"Enjoy your lunch, ma'am!" was all he had to say for the biggest troublemaker in the class to melt my heart. Pheello is quite possibly the smartest of his class, and perhaps that's why he causes trouble. Next to him, sits Ntombifuthi and Thabang. Ntombifuthi is a quiet kind of beautiful with a great imagination. Thabang is a little bit chubby in the cutest way and has a laugh that makes you smile. Andrew is a studious type, and Michelle knows right from wrong. They are both reserved, but can smile like the sun. Amogelong (Amo) gives great hugs and is a fiercely loyal friend. Thabiso colors pictures wonderfully and Simphiwe has a sensitive side. Snenhlanhla is a confident girl, and refuses to leave your embrace. Tshepiso is the cute kind of trouble that never stops making jokes. Thato eats crayons even though he doesn't like their taste, and Itumeleng is shy and sweet. Princie has the build of a really great football player and the potential to be anything. You have never seen dance like Oratile's spectacular moves, and Emily never fails to smile, wave, or throw a hug in my direction. God's fingerprints are all over the spectacular grade 0 (kindergarten) kiddos that I have the joy of spending my days with while in Olievenhoutbosch.
Most days, you can find me cutting and pasting projects into the kids' workbooks, making copies, or dating papers- whatever Ma'am Thabile needs of me. Somedays that means watching the class by myself for a little while. I have never done anything so difficult than attempt to command the attention of 15 high energy non english speaking five year old children. It's a wonderful mess of somewhat controlled chaos.
The team has a favorite song. "What the Lord has done for me" can he heard loud and clear at multiple times throughout the day. The lyrics are simple: "what the Lord has done for me I cannot tell it all." Well, that's how I feel. I simply cannot tell it all folks. But, some key takeaways are this: we came here with an American mindset that needs to change, blue crayon tastes better than black crayon, and we all experience brokenness in different ways.
More to come,
Jaclyn
Most days, you can find me cutting and pasting projects into the kids' workbooks, making copies, or dating papers- whatever Ma'am Thabile needs of me. Somedays that means watching the class by myself for a little while. I have never done anything so difficult than attempt to command the attention of 15 high energy non english speaking five year old children. It's a wonderful mess of somewhat controlled chaos.
The team has a favorite song. "What the Lord has done for me" can he heard loud and clear at multiple times throughout the day. The lyrics are simple: "what the Lord has done for me I cannot tell it all." Well, that's how I feel. I simply cannot tell it all folks. But, some key takeaways are this: we came here with an American mindset that needs to change, blue crayon tastes better than black crayon, and we all experience brokenness in different ways.
More to come,
Jaclyn