has been spent visiting our friend Alex in hospital. On the way back to his project in Botswana after Cape Town he was involved in a horrific car accident. We are extremely luckily that he is alive and is recovering quickly. He was airlifted to Johannesburg to a lovely private hospital where he was looked after very well. He flew back to the Uk on Monday and is starting his rehabilitation there in the hope to be back at his project in Botswana before long. Here is his blog post about the crash if you have time I really recommend you give it a read:  

http://www.alexhdobson.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-last-ten-weeks.html?m=1

Clearly the last 6 weeks have been a complete mixture of emotions. I have  also celebrated my 19th birthday and spent a lovely weekend in Magaliesburg for Erin's 18th (unfortunately she only joined us for an hour of the holiday as her partner Melissa was sick in hospital - she is fine now) 

So now we are into the second half of our year and with that comes a whole new bunch of challenges especially as WE ARE MOVING!!! 

Myself and Linsey will be moving to Umtata (now known as Mthatha) in the Eastern cape. We will be working at Bethany home which is the project we were originally selected for but for various reasons couldn't go to in August. We have given this decision hours and hours of thought and along with Project Trust we think it is the best way forward. Although I always thought I'd be spending the full 12 months here at st Mary's in Johannesburg this opportunity is too good to give up. We are so luckily to be able to spend 6months in urban Joburg and 6months in the more rural part of South Africa in Umtata. We will be working with very young children. In the mornings we will be teaching in a pre school and in the afternoons will be taking care of the babies. We will also have our own tiny flat where we can cook for ourselves which is one thing we've really missed. Life at our new project is going to be very different and no doubt it will take a while to adjust to and will come with all its different challenges. We are both very excited about the move and extremely grateful for Peter Wilson and the rest of Project Trust for making this happen. 

We plan to travel to the eastern cape next Saturday which means leaving here next Friday. This morning we had tell the children the news which definitely wasn't easy. I know it is going to break my heart on Friday having to say goodbye to the kids. We've become so close to them and they really do feel like family, some of them even call me 'mummy'. However St Mary's and these wonderful children will always have a special place in my heart and I hope to come back to visit them as soon as I'm back in South Africa after this year. 

December, Christmas and Travels

Christmas (1st-25th December) 

So I realise that it has been a very long time since I last posted on here. I've most probably forgotten the majority of things that have happened but I'll try my best to write about the important bits. Here goes... 

December was a really crazy few weeks with an exciting lead up to Christmas and the children having exams. There were lots of lovely functions and outings for the children. We celebrated Christmas weekend on 6th and 7th of December as St Mary's family. Some of the children go away to hosts or family during the holiday so we had our Christmas weekend whilst everyone was still at the home. Myself and Linsey were responsible for writing, casting directing and sorting out all the costumes for the Christmas play. Rehearsals were often challenging but in the end they finally got it right.  Myself and Linsey were so proud and the children did a fantastic job. 

Peter Wilson our DESK officer from Project Trust came to visit on Sunday 7th. He joined us and the children for brunch and then took us out for a milkshake. It was so lovely to see him and tell him all about our project and how we're getting on. In the evening the kids performed the show for their Sunday school, Peter watched and also bought along Melissa and Erin (our friends who volunteer near by) they all thoroughly enjoyed it.  

It was a very busy month which resulted in us working 28days straight some of which were 17 hour days. Crazy times!! 

The children finished school on the 10th December and myself and Linsey were in charge of keeping the kids busy during the holidays. We took them swimming...A LOT, make Christmas decorations and made the most of the holidays. 

We spent Christmas Day at the children's home. In the morning we went with the kids to Active Church, the service was very upbeat and enjoyable. Once we got back some generous people had dropped off lots of presents. They got water guns, swimming noodles and inflatables. After they had all drenched us we took them all to the pool to play with their gifts. We had such a lovely time, everyone was so happy. It's was so bizarre having sun on Christmas Day let alone the temperature being 35oc and getting sunburnt. In the afternoon it started raining and there were hail stones the size of golf balls which made us feel a bit more at home. 

Traveling (26th dec - 10th Jan)

 

On Boxing Day morning myself and Linsey flew to Cape Town to meet all the other 40 Project Trust volunteers from South Africa, Swaziland ad Botswana. It was lovely to see all the people that we'd trained with on Coll back in July. We exchanged stories about our projects and experiences so far this year. Cape Town is stunning with the sun, sea, beaches and mountains such a lovey combination. During our week there we:

Climbed Table Mountains

Saw African penguins 

Relaxed at the beach 

Went to the cape of Good Hope 

Cycled around a reserve 

Went to Hout Bay 

Celebrated New Years at the V&A waterfront then sang karaoke for hours and hours 

Ate the most amazing Ethiopian food 

And caught up with all our fellow volunteers. 

On one of the days we were lucky enough to have the opportunity to visit Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was held for 18 of his 27 years in prisonment. Hearing about South African history is one thing but seeing first hand where these hero's were punished for fighting for their freedom was something else. It is hard to comprehend what these prisoners faced and yet they held no grudges and continued to strive for equality in their country. We were shown around the maximum security cells by an ex-political prisoner named Sparke it was such an honor. He explained that many of the old prisoners and guards now work and live on the island. It's unbelievable how the ex prisoners are now friends and neighbours with the people who used to be their guards. It was a very good day and I'm so glad I had the chance to visit Robben Island. 

On 2nd January me, Linsey Sean and George started our travels up the south east coast. We visited Mossel Bay where we stayed in an old train just 30metres from the beach. We went sandboarding which was great fun, I'm such a pro! We then went to Chintsa, it was one of the best backpackers I've ever stayed in, they give you fee wine if you play volleyball.. Who could say no! We relaxed in paradise and were then joined by Jake, Phil, Rachel, Olivia, Erica and Chelsea. We eventually got to Umzumbe after our bus broke down we had to get a combi taxi which are alot more cramps. Luckily it had a TV and the driver randomly played Westlife's first concert and we passed around a bottle of rosé... Living the classy life. Just when me and Linsey thought we'd visited all the coolest backpackers in South Africa we pulled up at mantis and moon. It was like a mini jungle with wooden walk ways, outdoor showers, wild moneys and the worlds deadliest snake in the kitchen! We celebrated Phil's 19th birthday with a Braai and night in the jacuzzi and bar. The following day I can definitely describe as one of the best days of my life, despite being slightly hung over! A few of us went to Oribi Gorge. We bare foot trekked down the gorge then swam and jumped into the waterfall. After clambering back to the top of the gorge I put on my big boy pants and did the worlds highest gorge swing (it's pretty much a bungee jump) it was one of the best experiences of my life, I've never felt so free. I jumped screaming 'YALDI' to honor my fellow Scottish companions. Once I realised I was still alive I was loving it, swinging at the bottom singing 'I Believe I Can Fly'!! 

Unfortunately that was the end of our adventures. We travelled to Durban to stay overnight before getting the bus back to Johannesburg the next day. We planned to stay at our favourite place in northern Drakensberg however my good friend Alex (a volunteer in Botswana) was in a car crash so we went back to Joburg to visit him in hospital - more about that on the best blog. 

I will try to write another post about after the travels. Sadly Linsey's laptop has broken so we are unable to upload any pictures or videos from our cameras. 

Missing friends and family a lot but thankful that I've had wifi to be able to catch up with a lot of them this weekend. 

Still loving life in South Africa