Day 10

Day 10 Red Rocks Team Trip

Today our team continued working on the playground at the shelter. We made pretty good progress but it isn’t done yet. We’ll work for a few hours tomorrow morning before our fun day in Johannesburg. Tomorrow we will go souvenir shopping, go to the Lion Park, and eat at Carnivore Restaurant in Jo-burg. It will be nice to have a fun relaxing day after working so hard.

Part of the team worked in Phokeng putting the final coat of paint on the ceiling. The cabinets were also installed today at Martha’s.

Tomorrow is Amara’s birthday (Amara is one of the ladies on the team) so we had a surprise birthday for her with the kids at the shelter. While she was in Freedom Park this morning the older kids in the shelter decorated a birthday cake for her and made some cards. It was a cool surprise for her.

Tonight we took the 7 oldest kids in the shelter to the movies. We saw Ice Age 3. It was a very cool treat for the kids. One of the girls that we took with us is the one that I wrote about earlier in our trip who has returned to the shelter because she was abused by her father. This was the first time that she has ever gone to a movie. She had so much fun. It was great to hear her laughing so loud in the movie theater.

Yesterday I wrote about the song that the team wrote. The music to it is very cool, you’ve got to hear it, but for now here are the lyrics:

They titled the song “Lerato” which means “love” in Tswana.

Verse 1

If one man could change the world

And bring color to this city of tin cans

Rusty blue, helpless but not hopeless hue

Sitting with the answers in your hands

All the lost boys are playing in the street.

Will you come play Peter Pan?

This aint no fairy tale it’s a barbed wire reality

But they’re not losing their innocence

Chorus

So come sail away with me off to the red soil

Step out of your boat and see what I can do

You might think that I’ve called you off to change the world

Maybe it’s the world that’s changing you

Verse 2

I’ve got everything you want but you’ve got everything I’ve been missing for so long

You live and breathe everything I need

Turns out you’re the one who’s savin’ me

Seems the reaper is standing at your door

But all we found was life inside

There’s nothin’ left worth livin’ for but all you want is more

Summary

14 strangers answering a call, nothing special at all

There’s a palm print that’s been left on our hearts

That won’t be wiped away when we depart

To fully appreciate the song you’ll need some explanations on the meaning of the lyrics, here’s a few of them:

-One of our team members named the kids playing soccer in the streets of Phokeng, “The Lost Boys”

-In the house next to Martha’s there is a little boy that is maybe 2 and everyday he sat on the other side of the barbed wire fence and watched all the kids play at Martha’s. Someone nicknamed him “Peter Pan.” He was so cute and adorable and sad looking as he watched everyone else play.

The boy below is "Peter Pan"