First Post

Wed, 20 Feb 08 16:38:08 +0100

Even though I've been at I Care for 2 and a half weeks this is my first post. It's hard to find time to sit down and gather all your thoughts and get on the computer, so this could be a long one. We arrived in Africa in mid January and went for a 10 day camping trip through Botswana and Zambia and that was very fun with lots of adventures and great people!! We spent a few days in Durban enjoying the beach and relaxing before we came out to the Mother of Peace complex where the I Care class rooms are located and my dad and I are staying. I'm rooming with Anja and Eva, two Dutch volunteers for Mother of Peace, which is very fun! Our introduction to I Care was great, Katherine and Carol did a great job of showing us around and introducing us to the boys. And the boys are something else!!! Every single one has a character and a spirit that you can't even imagine. After two weeks of getting to know them I'm not looking forward to leaving them at all!! My dad and I go to school with the boys from 830 until 1230 and help them with there reading and other basic skills. After break we take boys aside and read with them individually and its amazing to see the progress in there reading and their desire to read. I read with one boy, Vukani, on the first day I got here and every day since he asks me to read with him and every day he takes books home from the library that my dad and I set up for the boys. It's so rewarding to see them want to learn! Every day is full of jokes and laughs, the boys can always put a smile on your face, some of the boys are absolutely hilarious!! The way they sing and dance and just go about their daily routines can put a smile on your face. And when they do sing and dance the smiles on their faces is unbelievable! The joy that you can see in these boys when they're singing is something I can't even describe!! All of the boys have been through so much but to see them keep going and learning and smiling makes every day so rewarding. Although these past two days haven't been the best. One of the older boys ran away from the house on Monday night so he wasn't at school on Tuesday so that was very upsetting and scary, luckily he came back today so everything worked out, he does keep saying that he's going to leave again and go back to his home in the township, but all you can do is let them know you care and you don't want them to leave. My dad told the boy that I was crying when I found out he left and he just didn't understand why I was so upset. He just didn't believe that I cared about him that much and was worried about him being alright. There's such a rollercoaster of emotions working with the boys and hearing there stories and watching them succeed and then being devastated when you see them slip up. Its hard to realize you can't do everything for them as much as you want to but in the end its still rewarding to know that you make a difference.

Kelsey Allison

First Post