Today has by far been the most relaxed “service day” we’ve had this entire trip! Since this is the last leg, the bulk of our service had already been done. Yesterday, we went over to the Mukuni Village Primary School, and brought over supplies in order to be completely responsible for painting one of the buildings (both inside 3 classrooms and outside the building itself). We planned to paint for one day, but because we did not finish we returned the following morning to finish the job. Luckily all we had left to do was basic finishing touches, and one outside wall. Our trip leaders had promised us the rest of the day for rest and free time (which was extremely exciting to hear, as we have been working and been very busy everyday of this trip thus far).
We were also promised one other thing… a revisit to GreenPop! Personally, I was not one of the students that particularly enjoyed the whole GreenPop experience. I think it was due to the camping aspect. On top of that, we suffered very, very cold nights. Coming into it I thought to myself ‘this can’t be that bad, we are from Maryland, we have experienced cold winters.’ I was wrong. This. This was a new level of cold, especially when you are the one sleeping outside.
Aside from that, my favorite part of the GreenPop experience was how I got a chance to meet a few new good friends who were also staying at GreenPop from Cape Town, South Africa. I got a chance to develop very good friendships and connections that made it almost impossible and very emotional for me to have to say goodbye. That is why for me, hearing that we were going back to GreenPop to attend the talent show and the dance party was absolutely exhilarating! When we finally got there that night, you could instantly feel the genuine happiness the rest of GreenPop had seeing the LearnServe group once again. I particularly was beyond excited to see the 4 good friends I made from Cape Town: Jade, Cerys, Abby, and Ilham. Two of them actually happened to be performing that night in the talent show as we cheered them on singing Ed Sheeran’s ‘A-Team.’ After the talent show, it was the last time all the participants of GreenPop (including us from LearnServe) were together having a carefree good time. We danced, sang, and enjoyed each other’s company. This is what made this goodbye extra hard. GreenPop has made me a more humble person, and I will forever be appreciative of that and for the new South African friends I made who I definitely plan on keeping in touch with.
Yagass B., Sandy Spring Friends School