I found myself completely stress-free about going to Baphumelele, and always looked forward to seeing my children. I hadn't realized until yesterday, when I was posting pictures to my Facebook, how much I remember about each child, and how much they have touched me these past few weeks.
Ayanda - My favorite male out of the group. I immediately fell in love with puppy-dog eyes. Although he can be quite the troublemaker, he is very smart, and excels in reading, writing, and math. I also love playing Michael Jackson's 'Beat It' since Ayanda mimics MJ's famous moves.
Siyabonga - He and Ayanda are the only two boys of the group. Siyabonga has burns on half of his head, his ear, and his hand. He's quiet and always in his own world. Unlike Ayanda though, Siyabonga is cuddly and doesn't have to be the center of attention.
Mama - Mama is a bossy, but lovable girl. She definitely marches to the beat of her own drummer. I'll never forget that out of all the colours she could choose to colour with, she always picked yellow, which I had a ball trying to see.
Amelie - She is the punk of the group. Amelie always distracted Oyena and Nomapelo in the group. Whenever she was doing something wrong I could tell due to how she smiled.
Oyena - Oyena is my favourite girl of the group. She has a bubbly personality and her smile always won me over. Her favourite color was pink, which she always wore.
Nomapelo - She and Amelie did a great job disrupting the group on a daily basis. Nomapelo would sometimes shriek at the top of her lungs randomly and then go back to working on whatever she was doing, which made me laugh to myself.
Siziphiwe (AKA Shakes) - The biggest troublemaker of all the girls hands down. She antagonized the other kids and even made a few cry. I ended up having someone from the office come and physically remove her last week. This week though it's like a completely new Shakes. She has been quiet, on-task, and good-natured.
Nombulelo - Although she was slower than the rest of the students at learning her letters and numbers, she definitely tried very hard. At the end of the day though, she always expected a lollipop for good behaviour. When we wouldn't give her one, she would threaten to not come to class the next session. Even though there were many times in which she was mad at Maggie and I for not giving her sweets, she was the first to run up and grab our hands when we arrived.
Lisakhany (AKA Lisa) - Lisa was a shy girl who, for the most part, kept to herself. My favorite memory of her was when I realized that she kept calling me October. People in my group now call me October, mimicking Lisa.
Each child has left an imprint on me in some way and I know leaving them tomorrow will be difficult. Hopefully I can keep in touch with Baphumelele and get updated on how each child is doing. I am so proud of them for learning the alphabet and how to solve math problems. It's my hope that, even though they have a lot working against them, my kids grow up, continue in school, and do good things with their life.
