Welcome to Hope Valley Farm School

On |Friday September 11^th|, I packed up all my belongings once again, moved out of my Reps house in the city of Pietermaritzburg, and headed out into the sugarcane land! When closing the door behind me, so many thoughts and emotions rushed through my mind. Yet another new set of faces and new places that I would now be calling my family. What would my room look like? What is life on a plantation like? What if I don’t understand my new parents? How many other people will be living with me? The questions flooded my head and my thoughts began to take off.

We drove approximately 100km out of the city and as I looked out my window, I saw a Rhino to my right and an ostrich to my left. I looked in front of me and behind me, and all I saw were rolling hills and valleys of nothing but green sugarcane fields. At this point in the drive I smiled and said, “Welcome home Allison!”

I’ve been to a lot of places in my lifetime, but never somewhere as gorgeous as Eston, South Africa. They call this place “The Valley of A Thousand Hills,” and I now understand why. The never-ending green sugarcane up against the bright blue sky is unexplainable. No matter which tree you look in, you will find a monkey with a stick of sugarcane hanging out of its mouth. The smell of fresh tropic flowers is overwhelming and the distance between the palm trees is just wide enough for a hammock! I am overjoyed to call such a gorgeous place my home.

Upon my arrival, the electricity was actually out. Here in South Africa they will turn the power off in certain locations for a few hours each day to help save energy. This is something call “load shedding” and is very common all over Africa. Needless to say, I was unpacking and setting up my new room by candlelight!

When I woke up on Saturday |September 12, 2015|, I walked to my school. The school that I will be teaching at is actually located on the same property as my house. Each morning throughout this next year, I will be walking approximately 15 minutes through the sugarcane to get to my classroom. Below you will find a picture of the school grounds.

When I arrived, I was taken to my classroom - a single room building with four concrete walls, a tin roof, and 1 table. Below you will find a picture of my classroom from the outside as well as a “before picture” of the inside.

After two coats of fresh paint, 2 days of cleaning and a lot of reorganizing, I finally completed my first classroom and it is ready for my students tomorrow! I am beyond excited to meet each and every one of them. There will be eight in total between the ages of 4-6. Check out the picture below to see the final product and one happy teacher!

Well, that’s a wrap for now! Check back later this week for more on my first week living on a plantation as well as introductions/pictures of each of my students.

Peace and Love to all  ♡
Allison Shade

“And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same”