Village Life

Does more always mean happier?

Hey Everyone!

As I have described in one of my previous post about Daktari we taught small groups of kids from the local village each week. The kids coming to Daktari are usually in grade 8. Another part of Daktari gives the kids that really want to learn about their environment the chance to come to the so-called ‘Eco Clubs’, a class that the Outreach Manager Sara organises twice a week in two different schools. She is usually joined by two short-term volunteers and in my second week I got the honor to get to go to both schools and help to teach them.

This week was about Renewable Resources. We learned about solar, wind and hydro energy and then did a little activity to find out more about the long-term consequences of renewable resources. It was awesome to see how willing the kids were to learn new things about the environment!!

All the local staff members that work in the office, the kitchen, housekeeping or with the animals work in a certain schedule. They  work for three weeks and then get one week off to spend with their family in the village. We got to know Pretty, our volunteer coordinator, really well in the first week but then sadly had to say goodbye because she happened to be off the second week I was there. She is such a lovely person with a bubbly personality and a heart of gold. She was so nice to let me stay at her place for a night so I got to finally meet her daughter Momo and the rest of her family.

Donald, Prettys brother, usually helps with the Eco Club and Pretty and Momo came to pick us up from school to join us for the last few minutes. So once all the little beans from the activity were packed up and the kids had all gone home, we started walking to their house in the little village called ‘Turkey’. Momo is such a sweetheart but definitely also has a strong character. We started to play a little ‘game’ my parents used to play with me. Pretty and I both held one hand of hers and then on the count of three pulled her up in the air so she could fly for a little bit. Well after a while it got exhausting and we stopped, Momo didn’t like that and decided to just lay down in the middle of the road. After some convincing we got her to come home with us though.

On our way home, Donald asked me whether I liked Mangos and since I said yes he climbed into the neighbors tree and picked three fresh mangos. Once we got home we ate them and there were on of the best things I have eaten in my life!! The rest of the day we just hang out, I got to meet Pretty’s other siblings and some kids from next door, we had dinner and some nice chats.

The next day I helped Pretty with some grocery shopping. On our way we picked up lots of plastic from little snack bags and then dropped them off at Pretty’s Grandma’s place. She uses them to make doormats out of wooden sticks wrapped in plastic and then sells them. What a great way of earning some money and doing something for the environment at the same time. We didn’t do much that morning but it was just nice to get to know everyone better, play with Momo and learn how different and then similar our lives are. Even though they might not have hot running water and the toilet is outside instead of the bathroom they are still the most loving and open-hearted people I have ever met. They made me feel so welcome and I can’t thank them enough for letting me experience their life even if we just sat in front of the tv and talked for a while.

Around lunch time we got picked up by Sara and then drove to the next village were we taught the same lesson just to a different group of kids. It was crazy to see that those kids seemed to be soaking up the new information even more than the other group. I also noticed that they all loved to take photos with us and somehow seemed to be really fascinated by my blonde hair.

After the Eco Club Isabel and I were going to do a homestay organised by DAKTARI with one lady living in the Oaks Village. It was time to eventually say goodbye to Pretty and Momo, which was pretty sad. But then another great experience in the village started.

Maakoše took us down to the river, that was dried out a lot due to the drought in South Africa. We met some lovely ladies down there who earn their money selling stones from the river bed. They spend most of their time sorting the stone by colour and size before they can pack them up and sell them. We then spend some time at the market place before heading home to cook dinner. She showed us how to cook ‘Pap’, a traditional maize meal porridge. We both helped stirring and then got to eat it with a nice potato/sausage stew.

The next day we got up at 4 in the morning because we went to the market place where Maakoše sells fish. When we woke up Maakoše gave us two buckets with water she had heated up so we could ‘have a shower’ or wash ourselves just outside her house. We then walked to the market place, sat there and watched the sun rise. While Maakoše was selling her fish we tried to make use of the little Sepedi we knew and talked to a lot of people who came by. The only thing we could same was ‘Hey.’ ‘Hey, How are you?’ ‘I’m fine and you?’ ‘Me too’ but it was so amazing to see how happy the people were that we were at least trying to communicate with them.

We then walked back home, had breakfast and then dressed up in the traditional cloths. What we didn’t know at that point was that we’d be wearing it for the next couple of hours. And for one it was super warm having to walk around in a long ‘skirt’ and secondly everyone was looking at us walking through the village because they usually only wear those cloths on special occasions. But it was still lots of fun and a great experience.

We then walked to one of the local ‘Creches’ (Preschool or Kindergarten) and got to meet the kids. They sang lots of songs, danced and played some short theatre plays. It was adorable! Sadly we didn’t really have much time to play with the kids but I still used the few minutes to tickle them and play a little. It was wonderful to see how curious they were and how much fun they had.

Before heading home we visited some of Maakoše’s friends who owned a local bakery. And look at that baby… isn’t it the cutest?! I love how they have found such a simple way to carry their babies/kids around. They just use a towel and a certain way of folding that to keep their kids on their back. Nothing fancy needed just a simple towel.

After an exciting day in the village we grabbed our back and then walked to the school. We helped Sara to clean up the last bit of the classroom and then dropped off some of the toys at the Creche that Momo goes to. So more curious and happy faces and I got to see that little cutie one more time! Going back to the kids at Daktari having learned so much in the past 48 hours. I nearly felt like coming back as a different person. Seeing that even though the people living there don’t have as many materialistic things as we might have they have so much more than that. Their endless love and happiness reminded me to step back more often and take the time to appreciate all the little things we have more!!

 

I hope everyone is doing well!! I’m currently staying with my second family in New Zealand and enjoying some relaxed time and catching up with friends. Would love to hear back on what you guys are doing, maybe comment or send me a message?

Lena xx