Term 2

A long time has passed since I last wrote about my time in South Africa and a lot has happened in these past 4 months. I will start back in October when I returned to work at the Enrichment Centre after an amazing time in Swaziland. I was in the Juniors class to begin the term which was a completely different environment to that of the Life Skills class which I had been introduced to when I first began working at Mitchell House. The children in the Juniors class are all between the ages of 5 and 9 and have a lot more energy than the teens that are in Life Skills. My first week was a shock to the system as I had returned from lazy long days in the holidays to a hectic, non-stop classroom where the kids never sit still and you have to always be aware of what is going on whether its a child eating food coloring in the cupboard or another child running out the classroom to escape to the trampoline you must learn to be aware of everything! Through the week I went horse riding with the children and on the Friday i was surprised when in only my first week I was trusted to take 3 autistic children on a school trip with the grade 3 class to the University of Limpopo' science center. I was trusted to take these 3 boys with no other assistants from the Enrichment Center, luckily it turned out to be a great trip and all of the boys enjoyed it. However, I was forced to take one of the boys out of the center regularly as some of the demonstrations included fire which he was petrified off and it was very difficult to calm him down and get him to go back inside.

The next week I was in the Seniors classroom which has children from the age of 10 to 14 and is by far the most relaxed classroom out of them all. During this week it was pretty uneventful we did the usual numeracy and literacy, arts and crafts, on the Wednesday we went horse riding and on the Friday we went swimming as the weather was now hot enough for us to take the children who are more vulnerable to become ill due to the cold water. 

At the end of the month we were finally joined by Georgia who was originally meant to go to Namibia but was moved to Mitchell house after her project fell through. It had taken her so long to arrive as she had to experience the painstaking visa process from the end of August so it took a long time for her visa to arrive. The week she began working in the Junior Phase of Mitchell House which is mainstream children. I was working in the grade 00 class which is for very young children who are 4 and 5. It was a nice break from working in the Enrichment Center which is exhausting but I definitely enjoy working at the Enrichment Center a lot more. The week after we were visited by Peter our desk officer for South Africa as we were now nearing the 3 month mark. During Peters visit we were treated to dinner which was great to have a choice in what it is I was eating. Peter then held one to one interviews with us on how we are finding our time at the school and also gave us some feedback on what he thinks we can do better and what he thinks we are doing well. Peter encouraged me to apply to university to study a course a long the lines of disabilities so I took his advice and within a few weeks my UCAS application was sent off. On the Friday we went on the Enrichment Center yearly outing to the local water park Splash! The kids loved every second of it running up and down the slides. It was great to see the kids with disabilities such as cerebral palsy who were unable to go on the slides without any support having a huge smile on their face as they got to go down the slides with the support of the staff.  Afterwards we returned to the school and whilst being given h\a very hard time by the children who were not ready to leave yet. I was bitten and scratched on the bus returning to the school which was an unpleasant end to the day but is definitely part of working with some of the children.

The Friday night after splash was the staff end of year function which turned out to be a great night but had a strange twist. I found myself doing something I never would have expected; dressing up as Santa Claus at the age of 18. I had to stuff the suit with pillows to get the desired big belly effect. Instantly as I rang my bell and marched out with the sack of presents I heard many of the children saying "Hi Brodie!". I knew I was too young to be Santa Claus! The food that evening was a mix of different meats all cooked to perfection; the South Africans really do know how to cook their meats.

At the end of November we eventually had our Enrichment Center Christmas Concert. After weeks and weeks of intense practice every single day the night had arrived. The long hours of practice were necessary as for the kids at the Enrichment Center it takes a very long time for them to grasp the dances. I was placed in the Life Skills class and was given the biggest and strongest pupil at the Enrichment Center which was definitely a challenge to get him to do the moves. I held his hands to help him do the moves as it was very difficult for him to learn the dances and songs. Over all the concert was a great night with all the children doing themselves proud and the long hours of practice more than paid off!

The following week was the final week of term 2 before breaking up for the six week holiday. I was once again in the Junior Phase of the school which was not as bad as the first time round there was a lot of fun activities for the kids as we began to wind down for the festive season. On the Friday the staff from the Enrichment Center to Splash again and had some drinks and a braai. It was a great way to end the school year with some of the new friends we have made. Afterwards we said our goodbyes before splitting up for the next six weeks. We were now ready to travel and see more of South Africa.

Dressing up as Santa Claus for the children.