Tutoring Begins!!!

“Sawbona!” or “Hello!” in Zulu. South Africa has 11 official languages, and Zulu is just one of them!

Day 7: First Day with the kids! 06/27/11 (Monday)

Today we finally met our class! I only had 4 kids show up today, but we had a lot of fun! As I mentioned before, I was really motivated by my students' passion for learning. Dan and I asked the students to write a journal entry about themselves. Not only were we able to gauge their English level, but we were also able to learn a lot about them. We have future lawyers, policemen, pilots, and soldiers in our class. Most of them wrote about their hopes and dreams, which really got me excited about teaching them. In the afternoon I learned how to play netball, and then we had a limbo competition. Check out the picture of me limbo-ing!

Ben Bell really took it home though, beating the teachers by 2 whole rounds…pretty MAD limbo skillz! Today was my favorite day so far. Meeting the silly 8^th graders just for one day made the whole trip worth it. Not only do I love the passion in the eyes of my students, but I also love getting to know the other students in the workshops, and hearing fabulous stories from the other teachers. 

“The choice is mine, God made me to shine!” – the theme for these next 3 weeks 

Day 8: 06/28/11 (Tuesday)

What a fantastic day today! Today, Dan and I taught our students about nature. We went on a nature walk and collected several interesting items that we talked about later, and we learned about recycling. We read Genesis 1 together as a class, and the kids were so excited about it! Our journal entry today was “What do you want to learn in these 3 weeks?” I loved reading how almost every student wanted to learn more about God’s work. Ishmael, one of my students, wrote, “I want to learn about the atmosphere and planets. I like to talk about these things they are not man-made, they are natural things because no one can create natural things, but our God can.” After a fun game of soccer, my class, the piggies, competed in a wheel-barrow race! Check out our picture!

Day 9: 06/29/11 (Wednesday)

Our group increased to 9 students today! Woohoo! Today we read the story of David and Goliath, then wrote about how we over came a struggle. WOW! We received SUCH touching stories! Today was really the day that my heart went out for these kids. I really care about these kids, and it breaks my heart to hear about difficult things in their lives. One cool thing was that the kids shared their stories in class today more than any other day! It also fills me with joy to read about my students talking about God. Here’s something that my student Tshegofatso wrote, “I look the to the moutian where will my help come from? My help come from the Lord our Father, protecter, God your Holy Sprit bleesed me! AMEN!” Pretty awesome! The kids also taught us a South African version of hide and seek and we had a blast trying to hide in a pretty small room. Today our challenge was a gum-ball throwing game… and second place for the piggies!

Here's a picture of me with Tshegofatso (means blessing in English), and Skhumbuzo after they balled-out in the competition!

Dan and I bought our students Bibles. We asked them if they or their family owned a Bible, only one kid raised his hand. The most amazing part of the day was seeing their faces light up when we gave them each their very own Bibles with their names clearly marked on the first page. So exciting!!

Day 10: 06/30/11 (Thursday)

Today we had a pretty fun day learning about the planets in the solar system. During the challenge at the end of the day, I heard Ishmael saying “I’m as hot as Mercury!” and Reginald replied, “Really, I’m as cold as Pluto!” I’m so glad they enjoyed learning about our galaxy!

We joined forces with another class today for a massive game of duck duck goose! Wow I never knew that game could be so intense! These kids are just so much fun! I know this sounds cheesy, but I really do love spending time with them!  If you’re catching a trend, Dan and I like to start off every morning with a Bible passage and a journal entry.  The kids also seem to like it! Today we read the parable of the talents, and each kid was so excited to share with everyone all of their talents, and how they are going to use them for God’s kingdom!

Here’s a picture of my class!

I can’t express to you enough how fantastic my class is. Their love for learning and love for God will really prove beneficial for them in the future. Please continue praying for my class, and for all of the students in the program. Mamelodi is a township with such an incredible potential, and I am seeing more and more of it every day. On a sadder note, my partner Dan is starting to get pretty sick, so please keep him in your prayers as well! I thank God so much for the joy that these students are bringing to me and to the rest of our team, and I pray that I will have as much of an impact in their lives as they are already having in mine. I also thank God for all of the miraculous blessings that he has provided for our team on this trip.

 “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world” –Nelson Mandela