Our day started with a visit to the 1000 Hills Community Helpers, it was Baby Clinic Day and by the time clinic opened at 8 am the sun was already beating down and the veranda was packed with nearly 100 Mum's and Gogo's (Grandma's) and their babies. Typically women arrive and wait outside the gate from 5.30 am to miss the heat on the often lengthy walk to the centre and to get a chance of being somewhere near the front of the queue.
You can see the crowded veranda in the background of the photo, as we were met by one of the community workers who introduced us to this beautiful baby girl. Dressed into her finest - a delicate baby pink matinee jacket lovingly knitted by one of our wonderful supporters. The baby clinic is an impressive operation, each Baby has a record booklet and this must be presented when they attend clinic, as it provides a vital record of the baby's progress, weight, immunisations (although these are not carried out here at 1000 Hills), any health concerns or developmental concerns. The baby's and their carers are called through in order and they present their card to the team, who search the innumerable files for their records. There are dozens of filing drawers rammed full of record cards, a testament to the number of babies supported by this clinic. Baby is checked by the Sister, weighed and all the information recorded. Skin problems are common, eczema, fungal infections and often sores. All this is treated and the carer is given advice and a small amount of medication if necessary. The clinic tries to provide a New Baby Pack, with small quantities of the basic needs - nappies, a baby gro, wipes, barrier cream etc. There is no doubt that all of the donations of blankets and knitted items are gratefully received and fashionably modelled on Baby Clinic Day!
As if that wasn't enough, the rest of the community was buzzing with activity too! The pre-school children were lining up to wash their hands before tucking into their breakfast - another 100 + meals! The sound of their excited chatter and the happy singing of their morning song drifted across the playground as we were proudly shown the newest addition to the Community Helpers centre - a Safe Play Area. 1000 Hills Community Helpers held their first children's sports day at the end of last year and parent's and grandparents came to cheer the children on in their endeavours. You can see the sun shelters and JoJo filled with drinking water to keep the children hydrated between events. There are big plans for this Safe Play area which we will watch with interest! Adjacent to the sports field is a productive and well tended veggie garden. This has always been a feature of the 1000 Hills Community Helpers - you can read about the early years and how it all started in 1989 on their website 1000 Hills Community Helpers . This is vital to help to supply the busy kitchen, which not only feeds up to 1,200 meals a day but now also will supply the food for the new Meals on Wheels service.... more of that next week!
I've only scratched the surface of the activities of this wonderful project we are so proud to partner with, Sarah and Claire are back with 1000 Hills on Thursday and Claire will visit next week too, so you'll hear plenty about them in due course!
Our next visit was to the "Gogo Lunch Club" at Isthembiso (The Promise). This is a much smaller project, sitting in the heart of a rural community. There are a few residents and an additional 30 Gogo's come to lunch most days. Often in South Africa the Grandmother is left to care for her grandchildren, sometimes as many as 7 or 8 children of all ages, either due to parents leaving the area for work in the towns or cities (rural unemployment was published as 65% in July 2018), the children being orphaned or parents simply not being able to cope. This means that Gogo's shoulder the burden, managing on a pension of R1,500 a month (circa £85), they often forgo eating in order to feed their grandchildren. The Gogo Lunch Club offers a hot main meal, company of other Gogo's and a friendly welcome, all of which helps to relieve the stress and anxiety of coping with the situation. Again there a big plans at this project, to extend the facilities offered and run some days out - a picnic lunch at a local dam for the Gogo's and their charges. They are in the middle of a building project, which is planned to become a community centre and they are also very keen to keep the Zulu traditions alive with a Cultural area which will show traditional prayer and social activities. In the meantime, the children are making use of the spare bricks and have built a town plan to play with (complete with fairytale castle!).
The rest of the day was spent catching up on emails and our blog!!! Hope you are enjoying it!
Claire & Sarah
You can see the crowded veranda in the background of the photo, as we were met by one of the community workers who introduced us to this beautiful baby girl. Dressed into her finest - a delicate baby pink matinee jacket lovingly knitted by one of our wonderful supporters. The baby clinic is an impressive operation, each Baby has a record booklet and this must be presented when they attend clinic, as it provides a vital record of the baby's progress, weight, immunisations (although these are not carried out here at 1000 Hills), any health concerns or developmental concerns. The baby's and their carers are called through in order and they present their card to the team, who search the innumerable files for their records. There are dozens of filing drawers rammed full of record cards, a testament to the number of babies supported by this clinic. Baby is checked by the Sister, weighed and all the information recorded. Skin problems are common, eczema, fungal infections and often sores. All this is treated and the carer is given advice and a small amount of medication if necessary. The clinic tries to provide a New Baby Pack, with small quantities of the basic needs - nappies, a baby gro, wipes, barrier cream etc. There is no doubt that all of the donations of blankets and knitted items are gratefully received and fashionably modelled on Baby Clinic Day!
As if that wasn't enough, the rest of the community was buzzing with activity too! The pre-school children were lining up to wash their hands before tucking into their breakfast - another 100 + meals! The sound of their excited chatter and the happy singing of their morning song drifted across the playground as we were proudly shown the newest addition to the Community Helpers centre - a Safe Play Area. 1000 Hills Community Helpers held their first children's sports day at the end of last year and parent's and grandparents came to cheer the children on in their endeavours. You can see the sun shelters and JoJo filled with drinking water to keep the children hydrated between events. There are big plans for this Safe Play area which we will watch with interest! Adjacent to the sports field is a productive and well tended veggie garden. This has always been a feature of the 1000 Hills Community Helpers - you can read about the early years and how it all started in 1989 on their website 1000 Hills Community Helpers . This is vital to help to supply the busy kitchen, which not only feeds up to 1,200 meals a day but now also will supply the food for the new Meals on Wheels service.... more of that next week!I've only scratched the surface of the activities of this wonderful project we are so proud to partner with, Sarah and Claire are back with 1000 Hills on Thursday and Claire will visit next week too, so you'll hear plenty about them in due course!
Our next visit was to the "Gogo Lunch Club" at Isthembiso (The Promise). This is a much smaller project, sitting in the heart of a rural community. There are a few residents and an additional 30 Gogo's come to lunch most days. Often in South Africa the Grandmother is left to care for her grandchildren, sometimes as many as 7 or 8 children of all ages, either due to parents leaving the area for work in the towns or cities (rural unemployment was published as 65% in July 2018), the children being orphaned or parents simply not being able to cope. This means that Gogo's shoulder the burden, managing on a pension of R1,500 a month (circa £85), they often forgo eating in order to feed their grandchildren. The Gogo Lunch Club offers a hot main meal, company of other Gogo's and a friendly welcome, all of which helps to relieve the stress and anxiety of coping with the situation. Again there a big plans at this project, to extend the facilities offered and run some days out - a picnic lunch at a local dam for the Gogo's and their charges. They are in the middle of a building project, which is planned to become a community centre and they are also very keen to keep the Zulu traditions alive with a Cultural area which will show traditional prayer and social activities. In the meantime, the children are making use of the spare bricks and have built a town plan to play with (complete with fairytale castle!).
The rest of the day was spent catching up on emails and our blog!!! Hope you are enjoying it!
Claire & Sarah
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