Instruct.

Today was a real Monday! I got to lead workshops at both LEAP 3 and LEAP 4.

At LEAP 3, I am doing a bit of a poetry workshop, and having the students work with the "Where I'm From" poem by George Ella Lyons. I've done this poem with my students at HTHCV before, but doing it with the students here is also inspirational. I was explaining to Nomkhitha that I am endlessly excited about the different stories and details that each person can bring into the poem, the things that separate us and make us truly ourselves. I could tell she thought I was a little nuts. Her poem is the one at the end of this post.

Later with LEAP 4, I had the students begin with self-portraits. I enjoyed encouraging them to be kind to themselves and to appreciate what they could create (no comparisons, we all make art differently, and everyone is an artist). I love each of their sketches, and look forward to doing the poem with them later this week.

Long day, full of instructions, but also full of discovering new people.

Where I'm From
by Nomkhitha

I am from the womb
of an African woman
Born and bred in
the red soil of
endwana village.

I am from the
African forest
chased by wild
animals, yet
go back home
with meat.

Yes I am from
the Orange river,
I am from the
Kilimanjaro mountains
I climb with the
passion and the
memory of freedom.
I stand in the greenstone
watching the river flowing
I am from the heart
of the motherland.

I am from a respective
village, where my neighbour
is u-Aunty, where my
Aunty is uMama.
I am raised by my
Aunty, but to me
she is a mother.

Yes I am from a family
where u-Aunty is a mother,
where she is the father.
I am from the wings of
an African woman who
raised six African youth
without any help.
Yes I am from the
centre of strength,
from the hills of wisdom.