A short team movie from our trip

Parting Shots Wednesday

Leaving the school Wednesday was one of the hardest things we could do. As the time drew near for our departure, there were final letters passed, parting photos snapped, hugs exchanged. We cried, the kids cried, it was really sad.  As we walked away from the school, and the kids called "I love you, teacher!" from the top of the swing structure one last time, we weren't sure how we'd be able to go.

Sunrise over Aurora our last morning--I took the photo from our house (the Walker's house!)

Hugs for Michael from his Grade R learners

Michael and Rae are greeted by Kabella and Andrew as we return to the school for our final afternoon of play

Yvan and Steven showing off some art work. Yvan told me that he wants to be a Pastor when he grows up.

Michael and a few of his Grade 7 friends: Noma, Ntombe, Dineo, Risuna, and Itumelang.

I brought the last of my paper and we had a final letter writing fest

Rae with her little buddy Lungelo, Sipho M, and Ceco (SP?)

Cindy and Themba, from Grade 5

Another shot with Themba, who will always occupy a soft spot in my heart

Cindy with Thepang. My sunglasses were quite popular

Thabo, of Grade 4

Rae and Michael pose one last time in front of the farm house

Rae waiting at the Amsterdam airport for our final flight home

Botany Class Field Trip

On Wednesday, our last day, I took Grades 5 and 6/7 on a "field trip"--literally. The day before, I'd scouted out many plants in the play yard and the garden to use as stations for our Botany wrap-up field trip. I wanted to give the students a real-life opportunity to apply what they'd learned in class. Additionally, I needed this to be a class that wouldn't involve any papers to grade, since there would not be any more time to do so.

This opportunistic Gem Squash, which had grown up out of the compost heap, provided one of our stations in the field trip.

"Is this a fruit or a vegetable?" I asked.   

"Ah, teacher, that's a fruit!"

"Why, class?"

In unison: "Because it has seeds, teacher!" 

“What type of stem does this have, students?”

“It’s a vine!”

“What happened to the flowers to make the fruit grow?”

“Bees came to get nectar and they pollinated the flower, teacher!”

“OK, is it a monocot or a dicot?”

“Dicot, teacher!”

“What type of stem does this grass plant have, class?”

“A runner!”

And does it have a tap root or a fibrous root system?

Aw, teacher, it’s a fibrous root!”

“OK, class, what’s the name of the fruits that this tree produces?”

“Samaras!”

“How are the seeds dispersed?”

“By the wind, teacher!”

Our field trip wrapped up in the garden, where we identified carrots and beets (both are types of taproots,) onions (these are geophytes: bulbs,) and tomatoes (those are fruits, teacher!) We saw our bean plants in flower, and we checked on the broad bean seeds we'd planted after our 12-day germination experiment. Sadly, only 2 of those experimental seeds were popping through the soil at this point. I suspect we left them in the zip-locks longer than we should have.

This photo was taken at the end of our field trip after the Grade 6/7 kids were put into service by Sipho and Agnes to harvest their dinner: they call it Spinach, but to me it's closer to what we call Swiss Chard. Later on in the day, Michael helped the students wash and chop the leaves for the evening meal. The broadly grinning young lady in the front is named Mpumelelo, and she is very bright. The young lady to her left is Asina, who blessed me dearly later on that day by singing "Above All" as a goodbye to me.

Making Paper Beads

On our last day, we got to see the kids making paper beads. They colored and cut strips of paper, then rolled them around a toothpick, applying glue as they rolled. The beads will then be sealed and used to make bracelets, necklaces, and book marks to raise funds for the school.

A Peek at our Last Tuesday

Here are just a few of the many things that we enjoyed today with our awesome students. This was our last full day--tomorrow will be departure day. :(

Theo holding a letter from Rachael

Rae and Theo

Jonathan in Grade 5

Everyone has been writing letters back and forth.

Rae sings with a group of kids

Sipho accompanied me to the garden, and we were joined by Brahm the bull and Michelle the cow

Praying before dinner

Junior, Toti, Unathi, Asina, Thandiwe, and Titi

Rae and MG with Sipho and Jonathan

Michael and friends

Yvan loves to read his Bible

Neville treats us to his famous Potjie

On Saturday afternoon, Neville and Veronica came to the farm house (their new house where we've been staying) equipped with a Braai (sort of like a BBQ) and lots of meat, veggies, and everything. Neville had told us that he was going to treat us to his famous potjie (pronounced "poy-kee"), and we were all excited about it. It took a few hours to prepare the potjie, which is like a stew, except you cook it over the coals. He also made pot bread, which is just like its name. Evrything was SO delicious, we understood why Neville has a reputation for awesome potjie. Our feast was attended by the Walkers and their children, Veronica's mother, Sipho, his son, Sipho's wife Flora, and the 6 of us. It was a wonderful "last supper."

steaming veggies on top of shin and oxtail meat

The pot bread

When all was just right, it was all stirred up together

toasty delicious bread

Sipho and his son, Emmanuel

Saturday in Pretoria, Sunday, and Monday too

We had one final last hurrah this weekend--a trip to Pretoria with our host, Neville Walker, who planned a wonderful morning of sight-seeing. We drove into Pretoira, one of the three capital cities of S Africa, and started our day with a tour of the Voortrekker Monument, which chronicles the great trek of the Afrikaners.

A view of the "wagon train wall" from high up on the monument

Sorry, Neville, no animals allowed inside!!

Michael poses overlooking Pretoria in the distance. The steps up to this vantage point were a long, winding spiral staircase that had some of our team members scouting out the lift for the return trip down!

Rae checks out a huge embroidered tapestry of the Trek

Team Pic time in front of the monument

After the Voortrekker, we headed off to see Freedom Park, which is quite new. The Park is a memorial to those who have died in the struggle for freedom in S Africa. There's a wall of names similar to our Vietnam Memorial wall, with names of those who died going all the way back to the 1700s. The names are categorized by reason for death (which struggles, wars, genocide, slavery, etc.) and there's much space left to add more names. If you know of someone who's died in the struggles, you can submit their name for inclusion, and if the investigation proves that the claim is legit, they'll add the name to the wall.

There's also a stately amphitheater, and a sanctuary with an eternal flame. The park consists of a long pathway that winds from one area to another. We chose a self-guided tour, and found our way through with a map.

The eternal flame, with the amphitheater in the background

 

Next we ventured on to see the Union Building, where the government seat is. We also saw the Presidential compound, which was huge, and we had an insider peek in the stadium where Invictus was filmed (I think it was there!) 

The Union Building

Many tiered, gorgeous gardens

Another opportunity to get a few souvenirs in front of the Union Building

A traditional wedding dress. There were 2 wedding parties that came for pictures there while we were visiting

Having tea and cookies at Edenvale Baptist Church after the service Sunday AM. Rae and Michael pose with Patrick Amber, and Bongane

After church we went for an outdoor lunch at a bird sanctuary

This little fellow had a real eye for Bongane, and kept following his every move

Back at school on Monday, Michael is in his element playing cards with the children during play time

Posing with his friend, Paul

The girls show off their baby dolls

This is Titi, who shares a nickname with our very own Katie. When she found out that Katie had the same name, she said she felt like she was my daughter, too.