Day 3 Part 2 (as promised): yesterday in the afternoon we had our first kayamandi visit! this is a place where young kids can go after school so basically from 2-3 o'clock to have extra help... it is wonderful to see because they all go by choice and therefore are soooo eager to be there and learn. it is part of a bigger group called ISOS which i think i told you about yesterday. its another student group who volunteer in this project and set it up... there were about 50 of us in total and we piled into 3 vans which were meant to only hold ten each lol... oops. i ended up being crushed in the boot whilst bouncing over bumpy roads for both trips but hey thats all part of the fun lol. when we arrived we got out of the vans and this mob of smily mucky kids surrounded us, one random kid just came up and gave me a big hug and the massivest (oh my english is so good lol) grin!!! we were all given one kid to help out on their sheet about "progressive pro-nouns"... i was hardly an expert on that myself which was a little embarassing! my little girl was called amanda and was about 8 i think... her english wasnt great and neither was my "xhosa" - one of the 11 spoken langs can you believe! we got by tho and she was very sweet. the first thing she said to me when i sat down was (in slightly worse english than this) hello i'm amanda and your my friend! was really nice... i had a bottle of orange juice which i think her and her friends paid more attention to than me but what the hell - kept them happy and the work got done so wahey! Day 4: (today) we had another early start today being picked up at 8.30 from our halls... the plan was to visit the remainding possible placements. we started with hector-peterson high school which if i'm honest looked more like a prison than a skl... we had a talk from the deputy head who was very nice but he was asking us about our academic talents/interests or whatever it was and we had to write them down to see what we could be useful at... frankly hving only just finished my a-levels teaching them would prob be a little past my capabilities but i dont really fancy working there simply cos its a bit dingy and i dont think i could be much use, altho you walk in and they are soooooooo well behaved your jaw litterally clangs against the floor. seriously if you saw that in england you would prob have a severe heart attack from shock... anyway fingers crossed that isnt one of my major placements. next we went to "macassar haven". this is a very small place where children upto the age of about 5-8 who have been abused go. very often its sexual abuse so you have to be very careful when a new child comes in. we saw lots of happy faces running around which was good, oh apart from one little boy who had the cutest "i have no idea what is going on round here, what i would call confuzled face on". there were these two girls in particular, two sisters who unfortunately are leaving on tues, so basically when we start, who were adorable... they sat up when you went in and these huuuuuuuuuuge grins didnt leave their faces the whole time you were there! at this place the kids only stay for 3 months when they will try to be rehabilitated to their home culture and place. we didnt stay at this place very long as it works in conjunction with cotlands. this is where we went next and i tell you what i was NOT expecting a biology lesson lol but it sorta felt like one... we were taught how the HIV virus worked and each cell attack and blah blah... they were very hot on their rules. their so tight on their confidentiality that you have to sign an oath and your not allowed to take pics without permission, waaaaaaaaaa!!!!! we took a look around and most of the kids are toddlers or babies and OOOMMMGGG they are just the cutest things ever. there is quite a strict regime there which i'm still not completely up to scrathc on but i think i would really like to work in those two places altho i think u may have to chose between the two which would suck but u cant have it all. after our lunch break we went to visit the last place which was little angels. this place was charming. it was a tiny hospice run in this lady's home. she was called tia and had started up the hospice to help her nephew who was SEVERELY brain damaged and completely helpless. she has only about 8 children there and about 3 staff and herself. it is absolutely lovely to see how she knows each child so individually and how they look up to her... they are all so delightful in their own ways, some much more disabled than others. we had a full blown introduction to each and you just couldnt help but smile. they range from 2.5 to 13 years old and you can see how that place, even tho it would be SO exceedingly tough would be very rewarding getting to know them and getting them to know and recognise you. i wont go into their details now even tho their stories are so heartwarming a) because i'm running out of room and b) cos i cant remember all of them lol. i'll give you the details if and when i start there. on the way back our drivere (another one... calvyn who is a tour guide) told us of a tour he is running which would cover some absolutely amaaaaazing things for only R1500 (about 150 pounds... so cheap) we've all said yes please and he's gonna check its ok with dineo. it is over a bank holiday long weekend they have over here so would last about 4/5 days. i wont tell you all the details of what it would entail but it it does work out expect a HUGELY LONG email when i return lol. sorry there arnt any fotos yet... there dont seem to be any USB ports on these comps to download them so i'm having to wait until i've got enuff to make it worthwhile putting them onto a CD. miss you all lots and lots will enter another entry soon lots of love emily xxx