January 11th: Tembaletu

After spending some time at Guguletu Clinic in the ARV department it was time to move on. I’ve learned so much there related to HIV, Tuberculosis, and ARV’s. It was also a great experience to be able to interact with those patients. It was now time to experience Tembaletu.

Tembaletu is a school for the physically disabled. It is a gorgeous facility with plenty of space for the children to roam. They also have a hostel (funded by Hillsong church) attached to it for the children who can't stay at home. Today was the first day of school and I think we were more excited than the children!

As the day began, I started to notice the differences in how schools are ran compared to back at home. I expected more structure. We spent the first half of the day organizing the classrooms because none of the desks were in place. We also were asked to play games with the 5^th grade class because the teachers were busy making their lesson plans for the year. We played “Heads Down, Thumbs Up” with the children which was so much fun. Some knew how to play and others caught on to the rules quickly.

Our game time was disrupted because it was now time for them to take their break. This caught me by surprise because they haven’t done any work yet! They took their break outside and we got to get to know some of the girls a little better! They are such divas and plenty of fun! We were with the “cool kids”. We talked about things that we all liked such as music and movies. I was so surprised that not one girl said their favorite artist was someone from their country; they were all American singers so we all had something in common.

(DIVAS!!!)--- >

Throughout the day I noticed how everyone helped each other. Those with crutches would push those in wheelchairs to help balance while still being a help to the child in the chair. I was so intrigued by this. They didn’t judge one another and they all got along very well. No child was discriminated by their disability.

After their break time class finally started. We helped the teacher pass out notebooks for the children and assisted some children with writing their subjects on them. Their first lesson was grammar in Xhosa. From what I understood they had to write what was on the board correctly. It was sad to see some children struggling to write such short sentences because of limited control of their hands. There are so many resources in America that could help these children tremendously but yet they are not available.

I was just beginning to get comfortable at the school but then it was time to leave. Our first day with the children was great! I’m sad that we only have two more days at the school because it is truly amazing. The staff and the students are so much fun to be around.

After being at Tembaletu for the day, we went to Hout Bay to take a cruise to Seal Island. The scenery to the Island was beautiful. The water was so clear and the breeze felt great. As we were riding, the smell of seals in the air clearly let us know that were have arrived. Despite the foul smell from the seals, they were so much fun to look at. Some were splashing in the water while others were tanning in the sun.

After arriving back on land we had dinner at Lookout Deck. It was a very nice restaurant right by the water and it was definitely one of the best views ever. The food was delicious as well. We all left there feeling very satisfied.

Today was a great day full of plenty fun!

-Aleisha