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...