My last week was so perfect. I left with no regrets. The assistant teacher took me on a walk through the township. We left school and went to hang clothes on the line at one of the other teacher's house and then we walked to a McDonald's that's right outside of the township. The school is in the middle of the township so it was a pretty long walk. But I got to take in everything as we walked. Because the teacher lives in the township she knows everybody so I felt completely safe. I could tell everyone was looking at me because they didn't normally see me around but I just kept my mouth shut and waved hi to everyone. I learned that if I didn't say anything no one would hear my accent and wouldn't be able to tell if I was a local or not. I bought breakfast for me and the teachers and we walked back to the school. As we walked into the school devotion was starting. Devotion is every Friday where every class sits in the hallway of the school and sings gospel songs. We walked into the school just as the kids started to sing the first song. I went and sat with my class and it was so fun! I learned all of the songs over the weeks so I was able to sing and dance to every song with the kids. Because it was my last day the entire school sang me a goodbye song and the assistant teacher started to tear up which of course made me cry. After devotion we played in the classroom and I cuddled up with my favorite. I bought the kids chips and cookies and gave them that. We went outside afterwards and I was able to tell all of the other kids that I knew from other classes goodbye. At the end of the day I was a mess. As soon as I would stop crying someone else would give me a hug and I'd start all over again. What really got me was when one of the other teachers told me that since I had been there the assistant teacher in my room seemed much happier and treated everyone nicer. I'm still not sure what I did exactly to make her open up but I'm glad I could make that type of impact. The assistant teacher also told me that she hadn't smoked or drank in 1 week. I was so proud of her!
I hugged my kiddos one last time and gave my favorite a lot of kisses. Then the teacher assistant walked with me out to where the volunteers get picked up. We hugged and she started crying again but even more intense. This made me really cry because she's normally so tough. Just to know that I was able to have such a positive impact in her life is enough for me.
I was able to buy things for Lorenzo. I just hope they made it home with him. I'm planning to message the lead teacher and see if they did. I'm also planning to help fix the floor in the classroom. I know they're are hardware stores that I can call and purchase flooring from. I'm hoping I can purchase it online and have it delivered to the school. I also want to help get a door for the classroom because it's located in the main hall and the children are easily distracted by all of the noise outside. Hopefully it'll be done by December.
This trip was amazing and I cannot wait to do something like this again! I really want to go to another part of world next time but I'm so attached to South Africa.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to this trip! Words cannot describe how grateful I am for your sacrifice and donations! You will be receiving a gift from me in the mail soon. I hope it helps better describe my experiences over the last six weeks. :)
