Meditating and Growing

We began our day trying to erect our magical blue tent where classes are always held. In the past we have been assisted by two adults in the community but on this occasion, the setting up of the tent was orchestrated by Maxine, the children (we have now grown and our classes consists of 9 children!) and me. We tried to dig deep holes into the already compacted soil to secure the tent but were unsuccessful in putting it altogether. The wind whipped and wrapped itself in and around the tent. We all grabbed firmly onto the edges to prevent the entire wobbly structure from flying up, up and away! After 30 minutes of 'parachuting' the children sought another plan.

They mentioned that there was an empty tin shelter that we could use instead of the tent. I was informed to ask permission from one of the community leaders to use the broken shelter for our classes. Once permission was granted we moved into our new location, amongst the labyrinth of other sliver homes. I had previously tried to get a shelter but getting hold of officials working for the Cape Town City Council was virtually impossible. When I eventually was successful, I had been told that I did not qualify for a shelter and could therefore not occupy one. There were thousands of people waiting for shelters already and my occupancy for only one day a week was not feasible.

So, finally being granted a broken/dismantled shelter, I was overjoyed. Our new 'home' is just perfect! I had been thinking for a while that we desperately needed to relocate to a different area where there were not too many distractions and we could earnestly make head-way with our projects. I had thought about moving the project to town but that was going to cost more money and having just quit one of my jobs, and taking on an employee for Creative Education, I was concerned that my 3 other jobs were not enough to sustain us.

Therefore, arriving at our new Creative Education Hub was a relief. We were all excited. We laid some mats on the floor, sat around in a circle and begun our day together with a meditation.