12 Months, and home!

My final two months in South Africa must have been amongst the most enjoyable and most rewarding, despite leaving being the hardest thing I ever had to do.


Over the holidays the Art and Craft Workshop was quite successful! Two other volunteers came in to help out and by the end of the first week we had a steady stream of children from all ages coming in to try out something new. The younger kids coloured mandalas, painted tins to become plant pots, made jewellery out of pasta pieces and paint, and, overall seemed to enjoy getting messy! The older girls made some beautiful dream catchers made from driftwood and shells we found on the beach as well as some jewellery from beads.


I had been busy preparing the teachers at the preschool with a folder full of all the teaching resources and art ideas they needed for the next term in line with the lesson plans and curriculum. Amongst other small tasks such as designing a new menu for the Ziyaduma Restaurant - a TransCape project to help one family in the community to earn extra income from travellers and locals alike with delicious pancakes!


Before I knew it the time had come to go! I spent a couple of weeks with my brother at the end of my year to show him some of the wonderful places I had been so privileged to go to and finishing up in the incredible country of Mozambique.


It is difficult to conclude a year of your life, no matter what you have been doing or where you have spent it. Time, it's true, passes much faster when you are having fun. Or, indeed, when you are happiest. Towards the end I began wishing for the seconds, minutes and hours to slow down, scared that I would miss out on a beautiful moment. Now that I am home I know that I did everything I could to appreciate my time, and give it the respect and love it deserved. The memories of every sun-rise and every child's smile will always stay with me.


Although my 'gap year' did not exactly go to plan, it was this that made it so unique and life-changing. What allowed me to find not only the people who touched my heart, the places which inspired my thoughts... but to find out a little bit more about what it all means.


Now onto the next stage, in a couple of weeks I will be moving yet again (a little be less adventurous this time!) to Sheffield to study Geography. Although I am excited about the prospect of studying, nobody really prepares you for the difficulty of coming home after such an intense year.


I want to personally thank everyone who supported me in my volunteer work. Without the strength of my friends and family, the financial support of my sponsors, and gratitude of those I worked for I could never have learnt as much as I have. Furthermore I want to encourage those who think they may want to do something similar - do it and you will never look back.

10 Month Update

Another month flies by without realising! Winter is drawing in here in Mdumbi, but unlike the British winter at least we still enjoy warm dry days most of the time. It can get surprisingly cold without heating though! I still am amused by the fact that children and teachers alike do not go to school when it rains... imagine if that was the way in England! Anyway, apart from a few minor weather setbacks the preschool and afterschool centre are both running well. In the preschool I have been busy creating teaching resources for the alphabet, as well as new art and crafts ideas. The children have been making woolly sheep, 3D butterflies and rain drop paintings. 

 

I have also been getting my hands dirty in the gardens. The preschool has a small garden that was built by a previous group of volunteers to provide food for the children’s lunches. Unfortunately with the teachers being very busy, it hasn’t been worked on for quite some time. This week we have been preparing soil and planting new seedlings with the children, a very valuable lesson for them. Hopefully the garden will be fully stocked with beautiful fresh healthy vegetables for the children soon! 

 In the afterschool mathematics lessons are going well. The young people are such fast learners and have been progressing very well with their work on fractions. One lesson we used co-ordinates to create an outline of a T-Rex on squared paper. 

The school term ends on Friday, with winter holidays lasting three weeks. I decided this would be a perfect opportunity to set up my own workshop so that the children have something fun, interesting and useful to do during the holidays. I have been busy planning an art and craft workshop that will run for the full three weeks involving various activities for children of all ages. I want to primarily use recycled and natural materials with the idea that “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”. Hopefully this will change their attitude towards rubbish and encourage reuse and recycling of these materials. Amongst other activities, the older children will be learning about how to make purses from old milk and juice cartons, dream catchers from driftwood and shells from the beach and beadwork which they can sell to guests at the backpackers to earn money for themselves and their families. I am really enjoying this opportunity to formulate my own programme, and hopefully it will be something the children will remember and use for a long time. I will also be closely documenting the programme so that Transcape can apply for government funding to continue such workshops in future school holidays. Very exciting stuff!

9 Months!

After spending a lovely couple of weeks catching up with my parents I found a permanent volunteer placement for the rest of my time here in South Africa. I am volunteering for Transcape, an NPO that started working in the Nyandeni municipality (Eastern Cape) in 2004, an area comprising of 180 thousand people. They run various health, education, socio-economic and environmental projects. It is based in Mdumbi, in the Mankosi community on the Wildcoast. I live within this community, within walking distance from Mdumbi Backpackers, where the Transcape office and education centre is located. By doing this I am supporting a Transcape project, Vuykani Backpackers, which was founded as a means of sustainable income for a local family. Plus, it has possibly the best view of the most beautiful beach in South Africa!

I am assisting in the education department, primarily in the preschool and the afterschool education centre. The preschool has around 28 pupils aged 4-6 from the local community. I assist the teachers in the day to day running of the school, giving more one-on-one care to children who are falling behind and preparing teaching resources for use in the classroom. The preschool is used as an example to others in the area, and the teachers observe these other school and help them to formulate better teaching strategies. The children here are blossoming in this environment, and I feel privileged to be a part of such a successful programme. The school day is very well structured, with a short time for all activities such as table work, music, games, writing skills, maths, alphabet, health education, art and outdoor games.

 

 

The afterschool education programme provides extra classes to children from the local school in Maths and English. On Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays I hold Maths lessons for children in grades 6-7 and 8-9, and help the other teacher to prepare, and assist with, the English lessons. This has enabled these local children to gain a broader understanding of their school subjects, which gives them an opportunity to flourish and aim for further education in Mthatha, possibly on a scholarship provided by Transcape. The quality of education at the local school is poor, so these additional classes are vital. Furthermore, the centre teaches these children important life skills through educational films, which have proved very effective in the awareness of issues such as HIV/Aids and reporting rape cases. 

Additionally I am helping Transcape in other ways. For example, balancing in-out sheets and editing a business plan for a community run activity centre. It is an amazing experience for me to learn about how this small NPO runs, and learns from its successes and failures. I think this will prove to be invaluable in the future when I wish to be employed by such an organisation.

Overall I am thoroughly enjoying my time in Mdumbi. It could not be any different to life in the UK. So what if every time it rains the children don’t attend school? So what if my rondavel leaks? So what if there is no gas for the stove, or if the mice eat your food, or there are no candles for my house, or we run out of water, or if your eaten alive by bed bugs, or if the car breaks down, or if people turn up 3 hours late? This is Africa, this is my home... and I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be. 

So, where are you now? Six and seven month update

I have received  a few distressed messages such as the one above! I’m sorry I have been off the radar for a while, but all will be made clear in this blog post.

Let me start in February. The new reward system I introduced in January is still working wonders with the children’s behaviour and their performance in class has been fantastic. Huge progress has been made! I have started teaching human geography to Group 2 and they seem to really be enjoying it. They have been learning about informal settlements, and they made some model’s of a shanty town to discover some of the issues (and benefits!) of living in these settlements. 

We also had a great time painting canvas’s with the children! These will be sold in Cape Town and overseas to raise money for Thembelihle Home. They loved it! But it was very messy! 

 

Valentines Day was a great excuse to celebrate! The children all dressed in “Valentines colours” of red, white or pink and we made lovely Valentines cards for one another. We also did some baking of heart-shaped cupcakes with yummy icing! 

 

We also did a spot of gardening – planting marigolds!

 

Overall February was a very enjoyable 6^th month at Thembelihle Home. Unfortunately it was my last. I am no longer a volunteer with Project Trust after many issues with the organisation and with the other volunteers of the organisation. It was very difficult to leave the children and the project, but I know that I now have the opportunity to make a difference to other people’s lives in South Africa. I can also see the progress that the children and the project has made throughout the last six months. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done, but also ultimately very rewarding to see the amazing effect you had on these wonderful children.  I will miss them every day, but I know that their unbelievable strength will guide them in whatever they do, and will hopefully lead them to achieve great things in their young lives. 

I have no intention of going back to the UK, or of stopping my voluntary work. I am completely committed to voluntary work, and more than ever can see the value in the work I have been doing. I left Thembelihle at the start of March and within one week of leaving I had found a new project at a rural crèche near St Lucia in the Kwazulu-Natal province. It was scary to leave the Eastern Cape and the Xhosa people that I know so well, but it was a great opportunity to learn more about the Zulu culture. Zwelisha crèche is in a rural village and has from 70-80 children aged 0-5 that use it’s services. Childcare is an extremely vital resource for families here. It allows parents to go to work or to try to find employment and to get treatment for HIV/Aids, which is a huge issue in this area. It gives children a safe environment in which to learn and play with other children. The crèche also provides meals for the children from donations from volunteers and local farms, and for some children this will be their only meal of the day. The crèche is very understaffed for the number of children that come, with only one teacher and two other staff members. I have been helping with the teaching and have been emphasising learning through play. I have also been working hard to improve their English, as learning English is vital to be successful when they go to school and to finding employment in the future. Young children are exhausting! But they are lovely children who are eager to learn. I have also been helping with things like cooking, cleaning and washing for the crèche, and looking after the younger babies after lessons are over with the older ones.  I work from 7am-2pm Monday to Friday. 

After I finish work at the crèche at 2pm, I have been working at the Empangeni orphanage from 3pm-6pm. At the moment there are 7 children, 3 girls and 4 boys. Apart from one smaller boy, the rest of the children are teenagers. I am there for much needed company! They are left to their own devices most of the time, with only one house mother who only works during the day, usually when they are attending school. I have been tutoring them in English, helping with homework and teaching them some computer skills on my laptop. I am also acting as a peer mentor, as these children are at a high risk age, it is important they know they have many options in the future. It is not uncommon for a girl of 16 in this area to be married and already have children. Also, the prevalence of HIV/Aids is huge, so encouraging them to make the right choices surrounding safe sex, and avoiding drinking and drugs.

Now that the crèche is closed for school holidays, we have decided to use my project contribution to buy painting materials and paint the children’s rooms in the orphanage, which were in disrepair. The girls typically want a pink room, and the boy’s want a blue one! It’s hard work, but it will be worth it to see the rooms when they are finished! They children really deserve a nice room and a home that they can feel proud of. 

I leave Kwazulu-Natal on Friday – bound for Port Elizabeth and the arrival of my parents! After over 7 months we will be reunited and I can’t wait! After that I will be going to a new volunteer project in Umdumbi, details to come soon! 

Oh, and I forgot to mention I saw my first giraffe! (and a whole lot of other animals! at the local game reserve)