A week of opposites, both educational and emotional…. Monday 13th August – Saturday 18th August

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This week has been a bit of a roller-coaster! Monday morning was very sad (there were lots of tears) as Sarah and I had to say goodbye to Perry, Jess and Cassie. It’s been great to have such a close group of friends to share this experience with, and I couldn’t have asked for lovelier roommates than Jess and Cassie; or more enthusiastic, motivated people to be working with on projects.

After saying our goodbyes, I was back at Ndabenhle Crèche. Although I had thought I might be at the primary school with our HIV class for one final morning, it was great to be back with the kids at Ndabenhle and many of them recognised me as I entered the classroom. My morning with the children definitely helped me feel better, and I received lots of hugs! It was lovely to see evidence of the teaching of ‘caring’ and ‘sharing’ from a couple of weeks ago, and the children’s happiness and playful spirit is infectious- you can’t help but feel more content!

We had a fantastic week teaching opposites with the children, and played lots of interactive games; including balloon races of ‘over’ and ‘under’, jumping ‘over’ and ducking ‘under’ skipping ropes, and running ‘up’ and sliding ‘down’ the climbing frame. As always, I’ve loved getting back to basics in my teaching and thinking of many creative ways to teach the children new concepts.

My afternoons this week have been fairly quiet, as I’ve been doing various bits of admin work for the project. I was really pleased to be able to finish a new pack of lesson plans for the primary HIV teaching, as this is something that Perry and I started together last week. I also spent some time with two other teachers (who recently joined our volunteer team) to write some teaching guidelines for fellow volunteers. We also put together a ‘teacher workshop’ for some of the local teachers. Although this workshop will be held after we’ve all left, it feels great to be leaving something behind for the project.

Friday afternoon (my last afternoon of projects) was spent at the new library, which is now complete! The painting on the container looks fantastic, and it’s been very rewarding to see, and be involved in, the progress of this each week. We had lots of children attending the reading club, and it’s great to see how much they value this brilliant resource in their community. I shared lots of books and puzzles with the children, and they get so much joy from practising their reading or simply completing a ‘word match’ puzzle. At the end of the afternoon, we played some music and had an impromptu dance session- It was a fantastic way to end my final afternoon of projects here.

This weekend I’m planning to relax at the beach here in St. Lucia, and enjoy spending my last day and a half with Sarah and some of the project co-ordinators. We also have a lovely couple from England who Sarah and I have become good friends with, so we’re looking forward to a nice meal out with them later for my final evening in St. Lucia.

It’s been a week of very mixed emotions…Sadness at saying goodbye to good friends and having to leave the amazing kids and people I’ve met on projects, but also a feeling that much as I’ve loved this final volunteer experience I am definitely ready to get back to Mozambique and spend some time in Vilanculos before the next big adventure in Ghana!

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