Monday's events!

We were so busy yesterday we didn't manage to update the blog, but here is what we did....
We were woken up bright and early at 7.30, 6.30 British time, ouch! Breakfast was at 8 with a spread of delicious fruit, cereal and scrambled eggs.
To start the day we had an overview from Ingrid about the 27 projects of which the trust is involved in, we were also told about the trusts history and future plans. After this we were split into 3 groups.
Mr Hopkins was fortunate enough to be sent back with his group to where he belongs, pre-school. It was an interesting journey as we were stood along the side of the road preparing to walk down when a tractor appeared at the top of the hill, towing a trailer on which we all hoped on. The road was bumpy to say the least. When we arrived we were shown into the school and introduced, lots of little eyes started to stare up at us with confused expressions. They soon relaxed especially after the appearance of a few bubbles.
Miss Roberts and her group were involved in the climate change path out of poverty. People worked very hard, and even have blisters as proof! Blood blisters, back breaking work and a lot of sweat means that they cut down all the trees that were assigned for the entire trip. Now the rest of us have a couple of relaxing days ahead :) The farmers were brave enough to arm everyone with maschetes, Chloe Wilson had obviously used one before! Scary!
Mr Griffiths group were sent to work on the olive grove and in the factory. Instead of the stench of sweat they were wreaking of olive juice. They picked some of the olives off the floor to make compost for the farm. In the factory they made slits in an endless pile of olives, this helps the brine become absorbed quicker to take out the bitterness, this means they can be packaged and put into shops as quickly as possible.
In the evening we were joined by the youth in construction (15+) and treated to a traditional African meal, this consisted of some interesting dishes but nevertheless was enjoyed by all. There was no time to relax as we became embroiled in a sing off between the boys and the girls, the girls won of course! We could have gone on for hours, but we had to start the nights events, which was a simulation of the apartheid.
Here we were greated (not so kindly) by the 'bureau of security' and 'the South African police' who split us up into either black, white or coloured. It was a really scary experience for all with a Miss Trunchable-esque character leading proceedings. The whites were given sweets and offered a drink in a comfortable chair, they were also given name tags. The coloured were given just the one sweet and sat on the floor. The blacks were labelled and given an identity card and peanuts, literally. If they were caught without their identity card they would be put in jail. Some cowered in the corner whilst others fought back a.k.a Chloe Wilson and Vikram. Hopkins on the other hand enjoyed a whipping. Games followed where your colour depended on how much advantage you had e.g pick up sticks, the whites were able to use their hands, the coloured had to where white gloves and the blacks wore thick gardening gloves, it was an impossible challenge! The next game was throwing balls at cans to knock them over, again the whites had an immediate advantage with a football, the coloured had a tennis ball and the blacks a ping-pong ball, which resulted in the guards being targeted. The final game was a race over chairs, the whites chairs were placed back to back, with the coloured having a little gap, the blacks then had a 2 yard gap which was impossible to jump. We ended the evening reflecting on the nights events and how we can learn from the past to ensure it doesn't happen again. We were also told about some harrowing experiences of some of the workers on the trust. Everyone slept soundly but we're sure some had nightmares about Miss Trunchable!
Roll on today...

Ffion, Elliot and Rachel