The main thing that has happened since the last time we wrote is that school has finished and we had 2 separate farewell parties at the school!
Both were pretty big affairs! In Canaan the ‘farewell ceremony’ was supposed to start at 11, however Prophet Urban- the preacher- didn’t turn up on time therefore we started about 15-20mins late. The HOD opened with a few comments about how nice it had been to have us at the school and how sad it was that we now had to leave. Then Prophet Urban took over and preached a fairly disjointed message about ……………….. after finishing his message Prophet Urban went on to pray (with the entire school standing up with their hands in the air) for about 10mins.
There seems to always be an order of service for any occasion here. Even something as small as our goodbye service had a printed out timetable and a programme coordinator! After Prophet Urban had finished his part the school choir came up and sang a few songs very, very well. Singing here is just out of another world. Even the boys join in with a gusty tenor/bass line. They love singing and get into it with all they have blasting out the notes and dancing along. The whole choir together sounded amazing. Another highlight was when the girls did some Zulu dancing in a group. It’s very beautiful dancing, led by a massive drum and involved mainly footwork.
After that we were asked to perform a song in Zulu!! The children started the song in English and then we were expected to sing a response in Zulu! Thankfully it didn’t go to badly and nobody laughed at us. C.J then said some very nice things about us, which were very nice to hear. We were then presented with our thank-you gifts. Lewis was given a goat skin hat while Milly and myself were given goat skin flip flops and a headband. Lewis then on behalf of all of us said how great it had been working in the school and getting to know the children and the teachers. There was abit more singing and dancing and then we were shown the feast of our life! They had actually braai’d about 3 cows! There were salads and putu and meat and drinks and chips and so, so much food!! It was a lovely day- though very sad as well.
The farewell at Eniwe was similar, but probably less organized, although there was still an order of events and programme coordinator! This day was the finale of our plays as well. Even though it was a big shame we had to drop the grade 5 play as the children weren’t listening and we were making no progress. So on the final day at Eniwe grade 6 and grade 4 performed their plays. Again South Africa is very different to the UK in that on the last day of school, despite being in the play the boy acting Noah didn’t turn up, the boys that were the dove and the raven didn’t turn up, most of the animals didn’t turn up and narrator 8 didn’t turn up! So on the morning of the play it didn’t look to hopefully. However I was able to convince Sbongsen, a boy from grade 5, to learn the Noah part and we were able to substitute others into the other roles, so in the end it went okay. Grade 6 had less people missing thankfully and went very well. The teacher was very pleased at how well it went. Grade 2 did some singing and dancing for us, it was very sweet.
We were then given gifts. We all received a trophy(!!) from the school and also a South African soccer shirt so that we could say we supported bafana bafana!! Again there was a feast prepared and I ate until I was stuffed as it was shovelled onto my plate! Again this day was very special.
As school is over now we have 4 weeks to kill. Nah, just joking, we have plenty to do. Starting tomorrow we are running a ‘Mini World Cup/Entoyeni World Cup’ for Canaan school kids. They all seem pretty excited about it, so we’re just waiting to see how many actually turn up! That will probably run for 2-3 days. We then have 2 Holiday Bible Clubs lasting a week each. One is in Nseleni and the other is in Matchana. We haven’t been to Matchana before so it will be interesting to meet some new children and to share the Word with them.
With only a few weeks left, it’s getting pretty sad knowing that I will probably not see most of these children ever again. Having got to know most of them individually and coming to really care for them the thought of leaving them is terrible.
Love,
Lydia
As ever it is great to hear your news.
Hoping and praying that the Mini world Cup and Bible Clubs go well.
Love to you all
Jacky
Heya everyone,
It’s so great to be able to hear about how you’ve been getting on. The farewell ceromonies sound so very special. I can probably only have a sense of the satisfaction that you guys have gained, and the close relationships that have developed, as you’ve taught at the school and got to know the children and the teachers.
Keep up the good work!
Will be thinking of and praying for you!
Love Nan