New Uniforms - Part 1

new shoes, socks and jerseys - how smart!

usual state of the kids' shoes!

Today I took 20 jerseys, socks and pairs of shoes down to Inchanga Primary School. This is the first half of a kind donation by a group from the USA called 'Our Journey inc.' School dresses, grey trousers and white shirts will follow in a few weeks' time. A sewing co-op in the valley are currently creating these for the children.

It was a blisteringly hot morning in the sunshine and yet the children were still happy to don their new jerseys and amazingly all but one fitted extremely well. Each child got a pair of shoes and socks as well and they were grateful for these. A lot of children have holes in their socks and worn-out or sometimes no shoes at all.

While I was walking back to my car I noticed that another one of my 40 was wandering around just in her socks and no shoes. I questioned her about it and she said she didn't have any shoes. It turned out she's a size 2, the exact size of one of the pairs of shoes for a child who was absent today. I was really happy to realise this and so was she when I gave her these shoes, I'll get some more tomorrow.

Thank you so much again to Maureen and the kind people in the USA who donated to Our journey inc to make all this possible. It's a huge help to these children and they look so smart in their new jerseys.

Preschool Opening Photos

children enjoying breaktime in their new school building

very happy parents, Gogos and carers

children inside the new classroom!

A happy day

Yesterday the children of Ehlanzeni moved into their new Preschool building as the 'Steve Davison Preschool' was finally open for business!

Steve, Mike and I joined George the Headteacher of Inchanga School, a few other staff, the teachers of Grade R and 1 and the parents and children to celebrate the opening. It's not the official opening (we didn't have a cake for a start... ) but that will take place in December. But the children were desperate to move from the draughty old community hall with its broken windows, holes in the roof and floor to the new building.

Whilst there's no electricity in yet and the windows were only finished yesterday, there are desks and doors that lock and there's water, so that's enough to start with. There's plenty of land to expand as well, thanks to the generosity of a local shop owner who donated the building and land surrounding it.

For the rest of this year there are 2 classes there - Grade R and Grade 1, for the first time yesterday they had their own space and classroom, before they were sharing. The joy on the children's faces and for the parents was obvious. The children had all arrived really early ready to learn. From January there will also be Grade 2 children learning there.

This school was finished off by Lionsraw back in the World Cup. It was great seeing the team work on it during the school holidays but that's nothing compared to the excitement of seeing the buildings in use! Steve gave a speech, as did George and several others.

This preschool is important as it's in a good setting. Before, the parents and small children had to walk up to 2 hours up a mountain to get to the main school. It's too much for small legs and also for the some of the Gogos to make it every day and as a result some children were just not going to school. This school is in a perfect place for them to get to. Having this school means these children will get the best possible start to their education.

NEW WEBSITE!!

Finally we have our website up and runnning - take a look at

www.gvfsa.org

There are links from that to the givengain website where you can make secure donations to the work of Grapevine Foundation.

Have a look and let us know what you think! ;-)

A new pitch

The Sports Trust (http://www.thesportstrust.co.za/) have teamed up with the Pavilion, our local shopping mall, to provide a multi-million rand state-of-the-art multi-sports pitch at Inchanga Primary School for the benefit of the whole community. Today was the opening ceremony.

Being a Roman Catholic School, the local priest started by blessing the pitch with a dose of holy water, then various guests gave speeches. The school choir performed as did a choir from another local school. It was a happy occasion.

The pitch will be used by local schools and also by clubs in the area and everyone is excited about the possibilities. This is only the second pitch that has been built in South Africa so it's a real blessing to the community of Inchanga.