Sam's very excited about changes at her internship

Wow. Today at work (Christel House) was amazing.

So lately at work I haven't been doing much because a lot is transitioning in the office with people leaving and new people coming in, so it's been kinda eh but today that all changed. I decided to be proactive and asked one of my supervisors if I could start sitting in on some classes to gain more context of these kids and he was so happy I asked and allowed me to do that. He actually had me make up a new template for what classroom observations would look like (so I created the new official template for this and he said I did an AWESOME job weeeeeee) and then I went into classes!!! Me and the new counselor decided it would be more beneficial for us if we spent an entire day in one class so we could actually catch on to what kids have issues (behavioral, emotional, etc) so I was in a third grade class and definitely noticed so many of these things. Tomorrow I'm going into my second grade class where I have a "fan club" of like 8 kids who I love and want to take home to the states and give them more opportunities lol watch out mom and dad. So I'm excited for that. My supervisor and the new counselor and I also discussed a lot of things for the older students about really installing perseverance and what not in them, and I mentioned an exercise that I have done relating to this and he said if I bring in the materials I can completely run the exercise on my own with grade 11 and 12 students ... !!!! So exciting. I'm so excited to become a lot more active in the school and with students!! Ugh leaving this place is going to be hard ....

---------------------------------------CHRISTEL HOUSE, SOUTH AFRICA Mission---------------------------------------------------

Poverty touches every aspect of a child’s life. The child born into poverty almost always remains trapped there unless significant interventions occur. Left unaided, impoverished children face a lifetime of physical and psychological trauma—illiteracy, malnutrition, disease, low self-esteem and lack of opportunity. These are among the root causes of poverty that Christel House overcomes.

Christel House is a holistic model designed to transform the lives of impoverished children. We do this by focusing on the “whole child.” We don’t just educate, or feed, or provide health care—we do all of these things—from early childhood through early adulthood. We develop the total child.