School Visit in King Williams Town: Part One

Last Tuesday was hands-down one of the top five days of my life. 

The girl on my left looks so creeped out by me! Haha

I was invited by Amelia and Rose to see a children's home in East London, and after come along to visit a school in King Williams Town for an awards ceremony for the teachers. I have to say this experience was not at all what I was expecting and I still cannot believe the impact it had on me.

Our day started a bit later than usual. Rose was not picking us up until 10:30, so Amelia and I headed out to get coffee and went for a walk. We chatted all about how excited we were for the day and about some fun upcoming plans we had for the week. It was so nice to just be able to relax a bit in the morning for a change.

Rose picked us up and we met two public relations students from WSU that would be writing a story about the visit to the school today. We headed over to a children's home in Southernwood (a rougher neighbourhood in East London) and got a chance to look around.

The main hallway of the home.

One of the bedrooms.

Rose has been working with this home for quite a long time and we brought some clothing and meat to donate. Amelia and I looked around and took pictures, and then we all sat on the couch and Rose told us a bit more about the home and the children living in it. One of the most interesting stories involved a 17 year old boy who had lived at the home for most of his life. He was Xhosa and approaching the age of a cultural tradition where the boys have a ritual ceremony and are circumcised. This boy is feeling really sad as he would love to have a ceremony like his friends, but has no one to hold it for him. They are currently trying to figure out a way to organize something for him so he could still partake in this tradition. Rose suggested that maybe he could share the ceremony of one of his classmates, it will be interesting to see how the situation turns out. 

After leaving the school we drove around East London for a bit before heading to King Williams Town. The drive there was SO beautiful. Rose showed us all around the town and told us stories all about her travels and schooling. The time FLEW by! Eventually we made our way to the school we were visiting.  

Pretty terrible quality, but a picture from the drive of the amazing view!

I should start by saying that schools in East London are even nicer than schools in Canada. They have beautiful grounds with tennis courts and tons of other fitness equipment. The children wear uniformed clothes and they are well-known for their amazing sports teams. I just assumed that pretty much all the schools in South Africa were similar to this. It turns out I just had not been to a school in a rural area yet!

The kids all running in to head home at the end of the day - what an amazing view from their school!

As soon as we arrived I was completely speechless. I had never seen anything like this in real life before! It was almost like being transported into a TV commercial that all North Americans are familiar with. I can now say though that absolutely nothing compares to seeing these schools in person.

Some of the girls after school enjoying frozen orange treats.

Amelia and I met the school's principal and some of the teachers upon arriving. They gave us permission to look around the school and get to know the students.

I think the pictures speak for themselves, so I will let you look at a few and shut my trap. All the kids loved having the picture taken and posed for us every chance they got.

Me with some girls from grade 5.

A classroom at the school all cleaned up at the end of the day.

The two girls in the front on the left LOVED posing for pictures.

An outside view of the school.

Some boys that went to the school, they did an amazing dance later!

Some of the boys playing soccer.

The kids playing a game after school was over.

The girl on the right performed a poem in the teachers ceremony that brought me to tears! She was so good.

Rose helped to do the fundraising for that jungle gym!

Me and some of the kids in their classroom.

  Part two of the trip will be coming soon!