December Greetings

DECEMBER IN AFRICA

36 degrees Celsius (97 degrees Fahrenheit),

Braaing outside (aka a barbeque) on a Friday night,

And only three days until Christmas…

This is December in Africa!

On December 4^th, Grade R had their end of the term party. We made this a Christmas themed party since I won’t be able to see them on Christmas day.

The week before our party, we set up a Christmas tree. Yes, I actually went out into the bush and cut this baby down!

The following week, we made a different ornament each day to help decorate our little tree.

We also had a countdown on the chalkboard to help the students better understand “how soon” until our party!

On the day of the party, we sang Christmas carols, ate cookies & milk, sweets and chips, colored Christmas sheets and even had several different gifts to unwrap!

It was such an amazing experience to watch the excitement on my students faces. Most of them have never had a Christmas tree before let alone received gifts on Christmas morning. Africans see Christmas Day more as a time to gather with family and spend time in the kitchen making delicious foods.

On December 9^th, Hope Valley Farm School closed for the term. Of my nine students, two of my students will be moving to Grade 1. The other seven will be staying in Grade R for another year. This is a common thing. Some students can remain in Grade R for up to three years depending on how old they are when they begin.

Hope Valley Farm School also had registration on December 10^th for our 2016 school year. At registration, I had 13 new students sign up to start Grade R in January. This means that I will go from having nine students in my classroom to 20! Although I am very excited about this, I am also a bit nervous due to the language barrier.

We will open school again on January 18^th, 2016.

Since my class size will be doubling, I have been fortunate enough to move my classroom into a bigger space. I have already put in several hours working on and fixing up my new classroom. We are currently at a standstill as we are awaiting a new roof and floor for the building! I am hoping to begin the process of moving in on the 27^th of this month. Stay tuned for updates and pictures of the new classroom!

Since school has been closed, there hasn’t been much going on at the farm where I live. A few days after school closed, my reps picked me up at the farm and we left for a retreat by the Indian Ocean. The whole South African team gathered here and we enjoyed a week by the sea.

After our retreat, my reps returned me to Lily of The Valley Orphanage where I plan to stay for the Christmas holidays. I have been enjoying my time here very much so far. All of the children are so excited for Christmas morning. Below are some pictures of things going on around the village. 

We have begun to Christmas wrapping earlier this week and are still awaiting a few more orders to come in. Stay tuned for more pictures of Christmas morning and our Christmas Day activities! 

THE HORIZON

Next Friday (January 1st, 2016) I will be flying to Johannesburg, South Africa where I will meet my parents. We will then be spending the following two weeks together. 

As mentioned before, I will being teaching back at Hope Valley Farm School on Jauary 18th. This will almost put me at my half way point. My experience here in South Africa has been absolutely flying & I have been loving every second of it.

On February 28th, I will be running my first FULL marathon in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa..... PRAYING it wont be a hot day! 

I hope everyone has a blessed Christmas back home; I am missing you all! 

Peace and love to all ♡
Allison Shade 

"And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same thing."

Watch Us Grow

Grade-R is GROWING

Over this past month, we have come so far in Grade R! We have been continuing on with our alphabet, letter sounds, numbers, shapes and colors as well as a new topic - health and nutrition. As mentioned before, many of my students come to school with chips in their hands and a “stick sweet” (also known as a lollipop) in their mouths.

As most of you can assume, Miss Shade is not okay with such eating habits while being at school. And although I know I cannot change their home lifestyle or culture, I can at least attempt to PROMOTE better eating while they are in my presence within the classroom.

                                   

     

     

Along with the healthy snacks and nutrition talks, we also discussed the importance of growing plants and vegetables. We talked about how plants need three things to survive: water, air & sun.  And last, we discussed how important it is to take care of our earth and why plants are so important. To better help my students understand, we got our hands dirty and planted our own seeds!

Most children at such a young age are unable to understand how you can plant a little brown seed into the dirt and a few days later have a green leaf coming out of the ground, so to better help them understand, we started off by constructing our very own little greenhouses. This would allow my students to watch the germination process and see the changes that occur each day. Inside the greenhouses, we placed wet cotton balls and a few bean seeds. We then sealed off the baggie and hung it on the window so it could get sunlight.

   

Sure enough, 7 days later we began to see the roots sprouting from the seeds and stems beginning to form!

After watching our greenhouses grow for a week and having a better concept of what really happens under the ground, we each planted our own pumpkin seeds!

Not even five days later, we began to see the little plants pushing through the dirt. The children were so excited when their very own pumpkin plant began to grow.

We plan to transplant our little seedlings into the ground within the next week and hopefully have an abundance of pumpkins to paint and carve by the fall time here!

PB&J FRIDAY

About five weeks ago, I decided to start a program within my class known as PB&J Friday. I created PB&J Friday in hopes to send my students home from school on a Friday afternoon with a full tummy, not knowing exactly how much food is available for them at home. Every Friday I take a loaf of brown bread, a jar of peanut butter and a jar of jelly to school and we all make our own peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Most of my students devour it before I even finish making mine, but some actually put them in their bags and take them home with them for later in the weekend!

OUR NEW STUDENT

As many of you know, when I started teaching here in September, I only had eight students. About a month ago, we received a new student in our class. His name is Tino and he is fitting in so well with the other students! Tino will be returning to Grade R with me again next January when school begins.

Overall, I feel as if we have made leaps and bounds within the Grade R classroom; our academics, our English, our manners and just the overall feeling of love within the class and between the students. Looking ahead, we only have approximately three weeks left of school until we close for summer break. We will be closing on December 9^th, 2015 and we will open again on January 13^th, 2016. Even though I will not get to spend Christmas with these little guys, I still have some exciting things planned to do with them – stay tuned!

   

[Its currently the rainy season here, which means BUG SEASON! Yes, this is my student Olwethu EATING BUGS straight from the ground. These are known as izalukazana, or flying ants!]

Lily of The Valley Children’s Village

As most of you know, I have been spending a lot of my weekends and off time at a partner organization known as Lily of the Valley. For those of you who dont know about Lily, it is a non-profit organization created to help AIDS infected and affected children and their communities. To learn more about this organization, feel free to check out their newly updated webpage:

Lily of The Valley Childrens Orphange

Coming into my year overseas, I knew that the holiday season would probably be one of the hardest times for me. With this being my first Thanksgiving/Christmas away from my home and family, I wanted to find a way to not only make it something memorable for myself, but most importantly the children at Lily of The Valley Orphange. 

Over the past few weeks, I have been fundraising and planning for the upcoming Christmas Holiday at Lily of the Valley Childrens Village. With there being just shy of 120 children at the village currently, preperation and planning needed to start early! Setting my initial goal amount at $800.00, I have been able to go above and beyond this amount - THANKS TO ALL OF YOU!  

Feel free to check out my page and see what has already been done and what can still be done to reach my NEW GOAL of $1,500.00!

Allison Shade - Christmas at LoVE

Once school closes here at Hope Valley Farm School, I plan to go to Lily of The Valley where I will spend my Holiday season until my parents arrive on January 1st, 2016!

THE HORIZON 

Sitting here writing this post, I cannot believe that I am already three months into my assignment and have only three weeks left in the school term until summer break! 

From Decemeber 14th - Decemeber 19th, I will have a retreat on the beach in Durban with the South African team and other volunteers.

On Decemeber 20th, I plan to go to Lily of The Valley Childrens Village where I will spend my Christmas with all the little orphans! 

On January 1st, 2016, my mom and dad will be arriving in Johannesburg where I will meet them and we will get to spend two weeks together!

The new school year will begin on January 13th, 2016 and I will meet all my new students! 

Words cannot begin to explain how thankful I am for the endless love and support that has been sent my way. I would not be enjoying this experience as much as I am if it werent for everyones kind words of wisdom and prayers. 

Peace and love to all ♡
Allison Shade 

"There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living."

Christmas at Lily of The Valley

Hey guys! Since being here in South Africa, I have been spending a lot of my time working with a partner organization known as Lily of The Valley.

LoVE is a non-profit organization created to help AIDS infected and affected children and their communities. A place that provides holistic care for children and youth who have been marginalized through HIV, AIDS and a broken society. 

With there being just about 120 orphans total at LoVE, the Christmas planning must begin now and I can use YOUR HELP!

 Please check out my page to see what has already been done and what can still be done to help with our special day! 

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT MY PAGE

TWO MONTHS

As I sit here and reflect on my experiences so far, I can’t believe that it has already been almost two months since my arrival. I feel as if it was just yesterday that I said my final goodbyes and boarded the plane to come here. My time is simply flying and I can’t help but think that is because I am truly having the experience of a lifetime. And although not every second of this journey has been “ideal”, it is shaping me into the person that I am today.

During the week, I have been focusing all my energy on my Grade R class. We are continuing to work through our alphabet, letter sounds, numbers, counting and colors. I have been preaching the importance of LOVE and friendship.

I have also been tutoring several older students every Tuesday and Thursday in Reading/English.

The newest project that I have kicked off in my class is called “PB&J Friday!” Knowing that half of my students walk home approximately 3-4 miles each day from school and do not get much food once they arrive home, I wanted to start a simple yet meaningful program within my classroom where my students can eat something before leaving for the weekend. Each Friday before my students leave, they make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to enjoy! I then give them the option to eat at right away, or pack it to take home with them for later in the weekend! (Most of them eat it RIGHT AWAY because they never had a PB&J before and they think it’s the BEST THING EVER)

Things on the sugar cane plantation can get very quiet on the weekends, so I have been going just down the road a bit to a children’s orphanage called Lily of the Valley. LOV is an orphanage designed for mostly HIV positive children from the age of newborn - seniors in high school. Due to the HUGE gap in age differences, Lily of the Valley is welcoming to all the extra help they can get! This is also where I will be spending my holiday season this year since Hope Valley Farm School will be closed for break. Stay tuned for upcoming information involving Lily of the Valley and Christmas. YOU can be a “Santa Claus” for a child in need!

So, here’s the deal. I know most of you are just dying to know more about “What life is REALLY like in Africa”, so without any hesitation, I give you:

THE NITTY GRITTY TRUTHS

1.     Showers do not exist around here. I share a bathtub with 4 other women. A gas flame that is placed next to the tub heats the water. When the gas runs out, so does the hot water!

2.     I only get meat once a week, and that is on Sundays. Most of our hot dishes throughout the week consist of rice and beans.

3.     Most Zulus do not use silverware while eating. Although I usually still use silverware, I try to make it a point to use my fingers every once and awhile!

4.     The South African sun is unlike any I have ever witnessed. Sunscreen is a must on a daily basis!

5.     It gets dark here around 6:00pm, which means bed by 8:00pm at the latest! It is not recommended to go out anywhere after sundown.

6.     The electricity usually goes out approximately 3 days a week, with no given schedule. Most of the time, this is due to load shedding - leaving me reading by candlelight most nights!

7.     Monkeys run this place. Literally. They knock on my bedroom window each morning to wake me up!

8.     You never realize how far away home is until you are living on the other side of the world.

9.     You find that the SMALLEST things will remind you of home.

10.  Eating bugs tends to be a delicacy for most, but I haven’t found a sweet tooth for them yet.

Even though these may be some of the things that I struggle with the most while being here, I also am aware that I will have a newfound appreciation for things like this once I return home. 

THE HORIZON

1.     Although I will be missing Thanksgiving at home with my family for the first time ever, I am very much looking forward to spending this holiday in a different country with people from all around the world!

2.     Looking ahead, my parents will be arriving here in South Africa on January 1^st, 2016 and I couldn’t be anymore excited.

3.     The 4^th term of this school year will be ending on December 9^th, 2015 and I will be sending 4 of my Grade R students onto 1^st grade! Although I will miss them dearly, it is such an accomplishing feeling inside.

4.     I will be getting a handful of new students when the new school year begins in January of 2016.

5.     Even though I am already having a hard time imagining not being home for the Christmas holidays, I will be spending this holiday season at Lily of the Valley Children’s orphanage with 120 children who do not have families.

6.     On February 28^th 2016, I will be completing my 3^rd half marathon here in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa! (Thoughts about signing up for the FULL marathon may have crossed my mind – stay tuned!)

Again, thank you EVERYONE for the endless support on this journey of mine. 

I know many of you have been in touch with me regarding my mailing address:

Allison Shade

C/O Nigel and Trisha Stainbank

Buckhaw Brow Farm

R603 Umlaas Road

P.O. Box 71

Eston, 3740

KZN South Africa

Love and peace to all ♡
Allison Shade

"Know that your kindness has a ripple effect in the universe"