Final blog in the Africa series....
While we were working on the project we ran a 'Kids Club' twice a week. Word quickly spread around the village that it was on, and the kids trickled in. We played games with them, sang songs (Heads, shoulders, knees and toes was a clear favourite!), did craft activities, painted faces and played sports games. The excitement and joy on their faces when we gave out a soccer ball to play with was a sight to see. And when the thorns on the ground put holes in the ball? No matter, the game went on with a flat ball! We got to know the kids quite well, they would also pop in to say hello on other days. More than once I would hear "Hello Jasmin" and see cheeky boys faces peeping out from behind a wall.
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| My two best buddies - little ratbags! |
During the building process we had also been erecting a playground. The kids had longingly been watching the progress, but had not been able to touch it for safety (and paint!) reasons. On the last day of Kids Club, the playground was finished and ready for action! We left it till the end, then explained that they were allowed to play on it on the count of 3..... 1, 2, 3 - and all that could be heard was an almighty roar of screams and laughter as 50 kids descended on the playground! The entire team stopped whatever they were doing to watch - it was a really special moment for all, as we realised that our seemingly hard work had already paid off.
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| Chaos on the playground! The kids were zooming around, trying to play on every swing, slide, bar, all at once! |
On two of the weekends we were there the group headed out to different places to hand out toys/clothes/food. One of the Saturdays we drove to two different orphanges. The kids were all waiting patiently to see us. Apart from giving out the goods we had, we also stayed and sang songs, played games (especially with the new sports balls) and had lots of cuddles. Personally I feel like that was more important than the material things - as much as those were desperately needed, the orphans are also needy for love, smiles, hugs and kindness.
On another Saturday we went to a ' Settlement', about 4 hours away from where we were staying and on the edge of the Kalahari Desert. At the Settlement, the locals didn't know that we were coming, so there was a lot of excitement and people running after the bus once they saw it driving up the road! We handed out clothes, toys, food and sports balls - the latter resulting in a soccer game involving about 50 people! Both of these experiences were very confronting, confusing and quite powerful for us. To look into the innocent eyes of a 5 year old child who has lost both of their parents to HIV, and is afflicted with the illness themselves is heartbreaking. Sorry for the heavy stuff!
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| Kids singing songs with us at the first orphanage we went to. I believe those are the actions to 'Father Abraham has many sons', if anyone remembers that song from their Sunday School days! |
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| Handing out toys to the girls - this one was a beautiful hand-knitted teddy |
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| Gorgeous girls wearing their new clothes, with new toys held firmly in their hands! |
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| The 'Settlement'. As you can see, it's all pretty bare and barren. |
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| My beautiful new friend, who spent most of her time giggling at me - not sure why! |
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| Mike (coach) and his soccer team |
I feel like we learnt and took a lot more from these experiences than we could ever give back. Those kids completely stole my heart with their generosity, kind and open hearts, resilience, fun spirits and beautiful faces.
Off to the airport to jump on a plane to Rio, just to contradict everything I have been writing about! Lots of love xxxxx
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