People who know this place would not recognise it! Honest, it looks fab!
Friday, 28 December 2007
Revamp
A lovely woman called Jen descended here yesterday and transformed the children's living quarters with new duvets, pillows, curtains, towels, mats, mirrors etc. The children hardly recognised their rooms when they got back today, it was an amazing transformation.
Each room has a theme, the girls' rooms are pink and the boys' rooms are blue, green, red etc. The whole place looks so cool!
Now the kids have to learn to respect their living spaces, but it's such a marvellous new thing for them that I'm sure they will do.
Each room has a theme, the girls' rooms are pink and the boys' rooms are blue, green, red etc. The whole place looks so cool!
Now the kids have to learn to respect their living spaces, but it's such a marvellous new thing for them that I'm sure they will do.
Wednesday, 26 December 2007
Christmas Crazy
Christmas has been crazy and fun this year. The festivities began on Saturday when some visitors came to bring the kids some presents. They dutifully put their presents under the Christmas tree in the dining room and spent the next few days going back to check if their presents were still there and pestering me as to when they could open them. As it was they had to wait until Christmas Eve to get their wish.
Sunday saw all of us heading to Durban Playhouse in our old bus, which has a maximum speed of about 60kmph. We had been invited to see a Zulu Christmas show called ‘African Mother Christmas’, which was a tale set in the Valley of 1000 Hills complete with Rainbow mother Christmas arriving on an elephant. (not a real one of course – the show was in the Loft Theatre, it wouldn’t get up the stairs…) The kids enjoyed the show, mostly because it was only an hour long and they got a snack box at the end which filled them up on the way home.
‘Cruising’ home down the N3 in the late afternoon sunshine, I had a sleeping baby on my lap, a grumpy toddler to my right and several other weary kids all around me, full of juice, crisps, sweets, muffin and apples, it struck me that it all seemed totally normal to be hanging out with these lovely children and that Christmas sunshine is brilliant. I was feeling good and feeling festive.
My ‘traditional’ Christmas CD of Cliff Richard (for me, that album IS Christmas – you can’t got wrong with Cliff!) helped nurture the festive spirit and I was feeling merry enough to say ‘ho ho ho’ a lot to the kids (without a drop of alcohol, honest!) The main Christmas party here took place on Christmas Eve. A small group of volunteers made the dining room look incredible with crackers, streamers, balloons and party poppers. At 4 o’clock the children were allowed into the room and the party could begin. Shortly afterwards, Father Christmas came round the corner into the car park on the back of the Bolero truck, waving to the expectant group of kids. Thanks to the generosity of visitors, sponsors and volunteers, the kids scored well on the present front this year with a bumper stash of presents. They were so desperate to play with their new toys that many of them rushed off as soon as the meal was over to their rooms to compare gifts, leaving a small group of older kids and volunteers to share in some modern Zulu dancing to the latest tunes. It was a top party, really good fun.
Christmas Day was more hectic than I thought it would be. Having spent the previous few evenings increasing my viewing knowledge of insanely cheesy Christmas Movies (How many different versions of Santa stories can there be?), I was quite tired but had to get up at 5.30am in any case to make sure the kids left ok for their 4 day trip to the seaside. After a few last minute hitches, they finally left and are have been making the most of the beautiful South Coast beaches. And we were left with 5 crèchies, 2 girls and 2 babies on site. It was so lovely and quiet.
The crèchies spent all of Christmas Day playing with their new toys. Toddler ‘A’ got a lion that is twice her size, and little ‘M’ got a great new ‘thu-thu’ ride on toy which he loves, but also seems to prefer ‘Mb’s’ dolly buggy (maybe it goes faster on the rough playground terrain?)… They even made Christmas cookies. Happy Days.
Then mid-afternoon the beautiful weather disappeared and a storm broke.
At about the same time I had to get a couple of our aunties back to the valley to be with their family in an emergency, except I didn’t have a suitable driver to get all the way as it would be too dangerous (merry people walking all over the road, or worse still, driving.) and then my other driver phoned to say he’d managed to get one of our combis stuck in some mud in Sankontshe. One minute I was worrying along with the aunties about their family and the next minute I was falling about laughing about the ridiculousness of the fact that someone could get stuck!
After I’d stopped laughing, I went to sort out help for him, and after the guys had stopped laughing, and run to get cameras, a group of 5 volunteers set off in the 4x4 to help out. The only problem now was that the girl who was in charge of the kitchen was in the stranded combi and it was getting near to crèchies’ dinner time. One of the crèche volunteers and myself had to get into the kitchen and sort out dinner for them – easy, as it was leftovers.
Everyone made it home ok and it was all rather funny.
Life is never dull in this place…. Not even on Christmas!
Sunday saw all of us heading to Durban Playhouse in our old bus, which has a maximum speed of about 60kmph. We had been invited to see a Zulu Christmas show called ‘African Mother Christmas’, which was a tale set in the Valley of 1000 Hills complete with Rainbow mother Christmas arriving on an elephant. (not a real one of course – the show was in the Loft Theatre, it wouldn’t get up the stairs…) The kids enjoyed the show, mostly because it was only an hour long and they got a snack box at the end which filled them up on the way home.
‘Cruising’ home down the N3 in the late afternoon sunshine, I had a sleeping baby on my lap, a grumpy toddler to my right and several other weary kids all around me, full of juice, crisps, sweets, muffin and apples, it struck me that it all seemed totally normal to be hanging out with these lovely children and that Christmas sunshine is brilliant. I was feeling good and feeling festive.
My ‘traditional’ Christmas CD of Cliff Richard (for me, that album IS Christmas – you can’t got wrong with Cliff!) helped nurture the festive spirit and I was feeling merry enough to say ‘ho ho ho’ a lot to the kids (without a drop of alcohol, honest!) The main Christmas party here took place on Christmas Eve. A small group of volunteers made the dining room look incredible with crackers, streamers, balloons and party poppers. At 4 o’clock the children were allowed into the room and the party could begin. Shortly afterwards, Father Christmas came round the corner into the car park on the back of the Bolero truck, waving to the expectant group of kids. Thanks to the generosity of visitors, sponsors and volunteers, the kids scored well on the present front this year with a bumper stash of presents. They were so desperate to play with their new toys that many of them rushed off as soon as the meal was over to their rooms to compare gifts, leaving a small group of older kids and volunteers to share in some modern Zulu dancing to the latest tunes. It was a top party, really good fun.
Christmas Day was more hectic than I thought it would be. Having spent the previous few evenings increasing my viewing knowledge of insanely cheesy Christmas Movies (How many different versions of Santa stories can there be?), I was quite tired but had to get up at 5.30am in any case to make sure the kids left ok for their 4 day trip to the seaside. After a few last minute hitches, they finally left and are have been making the most of the beautiful South Coast beaches. And we were left with 5 crèchies, 2 girls and 2 babies on site. It was so lovely and quiet.
The crèchies spent all of Christmas Day playing with their new toys. Toddler ‘A’ got a lion that is twice her size, and little ‘M’ got a great new ‘thu-thu’ ride on toy which he loves, but also seems to prefer ‘Mb’s’ dolly buggy (maybe it goes faster on the rough playground terrain?)… They even made Christmas cookies. Happy Days.
Then mid-afternoon the beautiful weather disappeared and a storm broke.
At about the same time I had to get a couple of our aunties back to the valley to be with their family in an emergency, except I didn’t have a suitable driver to get all the way as it would be too dangerous (merry people walking all over the road, or worse still, driving.) and then my other driver phoned to say he’d managed to get one of our combis stuck in some mud in Sankontshe. One minute I was worrying along with the aunties about their family and the next minute I was falling about laughing about the ridiculousness of the fact that someone could get stuck!
After I’d stopped laughing, I went to sort out help for him, and after the guys had stopped laughing, and run to get cameras, a group of 5 volunteers set off in the 4x4 to help out. The only problem now was that the girl who was in charge of the kitchen was in the stranded combi and it was getting near to crèchies’ dinner time. One of the crèche volunteers and myself had to get into the kitchen and sort out dinner for them – easy, as it was leftovers.
Everyone made it home ok and it was all rather funny.
Life is never dull in this place…. Not even on Christmas!
Friday, 21 December 2007
Christmas, and so it begins…
It’s weird being back here and knowing that I’ll be leaving in a few weeks (48 days, not that I’m counting). On the one hand I’m looking forward to being back in the UK and catching up with everyone and on the other hand I’m so sad about leaving ‘my’ children here and I can’t even imagine not being here anymore. But I guess everyone who comes here to work, even for a little while, falls under the enchantment of the wonderful treasures who play, sleep, fight and laugh here.
But, for the next week at least, they are all mine as I get to be in charge of the whole shebang. Everyone else is on leave and the party is mine… Nice. We only have about 20 kids here and all but the crechies are heading to the beach on Christmas Day, so it will be very quiet for 4 days.
I am, however, restricted to site until Friday 28th, and seeing as my internet connection is rubbish, I guess this is my Happy Christmas message to everyone. I hope you all have a wonderful, peaceful and joyful time celebrating Christ’s birth and that your wishes come true for Christmas!
But, for the next week at least, they are all mine as I get to be in charge of the whole shebang. Everyone else is on leave and the party is mine… Nice. We only have about 20 kids here and all but the crechies are heading to the beach on Christmas Day, so it will be very quiet for 4 days.
I am, however, restricted to site until Friday 28th, and seeing as my internet connection is rubbish, I guess this is my Happy Christmas message to everyone. I hope you all have a wonderful, peaceful and joyful time celebrating Christ’s birth and that your wishes come true for Christmas!
Tragedy
There is sadness in the air this morning as the choir comes to terms with the loss of one of its members.
M was a wonderful young man who I had much to do with last year when I was trying to get him a passport for the UK tour. We only managed to get him an ID not a passport and so he was unable to come to England with us. I'll always remember him sitting in my car just after we finally picked up his ID book a few months ago, stunned and happy that he 'finally existed' in terms of being a South African citizen legally.
He lived with his family on a hill not far from here and they have received quite a bit of help from us in the past. He was well loved by people here.
Tragically last night he put his arm through a glass window. Unfortunately for him a main artery was severed and he did not recover. He was 17.
In a country where so many people are dying of AIDS related diseases, it seems all the more tragic that a bright young man who was healthy and had everything to live for would have his life cut short by such a crazy thing.
Please remember his family and the family here, especially the Young Zulu Warriors, at this time. I expect the funeral will take place next weekend, after Christmas. So it won't be easy for any of us with this happening so close to the festive week. Pray for God's peace and comfort for people here at this time.
M was a wonderful young man who I had much to do with last year when I was trying to get him a passport for the UK tour. We only managed to get him an ID not a passport and so he was unable to come to England with us. I'll always remember him sitting in my car just after we finally picked up his ID book a few months ago, stunned and happy that he 'finally existed' in terms of being a South African citizen legally.
He lived with his family on a hill not far from here and they have received quite a bit of help from us in the past. He was well loved by people here.
Tragically last night he put his arm through a glass window. Unfortunately for him a main artery was severed and he did not recover. He was 17.
In a country where so many people are dying of AIDS related diseases, it seems all the more tragic that a bright young man who was healthy and had everything to live for would have his life cut short by such a crazy thing.
Please remember his family and the family here, especially the Young Zulu Warriors, at this time. I expect the funeral will take place next weekend, after Christmas. So it won't be easy for any of us with this happening so close to the festive week. Pray for God's peace and comfort for people here at this time.
Visa again…
I got back from holiday to discover I had to arrange for one of our girls, B, to get her visa for the Netherlands and then get on the flight. This involved a very early start on Tuesday up to Joburg and then drive to Pretoria in time for 10am to collect her visa.
All of that passed without incident, until we got to the Royal Netherlands Embassy to be told that her visa has been sent back to Durban and would be ready for collection on Wednesday morning. All great plans thwarted by bureaucracy…
Hmm, in any case, there was nothing for us to do but chill in Pretoria until Wed lunch time when we met a volunteer who’d flown up specially to put the newly-collected visa into our hands and then I could make sure she got the flight at 5pm. A lot of flying for one little visa.
However, it was all worth it as B had never flown before and it was good for her to fly with me from Durban to Joburg to discover what it’s all about, before a long-haul flight Joburg-Paris-Amsterdam. She really appreciated that experience. And also the nice room she got to herself in Pretoria (she has never had her own room, or a TV to watch in bed!)
We spent the evening at Mcdonald’s and then seeing a movie. Things we take for granted, such as popcorn, were a real treat for her and when someone phoned her the next day on the way to the airport she excitedly recounted the events of our time in Pretoria as being ‘the time of my life’…
It was fun getting to know her better and helping her out. She walks with a crutch and had to have a wheelchair to get to the plane and it was quite emotional saying goodbye to my new friend when the time came for her to go through security.
All of that passed without incident, until we got to the Royal Netherlands Embassy to be told that her visa has been sent back to Durban and would be ready for collection on Wednesday morning. All great plans thwarted by bureaucracy…
Hmm, in any case, there was nothing for us to do but chill in Pretoria until Wed lunch time when we met a volunteer who’d flown up specially to put the newly-collected visa into our hands and then I could make sure she got the flight at 5pm. A lot of flying for one little visa.
However, it was all worth it as B had never flown before and it was good for her to fly with me from Durban to Joburg to discover what it’s all about, before a long-haul flight Joburg-Paris-Amsterdam. She really appreciated that experience. And also the nice room she got to herself in Pretoria (she has never had her own room, or a TV to watch in bed!)
We spent the evening at Mcdonald’s and then seeing a movie. Things we take for granted, such as popcorn, were a real treat for her and when someone phoned her the next day on the way to the airport she excitedly recounted the events of our time in Pretoria as being ‘the time of my life’…
It was fun getting to know her better and helping her out. She walks with a crutch and had to have a wheelchair to get to the plane and it was quite emotional saying goodbye to my new friend when the time came for her to go through security.
Unfortunately as soon as I’d seen her off, the day went downhill with a delay for my return flight (someone had apparently run into the side of the plane?!?!) and the disappearance of my luggage (which thankfully turned up the next afternoon – just as I was getting major flip-flop withdrawal…)
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