Today was Bafana’s first day of Service week! It is crazy to think that we all signed up for Global LEAD for its adventures and community service, and it is just now starting. Our group went into Sir Lowry’s Pass today for three hours to meet the wonderful families and the children we will get to know during the week. When we first got off the bus, a few kids swarmed the bus but the rest of the welcoming crowd was waiting in the community center building. We walked in and immediately children and Global Leaders were hitting it off. The children were so excited to see us and had quite the energy to play as well. The ‘soup moms’ who will be our moms away from home for the week were also there to greet us at the door. The agenda for today was to play with the children and meet the moms for an hour and a half, and then break into groups of four or five and eat with a family in the community. While we sang a few American songs as well as a few in Afrikaans, the kids opened up to our presence and the energy ignited. All of our boys turned into living jungle gyms for the kids to climb over as the girls started up a game of Little Sally Walker. After goofing off with the children, we split into our groups and headed to our group home. I was included in Ms. Emily’s home for dinner with her sister and brother-in-law and their three children and friends. We cooked for the family and made spaghetti with meat sauce. I felt slightly under pressure because I wanted the meal to be great for them. The three girls cooked while Michael shared different stories with the family. We were able to hear their story and learn about their family dynamics. We watched an African Gospel video while we ate our dinner with one another. We sat on the floor with the children and asked them random fun facts. I learned that one of the boys favorite colors is clear- who knew clear was a color. We ended the night with a Dr. Suess book read by the middle child, as well as a prayer said by the father, who is a member of the African Gospel choir we had listened to earlier. The afternoon was a very humbling experience and ignited a desire for more service in our whole group. We all look forward to returning to our new friends tomorrow and anxious to learn from them while we aid in their after school programs.

I am sorry I have no pictures to post. We kept all of our cameras at home for the day, but pictures are soon to come.

Madeline Stivender