my kids are FAST!

Ok, not the most exciting news, African kids are supposed to be fast. =) But I've been working with our athletics learners (those competing in track and field) for a few weeks (our track season is really short!) and we went to our first competition yesterday. There are only 3 meets here - Zonal, Regional, and National.

some of my athletes halfway through the meet

I have to say - what an incredibly long and frustrating day – but also what a cool day and a cool way to spend time with my kids! I left Tses before sunup and came home after sundown… and as a result am incredibly burned! The meet was supposed to end at 1pm and instead ended around 7. We experienced a lot of delays brought about by a whole host of unnecessary reasons, but it turned out all right!

I brought 25 learners, the best from my school, to the Zone competition, where we competed against schools from 5 other villages. The best from our zone form a new team, which goes to regionals next weekend.

my team!

Despite all the problems, the day was super cool. My kids aren’t always used to being successful at things, but they’re good at running! My kids did SO WELL. I think most of them will end up going to Regionals in Keetmans because they placed first or second in their age group in their events! Many of them placed in more than one event, and I even had one girl who had never long-jumped before at practice who came in second!

Yeah, so this girl had never long jumped before. She was 2nd. 

The kids were so excited and so proud that they did so well, and it’s nice that there is something they can be really proud of their school for. It was really the first time I’d heard them say with pride that they were from St. Therese, or the first time they’d been praised for it rather than scolded for our poor academic performances. Plus, more time bonding with my kids is usually pretty fun! They can be really sweet and helpful – definitely tried to take care of me today. Gave me a towel to cover my shoulders when I started turning bright red, etc. I think it’s also true though that we have a different relationship than they do with most other adults. They realize I care about them and recognize that I trust them with their own responsibilities. 

Now back to Tses – lots of work today before a big week coming up. I'll try to explain soon...