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Gigi Condren and a South African child.
Gigi Condren (Cambridge School of Weston '19) and Lexie Condren (WHS '16, Bryant University '20) recently spent two weeks volunteering in the Projects Abroad Care & Community program in Vrygrond, South Africa.
Gigi Condren and a South African child.
The young children they worked with live in extreme poverty. They face malnutrition, illness, exposure to violence, and insufficient stimulation. Lexie and Gigi worked to implement literacy lessons and assist teachers to create lessons through singing and exercise activities.
The girls brought the children dance tutus and musical shakers to promote the joy of dance and music, as well as English language books and games. They helped the children brush their teeth and focus on good hygiene (things not typically done at home), as well as work on their manners. Another highlight of their volunteer time was painting one of the preschools and doing hours of prep work at a soup kitchen.
The Condren sisters observed that so many of the township’s homes and businesses are created from scrap wood and corrugated metal. There was no central heat, so temperatures in their winter (our summer) reached the 40s at night.
A South African care center.
