Feeling the LOVE from S.O.S. Francistown!!!
Posted by Kimberley Veitch on March 9th, 2009
It’s been approximately 2months into my internship at the S.O.S.
Children’s Village of Francistown. I can say without any hesitation that I’ve fallen head over heels for these children!
At this point in time and during the past two months, I can say these kids have sustained my dreams of working with children as a component with my future career. Here at S.O.S. I can undoubtedly say I’ve experienced a hand full of challenges. These challenges have given me the opportunity to learn more about these children as well as more about myself. I’ve been receiving a great amount of support amongst the other volunteers and from those I’ve built friendships with here in this country. The amount of talent and charisma these children have is so incredibly inspirational.
I have been enjoying the schedule that I have made for myself. Every other day I am assisting in the kindergarten class and during the days in between I spend my hours in the S.O.S. office. In the office a do a variety of work such as assisting the staff with proposals, or reports. I also use that time to prepare activities and events for the kids and other initiatives I have set out for myself.
Last week I had the opportunity to travel to Gaborone for WUSC’s Learning Day! It was really nice to get to see with the other volunteers and share our experiences thus far. That day we also went to the University of Botswana and were lucky enough to speak with a professor of the university as well as other knowledgeable individuals who were able to provide us with a better understanding of Botswana.
Currently I am planning an Activity Day for the village children. I am anticipating a fun and exciting day completely dedicated to the children.
I am also working to revive the S.O.S. Girl Guides group; so far we’ve had a few meetings and activities. I am currently finishing the agenda for the next month and my hopes are to expose these group of girls to a more interactive and hands-on approach to ‘guiding’. The S.O.S. Village also has intense initiatives to strengthen the education of children in standard one up until standard seven. The kids are expected to attend weekly study schedules and are given the opportunity for individual help with a variety of subjects. I too am a part of this initiative, and supervisor the standard 5 children weekly. Another initiative would be the expansion of the S.O.S. library. I’ve given myself the responsibility to acquire books donations and I hope to see a positive response at the end of my placement here.
I foresee the next few weeks to be quite hectic and busy to ensure I complete everything I have planned to do in this position. I’m trying not to think of the little time I have left here and but rather enjoying every day to the fullest as a distraction to the concept of time.
Thank you for checking in on my Blog! I’ll keep you updated shortly!
Kimberley Veitch
(Children’s Support Worker)
