Paarl

Paarl
During our last week in the country of South Africa, we stayed in Paarl which is about an hour away from Capetown. The economy in Paarl is heavily based around the Wine industry. There are wine farms on almost every corner and crevast of the city. Saying this, there are many farms in which schools and homes are built on the farms. So the children go to school on the farms while there parents work the farms for minimal wages.
I was fortunate enough to work on with the BERGENDAL staff and they were very warm and welcoming. Every night during our last week in Paarl they brought us into their homes and we were feed home cooked meals. During the day we worked inside of the Bergendal school facilitating activities with different classrooms. Bergendal consisted of students from grades R (Kindergarten)- Grade 9. Since my focus was on secondary education I tended to spend my time focusing on the Grades 6, 7, 8, and 9. One activity that I facilitated multiple times was an activity called “Who Am I.” This activity has multiple parts and it takes students on steps to realize some of their own personal characteristics, what obstacles they face, and lastly where they want to go with their lives. I did this activity with all four grades (6,7,8,9) .
Working in the Bergendal School was a great experience. It was eye opening and it made me realize that I along with majority of the citizens of the United Sates have nothing to complain about. One of the days that I attended the schools I actually visited one of the farm communities were some of students live and that was an experience in its own. Poor would be word that does not do justice to the lack there of physical structure and proper living environments that I witnessed. When I was walking around the places were they live I couldn’t even speak. I was taken back because I had never seen anything like this before.
On the last day of my stay at Bergendal Intermediate all of the students gathered in one of the classrooms and they had a closing ceremony of us. This ceremony was very special to me because in just a weeks time. I had grown so close to the students and staff. I had grown attached to them. On the last day, I went in the kitchen made my own tea and the staff said that I was at home. AND I WAS. One of the best moments was when the school choir performed a song entitled bye-bye. The song touched my heart and I actually shed a tear or two. Okay maybe three or four..lol