As we travel along this bland deserted landscape, it is unbelievable to think that our tour is almost at an end. All the time and effort put into the fundraising and chasing after the boys has been worth it. We have had an amazing tour. It has been a privilege to get to know each and every one of these boys. I have to keep on reminding myself that these are just young boys who we have taken on this trip away from the comfort of their own families. Over the time period of this trip I have assumed many roles. The first is that of tour manager. My duty here was to ensure that all ran smoothly on the tour. I had to get the boys at the bus on time, ensure they had packed their bags fully and so on. One of the most hair raising moments was at Cape Town International Airport, when the boys felt it was more important to buy sweets than to rather board the plane. After several calls, I simply said goodbye to the sweet purchasers and went to the plane. I did however sit on the plane holding my breath and counting heads. By some miracle they all did board. We have a system of number calling to check if the whole team is with us. 1,2,3, ....23,24 and then the whole tour management breathe a sigh of relief, and we know we have not lost someone. For meals, I had the pleasure of seeing the boys faces light up when they were issued with R50 notes and they could then go and purchase their own meals. You could just see their minds ticking over, “If I buy a cheaper meal then I will have money left over “. I must tell you that it was a never ending task to keep the boys tummies full. As we satisfied one the next one was asking, when were we going to eat as they were hungry!! As the sun started to set I assumed the role of nurse. I have delt with flu, blisters, sore muscles and a whole lot of home sickness. I also have held the hands of the three hospital patients. We had hospital visits in both Walvis Bay and Swakopmund. I can gladly report that all three boys are just fine. The worst part of this portfolio is to phone the parents to tell them that their son has been injured. This is so stressful as I know how far the parents are from their children. It is at times like these that I ask myself why we would even want to take our boys on tour. The answer comes back as soon as the going is good. I love the moments when the boys seek me out and come for a chat. They chat about anything and everything. In these moments the teacher pupil barriers are gone and we are just ordinary people talking to each other. I relish these time. A special thanks to the tour management Mr Marais, Mr van Vreeden and Mrs Jansen. Thanks for the laughs and fun. Thanks to all of SBHS staff who assisted in making this tour the success it is. Thanks to the parents for all of the hard work in raising the funds and for trusting us with your boys. We are off to Windhoek for our last game. One sleep and we return our team to their parents. See you all at O R Tambo tomorrow. Here’s holding thumbs for the game today....... Mrs D Freeman
Posted on: Wed, 02 Jul 2014 07:30:53 +0000
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