About me
Hi! It's me... Andrea!
In this blog you can live vicariously through my journey around Southern Africa!
This is where my heart is...
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It would be silly to come to Africa and don't get involved in the community.
Last week in swakopmund I met a girl who is volunteering as a counselor in Cape Town and told me about paid jobs as counselors here in Africa... So so so tempting! Then I think about how hard it is to stay in the US and I wonder "Is it possible that my time in the US has run out? Should I move on? What should I do with my life?!" And I can't help but have this feeling of "why should I fight so hard to stay in a country where they make it so hard for me to stay and seems like they don't want me when the rest of the world is waiting with arms wide open for people like me?!?!" I will leave it to the universe to give me exactly what I'm meant to be doing...
Before I left to sossusvlei I asked in my hostel where I could go and volunteer Friday and Saturday because I really wanted to work with kids. During the tour I met Eileen who happened to mention that her sister Mary Beth runs an after school program in Katutura called the Bernhard Nordkamp Center. After my bike tour I decided to call Mary Beth to see if I could volunteer that afternoon and she said yes and I am SO HAPPY she did.
When I arrived at the center with Mary Beth the children were all waiting outside and were more than excited to see her... And I want to believe that they were excited to see me too! Jajaja
From the moment I got out of the car my heart melted, the kids were so cute, they all tried to hug me and asked my name. So super sweet.
The after school program focuses on helping children with school work but Fridays are for fun activities so I got to be part of a less structured day.
I was quickly grabbed and taken into the library where I sat on the carpet reading to probably ten children. One of them, John, sat next to me and touched my hair the whole time. Children would come in and out and say hello, and since I have a cold I had to stop reading after 30 mins and they took me over to the world map to show them where El Salvador is.
Since the moment we left the library John held my hand and took me over to the map and then to the garden where he showed me all the plants and vegetables. Before the garden he noticed I was wearing a ring and he said "are you engaged?" I said "no" then he asked "are you married?" I said "no" and then he said "so this ring is just a ring" and I said "yes! My mom gave it to me!" Then while we were walking on the garden holding hand he started to hum the traditional wedding song... OMG! I wanted to die!!! It was so cute!!!
Then he took me over to the tennis courts with racquets in hand... Jajaja me playing tennis in Namibia?!?! that was something that would have never crossed my mind before! Last time i played tennis i think i was 10! jaja I didn't want to sound like an idiot and say "I don't know how to play tennis" so I grabbed that racquet and I owned it! We played for half hour and it felt great to be part of this children's lives.
Here are pictures from our tennis adventure:
I love the lower left picture!!! In the shadow you can see the amount of kids that it took to take a picture!
Back at the center I spent the afternoon playing "teacher" (well, I was the student of two very bossy teachers) and a full hour playing chutes and ladder!
The whole afternoon was simply beautiful! Being surrounded by kids it's what I love the most, I truly see it as my calling. I have come into this world to leave it at least a little bit better than how i found it and the way for me to do that is through children: working with them, giving them love, teaching them, being a person that does not hold judgement for their actions but instead lovingly help them see their potential and help them discover the best part of them.
I've said it many times and I'll say it again... I'M NOT A WRITER... It is really hard for me to sit here and write my feelings in a piece of paper (virtual paper in this case) and even though I have written many words there is nothing I can write that really truly reflect what my heart feels right now.
I have been here for only a week and it has made me think of what I want to do with my life. I see so many opportunities to really help people here in Africa, it makes me want to move here and do what I do best... But my mom would die if I move to Africa!!! Jajaja
Anyway, if you would like more info about Mary Beth's program here is a video of her center:
http://vimeo.com/12618632
Her funding was recently cut so if you want to donate I am sure the kids and Mary Beth would appreciate it, it is such a great program and she does it with so much passion and love that I feel people should support it :-)
This picture came out blurry but there is something about it that I totally love!!! <3
