South Africa Youth Trip

In August 2016, I had the privilege of being part of a youth mission trip to South Africa.  It was an amazing experience, and along with certain leisure visits to places like the 'Cheetah Experience' (you can pet wild cats) and horse riding, we were able to do active mission in the community. We worked with 'The Towers of Hope' who work to help the homeless in the city, 'Sunflower House' which is a children's hospice, and 'Mosamaria' which is an AIDS charity. We were able to help build an extension to a shack that housed a family of five, as well as clearing the area around their house of rubbish, weeding the area, digging and planting allotments, and doing all of their laundry.

                                                                                                                                                                   

Though there were a lot of jobs that kept us busy, we still had time to meet the young people that lived out there, and play games. In South Africa, there are two distinct categories for people; those that live in the townships, and those that live in the cities. There is still a divide between the people in the city, with the majority of people in the townships being Black, and in the cities, White.

On one occasion, we ran a kids club for the young people, and there were a lot of young people that came. We were able to sing a few songs for them, and they sand some songs, and performed some dances for us. We then took it in turns to exchange games. One example of a game we presented was SPLAT - Everyone forms a circle, and one person stands in the middle. This person would then choose a player, and then point their hands at them in a gun shape, and shout SPLAT. That player would need to duck, as the players on either side point their hands and shout SPLAT at each other. If the person in the middle fails to duck, they are out. If they do manage to duck in time, the last person to yell SPLAT is out.

Many of the games that they showed us, did not contain much game play, but was focused much more on the rhythm and music. One of the games they showed us was called 'Teddy Bear'. Everyone would form a circle. One person would enter the circle, and everyone would sing the words

'My teddy bear, my teddy bear, I love my teddy bear' x2
'Now shine my shoes my teddy bear, I love my teddy bear' x2

This was all sung with everyone clapping to the beat. The person in the middle would skip inside the circle until the second half of the song started. They would then choose a player to approach, and pretend to shine their shoes, then hug the player, repeating this twice. The chosen player would then take their place in the middle of the circle, and play continues for as long as desired. This game was the only game that we could understand, as it was the only one in English, however, some of us were hesitant about the game afterwards. The words and actions of the game seem to have been derived from the history of the culture, and the act of shining shoes reminded us of slavery. The game itself seemed to reflect the history of racism in the country. It wasn't much different to the way nursery rhymes came into existence, often being morbid, but today have a happy appearance.

In the city, we were able to attend a BBQ with a number of the young people that attended the Cathedral. The games these young people showed us were less focused on music, but there was a considerable aspect of it there. One game required everyone to join hands to form a circle. Some lyrics would then be sung as everyone moves round in one direction, then another set of lyrics as everyone moves in the other. Starting with a previously chosen person, everyone would take it in turns going round the circle, to put their leg over their left/right arm (direction chosen previously) that is linked with another players hand. If all players successfully put their leg in place, everyone hops round the circle repeating the lyrics from before, and then again in the other direction.

                                                                                                                                                                   

While working at Sunflower house, I had the opportunity to accompany some small children to their therapy sessions. The student nurses worked with these children, doing exercises and 'playing'. It was great to be able to see the way that these children were learning through actions of play, and the nurses were able to asses their abilities and mentality through their engagement, or lack of. The simple act of placing shapes into the correct slots was enough to engage them, though balls were definitely a distraction. Seeing play in action in this way was a physical confirmation of the research I had undertaken during my Masters Degree. It also shows that the learning process does not differ in different countries; Play is an integral part of the learning process, no matter where you come from.