Last days in Cape Town
Much more rewarding day in the creche yesterday, supported by the awesome Team Sunshine, including another music session - with the lovely Charles performing video duties for the Fellowship blog. We made loo roll trees too, all three of us round tables in the sunshine with our kids - awesome. Followed finally by my afternoon off. Sadly the cable car up Table Mountain is still closed due to high winds, but we had a lovely tour of local photo spots, beautiful beaches, before the most stunningly located restaurant ever - right on top of the rocks, with waves crashing home, the sun setting and a friendly sea lion. The food was also excellent - and the company (including a stop-off at a delightful Cuban bar) superb.
Well and truly rejuvenated, today was another manic morning without teacher Sasha at the creche, but great as the kids coloured in our pre-prepared cards with their names on before an individual photo shoot. Again my lovely team were immense - and Jo Ann and I headed off early to start painting my mural whilst Anthony looked after my kids! As you can see, everyone pulled together spectacularly, we got the job done and got to see the principle and kids' reactions... I also got to draw out the school's logo above the gate for colleagues to paint.
Go Team PearsonGAF - awesome result!
My 'official' blog day today as well so here it is:
The day before ended at the Harbour House restaurant, a beautiful and inspiring location, which seemed to fire the already excited buzz and enthusiasm of the Fellows for greater things. The atmosphere was positively electric, fuelled with the experiences of the day and the hopes for the morrow - very aware that our short adventure here was coming to a close. It was reminiscent of the excitement of the Robben Island gathering. There was a very real sense of determination coupled with a realisation that, if we put our minds to it, we could achieve anything - no matter the huge amount we still had to do at the renovation crèche the next day. Would we get everything we wanted finished in time for the 3.30pm opening ceremony?
The morning was again spent at the crèches, with several fellows exploiting or rediscovering the depths of their skills and passing these on to their teachers or children (or both), for a number of ‘firsts’. There was salsa dancing in one crèche, guitar-playing and music sessions (with bubble-time) in another, puppeteering story-time using samples from the Pearson US OWL series and creating baby-holder back-slings for dolly siblings. Mother’s Love crèche launched a new Grade R (reception) room, stocked and stacked within by its Fellows, whilst Sunflower introduced actual notebooks for the first time to much excitement and soon the children were independently scribbling their letters. All the Fellows involved were learning to live and love for the moment and to relish every such moment.
In the afternoon, some Fellows left early to commence work on the second of two murals at the renovation crèche, desperately eager to ensure the job was finished for the grand opening later that afternoon. Others made their way back to the True North Centre, where children employed their previous learning to Playdough bodies they constructed, fully aware of the mounting excitement from the children at the happenings back at their crèche - where the remaining Fellows assembled to finish this most tangible and satisfying of projects. Fellows at the Centre couldn’t help but sense the growing anticipation amongst those there, indeed were themselves eager to discover the progress that had been made.
The initial calm of the team of mural painters soon exploded into a chaos of activity as more Fellows arrived and everyone pulled together to ready the crèche for the incoming children. Astroturf was laid over the rough brick-and-sand cement play area, whilst a ditch was dug for the plumbing to the new outhouse that had sprung up the day before. Meanwhile, inside, excitement mounted over the immense team effort to complete the second mural whilst the flooring and décor came in for the other room, and furnishings and toys and games sprouted all over. Everyone wanted to go the extra mile, make that extra touch and finish that extra job to truly leave behind a wonderful legacy of their time there - and, more importantly, to really give these children the learning environment they richly deserved.
As the children queued up outside, the gate - complete with new crèche logo - swung slowly open to reveal the waiting Fellows, with streamers and poppers and horns (party favours) flourishing in excited welcome. Colleagues from the Pearson SA office and True North had all assembled to help welcome the deserving Principal and her students back to their crèche, after a fortnight’s dislocation. Joleyn was literally struck silent in amazement at the transformation we had wrought. The reaction was a true and tangible demonstration of the impact we had made - a heartfelt and truly meant exclamation of joy and wonder followed, as all celebrated the results of our labours.
And so we retired, exhausted but thoroughly contented, to Faye and Aslam’s for our final thoughts and reflections before we all begin to go our separate ways after a final debriefing on the morrow. However, rather than sadness, there is an overwhelming feeling of renewed optimism and excitement at what the future holds - and what indeed we all can bring to it. It is remarkable how swiftly and firmly we have bonded into such a potent, dedicated and passionate team, with natural leaders emerging and everyone offering their multiple talents and trying new things and new ways of doing other things. The relationships and bonds of fellowship we have built will hold a lifetime, and stand us in good stead as we bring the lessons we have reflected regularly upon into our daily lives and work - knowing we have friends in far and wide places to visit and to pick us up whenever we fall… for we are:
Truly One Global Pearson.
Well and truly rejuvenated, today was another manic morning without teacher Sasha at the creche, but great as the kids coloured in our pre-prepared cards with their names on before an individual photo shoot. Again my lovely team were immense - and Jo Ann and I headed off early to start painting my mural whilst Anthony looked after my kids! As you can see, everyone pulled together spectacularly, we got the job done and got to see the principle and kids' reactions... I also got to draw out the school's logo above the gate for colleagues to paint.
Go Team PearsonGAF - awesome result!
My 'official' blog day today as well so here it is:
The day before ended at the Harbour House restaurant, a beautiful and inspiring location, which seemed to fire the already excited buzz and enthusiasm of the Fellows for greater things. The atmosphere was positively electric, fuelled with the experiences of the day and the hopes for the morrow - very aware that our short adventure here was coming to a close. It was reminiscent of the excitement of the Robben Island gathering. There was a very real sense of determination coupled with a realisation that, if we put our minds to it, we could achieve anything - no matter the huge amount we still had to do at the renovation crèche the next day. Would we get everything we wanted finished in time for the 3.30pm opening ceremony?
The morning was again spent at the crèches, with several fellows exploiting or rediscovering the depths of their skills and passing these on to their teachers or children (or both), for a number of ‘firsts’. There was salsa dancing in one crèche, guitar-playing and music sessions (with bubble-time) in another, puppeteering story-time using samples from the Pearson US OWL series and creating baby-holder back-slings for dolly siblings. Mother’s Love crèche launched a new Grade R (reception) room, stocked and stacked within by its Fellows, whilst Sunflower introduced actual notebooks for the first time to much excitement and soon the children were independently scribbling their letters. All the Fellows involved were learning to live and love for the moment and to relish every such moment.
In the afternoon, some Fellows left early to commence work on the second of two murals at the renovation crèche, desperately eager to ensure the job was finished for the grand opening later that afternoon. Others made their way back to the True North Centre, where children employed their previous learning to Playdough bodies they constructed, fully aware of the mounting excitement from the children at the happenings back at their crèche - where the remaining Fellows assembled to finish this most tangible and satisfying of projects. Fellows at the Centre couldn’t help but sense the growing anticipation amongst those there, indeed were themselves eager to discover the progress that had been made.
The initial calm of the team of mural painters soon exploded into a chaos of activity as more Fellows arrived and everyone pulled together to ready the crèche for the incoming children. Astroturf was laid over the rough brick-and-sand cement play area, whilst a ditch was dug for the plumbing to the new outhouse that had sprung up the day before. Meanwhile, inside, excitement mounted over the immense team effort to complete the second mural whilst the flooring and décor came in for the other room, and furnishings and toys and games sprouted all over. Everyone wanted to go the extra mile, make that extra touch and finish that extra job to truly leave behind a wonderful legacy of their time there - and, more importantly, to really give these children the learning environment they richly deserved.
As the children queued up outside, the gate - complete with new crèche logo - swung slowly open to reveal the waiting Fellows, with streamers and poppers and horns (party favours) flourishing in excited welcome. Colleagues from the Pearson SA office and True North had all assembled to help welcome the deserving Principal and her students back to their crèche, after a fortnight’s dislocation. Joleyn was literally struck silent in amazement at the transformation we had wrought. The reaction was a true and tangible demonstration of the impact we had made - a heartfelt and truly meant exclamation of joy and wonder followed, as all celebrated the results of our labours.
And so we retired, exhausted but thoroughly contented, to Faye and Aslam’s for our final thoughts and reflections before we all begin to go our separate ways after a final debriefing on the morrow. However, rather than sadness, there is an overwhelming feeling of renewed optimism and excitement at what the future holds - and what indeed we all can bring to it. It is remarkable how swiftly and firmly we have bonded into such a potent, dedicated and passionate team, with natural leaders emerging and everyone offering their multiple talents and trying new things and new ways of doing other things. The relationships and bonds of fellowship we have built will hold a lifetime, and stand us in good stead as we bring the lessons we have reflected regularly upon into our daily lives and work - knowing we have friends in far and wide places to visit and to pick us up whenever we fall… for we are:
Truly One Global Pearson.