Day Seven

I am loving my time at the school. I have enjoyed meeting and visiting with the kids all week, but today is the first day I have really felt like they are starting to warm up to me. I wish I could stay at the school longer. Today I got to spend time just visiting with Ncedo and Nkosinathi, (they are the students I was reviewing poetry with yesterday) they asked me lots of questions about university and Canada. They are very interesting and intelligent, Ncedo has already been accepted into a dentistry program, and he has also applied somewhere else to study geography. Then Kevin had me meet with a student, Aphendule, he is incredibly intellectual. He is good at all of his subjects, he writes poetry, reads Shakespeare, and is an aspiring musician. We had a very fun conversation and he told me a lot about his life. When school was over no one needed my assistance with my homework so I found Kelly two potential boyfriends; they are super awesome. Everysha has been the friendliest since I first arrived on Monday, and over the last few days Melikhaya has decided that I am all right. They are hilarious, and I had so much fun talking to them about everything. Later Kevin and I went back to the Township library and I got to read with the children again. I love it here. There is so much that I could do, and want to do, but I am so enjoying even just this little bit that I am doing.


Oh and over the last few days I have had the opportunity to read a lot of the student’s work. Today I got sit down and visit with two girls who write some very lovely poetry. They have given me permission to reproduce it here.

‘The World We Are Living In’

The world we are living in is made of so many amazing things, the rainbows in the sky glow with so many beautiful colours, at night the sky is filled with gazing stars. The sun shines through our faces and shows us the light of dignity. Our land is filled with amazing animals, plants, rocks, oceans, diamonds/minerals, and many more glorious things. Ooh this is so amazing how the almighty god made all these beautiful things for us, but sometimes we can’t even see that. We wonder why our earth always gets tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes; we wonder where this anger is coming from. But the only thing we don’t realize is that we are the ones polluting, destroying animals and trees, causing global warming and oil spills. ‘Come on people we’ve caused so much damage and this is our time to shine, this is our time to wake up and change the future before the future changes us.”

Selinah
Grade 8
Age 14

Killed by Poverty

Watch the child that in the street corner stands

no money, no future, no ambitions, no plans

a smile on his face you sometimes might see

faith, hope, praying that someday he’d be

the person he wants to be

Barefoot he stands with heels that are cracked

tightly in his hands he holds bread that is wrapped

given to him by a man walking on the street

a day old lunch that he couldn’t eat but the boy tight

glad that there won’t be any groans coming from his tummy tonight

Even though faced by poverty he never gives up

maybe this is a blessing in disguise to keep his chin up

at night he sits and writes about his story

his life may not be glamorous or extraordinary

but he gets comfort by writing about this story

because in it lies his deepest thoughts

and things you can’t see with just a look

Then one morning he never woke up

cold as ice, still as a brick

is this it? his journey is over, has life

played him a trick!

for he never lived to reach his goals

but now his book has been read,

his story has been told

but if it had been earlier he

would have been proud

because he his feelings, his pain has been said out loud

Now he’s famous for the life he had led

his sufferings, his strength all over the nation

his story is being read

but is this what he wanted, to be famous when he is already dead

Phorisa

Grade 9

Age 15