Hi friends!
I am now on day four in South Africa and already loving it! It is impossible to not feel at home and loved among these remarkably warm people. The atmosphere at Dayspring school is hard to describe without being experienced. I had been trying to think of one word to sum it up, and immediately the word passion came to mind. The staff at Dayspring, and especially the children, live out everyday with so much passion and excitement. If one of them starts to sing a song, everyone else joins in and it turns into a school wide dance circle.
I could list so many instances of this, but one of my favorites was the other night with some of the older girls. I came into their room to hang out, and they wanted to show me a song. After they were done with that song, they didn't stop. They just continued dancing around the room, worshipping, and waving their Bibles in the air. At the end we all stood in a circle and everyone prayed at the same time. I opened my eyes to look around and every single girl was shouting praises and exalting the Lord at the top of her lungs. I had done this with the staff in the mornings, but doing this with middle school girls, without any prompting, was just amazing. I think my favorite part about Dayspring in this first week is their freedom of expression to sing, dance, and worship all the time. Here's to hoping some of their rhythm rubs off on me.
The second thing I love is that Dayspring operates like one big family. The kids stay at Dayspring from Monday to Friday, some even staying through the weekend. Most of the staff live in houses on the property. For many of the kids, Dayspring is a safe haven from the real world. The kids love each other like siblings, and it shows in the way they treat one another. I am beyond thankful for the way each and every person has greeted me like family.
As far as what I have been doing here, I came expecting to be a teacher's aid/tutor, but what I have actually been doing is a bit different. I have been working with some of the school teachers who are taking online college classes, teaching them the basics of computers, so that they can submit their assignments online. I have also been working to install games on computers for the lower grades so they can get used to typing, and using a computer. Several old windows computers were donated to the school, and they needed to be plugged in and set up. I have also been reading with the Grade 1s. Most of my time though has been spent playing with the kids and getting used to how everything runs here at Dayspring.
Next week I will be teaching the kids how to use the computer games and also teaching the teachers in each class so that eventually they won't need me. I will also be teaching English to the Grade 4s. After we see how that goes, I may be able to take on all of Grade 4 subjects and free up the interim teacher, Uncle Elijah, to continue with maintenance and construction around the school. Please continue to pray for Dayspring and for the Lord's provision in the lives of these children!
Thank you so much for all your support and prayers!
Pictures to come soon!
Love, Nicole
