Day 3…
The third day of our trip started out very rough, the weather was bad. It was about 45 degrees outside it was raining hard all day long. We had to get up at about 6am to eat breakfast and get on the bus by 7:15am so that we could make it to the Teboho Trust Saturday school by about 9am. We made it to the school on time and we were taken back because even the orientation that we had experienced a day before didn’t do justice to the poor school conditions and the lack of resources. The classrooms had broken windows and most of the doors didn’t work. There was no running water and the bathrooms were not functioning. Despite all of these issues about one hundred and fifty out of the normal two hundred and thirty kids showed ready to learn and develop on this day. I must admit that even my spirits were low throughout the day because the weather was terrible and not conducive for any type of productive learning environment. At one point I kind of wished that we could take a half day go home early and come back the next day. But it wasn’t about me; it was about the lives of those children who really had no place else to go. A member of the SAI study asked one of the students for their home address so that he/she could mail him pictures and the boy replied “I don’t have a home address.” This was one of the many moments during the day that were filled with tears of sorrow for the children attending Teboho.
But again something special happened….at the conclusion of the day we gathered in assembly fashion to give our thanks and gratitude to the students and staff for allowing us to come and give our time. The joy that filled the room almost felt surreal and I had to actually pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. In spite of the bad weather and the bad learning conditions; the students spoke words of gratitude with tears; expressing their thanks for the involvement of the Rutgers Community. And for anyone who knows me or my fraternity, I had to leave them with a piece of my HEART, and what better way than to put a step performance for their entire student body. So I did, I stepped for the kids and this along with a few words from each group member sparked a rally in which the kids began to perform their different talents in front of everybody. Again it was a moment of fantasy that was created in a room full of love. Today, my heart was broken because leaving some of the kids at Teboho was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do in a long time. I fell in love a 4 year old girl and she asked me Twistian (because she couldn’t pronuce my name) are you coming back next Saturday, and yup that definatley made me shed a tear, because I don’t know when I will ever back. But I am going to do my best to keep in contact with the staff at Teboho to see the growth of the students attending the program. I am thankful for another WONDERFUL opportunity here in the MOTHERLAND!!!!!
The third day of our trip started out very rough, the weather was bad. It was about 45 degrees outside it was raining hard all day long. We had to get up at about 6am to eat breakfast and get on the bus by 7:15am so that we could make it to the Teboho Trust Saturday school by about 9am. We made it to the school on time and we were taken back because even the orientation that we had experienced a day before didn’t do justice to the poor school conditions and the lack of resources. The classrooms had broken windows and most of the doors didn’t work. There was no running water and the bathrooms were not functioning. Despite all of these issues about one hundred and fifty out of the normal two hundred and thirty kids showed ready to learn and develop on this day. I must admit that even my spirits were low throughout the day because the weather was terrible and not conducive for any type of productive learning environment. At one point I kind of wished that we could take a half day go home early and come back the next day. But it wasn’t about me; it was about the lives of those children who really had no place else to go. A member of the SAI study asked one of the students for their home address so that he/she could mail him pictures and the boy replied “I don’t have a home address.” This was one of the many moments during the day that were filled with tears of sorrow for the children attending Teboho.
But again something special happened….at the conclusion of the day we gathered in assembly fashion to give our thanks and gratitude to the students and staff for allowing us to come and give our time. The joy that filled the room almost felt surreal and I had to actually pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. In spite of the bad weather and the bad learning conditions; the students spoke words of gratitude with tears; expressing their thanks for the involvement of the Rutgers Community. And for anyone who knows me or my fraternity, I had to leave them with a piece of my HEART, and what better way than to put a step performance for their entire student body. So I did, I stepped for the kids and this along with a few words from each group member sparked a rally in which the kids began to perform their different talents in front of everybody. Again it was a moment of fantasy that was created in a room full of love. Today, my heart was broken because leaving some of the kids at Teboho was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do in a long time. I fell in love a 4 year old girl and she asked me Twistian (because she couldn’t pronuce my name) are you coming back next Saturday, and yup that definatley made me shed a tear, because I don’t know when I will ever back. But I am going to do my best to keep in contact with the staff at Teboho to see the growth of the students attending the program. I am thankful for another WONDERFUL opportunity here in the MOTHERLAND!!!!!
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