Sunrise

So I said I would be doing a whole separate post to show you all my kids from Sunrise, so here it is!

Before showing you the kids, I want to show you all the area that Sunrise is located in. Google Earth is really so neat. My stepdad was on it the other day, looking at the area I lived and worked in, and was able to get on ground level and "walk" around the neighborhoods. For any of you that have it, search for "Muizenberg". In relation to the point that my computer continues to bring me to (and hopefully yours as well), there is a big square of buildings above to the left of your initial position. That is the township that I worked in, and that my kids live in. Here are some photos I got on my last day there:

Here is the entrance to Sunrise, where I volunteered:

And my particular classroom:

Most important though, are the kids I worked with! I came in my last day kind of sad knowing that it was ultimately over, but really wanted to make the most of it. When we first got to the room, so many if the kids that I mainly worked with weren't there! I was really upset at the idea of never having full closure with so many of them. Luckly though, everyone eventually came to class, except Lauren. I was definitely upset that I didn't get a chance to work with her one last time, or to get to say goodbye. I was most upset for Lauren, and not even necessarily for myself. Just in the week that I had worked with her she had progressed so much and really had become attached for me. So it was really sad for me to imagine her coming into class the couple days following that, looking for me to be there for her and her not really having any kind of explanation. Even for the kids that were in class that day, it's hard telling them goodbye, because they just don't even begin to comprehend that it's not goodbye until the next day at school, but forever. And I really just wonder what it is like for them to wait for us at school the next few days, wondering where we are. And how long is it before they give up on us and lose hope?

I had mentioned a few of the kids in my class in other posts, so here are some faces to match to names!

Here are the Chi twins, Chikondi (in pink) and Chifundi (in black). I have some videos of them that I will post later in this post:

This is Kezia! She is another one that I really had to work hard with. She is so quiet that I never heard her speak once . . . I really bonded with her though! She is also one of my kids that can definitely do the work, but sincerely doesn't believe that she can. Her paper was of her writing her name:

This is Corbin! He is so naughty! He is th done whose grandmother is the principal. I found out later on that his mother also works int he school. He can be such a sweet boy, but will do anything for attention:

This is Rachel! She isn't one of the kids that required much of any help, but was still such a sweetheart! Her and Vanessa always came and played with me out on the playground:

A few group photos of some of the kids!

My class absolutely loved dr. Seuss, especially The Cat in the Hat. I think I read it all but one day!

The last thing i have are some videos of the Chi twins and Innocence (who is far from actually being Innocent). They loved seeing themselves on video, so here are a few videos they wanted me to record! You can so see all of the attitude they've got! I wanted to make it one video of the clips, but had some trouble transferring the video files from my phone and ended up just needing to upload right to YouTube . . .

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