End of term

Another term is over and Christmas is fast approaching. Thanks to a donation from CMA back in September I was able to go out and buy all sorts of things to give to the children for a Christmas Food parcel. As well as a little bit of food to help them out, I also put in a new pencil case, and some pens and pencils to start them off next term.

As I'm leaving soon we decided not to feed the kids over the holiday. Instead we've reminded them that the 1000 Hills Community Helpers next to the school give out food daily during the week so children can go there.

A lot of my '40' were in school on Thursday. It was the offical last day of term and most children come back to receive their reports. Attendance in the last few weeks has been sparse, with only about 50 children from the 1000 pupils turning up at school.

It was sad to say goodbye to the children and staff but I'll be back to visit in the future...

wrapping up and continuations...

By now you should be aware that I am leaving South Africa on 22nd December and am returning to live in the UK. I resigned from my job with Grapevine Foundation thinking that I'd have to leave all my profiling and documents at the school until someone else came along in the future to pick it up again. However God had other plans and within a few days of me resigning, one of the teachers from the school came forward to take over as Project Manager! God is good.

Her name is Fikile Nxumalo and she works in the management at Inchanga Primary School. She's been watching me for a while and wondering whether to get involved but the time is right now. I've already had a meeting with her and I'm confident that she's the absolute perfect person for the job. She speaks Zulu and excellent English, she knows the kids already and can visit them at home without the need for an interpreter!

We are so excited about the way God has moved in this situation, it's yet more confirmation that He is moving me on and moving the next person in. My job has been to introduce Grapevine to the children and then get Fikile interested and excited about it, just by going about my work.

It's nearly the end of term and I'll be saying goodbye to the children next week with a final food parcel for the holidays. Please pray for Fikile as she takes over and for the enthusiasm she has for helping the children to grow and grow as she gets stuck into her new role.

Russell and Precious's Big Day

After many months of planning, Russell and Precious's Wedding weekend extravaganza was finally upon us!

Final frantic preparations were taking place on Thursday, even at our house, the 'church' for the White Wedding part. Some of the young men from Russell's were dispatched to help make the garden lovely and they worked hard alongside Steve and Mike to clear and burn all the garden debris. Friday was just as chaotic with any spare vehicle being sent left right and centre to move marquees, chairs, wedding clothes and the like. In the midst of all of this one of Precious's brothers had his car stolen in central Durban, so that added to the stress!

The fun was officially timetabled to start at 3pm on Friday when the first cow was to be slaughtered. However, the poor thing didn't meet its end until gone 9pm! Even for Zulu timing that is late!! Before that, at Precious's mum's house they had to slaughter a goat and then inform Russell's house that it had been done, this gave the go-ahead for the cow. I missed the goat slaughter but the rondavel in which Precious was hauled up absolutely stank of dead goat by the time I got there! Poor Precious and her ladies had to sit in there all night. I was glad I could travel, as photographer I had to go between the 2 sites. They offered me some freshly boiled goat, but I politely declined!

One of the main events on Friday was the moving of the 'Wedding Chest'. This is a huge polished cabinet with a lovely elephant decoration on the front. It was moved from Precious's house to Russell's on Friday night accompanied by a lot of ululating Gogos. It featured in Sunday's traditional rituals.

Also, at midnight, Precious had to smuggle herself somehow into Russell's house. If she managed to do so then all the men there had to give her money. Sadly for her she was spotted. I missed this as I had to get home for some sleep. Steve and Mike, who stayed in the valley the whole weekend, also appear to have missed it - I think the excitement caught up with them and they were asleep. The rest of the wedding party however stayed up all night.

The problem with staying up all night is that you are quite tired the next day. So when I turned up on Saturday at 7am ready to party, everyone else was already a little worse for wear! Thankfully it was a beautifully sunny day (unlike the forecast - ah the power of prayer!). Once everyone was ready, the main bridal party - couple, 4 bridesmaids, 4 best men (including Steve and Mike), and the flowergirls and pageboys - all set off for Durban for photos on the beach.

We were only running 2 hours late for the service at our house. By the time we got to our house it was quite crowded. Officially only about 20 people had been invited to the White Wedding service in our garden. Unofficially, another 100 Zulus had turned up. They were hot, hungry and desperate for a glimpse of the happy couple. Apart from the rude women who helped themselves to food out of our fridge, everything went smoothly. (thankfully for them, they only stole juice, fruit and bread, if they'd started on my chocolate, it would have been a different story...!!!)

The procession then travelled from here back to Russell's in the valley, with cars beeping their horns and veering all over the road. Everyone they passed waved and cheered. At several points they stopped the vehicles and various people got out for a bit of a dance. None of this dancing compared to the first dance (video on facebook) which far surpassed all other dancing of the day. The entire bridal party danced into the reception tent. I can't really describe it, it has to be seen to be believed...

With the White Wedding over and done with, Sunday morning arrived with cloudy skies and the traditional outfits for Umabo. Having been to several weddings now, I'm noticing a change in atmosphere on the Umabo days, it's much more relaxed than the white wedding. I think the Zulus just do their thing on these days and enjoy it.

I'd hoped to miss the second cow slaughter, scheduled for 6am, but no, it happened at 11.30am, just after I arrived.

Oh joy. Yet more brutality and blood.

It's totally gross and then strangely fascinating. Once the animal is dead it just looks like a huge piece of meat and the butchering is rather interesting.

The photos are still gross though!

Mike and Steve were in traditional Zulu Skins (see above pic) and I wore a Zulu outfit too, slightly warmer than theirs. The Zulus were delighted to see us dressed like this and lots of people wanted photos with us. The traditional cermony comprised a lot of dancing, singing and parading round with sticks and shields for the men. The boys joined in and blended in very well. After all the backward and forwarding, they were officially married the moment Precious did a runner from the field and Russell headed off after her. Then suddenly it was all over.

The heavens opened shortly after this and I decided to make a move, given that all the houses were now full of hungry Zulus awaiting their beef curry. Mike and Steve stayed on and reappeared only yesterday, so their wedding experience lasted a lot longer than mine, although I still reckon I'll remember more than they will ;-)

A great weekend, all in all, crazy, chaotic but full of fun times and good memories.

Now there's just the small matter of about 1000 photos to edit...

My newsletter - December 2010

I've finally worked out a way of getting my newsletter onto the blog!
Below is what I sent out for December 2010 - lots of changes as you'll see.

END OF AN ERA AND FRESH CHALLENGES
After much deliberation and prayer, I’ve made the decision to move back to the UK in December, just in time for Christmas. Read on for more information…

SCHOOL UNIFORMS
Maureen Ahern, from the American charitable organisation ‘Our Journey, inc’, contacted me earlier in the year with the offer of school uniforms for 20 of the orphans at Inchanga Primary School. She visited South Africa in October and made this happen. I selected the 20 most needy, most of whom were from my ‘40’ children, and measured them up for new shoes, dresses or trousers and shirts. A local sewing co-operative in Swayimane, run by a lovely Zulu lady called Victoria, were given the task of making school dresses, grey trousers and white shirts for the children. They are finishing them off as I write.
A few weeks’ ago, Maureen and I went into Pietermaritzburg where she purchased shoes, socks and school jumpers for the children. Unfortunately, Maureen couldn’t come into school with me to give these out to the pupils but they were overjoyed to receive the new items and eagerly put them on. Thank you so much for this donation that takes the worry away from 20 carers for new uniforms for the new school year!
A couple of shoes were the wrong size and needed to be swapped. On the way to the car, I noticed another one of my ‘40’ who was wandering with no shoes on at all. I asked her what size she was and she said ‘2’. Amazingly, that was the very size I was about to swap so I gave her a new pair and went off to buy another pair in the shop instead. She was very happy but didn’t put the shoes on immediately because she was too busy showing them off to her friends!

SIYATHEMBA – WHERE HOPE BEGINS
My sister, Liz, and our friend Anita spent 2 weeks here in September. They were here to spend time with some of the young people from God’s Golden Acre as Anita’s family sponsors several of them. During this time it became apparent that some of the older young people needed encouragement and assistance with the next step as they looked to finishing school and making the transition from care to independent living.
We’ve been looking into ways of facilitating this and founded ‘Siyathemba’ to make this happen. For the past 2 months I’ve taken food regularly to 2 of the older boys – Mlu and Goodman – who have been moved to live in a township but have hardly any food and nothing to do all day. It’s not an ideal situation. Pray for the right direction for these 2 boys as they consider their options. Pray for protection as township life is much different from residential care, especially that they wouldn’t be tempted into alcoholism or drug abuse (cannabis use is rife in all townships).
We are seeking ways to help these young people to make the most of their education and complete any training they can do for a better future. Please pray for the future of Siyathemba, in its initial stages now, that the right people would come onboard and it would benefit the young people over here and be a source of hope and encouragement to them.For more info please email me at siyathembadirector@gmail.com

‘Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come.’

Jeremiah 33v3

‘For I know the plans I have for you, (..) plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’

Jeremiah 29v11

Church@GGA – YOUTH ALPHA

This term we’ve been doing Youth Alpha with the children at GGA. This has been amazing so far and we still have a few weeks and the Holy Spirit Day left to go. When I returned from the UK we had initial troubles from a group from a local Zion Church who had moved in to take over the Sunday services. Google them to find out more, but basically they believe in a mixture of Christianity and Zulu tradition, which is not Biblical. It took a lot of prayer and discussion to get them to leave the children alone. Praise God that the children recognised immediately that what they preached was false. Pray for the management at GGA, that they would stand firm in their decision that the church@GGA is Anglican and Bible-based. Pray against these people returning when I leave in December. They are still loitering now and the children need good solid Bible teaching and not to be confused. Alpha, in the meantime, has been well-received and in the first week all of my group of 11-14 year olds prayed to become Christians. The Holy Spirit Day is set for Saturday 27th November. Pray that nothing prevents that from happening and for an awesome time together. In total over 30 young people are doing Alpha in 2 groups.

CHRISTMAS FEEDING PROGRAMME 2010

I will be co-ordinating a food parcel for the ‘40’ for the end of term in December but as I am returning to the UK there will be no feeding programme as such during the holidays. However, there is the 1000 Hills Community Helpers project next door to the school where the children can get food every weekday so this will help them.

RUSSELL AND PRECIOUS – SITHEMBAKUYE

The wedding of Russell and Precious is fast approaching – Friday 12th-Sun 14th November. Look out for pictures on Facebook, my blog and in my next newsletter! Everyone is working hard to get things ready and Steve and Mike have spent many hours practising their dance moves for their roles as groomsmen. I’ve decided to bless this family with the Hilux (or money from the Hilux sale) and we are in the process of arranging that. If they can raise the funding to cover the extra costs on the vehicle they can have it or I will sell it and donate a major proportion of the money to them to buy a different car. Russell passed his driving test recently and a vehicle would benefit their organisation and family greatly. Pray for the right way forward in this and that the Hilux would continue to be a blessing.

FUTURE PLANS

As I mentioned in my last newsletter, I made the decision on Oct 31st in light of my support and funding that it would be financially unsustainable for me to continue here. Therefore I shall be returning to the UK on December 23rd in time for a family Christmas. I have started my search for jobs in the UK, mostly in teaching again but I will consider anything. Whilst I am sad about leaving the many children here and having to return to the middle of Winter in the UK, I know that this is the right decision to make. I have had an amazing time here and met so many brilliant people who will remain forever in my heart. I intend to continue supporting people in whatever way I can from the UK and shall return here to visit at some point in the future. Pray for Micky and the future of Grapevine Foundation.

However, new challenges await me in the UK as well. I shall not be returning to the UK alone but with my new partner, Bob Okafor. I met him in October and it would appear that our meeting was no accident but a God-incident. He is currently living in Johannesburg but will visit the UK with me for Christmas and then look to relocate to the UK once I have a job and am settled somewhere. Pray for us as we embark on this new and exciting relationship and for God’s guidance in where to live, work and for visas for him. He is a Nigerian businessman, a strong Christian and we get on very very well!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR INVESTING IN GOD’S KINGDOM WORK HERE IN KWAZULU NATAL.

MAY GOD BLESS YOU MIGHTILY AS YOU SUPPORT ME AND THE CHILDREN OF SOUTH AFRICA.

Keep in touch!

Much love from Caroline xxx

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.

Some photos from Visiting Liz's sponsor family

Liz, Anita and Siyabonga with the family that Triangle supports plus a few extra kids

the food parcel we put together (larger than usual)

a couple of the kids modelling their new hats (thank you Grandma!)

New plans and opportunities

Many of you know I've been praying for God to reveal His way forward for a long time now. Well, I think that He might be revealing some of the answers this week through Liz and Anita as they visit me...

Just over a week ago, Liz (my sister) and her friend Anita arrived for a 2-week stay. We've certainly packed a lot into these weeks and they are not over yet! (I'm planning a quiet weekend...) Anita sponsors several children at GGA and wanted to spend some time with them so we've spent a fair amount of time up there.

Firstly Church@GGA has been interesting. I returned from the UK keen to start Youth Alpha with the kids but we were greeted on the first Sunday back with a visit from a group from the Zion Church. That would have been fine except they were under the impression that they were going to run the church there from now on, which would not do at all. Google them if you want to know why... Anyway, after a morning with them, the children were upset and we were not too happy either. Praise God that the situation was sorted this Sunday and now we are back on track to start Alpha next Sunday, just a week later than planned. So far, 29 children aged 11 and over have signed up and it looks like it could be an amazing course. Please remember us in your prayers over this term.

We've also spent a bit of time catching up with a couple of older GGA boys who've been relocated to a township in Pietermaritzburg. It was great to see them and also challenging as they were already out of the food that had been given to them. Thankfully we had some food to leave with them and we've popped back today to check on them. It's obvious that their spirits are lifted by our visits and so I've no intention of stopping seeing them... In fact, plans are coming together to help them in alternative ways. More details to follow soon...

Also, Liz's church - Triangle in Ipswich - has been sponsoring a family in the valley of Mophela and today we arranged a visit to them. We collected the local community health worker this morning and took her with us as well as Siyabonga, Anita's sponsor child. Liz had been given some money to buy food for the family and we had a good time in Spar yesterday purchasing lots of different food to give them. I'd visited 3 years ago with my parents and I could thankfully remember where the house was. We borrowed a wheelbarrow from a neighbour and took the food down to the house. The oldest girl in the family was there and she was overwhelmed by the gift to them. It was a real blessing as today they were down to their last bit of food and she had been praying for a miracle. There are 6 people there including 2 small children and they were all grateful for the donation.

While we were there Anita and Liz got to pray with her and to encourage her. We also discovered they want some chickens and have built a chicken coop but couldn't afford them. So we set off to find a man who could sell us some and after a few enquiries we found some chickens. However, only kids were at home and the chickens were out wandering so we couldn't get them there and then, but we arranged with the CHW to collect them later on. Apparently chickens regroup in the evening and are easier to catch!

I'd brought along some woolly hats that my Grandma had knitted and the children were really excited to receive these. It was chilly first thing but then the sun came out and the hats were still on their heads. They will be useful when the cold season starts again later in the year. Photos to follow...

In amongst all this, we've managed to pack in a quick trip to the Game Reserve over the bank holiday and finally saw some lions. Later in the week the girls are treating me to a Spa Day which will be lovely and relaxing. We are having an amazing time but also we are quite tired. We've prayed together a lot and we know that God has brought us together for a purpose and for such a time as this. There will be many more good times together. I've also realised that my time in South Africa is not over yet and that I must stay longer and trust God to provide for my needs. It feels good and it's exciting to be a part of established and new ministries out here.

Please continue to pray for God to direct His work out here, and as I said before, there are very exciting new projects in the pipeline and I'll reveal more about it in due course...

Holiday Feeding

This week Inchanga Primary School is on holiday. After several weeks of strikes there was a chance that this week would be taken up to make up for lost time. Then the Government decided they should close for holiday after all. They are only off for a week.

My sister Liz and friend Anita are visiting these 2 weeks (more about that in a minute) and they came with me to give the '40' kids some food to see them through the holiday. We went to Makro and bought the usual Maize meal, sugar beans, soya mixture etc and a few 'luxuries' such as a bag of cheese crisps each.

We went in to the school on Thursday morning and gave out the food parcels. Despite the crowd of eager pupils gathering round the car and pressing in for something, I managed to identify my '40' and we gave out a total of 30 bags of food. Not bad for the end of term. Not all kids make it in on the last day of term so I was happy with that. Unfortunately the rest of the kids had to be chased back by one of the teachers with a big stick and it was impossible to give out the rest as there was not enough. However, every orphan in the school would have been given a bag of porridge from another donation so nobody went home empty-handed.

I'll put up some photos as soon as my laptop is fixed. Yesterday it died somehow, I think the powerpack has broken but unfortunately it looks like you can't just buy a new one here in South Africa. Tomorrow my mission is to solve this problem... it's an urgent one as ALL my files are locked on there and I'm currently having to borrow Steve's laptop to update this (without all my photos ;-((( )

Sithembakuye - The new house

We said that Russell and Precious would not be able to keep out of their new house once we left the country and we were right! It was great to see yesterday what they've done with the place.

Lionsraw built this house from nothing and they still need to link up the electricity, water and put in the kitchen and bathroom, but apart from that, it was almost ready for moving in.

The Sithembakuye family have moved in, although some of them are still sharing beds until they get new bunk beds at some point in the not too distant future. The nice people at Pentravel came to paint and are coming back to finish the job soon. Everyone is overjoyed at the new place and the kids especially are excited about their new rooms.

Up till now about 12 kids were sleeping in a very small room and it was extremely cramped. Look at how many teddies they have for a start! ;-) Now these kids are shared out in 3 rooms with the boys having their own room for the first time in their lives. It is awesome to see how this new home is turning out. No one can be more excited or happy than Russell and Precious themselves, you can't wipe the smile off their faces these days!

Best of British...

Despite the ridiculous set up at Birmingham Airport, where you have to pay for a trolley now if you want one when you collect your baggage, which was extremely irritating after 15 hours of travel, I had a great time in the UK. I spent most of the time meeting up with family and friends and trying to chill out and also think about my future. It was a busy but happy time.

To begin with, I went down to Cornwall with my parents for a week of complete 'holiday'. The rain didn't disrupt too much and we had a lovely time visiting several National Trust gardens, the beach, St Ives and discovering some really fantastic food places too. I'm liking the 'Great British Food' industry that has sprung up and developed over the past few years. Particularly good were the meals at Trevaskis Farm outside of Hayle. We also loved the jacket potatoes at the cafe at Trengwainton National Trust Garden. Try it and love it too.

Back in the Midlands from Cornwall and it was time to catch up with many friends. Kath, who I met in SA, came down and we had a very enlightening time at Warwick Castle. It never ceases to amaze me how the people who run that place can alter it every year so that it's still interesting! The jousting was good. (see photo). I mean, what's not to like about grown men in medieval costume playfighting on horseback? There was the usual pantomime atmosphere in the park as we enjoyed that show. The powers that be at Warwick have also totally redesigned the 'Edwardian Weekend Party' Exhibit so that it doesn't just introduce us to the characters but now gives us an in depth look at all the scandal of the day as we now know who was messing around with whom. It was quite shocking to realise that morals seemed to go right out of the window during weekends like those. However, I must have seen that exhibit over 10 times and this is the only time I've actually remembered any of the names! (And that's why HEAT magazine is so popular... I guess ;-) )

I managed a trip to London to see friends there and enjoy a few meals out in Covent Garden, which was great. We also had some excellent dinner parties at home with various couples who have supported me over this past year. I spoke at a couple of churches and it was great to see so many people at my tea and talk at St Paul's in Leamington.

My village church had a cheese and wine evening, which was brilliant fun and I even won something on the raffle (Gotta love raffles!). Mum and Dad took me to their Folk Dancing group as well and that was surprisingly good fun, and thankfully I didn't dream about square sets afterwards!

Thank you to all the people who donated money to me during my time in the UK. It was great to meet up with so many people, to catch up with old friends and to make new ones.

Back in South Africa!

It would appear the strikes are over, at least for the moment. We arrived back in South Africa this evening and over the next few days I can find out what's been going on. First of all, though, I need to pack and most of all I need to SLEEP!!

Everything seems ok at the house, apart from the heat that has built up over the past month which makes sitting here quite unbearable. No critters in the house though, which is great!

and the strikes continue...

Apologies for my absence, I am in fact currently on holiday in the UK and enjoying a relaxing time of catching up with family and friends. I return to South Africa on 15th September.

Meanwhile, in SA the strikes continue to cripple the country. I received a phone call from the Headteacher of Inchanga School this week to inform me that the 'stay away' is still continuing. They had hoped that a resolution would be reached this week but it appears that this is not going to be the case. The schools have now been shut for over 3 weeks. All this takes its toll on the children, who actually want to be in school and come every day to see if it might be happening!

Pray for a resolution to be reached and for good talks between the Unions, government and all involved. It's not just teachers and schools affected, also hospitals are being assisted by volunteers and army medics as the staff there 'stay away'.

After the exuberance of a glorious World Cup, the mood of the nation has been brought down with all this action. Issues certainly need addressing and let's hope and pray that they are addressed and resolved as soon as possible.

Kids' Club - more penfriends

Today most of the government-run schools in South Africa were closed as the teachers went on strike over pay issues. We're awaiting to see when they will reopen but it doesn't look like a resolution will be reached very easily.

In the meantime, many many children will go hungry as they are used to being fed at school. It's really unsettling for them as they don't know when they'll be back in school for breakfast and lunch, not to mention the education that the kids are missing out on.

Let's pray that the government listen to the public servants and this strike doesn't cripple the country, as is extremely possible at this time.

Ekhaya - home visits

Finally on Monday I managed to start visiting the homes of my children officially.

I took a teacher from the school as interpreter and general bodyguard and went with 2 sisters to visit their home. Their carer was at work so I couldn't get certain information but it was good to see where they lived and to find out a bit more about them.

The girls live in the area not far from the school which is about 10 minutes walk across the soccer field. The whole area there is a minefield of illegal electrical wires and they live about 3 houses away from where Sanele was killed. Right outside their home there is a post with electrical cables up high and a red wire obviously tapping into the power, blatently on show. Some people have got official electricity whereas others have lost it because they didn't pay their bills. maybe it's these people who are stealing it. After all, they have the power boxes in their houses and it makes it easier to just tap into what is all around them...

Anyway, where the girls live there are all sorts of houses. The view over the valley is incredible, but I expect they don't see that the same way as I do. To them it's just normal, the valley. I wonder if they ever pause to admire the beautiful creation laid out in front of them?

Most of the homes in this area are wattle and daub mud huts, like the Elizabethans used to build back in the day. Inside their home it might look a bit higgledy-piggeldy but it feels warm and organised. It's a proper home despite the somewhat rugged exterior. The girls sleep in the main room in a decent sized bed that they share and there's a small sofa, chairs and a kitchen area as well as neatly presented ornaments all around. There is no doubt that the carer is using whatever she has to give these girls a decent home, despite having very little. You have to look beyond the exterior poverty and see the love that is shared within this community. Some people just see a crumbling building but I see warmth, care and love. And this is all good.

Kids' Club - penfriends

Kids' Club this term has been slow to get started for various reasons. I'm used to this and it's not a problem as I get to see the kids in the playground and out and about and am keeping up with them. It's taken a while to come to terms with Sanele's death and to recover from the sheer exhaustion after all of that. Then, when I arrived in school last week ready to go, the kids were busy preparing for school trip to Moses Mabhida stadium and that was the end of my class for that day.

Today I'm grounded as my car is being fixed, an essential service to get it back to perfect working condition again. Not a day goes by when I am not thankful for this vehicle and the generous donations that enabled me to buy it. It truly is a blessing from God and a reliable machine, despite outward appearance.

However, on Tuesday I managed to gather 6 of the younger children for a session and they started work on some letters to send to a school in the Isle of Wight. During the Lionsraw project one of the team members gave me some letters from his daughter's primary school and my children are preparing replies. Mostly for these children it will be assisted replies as they can't write much in Zulu let alone English, but the pictures that they are producing are beautiful (and I'm not just saying that because they are my children!)

Progress may be slow, but the end results will be worth it!

Sustainability

On Sunday night in church a guy preached about taking 'good news to the poor' not just being about benevolence but about helping people be transformed and empowered in the situations they are in to make a difference. And this furthered my thinking on the topic.

There is a long-standing argument that food parcels are not the way forward except in an emergency, as they encourage dependence. Unfortunately in this area of the world, there are too many small children who have no food and would count as an emergency case. When I'm taking food into school and a small child says they are hungry I'm not going to send him or her away with nothing, but I'll give them whatever I have.

However, in the school where I'm working there are currently 350 children who have been orphaned and often go hungry. Given that this part of the country has the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS infections and poverty, the situation is unlikely to be solved overnight. There will be many children for many years to come who pass through this school and need help. On one hand the sheer number of children is overwhelming. Thankfully the school receives donations to feed these children twice a day during the school week. It's not enough, but it's much much better than nothing. Whatever we manage to raise and buy for the the 40 orphans with whom I work closely also gets added into this and it's exciting when we're able to make a real difference by giving a child some food.

Following on from this, and in discussion with the School Principal, I'm coming more and more round to the idea that it's not just about feeding the kids, but also about training and providing for the older children to help themselves. The smallest children, like in Grade R, can't go out and find their own food, they are dependent on whatever we can give them. However, the older children, from about age 13-18, they could be helped to help themselves. Many of them are managing a home outside of school as well as studying. Basic and essential skills could really benefit them.

So I'm in a researching phase right now. I'm thinking about projects such as vegetable gardens, or chickens, where the children are given a starter and training to look after their project and they then sell on the surplus of what they've tended and produced. There are many projects like this and I want to choose the one that would work best with my children. My thought is to set something up with perhaps 10 of my older children, mostly boys, and then if this works we could expand it for the rest of the orphans in the school. It's an exciting time as we look into the possibilities. If anyone has experience of these projects or can recommend anyone to help out, please get in touch. Otherwise, please pray for the way forward in this, that the appropriate projects can be found and established at the right time.

Ice cream!

Last Friday I took one of Russell's kids over to visit her Gogo in the valley near Hillcrest and 4 of the smaller kids with Bo came along for the ride. They were super excited about being in my car and going for a ride and they loved pointing out the cars we passed en route to town.

On the way home I took them to Milky Lane for an ice cream. They were very excited and sat patiently round the table as I went over to the counter to order their ice cream. The shop is near the car park in a popular shopping centre and quite a few people were passing on their way back to the car. Many of them gave us big smiles when they saw a white woman with several cute zulu children eating ice cream. The kids loved the attention. Someone even gave them each a balloon.

The kids were so excited to get ice cream and Siyanda kept telling all the passers-by that it was 'imnandi' which means 'tasty'. They all managed to get faces totally covered in ice cream! It was lovely to make their day and spend time with them.

Mzansi, Thanks for making it Ayoba!

The World Cup has come and gone and the third school term of the year is now underway. What a month or so it has been! To be honest, I'm still processing the many many things that have gone on over the long holiday. I think that's why I'm so exhausted this week. The photo is from the Fifa Fanfest on Durban beach just before the South Africa - Uruguay game, when hopes were high, vuvuzelas were on form and everyone was waving their flags high. It's also a bit of a blur, kind of like my life these past few weeks!

I wanted to write an account of the whole Lionsraw / World Cup experience, but I think it would take too long and I'll still be remembering things for a long time to come. Here are some highlights then instead (in no particular order):

• taking many many thousands of photos of building sites and football pitches, with small and big children running all over the place. I'm now an expert on the perfect moment to snap a soccer game to portray the intensity of concentration on the players' faces. I've also documented from start to (nearly) finish the building of a new house, changing rooms and toilets and a preschool roof.
• the walk from the beachfront to Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban - especially pre-Nigeria v S.Korea when me and Steve's Dad Derek enthusiastically joined in the chorus of vuvuzelas whilst Steve and Geoff Burns tried desperately to disown us by walking 10 steps in front of us and Mike and Sean hid 10 steps behind us. ;-)
• discovering the hotel served Starbucks coffee ;-)
• watching the BBC reports on the internet and realising how much of a difference the new house will make to Russell and Precious and the kids. The BBC took our home here and shared it with the world (well the UK at least!) See how amazing it is here!?!
• driving the media team around the valley and introducing them to the wonders of rural Africa, although Andrew Swanson's smelly socks in the back of my car after he gave his trainers away at the deepest point in the valley is a memory that both me and his wife are desperate to forget!
• the highs and lows of the England games, watching with the entire Lionsraw team on the beach front, in the pool bar, in the hotel bar... (sorry, did I say 'highs' of the England games??)
• welcoming 40 or so team to help feed my kids on a Tuesday morning and watching the faces of kids and adults alike as they shared a moment together.
• Shakira, Waka Waka, dancing and celebrating the greatest show on earth.
• The sense of National Pride for the South Africans having hosted a near perfect World Cup, after so many doubted beforehand! Well done Mzansi! 'Football Friday' has now evolved into 'Fly the flag Friday' as from this week.
• spending time with my children in the school and also in the valley near the new preschool building. This holiday has taken me to deeper relationships with my children, as we've laughed and cried together.
• knowing we have made a difference to Sanele's family by being there to help them in a moment of need.

There is so much more than these few snippets. As I said before, I find myself exhausted this week and am taking it a little bit easy for a change. I took lunch in to my 40 kids on Tuesday and managed to catch up with 30 of them, which is good. It was the first day back and some of the them would have lost track of time and not remembered to turn up! As Steve's car is currently being fixed (again!) the boys are needing to be dropped off and picked up from their building sites and I'm still taking lots of photos of their work for Lionsraw. That's ok, though, I love photography and am constantly looking for a good shot.

Tomorrow I'm taking Brian and Thad, 2 American guys who've been staying with us before, during and after the Lionsraw Project, to Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve, one of my favourite places in the whole of Africa. We are hoping to see at least one big cat this time. They return to the USA on Saturday and a sighting of a lion, leopard or cheetah would end their stay perfectly and make me so happy in the process. I'm looking forward to a day off and away from this area, although the main music for the road trip will be none other than the World Cup soundtrack...

Ayoba!

Sanele - photos

with the other boys in my younger kids' club

cheeky little monkey, but always ready to give a hug and a friendly welcome

Sanele loved my hilux and everytime we saw him he tried to catch a lift

A sad day - Sanele's Funeral

Funerals are always sad but today was particularly hard for the local community in Inchanga as we laid little Sanele to rest. For the past couple of days I've spent time with Xolani, Sanele's 16 year old brother, shopping for groceries and other necessary items for today's event. Yesterday we took Nonto, his sister, with us too. The family were extremely grateful for my help but I have to say a huge thank you to the people who are donating money to enable me to help this family at such a tragic time. People here often get funeral insurance to help but obviously at 7 years old, Sanele wasn't thinking of that yet. We are all truly grateful for those donations which have made today possible and brought comfort to the family as they are extremely poor.

Yesterday I took a CD of photos of Sanele to Kodak and let Nonto and Xolani choose the best ones for an album for Nonto to keep. They only had one photo of him previously and he wasn't smiling in it so it wasn't a true representation of what a cheery little boy he really was. The kids were amazed by the machine in the shop and the technology to see pictures of him on screen. Nonto also chose a nice little album to keep the photos in.

Today we headed down to the family home at about 10am. Sanele's body had been brought home yesterday afternoon and the family had kept an overnight vigil in the front room of the crumbling mud-hut home. This morning when we arrived I was ushered into the same room where the coffin was hidden behind a white sheet suspended from the ceiling. The Lionsraw boys came with me, there are 7 here at the moment, and they were escorted into the marquee tent hired for the occasion.

Nonto was, as usual, bucking the trend and refusing to wear her school uniform. Instead she had chosen the most beautiful sparkly pink dress and she looked beautiful. Watching her throughout the day I thought in a way how she is reflecting the place Sanele is in now, and although she shed some tears and is mourning the loss of her brother, maybe in some ways she understands he is in heaven. Many of Sanele's school friends and local children turned up too and a few of them came into the funeral service in uniform and performed a little song and dance dedicated to him. It was really precious but also tragic. Tragic too to think that quite probably this isn't the first funeral that these children have attended and it certainly won't be the last.

I had to take a couple of people up to the burial ground in my car and when I returned, everyone had moved into the marquee and the service had begun. A local minister from the Zion church was there and also the leaders from the Mosque that is situated in the same area. Pretty much everyone from that small area had come along it seemed. As I parked up, the lady in Sanele's family who was leading the funeral rushed over to me and told me I must say a few words. I was glad to be able to share with the family and community just how much Sanele meant to me and the boys and that we all share in their loss. It was a brief speech and thankfully I managed not to break down (although it was very close at the end). Others gave speeches after me including Xolani and one of Sanele's teachers. I understand enough Zulu to feel the love that these people have to him and I shed a few tears then.

A representative from the ANC came too and spoke about the electricity problems in the area of Inchanga. Again, I didn't follow it all, but I think Sanele's death has highlighted to many people just how dangerous the whole business of stealing electricity through illegal wires is. All day long I've seen them in the road and all around. Even at the burial ground there were wires going across the field. The women in particular were careful to point out where those wires were to the children to make sure they didn't walk on them. It is a huge problem and I hope that the local government will learn from this tragedy and do something to improve the situation soon. This being Africa though, nothing happens very fast.

At the end of the funeral service, a man came in and opened up the top of the coffin and everyone walked past and said goodbye to Sanele as they did so. He looked like he was asleep. Women sang beautiful harmonies as the congregation moved outside.

The funeral service actually brought a car back and transported Sanele up to the local burial ground. Lots of kids flocked to my car and I ended up transporting about 20 up there. As we drove round the corner the children started singing. On the way back they all sang the National Anthem, it was really special.

The burial ground is a depressing place, and today, it being Saturday, there were at least 7 graves being dug and small groups of people hanging around. As we walked the final few steps over to Sanele's resting place, the women's singing seemed to take on a different level of tunefulness and, standing there in the beautiful sunshine, there was a sense of peace and acceptance amongst the sadness. Sanele was buried with a beautiful leopard blanket that his brother had chosen, and several other items were put into the grave, some of his clothes and what we think were sweets too.

As we walked back to the car, the children all started to run to get into my car first. 2 of the smaller boys, who were Sanele's best friends, just wailed and were almost inconsolable, I just hugged one of them, there were no words. He understood the situation. Bless him, school will be hard next week. Sanele was a class prefect and always in the middle of any scheme going down in the playground. Everyone will miss him there.

I didn't take any photos today. I didn't need to as this will remain in my memory forever. However I will put some pictures of Sanele up when our internet starts behaving and lets me!

Today truly felt like a fitting tribute and good send-off to Sanele. Although we will acutely feel the loss over the next few weeks and months as we go down to the school and he won't rush out to meet us, we know that he is in a better place and it has been good to be able to help the family as well at this time. Please keep his family in your prayers, especially his sister as she comes to terms with having lost one of her best friends and playmate.

Rest in Peace, Sanele. Hamba kahle. xx

Sanele

Last night I received a call that I never wanted to hear. On Monday Sanele, one of the children we are all close to over here and the first child I met from my programme, died suddenly and tragically near his house.

I went to his family's house today to find out what had happened and also to pay my respects to the family. The story is that he had been playing football with some friends just up the track from his house and the ball had gone over a wire fence into a neighbour's plot. Instead of walking round the one-sided fence, Sanele had pushed his head through the wire to try and retrieve the ball. Unfortunately for him, an illegal electrical cable was near the fence and not buried as it should have been and it was touching the fence. As Sanele put his head through the fence he got an electric shock that killed him instantly. He didn't cry or suffer.

News of the tragedy spread quickly and many in the community are devastated by what happened. The local newspaper ran the story and the police came to make sure the cables were buried underground.

Sanele was 7 years old. His home is right next to the school and him and his sister used to rush out every time we drove past to wave at us. His sister is 9 and hasn't really understood what is going on yet. Today, she rushed out alone to wave at me as I drove up there. He was the loveliest child who was always keen to hang out with us and shouted 'Auntie Caroline!!!' from the other side of the football field before dashing across for a hug almost every time we went to the school. He was the first child I noticed on the photo of the 40 before I committed to coming out here and I visited his home last August. Since then, both him and Nonto his sister have loved spending time with us. Steve, Mike, Sean and I all hold both of them very close to our hearts. The news yesterday was a huge and devastating shock and also to those from Lionsraw, many of whom had met him and loved him instantly too. He was that kind of cheeky kid who got in all the photos and gave out love to all who crossed his path.

We'll never know why God allowed this to happen and why Sanele's short life was cut short, but when I was praying about it late last night I felt the Holy Spirit say 'I've taken him home.' and I felt a real sense of peace about it. It doesn't make it any easier for his family. The funeral is on Saturday. I've spent the day with members of the family sorting out things for the funeral on Saturday. That's going to be a sad day indeed.

World Cup Holiday Feeding 4

On 22nd June, Neil from Lionsraw arranged to bring a busload of Lionsraw guys up to help out with feeding the kids. There were 4 building projects for Lionsraw and a lot of the guys on that wanted to do something direct with children and as it was a day off for them, it was fairly easy to sort out.

I got down to the school about half an hour before the bus and explained to the excited group of expectant kids, making the most of a mix of Zulu, English and gesticulations, that a bus (steering wheel impression) full of white people was on its way to help them. The girl translating for me described them as 'abantu hlophe' which literally means 'people who are coloured white', which I found amusing as the word for white people is 'abelungu'. They were quickly shouting 'abelungu' however as the guys walked up the track to meet the kids about 20 minutes later and the kids certainly gave the guys a friendly welcome to their school playground.

I set up a production line for a few of the guys to cut polony, make sandwiches and make up some juice. In the meantime, others gathered with small groups of kids, or played with a football or frisbee. There was a good atmosphere as volunteers and children engaged in conversations about life.

There were about 48 kids turned up and about 40 volunteers, which was also funny to see. The children weren't in the slightest bit phased by so many adults though. The kids lined up politely and moved along the line collecting sandwiches, crisps, fruit and juice and were very grateful for it all. They sat down on the other side of the playground and scoffed the sandwiches and extra polony. When they'd all had one, I told Michael, one of the volunteers, to take the tray of extra sandwiches over to give them more. As he approached the children, they lept up and ran towards him to try and grab the food, such was their hunger. We managed to get them sitting in some sort of order and a few guys helped the rather startled Michael give out the remaining sandwiches.

There were also some children's books for the kids to take home, which the kids loved. I then gathered them together to get a group photo and one girl said she'd like to sing a thank you song for everyone. She came out to the front of the group and started a beautiful song. However, she must have looked up and seen the row of white people with cameras pointed at her and she got a few lines in and started crying. I think any remaining hearts that hadn't been touched by these children probably melted at that point. After a few hugs and encouraging words, she was fine again and has been a delightful girl to catch up with at every session since.

It was a great time together with the children and the volunteers, but it was soon over and the group moved on to their next appointment, playing football in the valley against Russell's boys. What a great experience though for a 'day off''. Thanks to everyone who came along and I hope you'll remember these kids for a long time to come!

World Cup Holiday Feeding 3

On Friday 18th June, some of the Lionsraw team helped me out with feeding the kids. Norma and Ian wanted to buy some fruit and some stationery for the children so I took them off the day before to Pavilion to purchase apples, bananas, oranges and pens, pencils and rulers.

There were lots of children waiting for us when we got there and the Inchanga Team building the toilets were on hand to help. Debbie and Alexandra Flint came along to help and so did John Rochester who had all been working on another build project. We'd bought polony and bread to make sandwiches and also gave them crisps. Dan and his dad John Hughes, 2 of the guys from the Inchanga toilet build, had brought many bags of haribo and these were well appreciated by the children too! The children sat patiently while the food was prepared and lined up beautifully to receive their sandwiches and other food. I also gave them a bag of rice and a bag of sugar beans to take home.

A group of older boys had been playing on the soccer field next door and they mooched over to see what was going on. We managed to feed them as well with sandwiches which was appreciated. The boys sat patiently while we gave food to the others first, and they moved on afterwards without any trouble. Most of them are in Grade 9 and so would attend the High School down the road rather than Inchanga, but the number of orphans in this area is so high that I didn't mind giving them something.

After food, Norma and Ian gave the younger kids a pencil, pen and ruler each and for 7 lucky children there was an England top to wear too! At the sight of these, the older boys did look very hopeful and try to press forward, however I'd already worked out who would benefit from those tops the most and so the older boys didn't get a look in! The younger ones were extremely happy to receive the clothes and I've seen them being worn on several days since (although given England's poor performance this weekend, I wonder if they'll still wear them as much!!)

A big thank you to Norma and Ian for the fruit, stationery and tops and to everyone else for helping out!

Lionsraw - the continuing saga..

I hadn't realised that I'd only written about Day 1 of Lionsraw Project and then nothing more. SO much has happened during these past few weeks that it will take me a few days to process it. As I write, half of the team are back in the UK and the other half are packing to leave tomorrow morning early, having been subjected to the sorry state of English soccer this afternoon!

There are so many stories that I will put up over the next few days/weeks, but I need to recuperate on my sleep first as I've been travelling back and forth to Durban every day and coming home fairly late to sleep up here in the mountains and then getting up to photograph builders, buildings, kids and soccer balls each morning. I've really enjoyed the experience but am looking forward to eating at home and getting a few early nights in and back to some semblance of a normal routine here.

So check back here over the next few days for more tales of passion and belief...

Lionsraw Day 1

The day has finally come for the Lionsraw Project to officially start! It's taken 4 years of hard work to come to this point. As often as I can, I'll be writing some of the things I've been up to with the project as well as highlights from the whole event.

Yesterday 60 or so guys flew in to Jo'burg and got a coach down to Durban. They arrived in time to join in the fun at the first World Cup match to take place in the city and many had managed to get tickets to the game. The atmosphere was electric in the city and on the beachfront last night and even more so in the stadium. Germany's triumph over Australia didn't please that many England fans, but they enjoyed the experience nonetheless it seems. I can't comment as I arrived in the Lionsraw Hotel to discover it sold Starbucks coffee so I made the most of the evening restoring my decaf cappuccino deficiency and marvelling at the arrival of one of my favourite coffees to this province!

Today the guys were out to work early and another 60 or so arrived on the next flight, so now there are about 120 team out here for the projects. First thing this morning I took 2 of the guys who'd been staying with me down to Sethani soccer camp, which is the furthest away from us, about 30 minutes down some hairpin bends into the valley, right by beautiful Inanda Dam. It is a breathtaking view all the way down there and a real sense of being right deep in the valley. The team down there looked a little nervous but all seemed keen to get stuck in and reported back this evening that they'd had a great day with the kids from all around coming to play soccer.

After this I was assigned to look after Geoff, who is overseeing all the building projects. The rest of today I've been chauffeuring him around the 4 build projects and taking photos, with a trip to Build It in between to stock up on a few more tools. Morale at each build project is high, despite the buses taking a long time to find the projects this morning. It's difficult giving directions when it's a choice of 2 unmarked tracks in front of you! Anyway, they all got to where they should be in the end. I've lost track of how many times I drove the mountain bends on Old Main Road today though...

Finally this evening we all gathered in the hotel in Durban to watch the Italy - Paraguay match and I got a chance to wear my Italia t-shirt that I bought years ago for such an occasion. It was a great opportunity to meet new people and catch up with old friends and there was a great atmosphere there. After the match, there was a little 'upfront sitting on a couch discussing football and life' time which was amusing and rounded off a great first day nicely.

South Africa vs Mexico - pics

My internet is so temperamental at the moment when it comes to uploading photos so sometimes the pictures might appear after the write-up. Here are a couple from the first match!

The World Cup Opening - a moment in history

To mark the moment in history when the first World Cup was played on African soil, we went down to Makaphutu Children's Village to share the afternoon with the children and staff there. It was a great day, with good braai food and a multitude of noisy vuvuzelas.

My vuvuzela was nabbed by an eleven-year-old boy the moment I got out of my car, but that was ok as I'd prepared for that and had written my name in it just in case it wandered! We watched the opening ceremony on big screen in the little church there and it was very moving to see the different dancers and performers celebrating the culmination of many years' work.

The RSA-Mexico opening match itself brought so much excitement. Everyone was gripped with the action and when it got to half-time and the score was still nil-nil, there was visible concern on the faces of the guys watching. One of the guys who works there came out at half-time and said 'this is difficult, I must pray!' His prayers were obviously answered shortly after when Tshabalala scored the first goal on African soil for Bafana Bafana and the crowd went wild! The guy from before came running into the room with 2 saucepans that he was banging together with all his might.

Excitement and joy turned to brief disappointment when Mexico equalised, but there was happiness all around when the match ended as a draw, and the added bonus of France - Uruguay being also a draw made things even better, so the mood over here is still hopeful that Bafana Bafana will go far in this tournament. For us, it's the start of a month-long football celebration and it's been a great beginning, we are looking forward to everything that's going to happen over the next 4 weeks. Ayoba!

World Cup Holiday Feeding 2

The baseball caps were popular and so was the food parcel.

This morning was my first attempt at taking food for my kids at school and in the valley. Also my first attempt at doing it alone as everyone else is busy with Lionsraw project.

I'd arranged to meet the majority of my 40 kids at school at 10am, but I was reminded of the fact that most kids don't have watches when I got a call about 9.15am saying my kids were waiting for me. Thankfully they waited until I got there. I was met by a few of my eager kids, with a few of their neighbours too, all children from the school but not on my programme. Good news for them, then, when half of my kids didn't show and I could give out their food parcels to these children who patiently waited around. I don't like to send hungry kids away empty-handed and every child got today a bag of maize meal, a box of soya mince, a tin of pilchards and some little juice powder. You are supposed to put it into a bottle of water and shake and drink, but most of the kids seemed to prefer to eat it like sweets.

Keith, from Lionsraw, had also given me lots of baseball caps to give out to the children and quite by chance I took them this morning, not realising that they were the perfect colours of Bafana Bafana, who opened the World Cup this afternoon. The kids were more than excited to get these!

Thanks Keith for making the children's day!

After waiting around for any extra kids to turn up, I headed down the Ehlanzeni in the valley to give 5 of my children the same food parcel. These kids live a long way down a big steep hill and 3 of them were waiting to meet me. They too were excited to see what I had for them and I also gave them a lift up the valley back to nearer their homes so that was a highlight for them!

All in all, it was a good morning and a great start to the feeding programme. I'm looking forward to checking in with the kids throughout this holiday and really making a difference in their lives. Thank you to those who have donated to make this possible, if you'd like to contribute, get in touch!

Animal transportation - the pics!

Whiter than white!

peaceful passengers!

These pictures didn't upload yesterday (something to do with about 10 people all using laptops at the same time - the perils of having a houseful of guests and wireless internet!) But here they are now...

Animal transportation

Russell asked for help this morning in collecting some goats from Camperdown. We set off in the rain to the farm where he selected 2 fine-looking goats which were then tied up and put in the back of my hilux. After the initial bleating they settled down in the back and actually travelled well.

He also put a big box in the back which actually contained 4 white chickens, although I didn't realise that till we got home. I thought it was actually sunlight washing powder, as it said on the box. They too, were quiet for the journey. In fact the chickens weren't that fussed about coming out of the box at Russell's either. Maybe they'd worked out they were dinner this weekend. One was assisted out and Russell ended up chasing it round and round my car and into the house, which was highly amusing!

The goats settled in quite quickly to being tied to the jungle gym. Their destination is Precious's mum's house as final payment in the pre-wedding handovers that go on in Zulu culture. The female goat was straight into a pile of wood and had a nice chew of that. The male goat was a bit more put out about having to travel in the back of a truck and took a little longer to settle. If goats allegedly eat everything, I wonder for how much longer the jungle gym will survive! ;-)

World Cup Holiday Feeding 1

Happy to have some lunch, not so happy about the rain!

The end of term is here and the playground was filled with children in their coats and hats and scarves blowing on their vuvuzelas and generally making a lot of holiday noise this morning!

I took some food down for my 40 orphans for the end of term. As I was leaving from my house there was a man scavenging through our binbags at the end of the drive. I stopped to chat to him and then drove off but then decided to turn back and gave him a couple of pieces of fruit and a few bread rolls that were extra from the kids' food. He looked bewildered but thanked me and shuffled off to the next house's binbags. He can't have been more than about 20 years' old. We live on top of a mountain in a village of big houses and mostly inhabited by whites. He would have had to walk a long way out of the valley to get to our house. An all too familiar reality here in South Africa.

After that, I made my way down to the school where my car was quickly surrounded by eager children. There are many hungry kids in the school and there was no lunch today as it's the end of term. With the translation help of one of my older boys we managed to get the children I worked with into one area and all the other kids somewhere else, but it was too exciting for the children to see what was happening and they still pressed in to see if they could get something.

I took a basic lunch for the children today. They had a bread roll, cheese triangle, packet of crisps, orange and apple. It's not much but anything is welcome to them. The school also gave all the 300 orphans some morvite porridge and some future life porridge, both of which had been donated by other organisations. My children lined up beautifully and waited patiently afterwards for me to take the above photo. Halfway through giving out the bags the heavens opened and it chucked it down with rain so the kids were eager for me to take the photo and let them shelter! It's the first time it's rained here for a very long time and it was strange to see the kids all dressed up with coats and jumpers.

28 of the 40 got a bag today. The others were absent, but word of mouth will let them know when and where to come for more food later this week. I gave the leftover food to Mrs Msomi, who oversees the orphans and she distributed it to other needy children, so nothing went to waste. Although other kids were pressing in to see what they could get out of me, they didn't mind not having anything and just mooched off when told to disappear by a teacher!

Seeing all the kids' hungry faces, I wished I had the funds and the manpower to feed all 300 kids, but I can only do so much. If anyone would like to donate money towards feeding kids during the holiday please get in touch with me at grapevinemanager@gmail.com Food for them will come from various sources but I'll be feeding my kids at least once a week during the next few weeks. If you can't donate, please pray for them during this World Cup holiday. Pray for protection as they play, especially from traffikers who are reported to be lurking as the football brings the world here. As the weather turns colder, pray too for them to keep warm in their places of residences, many of the homes are simple mudhuts that don't cope well with rain and get damaged easily, with big holes in the corrugated roofs. This is a stark difference from the beautiful hotel rooms and guest houses that our foreign football fans will be enjoying over the next few weeks.