The Final Goodbye

Early start for a big day of celebration...and tears. We started by painting faces and singing celebratory songs. We marched through the communities, from Butswana to Turkey, carrying our beautiful banners. The children and carers from all three centers and us Roedean girls singing at the top of our voices "VIVA BASADI VIVA".

Once we arrived at the new Turkey center we were inspired by the two guest speakers, one being the founder of Phedisang. They helped us to appreciate and recognise the greatness and power of women in every community, and just how magical women really are. The MC, a dynamic and fabulous lady, taught us the real meaning behind the word WOMAN - Well Organised MANagers. We served biscuits and juice to all the attendants and played a quick game of soccer and left the community forever, with many tears from the Roedean girls.

We got back to the mission to prepare for a MASSIVE party. PARTY ROCKERS AT THE MISSION TONIGHT! was the song of the night. Showing off our many talents and dance moves we mananged to wear ourseleves out to exhaustion. We braaied and decorated the mission with colourful balloons and streamers. After a massive amount of food being served to all and a magnificent cake we all got our dancing shoes on and hit the dancefloor, and what great dance moves we saw!

The first taxi arrived, and only too soon. The tears welled up in everyone's eyes as we said our Final Goodbyes.

Phedisang is number one,
No matter what can people say
But phedisang is number one.

Not one of us wants to get in that bus tomorrow even though we are so ready to come home.

WE LOVE PHEDISANG!
Love it, Love it, Love it.

Day 5...Nearing the End

DUMELANG!

We woke up to a cow-bell-clanging morning. A failed attempt to make pancakes with a microwave resulted in delicious scrambled egg under the watchful eye of Chief Chef Khensani.

A portion of the sunny (yay!) morning was spent doing some hardcore manual labour at the mission. This involved moving the biggest pile of gravel in the world from one end of the compound to not quite the other side! We also swept the spirally-confusing labyrinth.

We then piled into the bus and drove to a traditional “hospital” to visit a sangoma! After seeing her passport, we found out that she was a fresh 81 years young, brimming with wisdom and stories of how she was trained by a snake/fish/human creature in an underwater civilization! It sounds strange now, but we were all captivated in the sacred hut.

On to the centres! A busy afternoon of making banners for the Women’s Day march tomorrow, planting four trees (dihlari) at each centre, developing relationships with the leaders, and dancing and playing with the children.  We also served them lunch. They were all so happy and good-spirited. We felt even more welcome and immersed in the culture when we also shared their meals of pap and beans. No cutlery!

Supper-time proved to be a much-needed refuel after an exhausting and rewarding day. The best-tasting Hamburgers (with the help of Vusi and Grace) followed by peaches and custard were on the menu. We shared stories over the braai which sounds so South African but true.

We’ve just had a debriefing, discussing and expressing all our experiences and feelings. Some of the emotions were mutual. We’re all beginning to discover how this dynamic group works together with our strengths and weaknesses.

Hot chocolate and 30 Seconds are calling our names!

-Khensani, Rosie, and Caitlin

Day 4...Another Day in Limpopo

Another day in Paradise in Limpopo

All I wanna do is take loads of photos

I got my takkies tied and my cap on high

Today we went hiking and saw the Drakensburg sky

With cows and chickens, we all made friends

We didn’t know what was coming round the next bend

Arriving at the homestead, nothing more to say

We were invited in, in such a different way

Saw some huts and a fire

Place surrounded by wood and not barbed wire

Friendly people lots of smiles

All we wanted to do was stay a while

Met a man who claimed to be “Messiah”

Maybe he is? Or just a liar?

Sweet Potatoes and saw farm life

Met the chief and his lovely wife

Down the hill we all went

It was a few good hours very well spent

All rested and had some free time

To reflect on our day and get a positive mind

As supper came along we went to Wendy’s venue

Spaghetti Bolognaise was on the evening’s menu

Dinner went down, a total treat

All sang songs for the sadly ill Pete

What a day, full of fun and memories

Regardless of the weathers chilly breeze

We love Phedisang, give me a high-5

We will check in tomorrow, if we are still alive

                                                                                                                           

-Tara Ellis, Carla Kluth and Sheila Lubega

Day 3...Continuing On

We had a late start by waking up at 7 to be ready by 9 to perform our educational play for the learners at Sekolo Primary. The play was to teach the learners how to take care of the environment and the 4 mango trees we planted with them. It was the last day we would be working with the Sekolo leaners therefore after we planted the trees and performed our play about looking after the environment (The Giving Tree); we had to say our goodbyes. It was a very sad goodbye but we learnt a lot from them during the last two days and we hope to use the rest of these lessons for the rest of our lives.  We went to a bakery factory where we watched cakes, bread, and rolls being made; we found it very interesting to help them put icing on our cake. As a group we ordered a cake for the party we will have with the Phedisang leaders on Tuesday night. We got back at 3 and relaxed a bit before having hot dogs for a late lunch. After a bit of free time we were a given a yoga lesson by Wendy, we all needed this and afterwards felt cool, calm and collected. Free time was given until super at 18:00 which consisted of delicious corn fritters, crumbed chicken, vegetable patties and a lovely fresh Greek salad. Once our tummies were full we sat down to a nice beading session where plenty of bracelets and necklaces were made. Finally we tucked into the delicious cake that the bakery gave us as a gift and then went off to bed.

Yerma, Nikita, and Sandi

Day 2 - Off and Running

Waking up at 6:00 was the least of our worries. We prepared breakfast for the "Phedisang Crew" and after that we made our way to Sekolo Primary, where we were greeted like celebrities.

First on the agenda was attending the assembly. The prayers the children sang touched our hearts and gave us shivers.

After assembly, it was time for class. We split up and off we went to experience a day in the life of a Sekolo Primary student. Comparing this to our own school, we felt a bit guilty but more than  anything appreciation. We had an amazing time playing with the children at break and we were extremely sad, as well as excited to finally move onto our different Phedisang centres

Today we met our leaders. We spent a little time at the centres getting to know them, singing, dancing and sharing a delightful lunch with them.

After a long and busy day, we finally arrived back at the mission where we ended the day off with a braai and reflection session. Overall this was a critical day in our stay as this was our introduction to the next 5 days of this incredible journey.

-Romy, Yuka and Natasha

Day 1 - The Beginning

There once were some girls from Roedean,

Who weren’t so sure where they’d been.

Then they arrived,

And it opened their eyes.

It was something new they had seen.
 

Today we arrived at the London Mission and dived right in. Information overload. Far more then we expected. Sarah and I (Rosa) were the first chefs. Sarah attempted to salad and I made brilliant Cous Cous. Before the cooking started we were all SHOCKED by the toilets (long drops!!!!!) it was different but cool.

We had an introductory brief from Megan, Wendy and Charity. They are involved with Peace Corps as well as Phedisang. We learned some basic Sepedi words and our attempts were laughed at mercilessly.

Everyone is exhausted and drifting off to bed.

It’s certainly been a packed day!

-Rosa and Sarah

The Journey Begins Again. In 2011.

We are excited to invite you the 2011 Roedean and Phedisang Working Together Community Outreach Project.  It is going to be a busy week and we look forward to sharing a bit of our adventure with you.  Stay tuned for blog updates from the girls throughout the week...