South Africa, You've Stolen my Heart

Hello! This week has been absolutely incredible with the Sisters in Montebello! Over the past few days I’ve gotten more accustomed to life here and have fallen into a really nice routine with the different service sites. There are so many opportunities for service here, I’m feeling torn as I want to spend so much more time with each and every one of them! They have three main schools: Our Lady of the Rosary Secondary School (high school), a primary school (an elementary/middle school), and Euphemia Ruf Creche (similar to a Kindergarten). Also, next to the convent is the Boarding House, where about 300 of the high school girls stay during the school year, and Vianney Children’s Home, which is an orphanage that takes care of children who either do not have parents or their guardians cannot care for them properly. I know, there’s so many places! I am so incredibly appreciative and in awe of the work that each and every do on a daily basis.

          In terms of logistics, I’ve settled into a routine where I go to the high school in the morning around 7:30 to help out the Natural Science teacher here, Mrs. Hlela, and teach science lessons to grades 10-12 throughout the day. Usually there are breaks in the school day when I don’t have classes, so at those times I head down to the Creche to play with the children there, and they are as cute as can be! I have lunch around 2:30 and then go to Vianney for the rest of the afternoon. Around 5 I come back to the convent to have dinner with the Sisters and unwind at the end of the day with them. I wish there were more hours in the day to spend at each place! My experiences here so far have been absolutely incredible, and I am in awe of the Lord for knowing my heart so well as to send me to a place that can fill me with so much joy and peace. To You, God, is all the praise and glory.

          At the high school I have grown closer to many of the teachers there, and we all went to Pietermaritzburg (long time no see, PMB!) this past Friday for a Staff Development Day. Throughout the day there were several talks given about how to support high school students not only academically, but also socially and mentally. One heart-wrenching thing that I noticed throughout the day and though talking with various teachers is that many students here are enduring extremely hard times, whether those be the result of social problems, unsafe home environments due to abuse, or other sources. I get a pit in my stomach just thinking what some of these students have gone through or are currently going through. Thankfully, the high school is currently training two of its teachers to be a resource for these students to listen to whatever problems they may be facing. If you can, please pray for the South African students, especially those at Our Lady of the Rosary, and for the staff members who are supporting them through the difficulties in their lives.

With the High School students at an annual march to raise awareness for child abuse

With the high school teachers at PMB staff development day

On a lighter note, the high school term is ending soon, and any student knows what that entails…FINALS! In the coming weeks, the students will be taking exams in their different subjects, which is always a stressful time. I am so grateful for coming during this time of year as I’ve had the opportunity to have science review sessions with the students both during school time and in the evening at the boarding house. They are all so curious and have so many questions!

          Also, when I went to the Creche for the first time earlier in the week, it was like walking into a dream! They were so excited to see me, and our first meeting quickly led to a dog-pile on Jen! There is so much joy in that Creche, and the smiles on those kids’ faces had me bursting with happiness. It is a little difficult to communicate with them verbally since most of them speak Zulu, but I quickly learned that fun and laughter don’t require words. The teachers there are starting to teach the children English in the form of songs and dances, one of which is about how to make the sign of the cross and how to pray before meal times. I think it is absolutely amazing that some of the very first English words that these children are learning involve how to talk with God and form a relationship with Him; I can think of no better place to start.

First meeting the kids! Getting ambushed by hugs :)

Circle time! They were showing me one of the songs that they knew in English

          I am also just starting to get to know the kids over at Vianney! They are so sweet and absolutely love to play games! I am going to have to Google some more games to play together as they are quickly exhausting some of my favorites from home!! They also love to take pictures, and in a span of an hour they managed to take a grand total of 186 photos on my phone; be prepared for many to come!

Some of the Vianney kids!

They love playing games! Whether playing outside or inside, these kids are all in! Here I'm playing "Double-Double" with one of the girls, which they surprisingly knew already!

          The last thing I want to mention now is the incredible opportunity I had to go with Sister Antonia and Sister Sthembile to Durban today! It was about a two hour car ride through the mountains, during which I got to see the rest of Montebello including the traditional, rural houses. When we got to Durban, we got breakfast, went to the Science Museum, and finished the day over at the Marina where I got to touch and swim in the Indian Ocean!! That was absolutely INCREDIBLE! The list of oceans I’ve seen has climbed to a grand total of two, and I could not be happier! The Dominicans here are some of the most welcoming bunch I have ever met, and every day the Sisters go out of their way to make sure I have a wonderful experience here. I feel so loved!

At the uShaka Marine with Sister Antonia and Sister Sthembile

Indian Ocean!

          Thank you all so much for following me on this journey, it has been an amazing one so far! Also if anyone is interested in donating to the service sites, here is the link to the GoFundMe I’m doing: https://www.gofundme.com/supporting-south-africas-students

          God Bless,

          Jen