Today was a day of celebrations and goodbyes. We shared our photo gallery and played Ngokoana's theme song from the summer, Islands in the ? (I'm not sure about the title.) The song was so beautiful and the pictures so touching that we found ourselves dancing to the music. Pretty soon we all started line dancing together, every one of us! Then we shared our final stories, which were wonderful and from the heart. We had a certificate ceremony and Mary Lou and I were surprised to receive certificates, a gift of Dr. Makalela's new books and cards thanking us, The San Antonio Writing Project and my parent's for their financial donation and belief in the project.
Then Mari stood up representing the group and thanked us for all our support, followed by Grace who offered a parting prayer. Then everyone stood up and sang the South African National Anthem. It was hard not to cry.
Tomorrow we leave for Joburg. There have been so many highlights of our time in Limpopo. Of course the workshop and the wonderful teachers ranks high on our list. Ngokoana's wonderful hospitality and the many meals and experiences that she provided for us. Her husband's wonderful bar-b-que or every kind of South African meat available to us. Buying material with Ngokoana in the market. The wonderful day in Venda with Ngokoana and Mosima. Spending time with Ngokoana's wonderful 4 year old daughter, and watching her start her first day ever of school. Ngokoana's Uncle Selaelo who took us to dinner.
Other major highlights include visiting Nakedi's home and meeting her family and visiting Leketi's village and meeting his Mother and 90 year old Grandmother. The trip was more than we could have hoped for and the experiences are something that we will never forget. We feel that we are as lucky at the brilliant stars that light up the Southern Hemisphere sky and we are so grateful for these amazing experiences.
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4 comments:
Hi Roxanne!I was just thinking of all of you and our time at the LWP and I decided to log in to your blog and there was the picture of all of us.What a nice surprise!Hope you both had a safe trip back home and thank you once more for everything.My learners are enjoying the writing lessons a lot and this year we ve set aside a book just for free writing.Pass my regards to Mary Lou and your parents.
Mashaba, it's so wonderful to hear from you! We arrived home on Monday and we are trying to adjust back to the new time zone. I'm so excited that you are writing with your learners. Please let us know what you are doing and what they are writing!
Hi! I ve been trying to send a comment so many times without success.hope this 1 gets through.i v been wrking on narrative with the grade 10, and descriptive with 11s and 12s.we use lots of pictures and the word bank has become an indespensable tool.personally, i v been writing about the village where i was born.it s still a big mess but it s a lot of fun.hope you ve adjusted back after your S.A tour.
I'd love to read your story about the village in which you were born. This would be so interesting. I'd also love to read your students' writing! Please share some of them here soon.
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