Day 8 – JJ Haven, We Have Arrived!

Today began with a busy start departing from Pine Lodge in Port Elizabeth to Alexandria for JJ Haven. Our first stop along the way was at a local art gallery where there was a variety of traditional African style ornaments for purchase. We spent quite some time there, this led to many explorations around the gallery hunting for purchases. While waiting for the indecisive shoppers, many tried their hand at the xylophone.

After the shopping spree, we delivered the donations collected for the Sinethemba children and then continued on our way. Our pitstop in the middle of our travel at Nanaga allowed us all to try some local food which included the traditional wild boer pies and biltong for many.

The arrival at JJ Haven begun with a warm welcome from all the children. We barely made it out of the car before a large group of children came racing toward us with open arms. The children were overjoyed to see a returning group of St Stephen’s students given the positive experiences from previous years. The rest of the day consisted of becoming familiar with our surroundings. In addition to this Molly, the carer of the children, took us around for a tour of JJ. Throughout the day, we all formed the foundation of great connections between the children and ourselves. Our bonding time with the children included part taking in activities such as singing, dancing, playing sports and hair braiding.

During the day, a trip to the hardware store was required for a select group of students to purchase a variety of building supplies for the preparation for the coming days.

Throughout the day we all came to the conclusion that no matter circumstances a person finds themselves in; there is joy to be had within the relationships we can build with each other. This can be viewed as the children take each day with pure joy and genuine happiness. Their take on life is something each person should aspire too.

 

Shanii and Erin

 

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