Trevor's Photo Journal

They say a pictures worth a 1000 words. So here's 365,000 words worth.

For the last year of my Peace Corps Service I'll be posting a photo a day. The only rule is that I have to take the photo that day and do my best to post the same day.

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Day 333: May 29

I gave this puzzle to the kids back in December as a Christmas gift.  They came to me today asking if they could open it up today, and needless to say I was a little confused since I assumed it had been played with for the last five months.  So I started to open it and break apart the pieces - and then Gogo told me I couldn't open it because the kids would just ruin it. I explained that that was the fine - the process of play sometimes involves destruction and through that the value of being careful with possessions can be learned - better with a R12 puzzle when your 6 then a R800 cellphone when your 18.

It was amazing to watch Yolisa complete this puzzle. With out any assistance from me she had already sorted out the four corner pieces while we were breaking apart the pieces and then she completed the puzzle all on her own working from the outside edges going in. Eight months ago when I gave the kids their first puzzle she had no idea what you were supposed to do.

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Day 332: May 28

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I gave my camera to Yolisa to take a picture of her little brother and I playing airplane, but she happened to focus more and me and less on the smiling face of Nkosiphila.

Day 331: May 27

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South Africa's equivalent of the Super Bowl occurs when ever the Chiefs play the Pirates. This lady is the queue marshal of the Pretoria and Jo'burg taxis in Nelspruit and by now knows me by name.  She's also obviously a big Chiefs fan.

Day 330: May 26

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Problem solving at its best. CPR for a broken three legged chair with a 20L bucket.

Day 329: May 25

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Nicely off tilt pictures and the wonderful result of letting kids borrow my camera for a little.  Also, it might be time for a hair cut again.

Day 328: May 24

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During the World Cup FNB did a giant promotion giving away soccer balls - even a year later it's still the most common ball to see being used in a school yard during break and after school.

Day 327: May 23

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I had to bike through this smoke screen on the way home today.

Day 326: May 22

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Limits don't exist in play. I've had these tops for about a year now and show them to kids quite often and if you asked me if you could stack them while they were spinning I would have said it was impossible.  Today I watched these kids do just that however.  It all started when one of the girls got the pink top spinning on top of the orange one.  From that stroke of defying what I would have thought plausible I watched the idea unfold in many variations: trying largest to smallest, smallest to largest, different spinning speeds and many other combinations.  This simple toy provided a wonderful experience to experiment and for these kids to explore their natural wonder of the world - if only the school system did a better job of providing the same.

Day 325: May 21

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Well the world didn't begin to end today and it turned into a rather nice fall afternoon.  Early evening in the township is one of the nicest times. Everyone is out in the streets relaxing in the last long rays of the sun.  Here my host brother and sister talk with a neighbor.

Day 324: May 20

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True friends share.  The amazing thing is that the little girl isn't even Charlotte's sister but a neighboring kid. Growing up in the township all the kids on each street are like one giant family.

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