We split our time between two schools today, Elim in the morning and Ditshego in the afternoon. At Elim, we split the kids into three groups–early elementary, late elementary/middle and older kids (late middle or early high school). The young age group was full of laughter, as they learned through games and stories. The middle group was so engaging, as they learned about nouns and adjectives, as they described their peers. They grasped the concepts very well and really impressed our team with their English vocabulary. The word pretty was quickly upgraded to ‘gorgeous’ and ‘beautiful’ by the kids! And if that wasn’t impressive enough, the older kids were already learning about economics, business and entrepreneurship. Here we simulated starting a business– building a balance sheet and an income statement for ‘Beauty Hair Salon’. It was a hit–profitable in the first year! We also tied in yesterday’s bible verse–Roman 8:31–If God is for us, who can be against us.
But, the highlight of the morning was clearly the Superhero skit that Becky, Morgan (Supergirl) and Austin (Superman) conducted–costumes and all! They taught the kids about courage, saying no to wrong, and helping others. They also had a powerful message about bullying and that Jesus is their strength, no matter what!
In the afternoon, we made our first trip to Ditshego. More on Ditshego tomorrow, as we will be celebrating Mandela Day. But today was great. We taught the teachers how to use computers and basic typing–they all did great! We also loved teaching and playing with the kids. Cassie’s Hokey Pokey was a big hit, and the kids also taught us an African dance. To end our day, Morgan shared that she was asked if she was Indian and Austin said that one of the kids guessed his age at 55 years old (he only missed it by 31 years!). What a day–we’re very excited for Mandela Day tomorrow!