Saturday Excursion for Bakhita Girls

We thought the girls at Bakhita Village might enjoy a Saturday excursion. It’s been more than a year since they had a treat away from home. After a bit of brainstorming, we decided on a day in the city. Two large vans, called combies or taxis, were hired that carried all the Bakhita girls plus seven chaperones. We left for the hour-long ride to the medium-size city of Polokwane.

Our destination was the Mall of the North, a relatively new mall with modern stores, restaurants and a CINEMA! Before the movie “Sing” started, we went out into the mall to explore.

The girls experienced their first escalator ride – some beginning with sheer terror but ending with requests to ride again. Another first was the lift, not as terrifying but also a bit scary. All the girls wore their rosaries around their necks to insure safety on this bold adventure.

The mall restrooms were also a new experience – fancy hot air hand dryers that were maybe even a tiny bit scary the first time. Although by the end of the day, the girls were parading back and forth to the restrooms!

And then came the movie! We booked the theater seating ahead of time and they gave us a discount and arranged individual trays for each girl containing popcorn, soda and a sweet. They let us in early and we had a chance to just take in the enormity of a movie screen and all those soft comfortable seats – and air-conditioning!

The movie was enjoyed by everyone. The songs were fun and the girls even understood some of the subtle humor that ran throughout the movie.

We topped the theater experience with a trip to an ice-cream shop. Unfortunately, there are no photos of that endeavor. The adults were all so busy helping the girls to choose from a variety of flavors and toppings, there was no one to take a photo. But rest assured, every drop was enjoyed.

The ride home was hot and long, even as most of girls sang and danced around except one who couldn’t keep her eyes open.

The day ended with another first. We brought home pizza from the mall. Every slice was savored and consumed before it was time for lights out. Shortly, thereafter, we poured ourselves a cold one and sighed with relief.