On 2 – 6 July 2012 we had our fourth
Edu-camp, this time again at Jeffreysbay. We took 6 kids, between
the ages 8 and 18 years, for 5 days to the Duhab house. The first
hour or so, was a little awkward, when the kids still did not know
each other. Eating together that first lunch was strange. The kids
did not know how to sit and eat together around a table. They were
nervous so a lot of giggling took place. Bongiwe, Ryan and I tried
to model good table manners and also that you were suppose to talk
around a subject during this time. (The fun thing is that the three
of us, just love to talk about stuff. We have such similar
interests.) During dinner it already went much much better. We
discovered that not one of them knew what had happened in 1994, so
Bongiwe told them the story. Slowly, over the next few days the kids
not only started to talk to each other during meal times, but also to
us. It was amazing for me to see that process of gaining confidence
in voicing their thoughts.
Except for eating, which they enjoyed
most of course, we also had reading sessions, maths sessions,
comprehension sessions and times of art. In the afternoons we took
them first to the library and then to the beach, (weather permitting).
One day, we had tennis championships on the pavement. In the evenings we had a variety of activities. One evening
we played games. We discovered that they've never played monopoly.
We taught them and they loved it. Another evening Ryan taught drama.
We had so much fun watching their own plays. We discovered that
Kimberley was a country :-) On another night we had a bonfire, where
we taught them how to make “stokbrood” (bread on a stick) over
the fire. And one evening we watched Sister Act II together.
As you can see this camp is more than
just a lesson in reading or maths. We zoom in on the child as a
whole. A highlight for me was when Global Challenge invited us for a
meeting with a local ministry group called Ambassadors. During the
introductions we asked our kids to show something that they are good
in. One boy, Steven, (a very shy boy) surprised us by doing the
moon dance so very, very well. We waited about a minute before he had
the courage to do it, but when he did, it was fantastic. We had
learned during the previous days, that we must just wait and then
Steven would open up and surprise us. And he did. In looking, we
discovered something special in each child.
Everybody was sad Friday, when the Acvv
van came to pick us up and take as back home. We had a lovely time
together. I believe that we have laid a good foundation to continue
building into these kids' lives.
