Cassie getting involved in a special community projects

For my activist project I decided to work with Chantel, our coordinator for our Ocean View homestays.  Through her I was set up tutoring in Ocean View at the library and I got a chance to go to one of her life skills training courses. 

When I went to the life skills training course I had no idea what to expect but I ended up enjoying it so much.  We listened to a motivational speaker from a local college which I thought was really moving.  The speaker came from an underresourced area of Cape Town and went through traumatic experiences as he was growing up.  He made a decision to play soccer and traveled around for a while to Germany and the United States. He broke his leg and was forced to stop playing. All he had left was a little bit of money so he asked himself “What do I have and what am I going to do with it?” So he invested his little bit of money in an education to get to where he is today.   Then we listened to a few of the kids homework assignments.  They had been assigned to tell three people that loved them.  So people told of their parents and siblings and friends but one kid’s assignment stuck out.  He is around 20 years old and he had told his father that he loved him. His father is an alcoholic and they don’t have a good relationship.  The boy said it was the first time he had seen his father smile.  I almost started crying listening to the story, and you could tell how happy it had made him. Later Chantel had told me that with just the first week of the course you could physically see his change in attitude and behavior and they still had five weeks left. I was really amazed by some of the stories I heard, both good and bad. The amount that some of these people have gone through but still have so much ambition to keep going and really make something more of their lives really amazed me. 

Tutoring has been going really well too. I spend the first hour helping grades 4 and 5 reading.  Since English is not their first language they had some trouble reading their books and I noticed that some kids had a lot of trouble with certain letters like “w” and “b.”  The second hour I spend helping older kids with math which is definitely more challenging for me but I am still happy to help. 

The librarian also asked me to come up with ideas for Easter projects and crafts for when the students have holiday at the beginning of April. I decided to raise enough money to get supplies to make and decorate Easter baskets as well as fill them with a few Easter gifts.  Then they will be hidden around the library for the kids to find.  Unfortunately I won’t be able to go the week of Easter activities but I’m really excited to get started on the project. 

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Update:

Cassie's completed baskets