Gardens, Friends, Fractions, and Pepto

I haven’t written in a while. This is mainly because either the things that have been happening have been ordinary everyday occurrences which I feel would be of no excitement to people back home or they have been very intense, very personal, and very hard issues that cannot be shared over a publicly viewed forum.

As part of the community component of class (or community outreach) the students decided to build gardens in 14 child-headed houses in their areas. Last week we built 8. We had limited resources: two hoes (one of them the head held on with a butter knife), one shovel, and one bent rake). We first chose a spot that could retain water the best. Then we worked up the ground a little. We sent a couple people into the bush to find sticks to use as poles for the fence (chopped using a machete borrowed from a neighbour) and a couple people to walk around house to house to find maize meal sacks that we can use for fence. We dug holes for the poles, put rocks in to support the poles, and filled in the holes with dirt. We then attached the maize bags using wire. We then collected grass (lots of grass) and blanketed the garden with it in order to protect the soil from the hot sun in order to retain moisture. We’ll are going to come back next week to plant the seedlings. And yesterday we toiled over these gardens in 40 degree weather. Yes, it is starting to become summer here.

We were making a garden at a guy named Themba’s house when all the students were saying, “Look what’s happening!” We looked in the distance and saw around twenty guys running around. The students said they were chasing after a guy trying to catch him. Apparently, he was suspected of raping a child in the community and all the guys of the community were trying to catch him, seeking justice for the family and for the little girl. We witnessed this. They caught him, brought him back, and publicly beat him. They didn’t beat him much, just threw him around a little and gave him a few punches and kicks. We witnessed this. I definitely saw the need to address this with the students. I asked them if they felt this was right. They said it was because this man needs to be punished before taken to the police. I wondered why he had to be punished before taken to the police (as that was the job of the police) and they said it had to be done as a public statement to everyone else that if they do this, the people in the community will respond. I’m still trying to process what I think of this. The problem is that they aren’t sure if this guy actually did it. There are many beatings in the community because people are suspected of stealing or committing other crimes. It’s a huge issue.

On a lighter note, FOUR of my friends will be joining me in South Africa very soon. Aliah will be coming in the middle of December to hang out on her Christmas holidays. This will rule more than a 30cm ruler. And then in January, Louise will be coming to spend six months to serve at Hands. She’ll most likely be working alongside me with education stuff. And then Bethany and Jenna Lane are coming at the end of January to serve 3 months and 2 months (respectively) playing with orphans and spooning me.

On Wednesday, I taught a lesson on fractions to the grade 9-12 After-school students. I cut up apples into halves, quarters, thirds, sixths, and eights. They had to order the apples from smallest to largest and then had to figure out how many different ways they can make a whole apple. It was very sweet and I think it helped them to have a good understanding of fractions (which is definitely a foundational concept they do not have). The apples turned brown but that didn’t stop them from devouring them after the lesson.

As I’m writing this, Darryl is sitting nearby listening to his ipod very loudly. I say, “Your music is very loud” and he says “It’s electric guitar. It has to be loud.”

Yesterday we went to a restaurant that served all-you-can-eat pizza. We were celebrating a dearly loved friend, Heather’s, departure. The pizza came with sides of parmesan, garlic, and fresh chilies. I asked Darryl how much to eat a large spoonful of chilies. He said R300. I then asked how much to eat the whole bowl and he said R1000. It was from here that I began talking down the price. “But you would do it for R900.” He didn’t buy into this strategy. I then turned to the other side of me and targeted Marc. I said “How much to eat this whole bowl of chilies?” I figured I’d start off big. He said R500. People started putting their money on the table. Marc had to do it. And he did. And it was awesome. He was sweating and turning red and … ya it was awesome. I got it on video. He later devoured a handful of Pepto Bismol tablets which gracefully coated his stomach and prevented any further intestinal damage. He claims it came out fine too. That, I’m not too sure about.

I took lots of pictures of the gardens and I’m feeling like an update in the picture department is needed. I’m working on it.

Sorry for the overdue blog.