Today was the 2nd day of festivals in Cape Town, and the 5th festival of the pilgrimage. Across all three festival locations it was clear that our hard work from yesterday had paid off and we were seeing community start to build.
In Atlantis the team arrived to a park considerably more empty than yesterday and thought that it would be a quieter day - we were so wrong! Once we had set up the tables and most of the activities, kids seemed to come out of nowhere and we ended up with more than we had yesterday. Our local team of 20 volunteers, especially the grandmas, did a great job sticking it out painting faces, making balloons, and blowing bubbles. We had several older members of the community come up to us and say thank you, and one older gentleman came to Michael with tears in his eyes overjoyed at what he saw, saying that he now has hope for his community. There also a very nice sense of gratitude and belonging amongst both the kids and adults.
The Red Hill team experienced a similar experience with the kids being much more calmer and more willing to help than yesterday. The kids began to understand the culture and living by the norms of build people up, help people grow, because people matter. One of the highlights of the festival was when two older ladies joined in on the limbo, reflectng how the community was starting to embtrace the festivals. The team also did a fantastic job working together and so the festival seemed to work a lot more smoothly.
The Athlone festival did not quite have the crowds that the team expected, but had a much more consistent flow of people come through. The wind caused a few problems, but everyone still had a great time. At one stage Emily walked over to one of the festival activities to find a young boy taking control after Phil had made him 'Master of the table' - quite special!
Tomorrow we have our 3rd and final festival in Cape Town so stay tuned for the next update!
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