Day 19 - Last day of school & Community Centre (7/13/11)

Today we finished up our last day of teaching at the primary school in Roma ... thank goodness ... and our last day of track and field at Bona Pele Youth Community Centre. I am sad to say however that I really loved the time i spent at the Community Centre and all the wonderful kiddos I got to teach.

We ran the final track and field meet with only a few games that stood outside a normal track schedule. Each day the kids were awarded ribbons at the "closing ceremony" that we held. It was such fun to see these kids light up when they got a ribbon. It makes me smile just thinking about it. Each day when we finished up at the soccer field where we held the track meet we walked back to the Community Centre about 15 minutes together which was nice to just get to talk with the kids. On our way back today the kids and I sang songs at the top of our lungs and laughed the whole way back. One song these kids love is a song by Shakira called "Waka Waka" which is incredible. If you have a moment look it up on YouTube you will enjoy it's catchy rhythm I promise :)

Tonight we meet with the leader of theTrading Post, Jeniffer, who will introduce us to a little bit of the are as well as to introduce us to an HIV positive woman who is going to share her story with us and talk about the struggles she faces with this disease and how it affects not only her, but her family too. Below is the owner of the Trading Post, Jeniffer.




She is really one of the few white folks in the area, but their family is very significant to the area contributing to a lot of the growth of the community. Google this when you have a second: Trading Post, Roma, Lesotho. That will give you an idea of the place we are staying at. It's really quite cool.

Jennifer is a wonderful woman, her program takes care of 42 orphan children, 23 of which completely live on their own that the Trading Post sponsors so the kids can survive. It really is sad how many kids here have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS. Jennifer takes contributions which help meet the needs of the children which is really important for them to have.

I am considering working with Big Walnut to contribute. Maybe this could be something we could do to help donate. Either way it is a good thing to start thinking about.

This evening as a bit of a chill from our tough couple of days teaching and our recent overwhelming conversation, we had a bonfire which was great. We all sat around and talked and enjoyed the heat. It was great.





- With all my thanks :)

Location:Roma, Lesotho