“This was my BEST Day!” proclaimed several Poly students at tonight’s debrief

On our fifth day in Cape Town (and precious 3rd day in Langa), we reconnected with the iThuba and Leap students, presented our respective groups’ findings from previous days’ conversations, visited the homes of the Leap and iThuba students, and played fun games such as basketball.

We began today by visiting a local mall where the chaperones bought ingredients to make sandwiches for our Langa lunch. After this stop, we took our bus to the Langa community center to reconnect with the kids from Leap High School and iThuba. Following yesterday’s meeting where students brainstormed ways in which iThuba can expand in assisting areas of math, technology, English, sports, and the arts, we spent some time today finalizing presentation plans to share with the rest of the group. Every group did a fabulous job presenting, and we hope that our ideas can contribute to the planning of the project and, in turn, help the community. After we presented our findings, we joined with the iThuba and Leap High School students by playing games like Concentration and Tic-Tac-Toe.

Langa Culture Center Mural

Student Performance Center

Sports Group Presentation

We then split off into two groups; we then were given the humble honor to visit the homes of the iThuba and Leap students. While we were walking around the Langa Township, we talked to some of the students about their daily lives. Sanjay interacted with one of the students and shared that exploring their community was a very “meaningful experience that [can be] juxtaposed [to] our normal daily lives.” We realized that our high school experiences were similar in a sense that we both valued education and found that fostering a tight-knit community is important to achieving such success. Katie found that walking through the neighborhoods of the Leap and iThuba students helped her further understand their community. Furthermore, as she witnessed the current conditions of infrastructure dispersed throughout Langa, she identified the importance of people helping the people in the Langa township.

Soon after, the two groups reconvened at the community center to play more games and interact with their new friends from different schools. Poly students JP, Sanjay, and Richie, even played a fun game of basketball against a team consisting of iThuba and Leap students. After playing a tough game in the scorching heat, Sanjay found that the game helped him “draw closer to the Leap and [iThuba] students” as they all shared a love for the sport. This role of sport also speaks to the importance of sports education, a topic both JP and Sanjay participated in during their group’s presentation. Meanwhile, Katie spent time connecting with fellow Poly student Miki as they both shared their perspectives on how the diversity of Langa is incomparable. This discussion eventually spread to a larger group of Langa and Poly students. 

JP, Sanjay, and Katie, all learned the importance of connecting with the Leap and iThuba students to foster Poly’s connection to iThuba. 

                                                

Hooping it up!

Pasta feast