Rain, rain, go away!! It is officially winter so it is raining like crazy in Cape Town these days! And the thing about rain here is that is always brings friends: heavy wind and bitter chill. Now remember my room is outside so I have no escape from the weather. So me, the rain, and the cold have done some intense bonding over the last week. As annoying as it is for me to stand in the pouring rain and heavy winds as I wait for the bus in the mornings, and as cold as my bed is every night no matter how many blankets I have, there are some things that I absolutely love about this weather. I LOVE laying in my bed at night and listening to the rain. The sound is so loud in my room. Its like being caught in a rain storm and hiding under a tree for shelter. I can see and hear the rain all around me, but I don't get wet. I love it. It's absolutely beautiful.
Although summer is my favorite time of year and I could sit in the sun at the beach my entire life and be totally happy, I do have respect for winter. I do not enjoy it, but I respect it. Winter is a time where things die and are washed away in preparation for the next season of growth. I don't know the verse off of the top of my head, but somewhere in the bible it talks about old things being washed away and all things becoming new. In order for the new, for the next stage of growth to come, some "old" things have to die. That's just the way God intended it. Unfortunately, I learned this all to well this week.
My week was amazing with the kids. As I said in my last blog the orphanage has unfortunately fallen apart since the owner has been in the hospital so most of the kids have vanished, but my work with the kids at the school has been going great!! Sadly, this week is my last week with them because they start exams next week and then go on break for June and July. So after tomorrow I have about 2 months off from work. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself for 2 whole months!
So because its the last week the kids have been working on their final skits for me all week. They have been going really great! There are 4 groups. Each group picked a topic then created, directed, and performed their masterpieces. Tomorrow we are having a last day celebration and they will perform the final products then. I am so excited to watch them! They worked so hard on them and as I've been coaching each skit I have seen the drastic improvement. It brings so much joy to my heart!
However, when I came to work on Monday I got some really upsetting news. One of my children, a young boy, had passed away. Apparently he was not only HIV positive, he had AIDS, and I didn't even know it. He seemed perfectly healthy. He was always running around and doing Micheal Jackson dance moves and volunteering to participate in my demonstrations. I mean he was FULL of life, and then just like that, over the weekend, he is gone. I cant even really describe the feeling that I get when I think about it. I am still kind of in shock. It happened so quickly. The whole situation is just really, really sad.
So yesterday, Tuesday, the school staff held a prayer meeting at the boy's home which of course Natalie and I attended. The funeral is on Saturday. The school has rented a bus to transport us and all the 7th graders to the cemetery after the funeral, but the ceremony will be held at the home as well. As I was sitting in the prayer meeting I was looking around at this boy's home. It was just a tiny little shack handmade from tin and a few wooden planks. It was barely standing up. The wholes in the ceiling were stuffed with grocery bags and other trash to keep the rain out. The "beds" were mattresses on the floor, we had to bring in benches with us to sit on, and the closest toilet was over a block away. I couldn't help but think "My God, these are no ordinary middle class children i'm teaching here". I kept thinking about all I teach them about having big dreams and holding your head up high and using your full voice and using up the entire space on the stage... as I was looking around I just realized how foreign that all sounds to them. I am so hard on them about holding their heads up high when it is physically impossible for them to do so in their own homes! I tell them to use their entire bodies and the entire stage space when they are used to sleeping with multiple people in one bed and trying to take up as little space as possible! My point is: THESE KIDS ARE WORKING HARD!! They are stepping outside of everything they know to succeed in my class. That thought really humbled me. It made me feel as though what i'm teaching them is really making a big difference in their lives. It's opening doors for them and showing them a world they might not otherwise have known exists. I am just so thankful to be able to provide that for them. And as I said before this is the season (literally) for death so that we can prepare for growth and new life in the future. So I am trying not to let my child's death get me down too much, im trying to just remember that its just God making space for all the new and great things He has in store. I was so blessed to have my precious little angel with me for 2 joy-filled months and now I have to focus on creating more and more joy-filled days, months, and hopefully years with the 39 precious angels I have left and hopefully the many more that are to come.
Also, speaking of the good things that are to come, THIS SATURDAY is the day that the Board of Trustees from the Ella Lyman Cabot Trust have their meeting where they decide on who gets the grant money. They will inform us of their decision next week!! Please say a special prayer for me on Saturday that God blesses me with favor so the Board will choose me! WHEN i get my letter of congratulations I will Blog about it right away!
Happy mothers day mothers! Love and light to you all!
"Nonceba"
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