Drug Awareness

One of the clauses in the Discoverers Challenge is to present the dangers and consequences of drugs in an interesting way.  I had given it as a challenge to the older girls a couple of weeks ago while I took the new batch for the Trefoil Challenge.   I said they could do a rap, a song, a poster or a play.   Well, not much was done and I got a couple of sentences from one girl which lasted maybe 20 seconds.   I said this wasn’t good  enough and I wouldn’t pass it.

I asked a friend of the family who has done Drama to compose a play for me for 10 or so girls whose home language is not English and we spent last week’s meeting casting, reading through the play, practicing and finally recording the play, “Dear Departed Dora”

 

I think the girls enjoyed it.   I hope it stays with them.   I am pasting the script for those who might be interested.

Dear Departed Dora

By Kathleen van Niekerk

A play about the dangers and consequences of drugs

Characters:

Dora-Good girl who takes drugs.

Dora's mom.

Good friends:

Tumi

Jessica

Lydia

Bad friends:

Thandeka

Caitlyn

Busi

Monica

Some brothers and sisters if there are more than 10

Setting: A funeral

All the people around are sad, except the “bad friends”. Dora is on the floor covered with a blanket.

Tumi: We told her not to take it.

Jessica: Why didn’t she listen to us.

Lydia: May your soul rest in peace Dora.

Michelle: We will miss you.

Dora's mom: Why didn’t she talk to me? Why didn’t she tell me how stressed she was?

Thandeka: Ag shame, she didn’t know how to take it.

Caitlyn: Guess she couldn’t handle it. What a waste of perfectly good nyaope.

Busi: Now I want, who's got any on them?

Monica: I do. Lets go around the back where no one can see.

The bad friends leave the room, the “good friends” and mom start hugging each other and crying.

Dora stands up, takes the blanket off and says,

Dora: This is what happened to me.

Scene changes to Dora sitting alone on the floor doing homework

Dora's mom: Dora, when will supper be ready?

Dora: Just a minute mom, I'm finishing my homework.

If necessary brothers and sisters come in asking about supper and saying they are hungry

Dora goes to mom, carrying food. Mom is in bed.

Mom: I thought you finished all your work already?

Dora: I did, so I thought I'd start on next months science essay. How are you feeling?

Mom: I'd feel a lot better if your father wasn’t out drinking almost every night.

Dora: I think we both would.

Mom: So how are things with you and Darren?

Dora: Oh we're fine. I have to go, dishes don’t clean themselves.

She gives her mom a tired smile.

Dora is sitting talking to herself.

Dora: I don’t know how much longer I can handle this. My moms not getting any better, my dad is certainly not drinking any less. I cant even tell my mom Darren broke up with me two weeks ago to date the most popular girl in the school. At least I had a good shift at the restaurant, but for how much longer? I don’t know if I can cope any longer.

The “bad friends” walk behind her listening. Busi shivers.

Thandeka: Ah shame, did you hear that girls? The goodie two shoes can’t cope.

Busi: That’s what happens when you have to be a know it all.

Caitlyn: Pity she doesn’t know our secret to coping.

Monica: I almost feel sorry for her. Almost sorry enough to give her one of our magic sticks, what do you girls think?

Caitlyn: Do you think she can handle it?

Busi: Only one way to find out, here take some. One or two puffs and you’ll be able to cope with all your problems..

Busi hands Dora a rolled zoll. she takes it and walks away. “bad friends” laugh.

Dora is walking looking at the zoll and bumps into the “good friends”.

Lydia: Hey Dora! Thank you again for helping me learn for the science exam.

Dora: Oh it was my pleasure.

Jessica: What’s that? (pointing to the roll).

Dora: Oh, Busi gave it to me.

Michelle: Dora is that a cigarette?

Jessica takes it and looks at it closely

Jessica: Dora that’s nyaope! What are you doing with it?

Dora: They said it would help me cope.

Tumi: No Dora! You just need some rest, you don’t have to take anything.

Dora: What do you guys know? You don’t have the stress of keeping your families together!

Michelle: Dora please let us help you. We're your friends.

Dora: You can help me by leaving me alone!

Lydia: Dora think about your mom, what would she say?

Dora: About?

Jessica: About the drugs?

Dora: She will never know, its just so I can get through till she gets better.

Tumi: Dora you know that’s not how its going to work. We did an assignment on that remember?

Michelle: She's right, you did very well in it.

Lydia: You'll use it more and more to get by then next thing you know is your a druggie.

Tumi: Then you will be kicked out of school and you’ll never be able to get a good job.

Dora: No! That’s not true, leave me alone all of you!

Dora grabs the zoll then turns and runs away, the friends try and follow. She finds a quiet place and stays standing. She looks at the zoll

Dora: I shouldn’t take too much. Just a puff or two.

She lights the cigarette and takes a puff

Dora stays standing, mom and “good friends” walk back and huddle like they did in the beginning. Scene changes back to the funeral.

Dora still standing with the blanket.

Dora: I knew that this wasn't the right way to fix my problems, but it seemed so quick and easy. It worked for me for a while then one day I got a bad one. Too much Rattex. Now my mom is still sick, my dad is still a drunk and because of my bad decision there is nobody to support them and look after my family.

Hairdressers Badge

Last Friday 9 of the Guides passed their Hairdressers Badge.   It was a bit chaotic - 5 plastic basins with two girls each washing each other's hair, 3 hairdryers going at a time and lots of drying, combing and braiding.

I learned a couple of things that I didn't know about our different cultures.

• Black people with natural hair don't use shampoo.   They use sunlight soap.
• Blow-drying in my culture means blowing the hair while holding it over a round brush or comb and turning it under.   Blow-drying for black people means drying the hair while pulling it out with a comb to straighten it.   It seems very painful and I understand those who choose to have short hair and leave it to dry naturally in which case it dries into the peppercorn style.   What women put up with for beauty!

 

• Black people are very strict about hygiene.   You don't use the same basin for washing hair (or yourself) as you do for washing dishes.   Makes sense.   We differentiate between sinks (for dishes) and basins (or baths) for washing people.

First Guide Camp for Rays of Hope Guides

I finally got brave and organised a camp for the Guides.   Since the beginning of the year the company has exploded with Guides bringing friends and friends bringing friends until I had to tell them no more friends.
I organised 3 of my more responsible girls to help collect the tents and camping equipment from Waverly Guide Hall.   We tried for about two and a half hours to understand the frame tent and eventually gave up.   I would have to try again at home.


Rays of Hope donated the food and transport and the district supplied the camp equipment (old but very serviceable.)   We even found some old billy cans.
On Sunday I arrived at Trefoil Park at 8.30am.   There was a miscommunication with the transport and the girls only arrived at 11.30  We started with the traditional horseshoe where four Guides were enrolled.

The uniform is in the process of changing from blue to navy and we had just been given some old blue skirts so we now have a good mix.   I allowed some of the older girls who had blue sashes to swop their navy skirts to blue ones.

As it was a Sunday and a week since Easter we had a Guides Own focussing on the Cross and why
Jesus died.

.
We followed that with making some mosaic crosses for our craft badge.

After lunch, which I had precooked and brought in a hot box, the real business of camping started.
The tent pitching went fairly well.   I had eventually worked out the system of the tent poles.  
I taught the girls to make bedding racks out of tripods and long cross poles and they coped very well.   I was pleasantly surprised.

The Guides really enjoyed the showers.   They showered on Sunday afternoon, Sunday night and again on Monday before lunch.   Several washed their clothes overnight.

Cooking supper over an open fire was great fun.   Naturally the fires needed a little bit of TLC.

…but eventually did the job very well.

After supper we had a campfire which we all enjoyed.   Then instead of staying to drink hot chocolate the girls made a beeline for the showers and spent about an hour noisily getting ready for bed.   Like all Guides on the first night of a camp they took a long time and a lot of threatening, yelling and eventually praying to get them to settle down and actually go to sleep.
Breakfast was omelette in a bag which worked very well although one patrol’s fire battled a lot.   Of course then there is always the tidy up job which I would say the Rays of Hope Guides are probably better at than other Guides I have been involved with.

Overall the camp was a success with the staff, me, my son, Chris (Grizzly Bear) and Kathleen, his girlfriend (Kitty Bear) all totally exhausted.
As a special treat, Kitty Bear gave each girl a homemade bag with a chocolate inside.

The Guides with their bags

 Considering that one of the girls came to camp without a change of clothes and with no eating utensils (because she said they didn’t have any) I think the girls really had a wonderful time.   They want to go for a six day camp.   Not likely!   One day exhausted me.   I might consider 2 nights next time……

Thinking Day

Thinking Day was actually yesterday, 22 February, when Guides and Scouts all over the world think of each other and send greetings to each other.   Since it fell on a Guide meeting day, I had gone to some extra trouble to organise a cooking meeting.   I had organised with Ikhya Lomusa to use their kitchen and a large pot and the plan was to cook Spaghetti Bolognaise as an Italian dish.   I would send two of the senior Guides across to the kitchen and the rest of them would earn cheese, grater, tomato and onion as well as tin opener by answering questions about Guide history, Thinking day and, as usual, the Guide Laws.   We would also practice the Mauri Stick Game that I had taught them last week, in preparation for visiting the Old Age home later in the term.
Guides starts at 3.30.   By 4 when they had not come, I made some phone calls and found out they were on their way.   Meanwhile I switched on the urn in the kitchen so we could have boiling water to start cooking the spaghetti.   At 4.10 they arrived.   Three of them.   The two youngest and a new comer.   Well, what could I do?   I was a Guider, I had three girls and I had ingredients.   So the four of us started cooking spaghetti, opening tins and grating cheese.
When the spaghetti was almost cooked, Laiza came.  (She lives at the orphanage and had walked home from school)   Not long after her, another 5 came – 3 of my seniors in uniform, another newcomer and an 8 year old sister.  I left Laiza with the young ones to finish the meal while the rest came back with me to our meeting place across the road where they coloured in Italian Guide pictures   No sign of the three new girls from last week although I had received an SMS from Khosi to say that she was waiting for transport.   She never came.
In the end we had 10.   Maria came about 5.15.   The Spaghetti Bolognaise was delicious but we didn’t have time for flag breaking or practice of our stick game.


Today was much more successful.   The region was having a Thinking Day teaspoon tasting lunch.   I had got permission from the principal of Roseact, the Saturday school that the Rays of Hope girls were obliged to attend, for three of the girls to miss school today.   I went to fetch 5 of my senior Guides to take them to Trefoil Park.   Our district was given the country of Jordan to highlight.   I found a photo of some Jordanian Guides on the internet and made head punjabs for the girls.   I was only going to take 4 and identified the 4 before Maria had come but couldn’t leave her out as she was one of the founding guides so one of the punjabs was in another colour.
The girls had a wonderful time and other Guiders from our region had provided the most amazing food so that was a very successful day.  There were games from other countries, as well as wonderful meals.   Everybody had gone to so much trouble and the costumes were great. Happy thinking day to all.

Patrol dinners

When I asked the girls at the beginning of the term whether they could cook, they all put up their hands enthusiastically.   When I asked whether any of them would like to do their cook’s badge, one from each patrol, Jeanette and Maria volunteered.   We decided to have patrol dinners at the end of the year, the Flamingos would go to Jeanette’s house and the Blue Cranes would go to the orphanage where Maria would use the kitchen.

I wasn’t sure whether it would work.   There was transport to organise, food to be bought and got to the cooks, a tester to find.   Thanks to the Rays of Hope staff, the ingredients and transport were organised.   When I found out that a friend of my son used to be a Scout, I asked her to come along and test the girls.   Trying to find our way in Alex was a bit hairy – there don’t seem to be any numbers and we had to ask passers-by to help us.   I am sure the Lord was helping us because we came to the right yard just as two young boys were going in and they knew where Jeanette lives.

I was proud of the girls.   Jeanette made us a baked beans dish with vegetables and jelly and custard.   Kathleen and I had to leave before cofee because it was getting late and we still had to get to the Blue Cranes.   When we got to Ikhya Lomusa, my heart sank because there were two Guides sitting on the couch, Maria was nowhere in sight and there was no sign of food or eating.   However once Maria was called it turned out she had finished cooking but they were waiting for us to arrive.   We had yummy chicken with rice and a sauce and a green salad.   Well done to the cooks and weel done to the rest of the patrols who found their way to the right places and came in uniform.

The girls in their new skirts

 

 

Heritage Day

The last day of last term was Heritage Day.   Jeanette's school had had a special celebation and she came with her two neices dressed for the celebration.   Tsegofatso and Zinthle were enrolled.   We played the chocolate game afterwards which was not a success.   The girls just got too excited and out of control.





Some of the Guides in uniform

The chocolate game

This term the court-of-honour/patrol-in-council decided that one girl from each patrol would do her Cook's badge at the end of this term.   The rest of the patrol would come to "her" house for a patrol dinner.   The Blue Cranes will come to the orphange where Maria will cook and the Flamingos will go to Jeanette's brother's home.   During meetings we will learn table settings, balanced menus and start Christmas crafts.

I was given an old guide uniform by one of my old Guides.   Zinthle wore the skirt for her enrollment.   When I asked the girls if they would all like to wear skirts, they were very enthusiastic.

    We had been donated two big boxes of craft materials.  
Among these were about 15 packs of finger-puppets to make.   I undertook that if the girls made some finger puppets last week and the week before, I would take them to work and try to sell them as well as the left over kits.   Well, we made enough money to buy skirts for all of them, especially since Mary, our    Regional Commissioner ,will let us have them for a little above cost price.   Thanks Mary and my supportive work colleagues!

Zinthle

Tsegofatso

Rays of  Hope asked us to do a performance for the closing ceremony of their fund raising cycle rally.   Luckily we have done two performances already so just just had to practice what they already knew.   Here's hoping it all goes well tomorrow.