Friday 6/7/08 - last day in Guguletu

Friday was our last day in the townships. We spent this day doing a service project at Timbalethu, a school for children with disabilities. When we arrived there we were instantly greeting by students and staff. They all congregated into their cafeteria and we introduced ourselves and I could see the excitement escalating in the students as the minutes passed. The students at this school include students in wheel chairs, using walkers or crutches, some with mental disabilities, and a wide range of ages. After our introductions that student choir performed for us and they sounded great! I could really hear the passion in their voices when they sang.
The 18+ of us split up doing various tasks around the school. Some did arts and crafts with the students, some filed paperwork, some cleaned up the basketball court, some did other activities with the students to facilitate their learning, and some, like me, helped clean up their playground so it could be usable again. Four of us went to work out there weed whacking the grass, pulling weeds, picking up trash & broken glass, mowing the lawn, and raking up grass clippings. By the time we left, the playground looked ten times better and usable once again. Some of the students even volunteered to help is out there so they could be a part of making their school a better place. Edwin explained to us before we left that this is one of the schools in Guguletu that is struggling the most. It is difficult to staff properly with children with needs such as theirs, and the conditions of the school are rougher than the government funding can help with. The staff was so grateful for our help that day that they made us sandwiches, prayed for us, and even did some dancing with us... everyone in this township dances; I think it is a requirement to live there, haha. It was a nice experience to see the school and see how excited the kids were when they saw us.



Friday night we were back in Cape Town. All of us agreed when we were driving away that it is going to be hard to living so close to this township for the next week and live a completely different lifestyle. Guguletu is only 15 minutes away from our houses in Cape Town, yet it's like being in another world.