Workshops, Waterfront and Social

What a day we had today. We started out going back to school for a half day workshop. The students all met up with their new buddies and joined into smaller groups. The focus of the workshop was for each group to form a new "tribe" and solve a global issue that was assigned to that group, such as peace and tolerance, poverty, poaching, sustainability, and the like. Each group had to think of which traits each person would bring to the "tribe" to solve the problem. Once they had the basics down, they had to make a poster that would represent who they were as a tribe. The students really did well on this project. The critical thinking and cooperation was amazing. After the projects were completed, each group gave a short presentation explaining their concept. Very proud of all of students for their efforts. After that was completed, we headed back to the Waterfront to catch the ferry to Robben Island - which had been delayed, but as we waited, Linda arranged for Cristo Brand come and talk to the students. Mr. Brand was a prison guard and warden where Mr. Mandela was held. During the time of Mr. Mandela's imprisonment, Mr. Brand risked everything to become Mr. Mandela's friend. After he was released from prison, the bond between these 2 men continued and Mr. Brand was given a job in Mr. Mandela's government after he was elected President. Their friendship continued until Mr. Mandela's death. Mr. Brand has written a book about their unique and unlikely friendship which many of the students purchased and had autographed and then had pictures taken with Mr. Brand. He was very gracious and we are thankful for the time he gave to the students. Unfortunately, the ferry was overbooked and we did not make it to the island today, but Linda arranged for us to go Sunday morning before our flights begin home. This will be a special ferry for just our group. We are all looking forward to it. You should be proud of your students. They have been so flexible and are going with the flow of things here in South Africa. Once all the arrangements were made for Sunday, we returned to the High School where they had prepared a dinner and social for us and our students were able to say their last good byes to their new friends. They had the "hall" or multi-purpose room beautifully decorated for us and their 11th year students helped prepare the meal. After dinner some of their students performed for us and then our Asia also got up and sang. Around 8 o'clock there was supposed to be a load-shedding in that area (where they turn off the electricity to conserve power) so we had to quickly leave or be left out in the dark.  Once back at the hotel, the kids got settled for the night and a big day tomorrow touring the cape penisula.