Last days in South Africa

15 Jun 2009 at 14:21

Hi guys!
Sad to say I only have 3 more days here and it makes me sick to think about it. I am leaving South Africa a different person than I came, a better one. I don't think anyone can expect a group of children to change your life, but these kids have changed mine. Their joy for life is so admirable knowing what they all have gone through. We had a girl over the other night who had been raped so badly at 6 she was put in the hospital for 2 years and she is now at Agape at age 10. She is the smartest girl I've known and she wrote me the cutest note saying hwo she will never forget me and I will be her friend forever. I love these as if they were my own.
Well we have had a very productive couple of days. We finished painting the wall...pictures to come....except for our hands. It looks great. This weekend we went back to UShaka and saw Twist and Shout 2 times. This coming week We have a lot planned; a picnic with the street children from Pamela's...

3 reactions | post reaction

Busy Busy Weekend

09 Jun 2009 at 13:10

So,
I haven't left a message in awhile becasue I've been out on Safari!
Let me start with last Thurs....Pamela took us to her other project with street children. We sat in on a group discussion where they were talking about people stealing and selling their babies after they give birth. Apparently this is a huge prolem among steet kids. Young girls have babies and the social worker says they will take care of the baby while the mother recovers and when the mother recovers she finds her baby has been sold overseas and there's nothing she can do about it. Heartbreaking. You can't help ut get emotional when young boys, maybe 10 years old, are sitting in on this meeting and when it's over they go back out on the street. You can not blame these kids at all for what they do. No 10 year child chooses to live on the streets with no family, food, home or protection. Something happened to everyone one of these kids and they were forced to be on the streets. After the...

Read more: Busy Busy Weekend

8 reactions | post reaction

Sleepy Big Boy

02 Jun 2009 at 13:39

So I'm at the computer again and I guess it's only fair to you guys if I tell you what's happened since last night. haha. Last night we celebrated a birthday again at our house. Pasta and chocolate cake is very popular among the Agape children. When they left Britt, Lisa LAura and I watched a movie and went to bed. This morning we had a meeting with Pamela, Agape director, about how things were going and a thorough introduction to Agape. This woman is a true inspiration. Not only has she worked so hard for years to change the lives of the children at Agape but she recently started a program for street children which is becoming very succesful. SHe is taking us on Thursday to this new project, which I am thrilled about. Also, I set up a time to interview her for my capstone project. She will have tons of gret of information since most of the kids don't wantto talk about AIDS or the other reasons they are at Agape. After the meeting we played and BigBoy, yes that is...

Read more: Sleepy Big Boy

3 reactions | post reaction

Pictures are here!!!!!

01 Jun 2009 at 14:18

I figured it out!! here abunch of pictures!

Read more: Pictures are here!!!!!

2 reactions | post reaction

Fun Weekend and the Beginning of Great Week!

01 Jun 2009 at 13:30

Hi
So I have a lot of great stories to tell you!!!! This weekend we went to uShaka, it's a marine center on the beach. Saturday we planned on going shark diving but got there too late because we were shopping at the craft market all day. Stuff is so cheap and I bought a lot. Hopefully not everyone is expectinng souvenirs but I will try to get a bunch of little things to give to ppl. Remember..I'm not made of money! : ) So we ended up getting a fancy drink on the beach and going to dinner at a restaurant there called the Upper Deck. They had a show that night called Twist and Shout "A Celebration of the 60's". SOOOO my thing! It was soooo good and we had so much fun. So we decided that we wanted to coem back the next night and see it. On Sunday we got to uShaka and went out on a boat dolphin/whale watching....it was gorgeous..but we saw nothing! It was still really nice to just drive around the Indian Ocean on the back of a really beat up old boat...

1 reactions | post reaction

Fun Weekend and the Beginning of Great Week!

01 Jun 2009 at 13:30

Hi
So I have a lot of great stories to tell you!!!! This weekend we went to uShaka, it's a marine center on the beach. Saturday we planned on going shark diving but got there too late because we were shopping at the craft market all day. Stuff is so cheap and I bought a lot. Hopefully not everyone is expectinng souvenirs but I will try to get a bunch of little things to give to ppl. Remember..I'm not made of money! : ) So we ended up getting a fancy drink on the beach and going to dinner at a restaurant there called the Upper Deck. They had a show that night called Twist and Shout "A Celebration of the 60's". SOOOO my thing! It was soooo good and we had so much fun. So we decided that we wanted to coem back the next night and see it. On Sunday we got to uShaka and went out on a boat dolphin/whale watching....it was gorgeous..but we saw nothing! It was still really nice to just drive around the Indian Ocean on the back of a really beat up old boat...

0 reactions | post reaction

Fun Weekend and the Beginning of Great Week!

01 Jun 2009 at 13:27

Hi
So I have a lot of great stories to tell you!!!! This weekend we went to uShaka, it's a marine center on the beach. Saturday we planned on going shark diving but got there too late because we were shopping at the craft market all day. Stuff is so cheap and I bought a lot. Hopefully not everyone is expectinng souvenirs but I will try to get a bunch of little things to give to ppl. Remember..I'm not made of money! : ) So we ended up getting a fancy drink on the beach and going to dinner at a restaurant there called the Upper Deck. They had a show that night called Twist and Shout "A Celebration of the 60's". SOOOO my thing! It was soooo good and we had so much fun. So we decided that we wanted to coem back the next night and see it. On Sunday we got to uShaka and went out on a boat dolphin/whale watching....it was gorgeous..but we saw nothing! It was still really nice to just drive around the Indian Ocean on the back of a really beat up old boat...

0 reactions | post reaction

Birthdays and Cuddling!

28 May 2009 at 12:52

So I've been at Agape a couple days now and I've already taken about 200 pictures. I can only imagine how many pictures I will come home with. We celebrated a birthday last night at our house. Nabu turned 10 and she brought over her brother, Boy, and two friends from Agape Nahseesee and Mbalani. We took them to the grocery store to pick out what they wanted for dinner. They were so excited to be out in public it was hysterical! It was so fun seeing them outside of Agape and how differently they acted. They settled on pasta for dinner and a big chocolate cake for dessert. We got them back to our house and they wanted to go swimming right away and it was sooooo cold. They jumped right in anyways. They swam for awhile and then went into the bath to warm up. I have great pictures of this that I will try and post. We ate dinner and they ate A LOT! Boy was so funny all night. After dinner we cleaned while they watched Mr. Bean on t.v. We finally got the cake...

Read more: Birthdays and Cuddling!

3 reactions | post reaction

I'm Here!!!

26 May 2009 at 13:33

So, for my first message from Agape, it will be short. I got here yesterday at about noon South African time. We got picked up from the airport after 19 hours of flying adn went straight to our volunteer house. The house is NOTHING like what I pictured, it's HUGE. 3 bedrooms. a kitchen, living room, 2 bathrooms and 2 spare rooms. We got settled in and unpacked and we were picked up to get a quick introduction to Agape. We met the kids who were instantly thrilled to meet us. We palyed and I knew I'd love it right away. They are so friendly and happy you jsut can't help but love them right off the bat. I met a girl named Lucia, 13 years old. She LOVED that I was from America and that I had seen Alicia Keys in concert and hteat I've been to New York City. She speaks perfect English, one of the few who do. We talked almost the whole time I was there. She started to let me into her life and reasons for having to come to Agape, but we had to leave before she...

Read more: I'm Here!!!

6 reactions | post reaction

4 Days!

20 May 2009 at 16:24

So,
I am leaving for South Africa in 4 days! It feels like yesterday when I had the countdown at 175 days! I can NOT wait to finally meet the kids and all the other volunteers that I've been talking with for weeks now. I started getting my clothes together and all the extra stuff I need to bring. You don't realize how much stuff you use on a daily basis until you start packing it all up! I've tried to simplify everything so I don't overdo it but I feel like I need to bring everything just in case. We will be able to do laundry in the house I'm staying at so that's a huge relief. I finally talked to the woman who is picking me up at the airport. It was a huge reliefe becasue my biggest fear was that they would forget I was coming and no one would be at the airport to get me, but now that fear is gone. I'm really not nervous about anything now except for switching planes in London. I'll be in London by myself but when I land in Johannesburg another volunteer and I will...

Read more: 4 Days!

5 reactions | post reaction

The countdown has begun!

03 May 2009 at 16:57

So, I am leaving in exactly 3 weeks from today for Agape. I am SO excited I can't even begin to explain it! I think I have everything I need to go but suggestions on some helpful things to bring along would be greatly appreciated. I've been looking at previous volunteers Weeblogs and their pictures from Agape and it makes me so anxious to get there. I'm not nervous at all, which I thought I would be, the only part I'm hesitant about it flying alone. Luckily though I'll be meeting up with a fellow volunteer on the last leg of my flight so that makes me more relaxed. I just can't wait to actually experience it, I feel like I've been talking about it so much to people that it's about time I actually do it. I guess that's all for now, agian any suggestions on some helpful items to bring along just let me know!!!!

Alyssa

Read more: The countdown has begun!

1 reactions | post reaction

Yay!

10 Mar 2009 at 13:53

Hi everyone!
Thanks to all the great ideas on fundraising, I will have raised enough money after my next fundraising event. Which, if you were wondering, is a St. Patty's Day Stitch-A-Thon!!! Their is only 74 days until I leave for my trip and it sounds like a lot but it will fly by and before I know it I will be at Agape. I can NOT wait and thanks to everyone for the fundrasiing ideas!!!! Keep up the great work!

Alyssa

Read more: Yay!

2 reactions | post reaction

Fundraisin?

04 Nov 2008 at 19:01

Hey
So I get more and more excited about this trip everyday. I just need a little help. I need soem good fundraising ideas. I've had a yard sale and I am currently selling candy boxes. Also, in the spring my school is hosting a talent show and all the money rasied will go towards my trip. If anyone has any good ideas that will really get people interested in my tip let me know.

alyssa.ciesla@wilkes.edu

thanks soooo much

alyssa

Read more: Fundraisin?

0 reactions | post reaction

Fundraising Begins!

07 Oct 2008 at 01:48

Hey everyone!
So, my trip was confirmed and I am THRILLED! I started fundraising this weekend ang things are going slow but steady. Persistence is key!!! I will be sending out sponsorship letters and ifo cards this weekend to local businesses. If anyone has any ideas for fundraising ideas, I'm all ears!!!!

Read more: Fundraising Begins!

1 reactions | post reaction

All messages