The Journey Continues

Hi all,

Doing well went surfing again today, Claire Pfister from dz and i have made some good relationships with the lifespace kids (lifespace are kids that are 18+, that are getting job training but sleep separately from the little guys at Umthombo, they live there full time (or will it opens next week hopefully with more funding) so its been really cool). The lifespace guys are really cool, so I'm hoping the funding comes soon through because they've proven themselves as responsible kids and really want better lives.  The younger guys are much more addicted to glue so often we lose their focus after their programs which is sad but even taking them away from glue for a little while is good.

Wednesday and Thursday nights at Umthombo they have hip hop nights for the kids which are really more free expression sessions for them to talk about their day, sing, rap or dance in front of the other kids. I think it’s a really good way that gives the kids initiatives to speak about their problems and have fun at the same time. We go once a week and it’s absolutely hilarious, sometimes they have joke battles and other times just dance. It’s a ton of fun and the kids are realllly into it. During most days we go on programs (surfing, art or soccer) and relationship build in the afternoon but Thursday Claire and I got to go on “after-care” in which we found a 10 year old on a corner holding a sign for Rand, talked to him and convinced him to go on a home visit with a social worker Bizo. Bizo does this daily, taking kids home to try and see why the first left for the streets and then taking them back to home visits, etc. So we picked up Nathi on a corner, took him to visit his grandmother and father in a township; there he decided he would try and stay home for at least 2 weeks, which doesn’t seem like it’s a huge step in his life but it really is. If kids want to go home, it’s the first step of missing family and the comfort of a bed and solid meal. After we went on the home visit we took him back to Umthombo where he showered, ate and then learned to write his name (from me!!!!!), be the time we were ready to take him home, he couldn’t wait. It was an amazing experience to see him talk and give his grandmother the money he earned from standing on the corner and hug his sisters. I hope he will stay there, but as long as he wants to go home, the hope is still there.

For Saturday-Wednesday we will be in Sodwana and St.lucia for a little "bush area" get away to see animals and kind of reflect on Umthombo. I absolutely love working with the kids and definitely want to return to do volunteer work in the future. USF and this program have been amazing; we do a lot of looking at Umthombo and how its roots are in Steve Biko's mentality and things like that, but working with the kids and relationship building is the best. These kids are so grateful for any attention or small belonging they have, its very inspirational. Anyways no internet in sodwana/st.lucia until wednesday so no updates until then! Sorry if the blogs a little boring, South Africa is much more interesting in person I promise!

Love

-M
 

internet....FINALLY

Hi all!

Goodness it’s been a while, sorry about that! We finally have internet at the apartment so I’ll be updating more often I promise. This whole experience has been absolutely amazing so far, I am in love with pretty much all of the kids at Umthombo. They’re extremely talented in fields like art, surfing and soccer, which are the three main programs that are run during the days here; so far I’ve been on surfing and soccer and have observed art. Surfing is a ton of fun because the beginners group is most of the younger guys who are learning to love the sport and lifestyle, the other group “the pros” are seriously pros! It’s AWESOME, one kid well semi-adult, Lucky is sponsored by O’Neill and knows the pro surfer Jordy Smith fairly well and this week O’Neill and the old pro Paul Cannon put on a workshop for 15 of “the pros” along with a black pro surfer Quinton, it was a technical workshop and just yesterday pro surfer named Antonio (?) came in and offered to give 5 of the young but really talented kids workshops on a weekly basis. The surfing community has really embraced Umthombo, it’s really nice to see! As most of you can tell by now, Jonny has completely turned me onto the world of pro surfing and now I am obsessed!

Anyways the apartment has been good and we’ve shared quite a lot of laughs so far! In the evenings we usually hang around here playing cards, making dinner, having a beer or two and relaxing. Most of us are exhausted when we get home from the programs and just being hung on by little boys all day. A lot of us through experiences have been proposed too and Heather (our professor), Tom and S’fiso have all been offered a lot of cows for all of us. Good news: no offer has been accepted.

We’ve also been visiting the townships and discussing the ideology and purposes of Umthombo throughout the trip which has been an extremely important addition to the growth of not only Umthombo but South Africa as a whole. It’s a very interesting country and you definitely learn something new daily, I love it!

Last night we went to a braai (BBQ) at the hostel of two of the UK Umthombo volunteers we’ve gotten to know, Georgia and Greg. They’re a bit younger than us but still a lot of fun  to hang around and “chat with”.

Love to all

-M

P.S. its so easy to grow attached to these kids, two named ntando and hotu are my little buddies so far, hotu is 13 and has the best disposition and ntando is 12 an AMAZING and ripping young surfer who is also a huge rascal. love.