A.I. Steenkamp Athletes
On your mark...set...GOOOOO!!!
Wow what a day! Thursday last week my school hosted the big track and field event for the year at a big stadium called Independence Stadium! There were 12 different schools participating and reminded me of just a HUGE track meet, expect they call it Athletics here! It was a blast. We opened the day with the national anthem and scripture reading by the principal, followed a dance performed by our own A.I Cheerleaders! I won't lie I teared up when our girls started dancing in front of hundreds of peers and the whole stadium was yelling and cheering for them! I was soo proud :). It was after this that the running and field event began.
Most of the kids ran without shoes and as the day got hotter I wondered how they did it on the hot track, but they are tough and did amazing!
Our job while we were there was to take lots of pictures and encourage the kids, which was the best! I met a lot of new kids and was able to cheer them on and hang out with them all day!! None of my own learners were there because they are young and the school could only take the best athletes...how they choose, I have no idea.
The day was a roller coaster of emotions though...crying at the beginning, lots of cheering and more tears as I watched all these kids run, jump, throw, and cheer their hearts out! I felt like a proud mama of hundreds of kids :)
High Jump
Long Jump
Hurdles!
While we were there it was also very clear that our school was more than likely the poorest because we were the only school without any sort of athletic uniform...this made it hard to know which kids were ours, but it made no difference to the kids as they still did the best that they could! I loved every minute of the day and left hugging and high-fiving all the kids!
I ended the day burnt and exhausted, but with a big smile on my face and my heart overflowing with joy and proud feelings! :) It was a great day!!
Getting ready for their race
Set...
Go!!!!!
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