hellooo! wir muessen einmal im Monat einen Bericht abgeben, in dem ich meine Probleme und Erfolge beschreibe und diesen dann mit der Chefin Martha bespreche. deswegen ist er auf Englisch, viel spass!
Monthly Report of Clara Fernau
In September I felt more familiar with the girls. I made up a weekly plan which contains Bible Lessons, computer lessons, guitar lessons and activities.
The bible lessons with Nthabiseng went well but only a few times. Because I am not so familiar with the bible I cannot tell her much about it like a teacher. She just read a part of the bible, we discussed it and then she summarized it. Nthabiseng seemed to enjoy it but always doing the same is boring for her and me. So I asked Henry to overtake the bible lessons which she will do soon. I hope she can teach Nthabiseng better then I can because with me, it was just working with a text and nothing devotion-like.
The Computer lessons go very well. I place a list in the house where the girls enter their name and the time, so every Tuesday they can check their emails (which they mostly write to other girls in the house). A challenge for me is that they often don’t know the time when it’s their turn and sometimes I find them sleeping. But I already talked to the girls and next time I’ll just wake them up. Maybe a clock would be nice for the house because some girls appear too late or too early because they don’t know the time.
The guitar lessons are very nice; I and Mmathapelo really enjoy them. She is a good learner and if she is successful in playing she just doesn’t give up and tries over and over again. But sometimes I really have to encourage her to keep on practicing because she thinks she will never do it properly. I enjoy teaching somebody because it makes me happy too see how they enjoy it.
The only problem I have is with the activities. Every Wednesday I left space in the weekly plan to offer an activity for all the girls but it never really happened. One day we wanted to play soccer but then we found everybody asleep. The next time we visited Sibonglie and the other time we tidied up the garden but without help from the girls (they didn’t want to and I didn’t want to force them). Since some weeks I’m looking for a nice place to play soccer where we can practice. Heinrich, he is a Volunteer at Akanani offered his help. I would be glad if that project runs soon because I think the girls need something regularly to do and sport is a great way to express themselves and to improve the group feeling.
The Holidays were nice but different than we had planned them. Because of there was disorder with the money (which was my fault) some things like the cooking didn’t work so well. But luckily a friend from Germany donated us 600 Rand so we just paid the ‘material’ from this money. Then we made a picture story which was a great success. The girls made up a story by themselves and also looked for the right clothes for their role. Everybody enjoyed it though I think they didn’t quite understand for what they were doing it. But when they saw the completed work at the end they were really happy. Something that made me very, very happy was the fact that they naturally included Sibonglie. She was part of the story like everybody else and she really seemed to enjoy it. After we finished the poster and wrote a text for the story I noticed that one picture was missing. It was a very pretty picture of Thando and she is the only one who could have taken it (I’m very sure of that). I talked to her but she said she doesn’t have the picture. I did not believe her and told her to give me back the picture, I will not be angry about her, I just want the picture back because it is not fair just to take it without even asking. Well, I didn’t get it back till now though I told it to her a few more times. I am angry but I don’t know what to do with her.
In the holidays we also went to the Union Buildings and we all enjoyed it. Maybe we can go there more often because when you sit in this nice garden you forget about your sorrows and problems you have in live. One can relax very well there.
Before the holidays we went with Nthabi, Sibongile and Thando to SOCA where they played marimbas, piano or the drums. It was kind of chaotic in the beginning but by the time they concentrated and we really played nice music. There came a boy, who teaches at SOCA, then he taught also Nthabi and she had a lot of fun though it was difficult for her in the beginning. Next time we have to arrange something for lunch because they hadn’t eaten anything (which I didn’t know!) and were very hungry at the end so we had to leave.
Prison Outreach goes very well. I haven’t been there for two weeks but the other times I went there I found it very interesting. I think talking about god is important for them because they find answers to their questions in life, for example forgiveness and that god loves everybody no matter what they did.
After a while I earned the confidence of them and we talked which was enlightening because I heard how they feel and what they experienced.
In September I also looked into the files of the girls, why they are here and what happened to them. This was important for me because I understand them better. There was one devotion where the Pastor asked: where can we spend more love in our daily life? And my answer to this question was: to the girls. Especially those who don’t give me much attention or those who are just not so polite to me. Because these girls need love, they cannot show it by themselves so I have to come to them and show them that they are loved and respected. So it makes them feel better and they open themselves.