Brandi's weekend

What a rainy Friday. From the time we woke up until mid-afternoon it rained and it poured and it rained some more. Oh wait- that kind of rhymed! Cool- anyways, Friday was our day for Ocean View tutoring. We had a group of about eight or nine of us heading there, so we all went to catch the train at eleven. However, anyone that knows me knows that I have no sense of time and walk like a turtle, so my friend and I caught the later train. It wasn’t bad though because either train we took (eleven or eleven thirty) we still would get to tutoring on time. So anyways, Kristin and I had a lovely walk to the train station where we waited for a little bit for our train to come. We made it to Fish Hoek still in the pouring rain) and caught a mini bus taxi to Ocean View. By that time it wasn’t raining as hard, so Kristin and I made our way to the church where the kids go to get tutored. As we were walking up to the building, we saw Chantel and Mike outside playing a ball game with about twenty small kids just running around screaming. It was so cool that Mike got to come with us since he doesn’t work with kids at his internship and kids love him. So we were glad to have him come with us this week. Anyways, we went inside and the older kids were eating so we just hung out for a little bit until they were finished. Many of the kids weren’t here this week because its their break from school (last week and this upcoming week) for Easter. But we still had about nine older ones looking to have help on math and all of us were willing to help!

Here’s the thing about Ocean View tutoring. It’s more then just showing up and helping kids on math, it’s about establishing a connection with these kids that look up to us more then we realize. Just the fact that we say we will come, and we actually do must mean the world to them. Being there and seeing the progress and being on a first name basis is so important. And to me, that’s what its all about. It reminds me so much of The Hole In The Wall Gang Camp and how people can have such a serious impact on others without even realizing it. Even seeing my friends get up in front of a group of students and teach them an entire lesson on multiplication was awesome. I know sometimes we think everything is going wrong and nothing will ever be okay again, and that’s okay to feel that because all of our problems are important to us whether others see it or not. But I realize that life goes on and we become stronger even when we don’t realize it. We each have our set of problems that we deal with on a daily basis. Some people let those issues define them, while others realize that that’s not how it has to be. To me, hanging out with these kids every week makes me realize that the problems I had yesterday were important but they shouldn’t define me. And I know you may think that’s easy for me to say but to do it is another story. That may be true but its your attitude and realization that there are other people out there worse off then you that makes me remember how blessed and fortunate I am.

After our multiplication lesson, all the kids from the outside came charging inside and added to the group of us inside. We all stood in a huge circle and played game after game with the big group. It was so awesome to see the older kids helping the younger ones explaining the rules and watching out for them. We played a really fun game called ‘duck bang’ which got everyone laughing and shouting. It was hilarious and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my Friday. And yet again, I think about the people that made it possible for me to be there and I couldn’t be more grateful for Chantel and her devotion to the community and these kids on a daily basis. As we were leaving I stopped by my families house (the house I stayed in during the home stay). I said hi to Chantel’s mom and dad and we were on our way home in the mini-bus taxi back to the train station.

           

Another cool thing about living in SA is that everywhere you go there is always somewhere to buy food. I guess living in rural Ashford Connecticut will do that to you because I still find the idea of walking to a grocery store crazy. But there are always people selling fruit or samosas here in Cape Town. It’s so convenient. So a few of us bought some food and got on the train back home after a successful day at Ocean View.

           

Saturday was a great day too; very low key and slow and just what we needed I think. We spent the morning at the coolest place ever called The Old Biscuit Mill. It’s like a giant outdoor farmers market with organic vendors and yummy food. There are stores too where you can buy all kind of cool stuff. I enjoyed it a lot and definitely want to go back. However, when your walking into the venue you saw so many kids outside begging for money. They looked so hungry and my heart melted. It’s really hard to see that and know that you can’t do something to help each and every one of them.

           

While we were leaving the mill, a group of kids ran up to us. I recognized one of them right away because they were the same kids we saw at the beginning of our trip when we went to Camps Bay and were jumping off of the concrete deck thing at sunset onto the beach. The little boy’s name was Randall and he had really made a connection with Nicole. We were happy to see he was still alive but he looked so much worse since we last saw him. I felt so bad leaving him and his friends.

We went into the city for a bit and had a nice time just walking around. I really enjoy the city because I know my way around now and can navigate from one end to the other. Once we got home last night, we rested and just all hung out together. That’s one of the big things I know I am going to miss from our trip. Just being together as a group and always knowing there is someone to hang out with and just talk to.

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, "I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along." . . . You must do the thing you think you cannot do."  -Eleanor Roosevelt