Painting, Playing and Making New Friends by Max Miller (Thursday, June 15, 2023)

After long flights and days of travel, we are now on our second day at South Africa. We start off the day with a delicious breakfast provided by the chefs at Chartfield Guesthouse. We get on the bus early in the morning and travel to meet Sibulele. 

Sibul is one of the mentors for Kidz Africa, the organization we are working with on this trip, and we are coming to his house to help him. With the money we raised at MBA we bought Sibul a geyser, which is a hot water heater, so he and his son could take hot showers. While the mechanics set up the geyser we were divided into two groups; one group went to the school and the other painted Sibul’s walls.

The students who went to the school were welcomed with smiles and laughter by many young students. After seeing all the smiles we soon noticed how small the classrooms were. Most of the kids were so crammed that the backs of their chairs touched one another even when pushed in. Aside from the tight classrooms we played freeze dance and simon says with the kids. Even though most of the kids had never played these games, all it took was less than a minute of instructions, and they immediately caught on. We played with three different age groups, but they all enjoyed the same games and activities. Going to the school was a heartwarming experience and brought joy to the young kids and the students at MBA.

Meanwhile over at Sibul’s house the boys were hard at work painting the interior of his home. The boys painted it a nice lavender color and brought much joy to Sibul. Even though Sibul’s home is small enough and he has a kid, Sibul welcomes one of his friends, a painter, a place to sleep in the rain becuase he lost everything due to covid. After hearing that it made everyone realize just how good of a person Sibul is. 

After dinner we arrived back our hotel and reflected on the day, went over the game plan for day 3, and hung out in room 1. Some of us crowded room 1 and stayed there for a while. As it was time to go to bed, we encountered a problem. The door would not unlock. 8 boys were trapped in a 2 bed room after a long day. It took over an hour until they could open the door. It was a long and stressful time, but it also got us tighter with each other. 

To wrap things up, this day was a hardworking, stressful, crammed, heartwarming, and meaningful day to us all.