After the journey down to Edinburgh I went for an early bed in preparation for the next few days of travelling. Early on the Wednesday I flew to Heathrow where I was met by another bunch of eager volunteers excited at the prospect of their year ahead. A few hours later and we were on our way to South Africa, the excitement which I had felt almost immediately disappeared as I began to realise I am stuck on this plane for eight and a half hours, which was ultimately made more depressing by the fact that I could not sleep. After watching Kenya Airways movie collection we finally touched down in Nairobi where we had a quick change over for another 4 and a half hour flight!
At 11 o'clock the next morning we touched down in Johannesburg where we were met by Ian, our country representative for the next year. We were taken by African Combi to the Backpackers Ritz where we would be staying for the next two nights. African Combis are a sort of hybrid between bus and taxi, available for private hire, but mainly used by the working population they can only be described as interesting but are worth it as you can be taken almost anywhere in the city for around 6 Rand. After settling in at the backpackers we received a small briefing and were left to go and get some much needed rest after almost three days straight of travelling. The next day we received a reassuring lecture by a top professor in South Africa on the dangers of HIV, how difficult it actually is to contract, and how the country is working to eradicate the virus. After the lecture we received a final briefing from Ian on South Africa. At night we had a final goodbye party with traditional South African foods such as biltong, peri-peri and prego chicken. The next day I would be arriving at my home for the next year.
The next day we got the Greyhound bus to Polokwane from the bustling Park Station in the centre of Johannesburg. We were travelling in the middle of a thunder storm with bolts of lighting striking either side of the road getting closer and closer to the bus, I guess I was in the safest place possible! After a seven hour journey we made it to Polokwane where we had a detour around the town before we reached our stop. It was strange for us being at the front of the bus with the locals waving at us and blowing kisses at the Jess and Ella- we must have stood out like sore thumbs. When we arrived at our stop a huge Mall just 500 metres from our home. We were greeted by Renate one of the staff from the Enrichment Centre where we work. I was taken to my room by the boys in the hostel who were all welcoming and seemed excited to have a male volunteer for the first time in years. My room is small but has everything I need. We were taken to the pavilion where we eat our meals with the other borders in the hostel, the meals are filling with heavy carbs such as rice and potatoes being main features of the diet. Later on we received a knock on the door from Tiri, a maths teacher at the school who invited us out to a bar to have drinks with her and some other staff. We met two past volunteers who really made me more confident that the year ahead will be a great one.
On Monday we were thrown in to work for the first time. The Enrichment Centre is split into Juniors for the younger children, Senior for children to early teen and life skills for teens to young adults. I was placed in the life skills class where I was introduced to the kids that I would be working with for the next two weeks. There are a range of disabilities from Autism to Cerebral Palsy and I was slightly overwhelmed as I had never had any previous experience working with children who have disabilities. After the initial shock of being thrown in at the deep end with no experience I began to feel relaxed as I quickly realised that these children are eager to learn like anyone else, all that is different is the methods which are used to help the children grasp a skill. They still love to play, laugh and joke like anyone else. After a long morning we moved over to the second part of our job- after care. At after care I have to look after and play games with children from the age of five to nine. For the fist week however, I was like a new toy to them. My hair apparently is like Justin Bieber and all they would like to do is rub their hands through it for hours. The boys in South Africa love football so I regularly play with the boys at after care who are better than me! As well as at after care I play with the boys at the hostel on weekends which is great except when the temperatures reach 30C and I feel like I am going to need to cash in on my health insurance policy. I am eager now that I am a few weeks in and beginning to become more confident and comfortable in the work that I am doing to get involved with some extra curricular activities around the school such as the young kids football team.
After the first two weeks at work I couldn't be loving the work that I'm doing more than I am, the people are friendly and the majority of people who I have met have been welcoming inviting us to different social occasions. Its time for holidays now but I am looking forward already to the 12th of October when I'll be moving to the Junior class to work with the younger children, which I am sure will be another huge learning experience.
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