tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43287857355831163402024-03-12T20:08:41.941-07:00Claire & Sarah in SAClaire @ GAGA UK http://www.blogger.com/profile/00433084410981694794noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328785735583116340.post-54034939403796425342019-10-31T11:45:00.001-07:002019-10-31T11:45:28.144-07:00Tuesday - transport traumas and horticulture!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
After the dramas of Monday's driving experience I decided to call the garage early on Tuesday to see if someone could check my fan belt (as you do). I was thrilled when the garage answered at 7:45 am and said, "No problem, come straight down"! So that's how, just after 8 am we found ourselves staring into the open bonnet of "Bertha the Bakkie" with the mechanic doing the international mechanic response of... sucking air through the teeth, followed by the words "without even trying I can see six problems here" Oh boy, the screeching was a result of damp air on a loose fanbelt, causing it to slip. I also had a fuel leak, corroded alternator belt, frayed air con belt (this much I knew, we've had no aircon in the bakkie since 2018), oil leak and oh.... something else! So we quickly progressed from having a R500 120 point "health check" to a R1495 full service (which includes the 120 health check). I figured it was better to be safe than sorry. The friendly mechanic explained to me that had the alternator belt snapped I would have had 5kms to drive then NADDA! Trust me, if that had happened deep in the valley, I would have been in a state and whilst I may have been able to be picked up, when we went back for Bertha, she'd have been stripped to a chassis!<br />
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We had a courtesy lift back to the accommodation and spent an hour or so catching up on email until Debbie, our Girl Friday arrived to take us to 1000 Hills Community Helpers. We spent the morning with Christian, who has been responsible for taking a good veggie patch and turning it into a massively productive vegetable and fruit market garden! I tell you, move over Monty Don.... we have Christian. He is so passionate about his horticulture, he attended agricultural college and as I told you in an earlier blog he is not only transforming the garden at 1000HCH he is also training as a facilitator for the CINDI HIV/Aids awareness initiative. Christian explained to us about the methods for spacing each plant, spinach has to be two hands ✋✋, beetroot can be one hand , carrots can be two fingers ✌ and cabbage and cauliflower has to be a forearm 💪. In this way, it is really clear to everyone who is involved in the planting how to space the seedlings.<br />
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Christian also told us about the methods employed for pest control (screens and snail traps) as well as fertilisation. He demonstrated how some plants did not thrive because the soil had not been prepared correctly, there were still rocks and the roots could not shift them. He showed how tilling the soil, to make it fine allowed the roots to spread. He also taught us that potatoes had to be cut back to four growing points to ensure the correct balance between sufficient leaves to carry out photosynthesis but not so many that the plant used all it's energy on leaves and left nothing for the tuber growing beneath the soil. <br />
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We have some great video footage of Christian but it won't load to this blog, so watch out for it on Facebook or our new website from mid November!!!<br />
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Claire @ GAGA UK http://www.blogger.com/profile/00433084410981694794noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328785735583116340.post-54308991447041659582019-10-30T22:19:00.005-07:002019-10-30T22:19:47.843-07:00Monday mists and mountains!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This was Brett's first day of volunteering at 1000 Hills Community Helpers. We arrived close to 8 am and the centre was already a hive of activity with patients waiting to be seen in the clinic and children settling into their day at creche. We called in to say good morning and introduce Brett to Aunty Dawn, who was busy in the clinic overseeing the arrival of a new batch of medicines.<br />
We brought another parcel of bandages and dressings for the team at the clinic, donated by our friends at Bidford Pharmacy, they had travelled out with Brett along with some more delightful baby clothes and hats. The 1000HCH run a baby clinic on a Tuesday and each new baby registered receives a welcome pack with a couple of nappies, a few essential baby care items (like aqueous cream) and, if possible, a first outfit. That is why the beautifully knitted matinee jackets and baby jumpers are so gratefully received here. Items for older babies and toddlers are also gratefully received, as often a child in creche may need some additional clothes or a small child visiting the clinic may leave, not only with medication, but also with a cosy, new jumper!<br />
Brett was taken into the care of one of the clinic nursing staff and put to work in the dispensary, cataloguing the medicines that arrive each Monday morning and then preparing labels for the shelves and stock lists.<br />
I returned to the lodge to catch up on some administration work I needed to get done and to finalise some arrangements for appointments for the remainder of the week. On the way back "Bertha the Bakkie" started to screech in protest! It was quite alarming and I pulled over to check the vehicle specification book to see if I could diagnose the problem. It seems that the cause might be fan belt related, so I cautiously took off again and returned back to the lodge. After making some enquiries about a reliable and friendly garage I tried driving again and the noise had abated. Somewhat relieved I headed out to First Step Right preschool to find the Grade R children playing some wonderful games with the parachute and brightly coloured balls - they were playing "deep sea diving" where the parachute was the rolling sea and the balls were treasure under the sea and they each had to "dive" down and retrieve a "piece of treasure". They then made the most of the breezy day and made a "mushroom" by wafting the parachute up and then sitting down on the edge so all the children were inside a "mushroom dome"!<br />
I nipped down to the 1000HCH to collect Brett and brought him back to FSR as we had an after school meeting with the teachers to discuss the plans for the Grade R graduation that is arranged for 29th November. This celebration marks the move of these children from their ECD preschool education into official Primary Education. One of the teachers had the idea to make the gowns, instead of hiring them, and it was agreed that Jabu's Mum (who is a seamstress) would make two gowns as a trial and then aim to have a set of 20 gowns that can be used each year for the graduation ceremony and photographs. The teachers also said that they could hire these out to other creches and that would make a small income each year. They would like to prepare a big braai (BBQ) with chicken and wurst, as well as traditional accompaniments. This is an important event for the creche, it celebrates the achievements of the children and shows the community that it is a vibrant and engaging early learning environment.<br />
As we were meeting the mists again came down and we headed down to KwaXimba to drop Jabu and Khanyisile home. This time, we could barely see the valley and cautiously progressed down the road. Once back to the lodge, it was a quick turnaround as Brett & I had been invited to a braai at Westville Rotary Club near Durban. We picked up a small contribution of some coleslaw and headed off, following directions provided by our host, Tony. The roads were very wet and visibility was low due to the mists and we were astonished at a long tail back on the opposite carriageway due to a 4x4 having landed in a ditch. Thank goodness it wasn't on our side. After a very pleasant evening (eating delicious lamb chops and borewors), meeting many fellow rotarians and talking a little about the work that GAGA supports here in KwaZulu Natal we set off for home. <br />
Once again google maps had a little adventure in store for us.... heading off the N3 in darkness and misty rain we were "instructed" to turn left, signposted Alverstone. Well, very soon into the trip we saw a "low gear, steep incline" warning sign.... by now it was too tricky to turn around and so we had little option but to press on! Fortunately there were intermittent cats eyes in the road, else there would have been times when it was barely clear we were on a road at all!! We proceeded cautiously up, and up, and up and finally after what felt like a very long 20 minute climb we emerged onto the familiar "Old Main Road"! Look up "Alvestone Road, Assagay, KZN - map type "terrain" to get a feel for our journey!<br />
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Claire @ GAGA UK http://www.blogger.com/profile/00433084410981694794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328785735583116340.post-48530880460679222522019-10-30T09:49:00.000-07:002019-10-30T09:49:08.202-07:00Friday 25th - catching up with the blog!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Bet you wondered where I was!<br />
Wow! It's been a busy time since I last wrote the blog! On Friday 25th I spent the day in Durban. The first visit was to the Likhon iThemba Hop Shop which is a charity shop run by the team behind the HOLAH (House of Love and Hope) Crisis Baby Home. They use the income from the shop to help to cover the costs of the children in their care. Operating as a Crisis Baby Home the intention is that the babies are only in their care for a short period of time, however life is rarely that straightforward in South Africa. Often, the babies who are abandoned are in someway challenged physically and therefore these babies are not very easy to place into foster care or their "forever" home. In this case, children stay with HOLAH much longer, they currently have two toddlers who have been in their care for two and a half years, having arrived with them in the first hours of their life. The first option is always to try to return the baby to the birth family, if not the mother herself then to an aunt or grandmother. However this is not always possible, or desirable, as in the case of incestuous rape or a violent home situation. Women remain relatively powerless in many South African communities, Kim (from Likhon iThemba) told me of one young woman who was found by the police trying to sell her baby for R200 (about £12). When questioned she told them that the man she was living with told her he would kill her if she didn't return within an hour with no baby and R200. This is the kind of unimaginable and intolerable threat level that some women have to endure. The Hop Shop also serves as a place of safety for young women, they have just installed a Baby Saver (The Baby Saver is easy to access and easy to use – simply open the door, place the baby into the Saver and close the door – which then automatically locks. The trigger-plate will send an alarm which will result in Responders attending the Saver and sending the baby via ambulance to the local hospital where Likthon iThemba will be notified and prepare for the arrival of an abandoned baby) directly outside and if a young woman in crisis comes into the shop they can receive a supportive counselling session from Leanne or Kim. In these sessions they clearly lay out the options for the young mother. She may still be pregnant or she may have a tiny baby, but there are options to escape gender based violence or family stigma that Kim or Leanne can share. <br />
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Kim and Leanne want the Hop Shop to become a hub for potential foster and adoptive families to come and learn about what fostering and adoption entails, and to see if they have the skills and attributes to become foster parents or adoptive parents. They also want it to provide a support network for foster and adopting families as well as continuing to be a place of safety for expectant or new mothers to find out about their options with regard to their baby's future. They are confident that the Hop Shop is in the right area for this to be a success, they get a lot of footfall through the shop, so it is a well known place and, sadly there have recently been two babies abandoned in very close proximity - one directly across the road, who was sadly dead from suffocation when he was found by the refuse collectors and another just up the road (5 minute walk away) found in the bins of the University of Kwa Zulu Natal. Both of these were days before the baby saver was installed, it has yet to be used and in some ways we hope it won't ever be... but if there's a choice between leaving the baby there or in the bins opposite we certainly hope the desperate mother will choose the baby saver.<br />
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After the morning with Kim and Leanne, I met one of our Sangobeg students, Slie. Slie has been studying at the University of Kwa Zulu Natal and she has ambition to join the South African Police Service (SAPS). She is one final paper away from completing her BA degree in Politics, Philosophy and Criminology, with an additional English major. Slie is an intelligent, articulate and attractive young woman; the world is her oyster! She does have a few bumps in the road at the moment and we are working with her to try to resolve them so that she can complete the degree and then make her application to SAPS. After a long chat we said our farewells and I headed out to King Shaka airport to meet the flight that was bringing my 17 year old son out to Africa for the first time!!<br />
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Safely landed and through border control, we headed off to Greytown where we were staying with good friends of GAGA, the James family. Mary runs LETCEE in Greytown, which is a fabulous Early Childhood Development training centre. They support communities to set up toy libraries for pre-school children. LETCEE and GAGA have a long history and we are always grateful to Mary for her insight and expertise which she happily shares with us. It was a bit of a rough introduction to Africa for Brett, as we arrived at the James' to discover the power had been off since 2pm that afternoon, so there was no hope of a much longed for hot shower and Mary's plans for a welcome supper were also scuppered! <br />
The next day dawned, still with no power and so, rather dishevelled, we set off the the planned game drive at Weenan which was breathtaking and the power issue soon paled into insignificance as we viewed Eland, Kudu, Waterbuck, Red Hartebeast, Grey Hartebeast, Giraffe and Zebra.<br />
Just going to grab some grub - so will post this up and add some photo's later!<br />
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Claire @ GAGA UK http://www.blogger.com/profile/00433084410981694794noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328785735583116340.post-23816596063835543782019-10-24T12:26:00.002-07:002019-10-24T12:26:30.971-07:00HACT's impact in the Valley of 1000 Hills <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsVo-94KJmboTNDPQcn2e7E1vWwU3-32nSEonyP6yXD2xNkYrptCuQK9herTcdBZP2SKtmDiB0ciNmJK74uSigmOF8Sz2fUR684BCOTiW9VUGomXz3A1UuxanQc6NJUhwh6cVZMZT-_hY/s1600/IMG_0138.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsVo-94KJmboTNDPQcn2e7E1vWwU3-32nSEonyP6yXD2xNkYrptCuQK9herTcdBZP2SKtmDiB0ciNmJK74uSigmOF8Sz2fUR684BCOTiW9VUGomXz3A1UuxanQc6NJUhwh6cVZMZT-_hY/s200/IMG_0138.JPG" width="200" /></a>This morning I arrived at Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust ready for a full day covering the outreach activities that HACT are involved in. First of all I met my friend Mr Mshengu, who had been my escort in January. We were scheduled to attend the home visits in the company of Sister Sphe. As we set off I was reminded of the vastness of the Valley of 1000 Hills and the absolute remoteness of some of the settlements. Mr Mshengu's knowledge of these roads, tracks and paths makes the London cabbie "Knowledge" look like childsplay! For reasons of confidentiality I didn't take any photographs of the patients for home visits. However, we arrived at the first scheduled visit to find that the patient had gone visiting to family across the valley, as we were in the combi, it was impossible for us to attend to her there (it can only be hoped that she was feeling better and that is why she decided to make the visit!). The family at the second scheduled visit said it was "not convenient" this may be because we were in the combi which has a large HACT badge on the side. There is still a significant stigma associated with HIV/Aids in these communities and some families will not accept a vehicle with the logo in their yard. Unfortunately, this was the only vehicle available this morning. I was later told that when HACT first opened, they had to have a magnetic badge that could be removed from the vehicles and the staff could not wear uniform to visit people in their homes. Third time lucky, we were welcomed into a lovely home by a gentleman who, with his wife, were caring for her sister. This lady had suffered severe, uncontrollable epileptic fits, which, in addition to her HIV + status put her at considerable risk, living alone. She was in the Respite Unit in August but discharged to the care of her family once she had been stabilised on a very high dosage of epilepsy medication. She is more stable now, although still has unexpected episodes and therefore cannot be left alone or get a job. Sadly the Govt. has refused the application for a grant to contribute to her care and support, so the burden falls on the family.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0L85uuTHutINTDNdJl22H0u7EkcL-FufMEw3ueF7_6YHL41LOV_5FUM474Bn1g1k4SiHipF6O0B1PJsbSXYjeFVdqBl8J_lfMvW1-pCRUXaFG08a95feOMeIbqcg95xTMhWQBfssdTx8/s1600/IMG_0147.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0L85uuTHutINTDNdJl22H0u7EkcL-FufMEw3ueF7_6YHL41LOV_5FUM474Bn1g1k4SiHipF6O0B1PJsbSXYjeFVdqBl8J_lfMvW1-pCRUXaFG08a95feOMeIbqcg95xTMhWQBfssdTx8/s200/IMG_0147.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsKmX2Ypv22-8ovsB-SIXNzWjZ1FF2KD07uYSnRCRdBoxAUISvITyIDQRMRvddnk_Fye-xxkciQEqVbmPw8hzGT5DHA5TRwKpXcqJqjw0owy5ySPdtbgyH8u1F_vAtk-Rlp9rMhb9ASrQ/s1600/IMG_0145.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsKmX2Ypv22-8ovsB-SIXNzWjZ1FF2KD07uYSnRCRdBoxAUISvITyIDQRMRvddnk_Fye-xxkciQEqVbmPw8hzGT5DHA5TRwKpXcqJqjw0owy5ySPdtbgyH8u1F_vAtk-Rlp9rMhb9ASrQ/s200/IMG_0145.JPG" width="150" /></a> I then swapped cars and headed off with<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQW8ciexaOqBrF8hmcqOLhODBgTFyPq6lCBODN-Jl_7_xCXv3spFpbqRi0aCcaDujFrMnsSe8zlWHckL-Q21RIQ9T31-HJl57zqUjYWJybqJvi8wqR6dnLd_TKhpZ9v-e_ThZY6hkg9cE/s1600/IMG_0154.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQW8ciexaOqBrF8hmcqOLhODBgTFyPq6lCBODN-Jl_7_xCXv3spFpbqRi0aCcaDujFrMnsSe8zlWHckL-Q21RIQ9T31-HJl57zqUjYWJybqJvi8wqR6dnLd_TKhpZ9v-e_ThZY6hkg9cE/s200/IMG_0154.JPG" width="200" /></a>Phindwe and Thandi to visit a Gogo Support Group. This group of 13 ladies is one of the longest established GOGO support groups and we met at the "leader" Tangiwe's house. They have a fabulous garden where they grow spinach, cabbage, beetroot, onions, carrots and beans. They have also planted a crop of yams (called mThumbe locally) which is essentially a cash crop, it is a staple of the diet locally but can only be grown where there is an underlying water table. The land that Tangiwe and her group have has this particular topography and therefore can utilise this to develop their co-operative. They are a strong and close knit group, they currently all contribute R200 from their pensions to a savings pot and then this money is used to build a concrete house for any member who doesn't have one. In the picture to the left, the grey roofed building is the first house to be built from this scheme, the Gogo used to live in the rondavel to the side of it. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaVMI8x8gSxO8eTJzeN7oVubrSO58R1cKUJDDccwyVBvmlXyFdBT5IRB8553kuvmpyLTGeg-x5pp7GMmGRVTb9CQEy5aQ36ALTg4Rw3bDcL_mGwZy8KZf54PJNB7o56e5M5H3Jd3tL6_g/s1600/IMG_0151.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaVMI8x8gSxO8eTJzeN7oVubrSO58R1cKUJDDccwyVBvmlXyFdBT5IRB8553kuvmpyLTGeg-x5pp7GMmGRVTb9CQEy5aQ36ALTg4Rw3bDcL_mGwZy8KZf54PJNB7o56e5M5H3Jd3tL6_g/s200/IMG_0151.JPG" width="200" /></a>The next ambition is to ensure that all of the members of the group have an inside toilet, so that when they are older, they will not struggle to get out to use the outside privvy. Many have already purchased the sanitary ware, they are saving for the plumbing work. Finally the target is that each of the Gogo's homes will have a "JoJo" a water tank for rainwater harvest. Clearly this is a group of ambitious and forward thinking ladies. Not only that, their humour and joy of life is evident. There is over 1000 years of experience between them! They told me that when they are working in the garden they talk about their lives, their current challenges and also their early years, of loves lost but fondly remembered! A fabulous group of women!<br />
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My afternoon was spent with Pemla on the Grassroots Soccer Initiative. This is a new activity for HACT, replacing their LifeSkills Programme. The programme is focused on Grade 7,6,5 so age range from 10 to 14 and this term it is the Grade 5. We visited Laboure Primary School in Kwanqetho, deep in the Valley of 1000 Hills. This is a lovely school of nearly 400 pupils from Grade R to Grade 7. The Grassroots Soccer delivers physical activity (soccer skills) and HIV awareness messages to groups of 15 pupils at a time. This creates a trusting and caring cohort and allows children to speak up. The session starts with a warm up and the two messages that are targeted in today's session are HIV avoidance and HIV attack. <br />
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The first game uses a skipping rope as a limbo bar. The children are told that they have to limbo under the bar. At first the bar is high, this represents abstaining from sexual activity, so it is easy to limbo under (i.e. it is easy to avoid contracting HIV). The second bar is lower, this represents dating a person your own age, again it is quite easy to limbo under. The reasons are discussed at each point so that the understanding of the metaphor is clear. Now the bar is lower, this represents dating someone 5 years older than you.... now some cannot limbo and clear the bar, so the metaphor is that they have contracted HIV. Again this is discussed, along with a clear discussion about "power" in a relationship, pressure and coercive behaviour. Finally the bar is very low, this represents dating someone 10 years older than you, hardly anyone can limbo or avoid the risk. The discussion centres around the risk factors and what to be on your guard for, e.g. accepting gifts, someone hanging around school etc.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSbRjwFspUp24dSTVVdXX7ZuHrI5VmYpiPNSjfwWEBPDrisnM3SaO_6wB8ZjeChi14CNyhcBwUzq8VKs392JGae6y3tilGXhfXyMY2akXrvna4lo84ZgEuQy7tU37nAJvxxHUsIsxzAr4/s1600/IMG_0172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSbRjwFspUp24dSTVVdXX7ZuHrI5VmYpiPNSjfwWEBPDrisnM3SaO_6wB8ZjeChi14CNyhcBwUzq8VKs392JGae6y3tilGXhfXyMY2akXrvna4lo84ZgEuQy7tU37nAJvxxHUsIsxzAr4/s200/IMG_0172.JPG" width="200" /></a>The second game very cleverly explains infection, immunity and how HIV suppresses the natural immune system. Children are in a circle, one child is "human" and stands in the middle. Another child is "Immune System" and joins the child in the middle. The other children, some of whom are "flu" "cholera" "pneumonia" throw the football to touch the "human" and the "immune system" acts as defence. Then, another child joins as "HIV" this child holds the "Immune System" child's arms behind their back, so he cannot "defend" any more. Then a child named "ARV" joins, she represents the Anti Retro Viral drug therapy, which puts HIV to sleep and then "Immune System" can work again! The final piece is to bring another infection"TB" into the picture! Now the discussion is on defaulting from treatment. At each step the facilitator checks understanding and reinforces the messages. It is a very clever method of delivering a very serious message.<br />
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Thank you HACT for your hospitality today and for the wonderful work you do. We are proud to be associated with you and very grateful to our amazing donors who make that partnership possible.</div>
Claire @ GAGA UK http://www.blogger.com/profile/00433084410981694794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328785735583116340.post-78869424584467701892019-10-24T11:02:00.001-07:002019-10-24T11:02:19.403-07:00Every day is a school day!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hi!<br />
It's been a hectic couple of days here in KwaZulu Natal. I've been nursing a head cold and have been feeling pretty ropy by the end of the day so have had two early night's in succession! Seems to be clearing now, thank goodness!<br />
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On Tuesday a cold weather front moved in and brought with it much cooler air and a misty rain. This was the day that we had arranged for the Primary aged pupils of First Step Right to sit their end of year standardised attainment tests. These tests provide a benchmark for the attainment of pupils and allows them to be placed correctly for the next year of school. Many of the current pupils of First Step Right will move to other Primary schools in 2020. This is a result of the necessity for all schools to be registered with the Department of Education and that the current operation of First Step Right as a Primary school was not conducive to that registration process. First Step Right started life as a creche and pre-school and that is where it will remain from 2020. As part of the transition process, parents are being supported in finding alternative schools for their children for 2020 and beyond. FSR will continue to offer Grade 2 and Grade 3 next year, to ease the impact of the number of pupils entering the Primary schools in the area and will be fully a creche and preschool from 2021.<br />
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Over the December holidays, the building will be refurbished by the owner and landlord, Frey's and the teaching staff have already commenced their training on the governance and management of an Early Childhood Development (ECD) centre. It is a time of great change for this project, and like all change it has it's challenges and obstacles. However, the end aim is a positive and impactful one and at GAGA we are keen to ensure that we support this change, with the best interests of the children, first and foremost in our minds.<br />
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The children had not experienced standardised testing before, although they do have tests each Friday to check understanding of the work completed the week before, so the concept was not entirely new to them. They settled very well and, for the most part, worked diligently through the tests. Grades 1 to 3 were supported by a facilitator to ensure that they answered questions in a timely and structured manner and Grade 4 and Grade 5 worked their way through the hour long paper independently. By far the most exciting part of the test was that they each received a sticker at the end! The tests will be marked and moderated by a team of educational consultants to ensure that they deliver a validated, bench marked result which will be accepted by the receiving school.<br />
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I spent the afternoon session with Grade 4 and Grade 5 and we talked about the importance of flags to a nation, discussing how the national flag is used a sporting events as a way of showing the team that the crowd is behind them and they are proud to be representing their country.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_wSGqWQwjGc_unffXN1VKof3MCYb2tAKJi48PHyJuGv59TmdDMm7vd0nGIDUM3_XPePTvamZ0EwQYNzpUcP-MyPIK_4nLoYqayRyBX9Pvk0r2jpEZtlAzuo8vi7TIm91BZ1pO7Pk9SVk/s1600/IMG_4466.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_wSGqWQwjGc_unffXN1VKof3MCYb2tAKJi48PHyJuGv59TmdDMm7vd0nGIDUM3_XPePTvamZ0EwQYNzpUcP-MyPIK_4nLoYqayRyBX9Pvk0r2jpEZtlAzuo8vi7TIm91BZ1pO7Pk9SVk/s200/IMG_4466.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grade 4 students earlier this year</td></tr>
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We talked about the South African flag and the inspiration behind it's design and how it represented South Africa's move to a democratic country. My plan was to get the children to design a flag of their own but when this was suggested, some of the children didn't want to do that. So, I decided to use this as an example of democracy. We discussed taking a vote and whether we should just allow one side of the class to vote or just the girls to vote and talked about fairness and equality in voting. When we took the vote the class were 50% in favour and 50% against, so we had to work out a way to resolve the impasse. This time, we offered an alternative activity, so make a flag or play the "30 second" board game. The votes were cast... and another draw! Then we talked about how to resolve this, someone suggested a fight! Then someone suggested a contest of rock, paper, scissors. We agreed the rules and everyone agreed to abide by the outcome. So the Rock Paper Scissors commenced, with pairs of pupils, one on each side of the decision. It was a draw right to the last pair, a deciding vote.... and the "30 Second" game won the day! The afternoon was completed playing the 30 Second word game until after the end of day bell went.<br />
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At the end of the school day, a heavy mist fell on Cato Ridge and consequently two of the pupil transports failed to arrive. We waited an hour and a half until finally, out of the mist we saw the approaching vehicles. There were 30 pupils and 3 teachers left waiting and so we pulled together an impromptu "camp fire songs" session..... little wonder I had lost my voice when I woke up the next day!<br />
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Wednesday was, thankfully clearer and brighter. I once again headed out to Cato Ridge to meet Tayla, the transition project manager who was taking me to visit the iThemba project. This is a partnership of the people of Hilton with the community of Sweetwaters (Mpumuza) which aims to transform a generation of kids and teens through education and mentoring so that they may bring hope to their community, and be a light throughout South Africa. We were met by Stuart, one of the originators of the project and gave us a wonderful presentation of all that they initially set out to achieve, how they had refined and revised their approach along the way and the learnings from that journey. Key to the success is that "when the work is done the people should say <i>"we did it"</i>" The iThemba project has already supported the change at First Step Right by providing training in ECD governance and management to three of the existing staff members. They were full of great ideas and gave me lots of direction for resources and inspiration that I can share with the FSR team. Their programme is called ASILADE which translates as learning through play. They also engage the parents and ask that each child has one hour of play a day at home with a parent or caregiver and that they are also read to each day at home. This reinforces the link between the home and the educational environment. We had a very productive meeting and have lots to share with the team as a result. Read more about them <a href="http://www.ithembaprojects.com/" target="_blank">HERE</a><br />
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After a quick bite of lunch, we returned to the school where we were to meet representative from GROW. GROW is an ECD franchise business. Their model is to encourage South African businesses to "Adopt and ECD Centre" which means that the business pays for the five year franchise support with an aim that the ECD centre develops into a five star rated ECD operation in that time and becomes a self-sustaining business for the women running the centre. They too have a standard ECD framework and the franchise operates on both the curriculum and the business side, offering training and mentoring as well as reporting and assessment. Clearly another excellent opportunity and yet more food for thought. Find out more <a href="http://growecd.org.za/" target="_blank">HERE</a><br />
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A very wordy blog from two very intensive days, but the activities are very important to give a full picture of the situation and allow the Board of Trustees to make the necessary decisions about the future.</div>
Claire @ GAGA UK http://www.blogger.com/profile/00433084410981694794noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328785735583116340.post-2447724876572489442019-10-21T08:41:00.001-07:002019-10-21T08:41:52.271-07:00Back on line! Learners all the way!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hello GAGA blog followers,<br />
Sorry for the radio silence this weekend, we lost our WiFi on Saturday and couldn't get it rebooted until this morning. No matter, that didn't stop a weekend of adventures here in KZN!<br />
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Saturday dawned hot and sunny and after spending a little time on our soon to be launched, new website I set off the Pietermaritzburg to meet up with some of our Sangobeg scholars who are studying there. As I was driving along I noticed a red car in my rear view mirror, imagine my surprise when a total of seven shiny red Ferrari cars zoomed past in close succession! It was just so unexpected, amongst the usual collection of vehicles on the motorways in KZN where you have your bakkies and other 4 wheel drive, the usual mixture of Japanese and Korean run arounds and the ubiquitous taxi/minibus. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHFiKwERPPFo4bqWznXn_7x-ersw_v7xokuxRaSbITEmu-9Imuz0RTrvmQemE21z6HoxhYHzlQZiCjlBKe_qiEz23e9xj1TREAE8447tl5fFRQbQqEveQ6o7OuwiWEUJm8cWg7dFiwrzg/s1600/IMG_7057.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHFiKwERPPFo4bqWznXn_7x-ersw_v7xokuxRaSbITEmu-9Imuz0RTrvmQemE21z6HoxhYHzlQZiCjlBKe_qiEz23e9xj1TREAE8447tl5fFRQbQqEveQ6o7OuwiWEUJm8cWg7dFiwrzg/s200/IMG_7057.JPG" width="150" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhr3kGZAdTbaUcyIrIznD269QOeqlaUBs0e29TxkHZt5cm97fqhErxmFpOquPJWJfmScmcU2ud78U-tkbMCY_KOt4r3J8Qqvkri1MTxiE8mEEymYe6cMmmSSAtJqtoPqMdWAyER_uzGmU/s1600/IMG_7054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhr3kGZAdTbaUcyIrIznD269QOeqlaUBs0e29TxkHZt5cm97fqhErxmFpOquPJWJfmScmcU2ud78U-tkbMCY_KOt4r3J8Qqvkri1MTxiE8mEEymYe6cMmmSSAtJqtoPqMdWAyER_uzGmU/s200/IMG_7054.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRgzTIO9FOibqbENsm4m2IG68d-bhgYDxlghr2fSBpP6gYK5O65Hy5Qj9sKhkNtyEsL4P2oP69u0snC1gOEmQISH5V-Jc1MvAZyqq1EKdtvxCvCDYZSIephAGy90L6oZnQT33rZsBLZ-w/s1600/IMG_7059.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRgzTIO9FOibqbENsm4m2IG68d-bhgYDxlghr2fSBpP6gYK5O65Hy5Qj9sKhkNtyEsL4P2oP69u0snC1gOEmQISH5V-Jc1MvAZyqq1EKdtvxCvCDYZSIephAGy90L6oZnQT33rZsBLZ-w/s200/IMG_7059.JPG" width="150" /></a>Arriving at the Liberty Mall in PMB I was pleased to find my memory served me well and I was able to find Mugg & Bean, the designated meeting place. Recognising Pretty however was not so easy, having only met her once before on our January visit I was scanning the arrivals at the coffee bar. An elegant woman with a lovely red, floppy sunhat arrived with a dapper young man and walked past my table and then turned back and said questioningly "Claire?" just as I looked and said, almost simultaneously "Pretty?" Lo and behold it was her, looking stunning in her summer attire. Her companion was a quiet young man, Sandile, who has recently become the beneficiary of a Sangobeg Scholarship. We found a table and got to chatting, catching up on all that Pretty has been doing in her role in the NGO Umkhumbi kaNoah and hearing about Sandile's recent examinations in his eco tourism management degree. Then we were joined by Nolly, who is another recent addition to the Sangobeg Scholarship programme. Nolly is completing a BA in community development and she also works at Zimele, the agricultural project GAGA has funded in the past. Furthermore, we have an acquaintance in common, Paul Tomlinson, a fellow Rotarian from Stratford upon Avon who is heavily involved in the Computers for Africa programme and has supplied Zimele.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNXbuCCwI5i0uVS5PejaUdhKxlDW3J7XiFGDj2P51lcSXCG04vvCYbK9RC-s6X08LEE5q6hTuEmgvzZMHs5QK5VKzW4rxuRsDHIJqFa6akABaaDkzLw1N-Z7cBCgwJmlyip7dW2djGNls/s1600/IMG_7066.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNXbuCCwI5i0uVS5PejaUdhKxlDW3J7XiFGDj2P51lcSXCG04vvCYbK9RC-s6X08LEE5q6hTuEmgvzZMHs5QK5VKzW4rxuRsDHIJqFa6akABaaDkzLw1N-Z7cBCgwJmlyip7dW2djGNls/s200/IMG_7066.JPG" width="200" /></a>We had such a lovely afternoon together, talking about each of their experiences and hopes for the future, please watch out for their stories when we launch our new website as I will be featuring them all as time goes on.<br />
The heat was oppressive and the air thick with humidity by the time I walked back to the bakkie in the carpark. The journey home was uneventful and I hoped to come back to a productive afternoon on the website, but the combination of loadshedding and the subsequent loss of internet connectivity soon put paid to that. After another supper by lantern light, I read my book before falling fast asleep.<br />
Sunday morning was bright and sunny again, this was the morning of the Amashova cycle race, a<br />
106 km race which winds through the Valley of 1000 Hills and passes directly by the gates of PheZulu. The road was closed from 4am and was planned to be closed until 2pm, therefore there were no staff on site and the PheZulu Park was closed for the day. It was astonishing to see the cyclists tackle the long, steep climb from PheZulu into Botha's Hill, especially as the temperature rose into the early to mid thirty's! I later found out that sadly, the heat proved to be too much for some cyclists, one sadly died and two others were hospitalised. Consequently the race was called off just after noon and remaining cyclists were transported to the finish area at SunCoast. <br />
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During the morning, walking down to watch the cycling, I discovered that my phone was picking up the WiFi from the PheZulu park office, so I spent the morning "squatting" in the security hut and caught up with my emails and the outstanding changes to our "website in waiting" Not a bad "view from the office" is it?<br />
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A little less than glamourous inside though! Nonetheless, it meant I got the job done, inching closer to the point where I can get launch ready!<br />
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In the afternoon I had another student meeting, this time with Bongiwe. Bongiwe has a bursary for her Project Management Diploma but we help her out with transport costs as she is living at home with her Gogo (grandmother) and her two small children. I did not have the chance to meet Bongiwe on my last visit, so I was especially pleased to meet her this time. She is an engaging and energetic young woman and I had a great time getting to know her. Luckily for me, this meeting coincided with load shedding, so by the time I returned to the lodge everything was up and running (bar the internet...) This gave me the perfect opportunity to read a transcript of a book I have been sent, it is the first 9 chapters of a book written by Menzi who is one of the children who was at the orphanage supported by GAGA in the very early days of the charity's existence. Menzi is now living and working in Joberg but he has decided to write about his early life. It is a fascinating and sometimes difficult read, when you understand that very small children experienced some of the harshest events one could imagine, loosing parents and other family members, being so hungry they ate from rubbish dumps and witnessing violent criminal activity. However, it is uplifting to learn how Menzi was sponsored by a loving couple from the UK and, through their influence and support, became determined to study hard and make a success of his life. I particularly enjoy the writing as I now know many of the people he refers to, as GAGA has continued to support many of the orphans through the Sangobeg Scholarship Programme and in other projects, like First Step Right where they are now employed. I also know some of the districts he talks about, albeit they are much more stable politically and socially than they were in the years he was growing up. <br />
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This theme continued this morning as I met up with Debbie who is our project co-ordinator here in South Africa. Debbie is a wonderful asset to GAGA, she too has the orphanage in her background and knows all of our projects very well, having worked in or otherwise supported many of them. She really is our "eyes and ears" on the ground and we appreciate her insight and guidance. After my meeting with Debbie, I called into 1000 Hills Community Helpers for a short visit (I didn't want to stay too long as I have a headcold and the last thing I wanted to do was spread my germs!).<br />
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Later on, I went to visit Embocraft. Embocraft is a longstanding project which trains men and women in practical skills, sewing, welding, and craft activities, like screen printing and fabric painting so that they can learn a skill which will enable them to become economically independent. They also provide basic computing skills to allow the newly skilled individuals to write a CV, have an email address and apply for jobs.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSz8INYjX8QiUpi98NN8Vl5x4FRTl_7V9da-KfDRQEOyOhMP2K9-aa5oCFvpuCEgog7zX505kfVWuv4jwO_yG4R9pZw3BudpeiWy2HFO4jNw9nD3Dql-ukWUcWfG3_yBCBC-ldf7zzPIg/s1600/IMG_0100.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSz8INYjX8QiUpi98NN8Vl5x4FRTl_7V9da-KfDRQEOyOhMP2K9-aa5oCFvpuCEgog7zX505kfVWuv4jwO_yG4R9pZw3BudpeiWy2HFO4jNw9nD3Dql-ukWUcWfG3_yBCBC-ldf7zzPIg/s200/IMG_0100.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The starter seamstress course</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu7ty83MjeVM4C1EdLUqnu_OAi0ZgqEhNNAWjbB0KSgl6ko30MiHQN_YXiIBXOgFE0rht1TUysPXKFEQsd8GOPon6QofXppdw4FMpmmCOrerTWOOxxxzAbl5J3LCGaNPWNDC4mOJxFcWY/s1600/IMG_0103.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu7ty83MjeVM4C1EdLUqnu_OAi0ZgqEhNNAWjbB0KSgl6ko30MiHQN_YXiIBXOgFE0rht1TUysPXKFEQsd8GOPon6QofXppdw4FMpmmCOrerTWOOxxxzAbl5J3LCGaNPWNDC4mOJxFcWY/s200/IMG_0103.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Very proud of her first completed project!</td></tr>
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This training centre has been in operation for 25 years and they share some premises with Woza Moya, the retail arm of the Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust. Embocraft aims to economically empower individuals by teaching them a marketable skill and giving them the confidence to use that skill in employment or self-employment by launching a small business. As they have been in existence for some years, they are well known around the area, so people who are keen to change their own circumstances seek them out for a place on one of their courses. They are always looking for new opportunities and hope to offer a carpentry course in 2020. In addition, they are looking to expand the sewing aspect by becoming part of a clothes bank initiative operating, at the moment in Durban, where items returned to shops due to faults or damage (broken zips, button ripped off etc) or just end of lines or slight seconds are reconditioned and then offered for sale. This will give employment opportunities to the individuals who come to learn the sewing skills. Those who show particular promise on the basic course are invited back to attend an advanced sewing course using industrial machines and this then gives them the credentials to apply for jobs in the clothes manufacturing industry. Trainees who complete the basic sewing course are provided with a hand operated sewing machine that they can then use to operate a small sewing business back in their communities. Each trainee make one item for the shop and one item for themselves, and the shop income is ploughed back into the enterprise.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj65tuZkQ4tSj4BQdtJdI9U-PHkdeApR82OR-csSbxIIKacVvYvTAPDHC7SNxb805ZyzALErklMXkCrfFJ16IAn1zSmBlmv5hfB5c-bYo7IB18fE-Jfkd-WDqKEVwz9Ki6A6SjCc97h6W0/s1600/IMG_0106.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj65tuZkQ4tSj4BQdtJdI9U-PHkdeApR82OR-csSbxIIKacVvYvTAPDHC7SNxb805ZyzALErklMXkCrfFJ16IAn1zSmBlmv5hfB5c-bYo7IB18fE-Jfkd-WDqKEVwz9Ki6A6SjCc97h6W0/s200/IMG_0106.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some examples of welding</td></tr>
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They would also like to provide a welding machine to trainees who complete the welding course, but this is currently unaffordable. So instead, they have an end of course competition and the winners are recipients of the welding equipment - you can imagine this is a fiercely contested competition as the prize is a means to economic independence!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The production sewing room</td></tr>
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In addition to training individuals, there is also a production sewing room where commissioned items are made up by some of the most accomplished advanced seamstresses and tailors. They also manufacture stock items for the shop to ensure that there is a steady supply of good quality goods for sale. They have a number of sheds which are leased to other crafts people and this works well as the visitors to the shop may browse these independent businesses and visitors to these businesses may visit the shop! Win Win!<br />
It was a pleasure to visit this project, not currently in the GAGA portfolio but closely aligned to our objectives of "a hand up not a handout" Getting close to supper time now, so I'll sign off the mega blog! Three days for the price of one folks! <br />
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Claire @ GAGA UK http://www.blogger.com/profile/00433084410981694794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328785735583116340.post-772486635145426952019-10-18T08:51:00.002-07:002019-10-18T08:51:18.120-07:00Early Childhood Development and a fabulous role model!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This morning dawned bright and beautiful, perfect for a jaunt to Durban. I wasn't however, headed for the beach (as nice as that would have been!) but instead to visit TREE (Training and Resources for Early Education) who have their base in Durban. The training centre is in the north of Durban and was easy to find (thanks Google maps!)<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUwYiqKkP91M89K0fvZNnEd0sSC_Pmp6Tg0yXYDeFCwB1OJjmfQ7kNHmfFhzV48mqsfGsDDCgC6ae4qFGHOy0W9guYzqi4VdEASukh2eASGIOP8BAUIlXkf6XsiLjrcHZTemFOj4ekado/s1600/IMG_0067.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUwYiqKkP91M89K0fvZNnEd0sSC_Pmp6Tg0yXYDeFCwB1OJjmfQ7kNHmfFhzV48mqsfGsDDCgC6ae4qFGHOy0W9guYzqi4VdEASukh2eASGIOP8BAUIlXkf6XsiLjrcHZTemFOj4ekado/s200/IMG_0067.JPG" width="200" /></a>The TREE centre is made up of a training centre, with residential areas and training rooms, a shop and workshop, as well as the administration block. The name comes from the original founder who, 35 years ago decided to bring together the small children in her community and tell them stories and read to them under the shade of a tree. Now 35 years on, the programme is operating in three provinces and has 115 active practitioners, encompassing those trained to level 4 Early Childhood Development (ECD), toy librarians, parents, community supporters and caregivers.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4CCiVmqBKmxOQpq17f7L97Jmk3yRzc_oa09E0bIHKllz6EN7M4emLi3nZeYyBpEFwWBl1LZCaCSGSIc_5_u0OLgoj8hpUAvNm3aYe48wIoiEIZTl9aw7m_Bknovylms4hJz6OmDoAOns/s1600/IMG_0050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4CCiVmqBKmxOQpq17f7L97Jmk3yRzc_oa09E0bIHKllz6EN7M4emLi3nZeYyBpEFwWBl1LZCaCSGSIc_5_u0OLgoj8hpUAvNm3aYe48wIoiEIZTl9aw7m_Bknovylms4hJz6OmDoAOns/s200/IMG_0050.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
The foyer is bright and welcoming and there was a fabulous display of the Uthando Project. Uthando is isiZulu for "love" and the aim of this project is to provide a doll to love for every child in KwaZulu Natal! The fabric doll is made to a standard pattern, so there is no variation on size and quality but they can be personalised (eyes, hair, mouth etc) and dressed however the maker chooses. So there were girl and boy dolls, long hair, braided hair, curly hair, hats or scarves, modern or traditional dress, every variation you could think of. For some children this will be the only toy they have ever owned and so you can see how special this is. For all you crafters out there, you'll be pleased to know I have had permission to copy the pattern. Nokwanda gave me a tour of the centre, there is a shop which stocks items for the Early Childhood Development projects, some of the items are made in the workshop on site and others are imported in. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYM0WYhBkvgxm2UN141IzNqw2YeZbemltD7-FUbbm1F4Bu6e_UMb7awE9r521eoER9CiP_orK55bG4lelmYa0NnGREo7jinBvwqj8AcXQWwFvBu5h5bh0bWL9HYccYOwdCh3YTIZ8HgM0/s1600/IMG_0055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYM0WYhBkvgxm2UN141IzNqw2YeZbemltD7-FUbbm1F4Bu6e_UMb7awE9r521eoER9CiP_orK55bG4lelmYa0NnGREo7jinBvwqj8AcXQWwFvBu5h5bh0bWL9HYccYOwdCh3YTIZ8HgM0/s200/IMG_0055.JPG" width="200" /></a>There is a wealth of knowledge in the manuals for ECD centres. These guides are based on the key learning themes which provide a foundation for early learners, they encourage learning through play and give ideas for practitioners to make toys and resources out of scrap material, so that not everything has to be purchased before the learning can take place. The manuals empower the practitioners whilst ensuring that the key themes are covered and so children are ready for learning when they enter school at Grade R.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUubVHyeH0Y9mysVxWny3pEq04xXWoJmlGWnI_-tzorDHLDCMKgLxUCHpJuRy6YRrX0ZpRWpukXMuFgHo-d2f8eGpYbnCwDD9ncxNLmdZYjKHkAoO4M_vt5Enjhb7X9OVFPjmeWSIJ7H4/s1600/IMG_0061.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUubVHyeH0Y9mysVxWny3pEq04xXWoJmlGWnI_-tzorDHLDCMKgLxUCHpJuRy6YRrX0ZpRWpukXMuFgHo-d2f8eGpYbnCwDD9ncxNLmdZYjKHkAoO4M_vt5Enjhb7X9OVFPjmeWSIJ7H4/s200/IMG_0061.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
The skilled craftspeople in the<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLG8tZ7XlN8P56pA-dGEfIwOTMmG6AV_pYpLbfS4RuSFknZD3knZxhGfYSBsOjSi28gg2qCg8jP_ASuLOM7IVddk8YnLHjHs1GvlaCg9KJim7khrTvKc_wS0IiOICIoQL_xEe0B6lCpCY/s1600/IMG_0063.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLG8tZ7XlN8P56pA-dGEfIwOTMmG6AV_pYpLbfS4RuSFknZD3knZxhGfYSBsOjSi28gg2qCg8jP_ASuLOM7IVddk8YnLHjHs1GvlaCg9KJim7khrTvKc_wS0IiOICIoQL_xEe0B6lCpCY/s200/IMG_0063.JPG" width="200" /></a> workshop make wooden toys, everything from blocks, stacking towers in bright primary colours, weighing scales for early maths work, and items like radios and ovens for fantasy play (role play). They even take commissions and will endeavour to make any item requested. In addition to the standard puzzles you can send a photo and have a personalised wooden puzzle made out of it! How lovely is that?<br />
After the tour I met Ruby Motaung, the Director. She has been with TREE since May 2018, having moved from the Department of Social Development where she had responsibility for Early Childhood Development Policy. She is very ambitious for TREE to become accredited to deliver ECD training to level 5 and 6, and to offer a Diploma in Early Childhood Development. This ambition supports the long term aim to professionalise the delivery of ECD and ensure that there is an established career structure in place for practitioners. She is currently engaging with universities and the Govt and hopes to achieve this by 2021.<br />
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Longer term she would like to follow a cohort of learners through their early learning and on into Primary to be able to demonstrate the effectiveness of professional ECD approaches. Most interestingly for me, Ruby is very keen to work collaboratively with other ECD training organisations, of which one, LETCEE is very close to GAGA's heart! She believes a fully collaborative approach across all training providers, Government and NGO's is the most effective way to reach the maximum number of children. This collaboration is not limited to ECD, in the current TREE operations, other social services, like the Department of Social Development, Department of Health and more are encouraged to use the facility of the Toy Library as a base for reaching out to the community. Ruby showed me a before and after photo of an ECD centre, before TREE it was a rough, block built building, after TREE it was a colourful, bright and welcoming container toy library, decorated with colourful murals and an open door policy!<br />
TREE is another project currently supported by the Helwel Trust (like ACAT yesterday) and today's visit was really a fact finding one for GAGA, as there are so many synergies with the FSR creche and preschool we currently support.<br />
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After the meeting at TREE I headed off to meet one of the stars of our Sangobeg scholarship programme, Tutu! The meeting point was the shopping centre, Pavilions, off the main N3. Wow! it's vast. Sadly I couldn't find parking in the shade (oh, did I mention we've had another scorcher today 😏😎) but rushed to make our meeting time.... luckily we were both running late, so arrived at the meeting point almost at the same time! <br />
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Tutu has been part of the GAGA family for many years, and from a very tough start in life she has had a stellar academic career, thanks in part to her determination and natural intelligence and aptitude but also thanks to our wonderfully funded Sangobeg scholarship programme. This scholarship programme allows individuals with natural talent and potential to fulfil their ambitions to attend tertiary education and Tutu is one of a select group of alumni! Tutu achieved a bachelors degree in Physiotherapy and is now in the second year of her Masters Degree in Public Health. She made time to meet me in her work lunch break, in spite of having exams coming up at the end of the month. Following the exams she will embark on her research project, the topic is currently going through the approval process. She hopes it will be approved for her to conduct a year long study into the impact of traditional medicine practices on the under fives. Tutu was inspired to choose this topic after witnessing the effect of an onion enema on a small baby, the baby spent a year in intensive care and continues to have significant difficulties with the absorption of nutrients from food resulting from the damage done to the stomach and bowel. No doubt this will be a heartbreaking field of study but undeniably valuable and compelling. It was wonderful to make Tutu's acquaintance and I cannot wait to share more of her successes with you as time goes on. <br />
Now back at the lodge I am against the clock as load shedding will start in minutes and we will be without power for two hours. This coincides perfectly with sundown at 6 pm! Funny story to leave you with, before heading home I popped to the ladies at Pavilions and was in the cubical when load shedding started there! Oh my, pitch black for a few moments until the back up power source kicked in! Thank goodness I didn't go straight to the lift!!!! 😱😱😱<br />
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Claire @ GAGA UK http://www.blogger.com/profile/00433084410981694794noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328785735583116340.post-90233536652666281152019-10-17T10:21:00.000-07:002019-10-18T07:02:31.785-07:00Rural Community Empowerment and Youth Speaks!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So, last night I experienced "load shedding", I was sitting in bed reading when, thriller movie style, there was a clunk and pitch black! All power was disconnected. Wow, now I know the meaning of pitch black! Luckily my phone had a full charge and I was able to use the torch to get ready for bed! I think the power was off for two hours... but within minutes of the darkness I was fast asleep (but I did remember to turn the lamp off so it didn't wake me when power was restored!)<br />
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This morning I headed north of Pietermaritzburg, past Howick (where the Mandela Capture Site is) and on towards Lidgetton where a fabulous project called ACAT is based. ACAT is not in our portfolio of projects but it is one of the projects supported by our friends, Helwel Trust and as I was in KZN it was too good an opportunity to miss going to see what they do at ACAT and, potentially, how there might be some synergies we could achieve through a collaboration.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Bc0G_od2HjGjw8hKkYWs7pgq8Isx-7e1WDcPlisBgnpCfPxO6tMYydfEcqzBJ9HoP0xQyM7eGDtlMpKhkf2YDa0q914e02-W_jrZC4cnLbV8Vl86kCr9VKGODvXK5_kPh-V-dhlmhFQ/s1600/IMG_0046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Bc0G_od2HjGjw8hKkYWs7pgq8Isx-7e1WDcPlisBgnpCfPxO6tMYydfEcqzBJ9HoP0xQyM7eGDtlMpKhkf2YDa0q914e02-W_jrZC4cnLbV8Vl86kCr9VKGODvXK5_kPh-V-dhlmhFQ/s200/IMG_0046.JPG" width="200" /></a>My immediate impression, turning off the main road into a gravel track was to hope the map, saying I only had 600 meters to my destination was correct! Indeed it was and soon a secure compound and electric gates came into view! As you might be able to tell from the photo, we had a beautiful day today, the temperature was nudging 30 degrees C when I arrived shortly before 10 am and it was several degrees higher by the time we did our walk around. KZN has had a dry winter and there have been several bush fires already. As it now moves into the summer, the risk of bush fires heightens and the lack of water over the winter months may cause some significant problems for irrigation and water supply. The saving grace is that in this part of KZN the cool, fresh drinking water comes from deep springs, thanks to the Drakensberg, the eastern part of the Great Escarpment which encloses the central Southern African plateau.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip3Aw2D3W6tlii4Vkh-9Wrb1Hnk3Edsz5giSHzufTzDJiOGXOfW6GhyQai7_BFSOaTZd9zF9fpRFDoJMFlpgqxONNGLJT9OfovduEfoVdX7lbIPsMSQ51LcMSIyIHliMjhlPAc9BnfOfA/s1600/IMG_0044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip3Aw2D3W6tlii4Vkh-9Wrb1Hnk3Edsz5giSHzufTzDJiOGXOfW6GhyQai7_BFSOaTZd9zF9fpRFDoJMFlpgqxONNGLJT9OfovduEfoVdX7lbIPsMSQ51LcMSIyIHliMjhlPAc9BnfOfA/s200/IMG_0044.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuBb-5qn75Fz9KDTUfyvme9S7Ii-iREgJPaJD1K0Hcfxznywf_iFKMKQ7QdbERJa7eX9qQvQkZSJ8sBLqIXK4Y-V7hdmYoGWXhd1CA3tsP4mnFU_On1qZFD71tkT8zrzREZD2YMhPyj6A/s1600/IMG_0042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuBb-5qn75Fz9KDTUfyvme9S7Ii-iREgJPaJD1K0Hcfxznywf_iFKMKQ7QdbERJa7eX9qQvQkZSJ8sBLqIXK4Y-V7hdmYoGWXhd1CA3tsP4mnFU_On1qZFD71tkT8zrzREZD2YMhPyj6A/s200/IMG_0042.JPG" width="150" /></a>ACAT have been working in this area for nearly 25 years and they started with a vision and macro plan which is evident in the layout of the centre. They do not use all of the land but have added buildings on a needs basis, meaning that there is now an administration block, a learning centre, some additional classroom / break out rooms and two accommodation blocks, one of which is youth hostel style bunk beds and the other, more private twin rooms with en suite. They have a variety of courses running throughout the year and they are mostly residential, their usual cohort of trainees is between 20 and 30 individuals, which represents 100 to 150 people within each intake. This is because the model is to encourage people to organise themselves into a group of 5, of the five, one person will attend the training and then they will pass their newly acquired knowledge onto the group of five. In this way the impact of one training place has the potential to positively influence 5 families, or up to 25 or 30 people! The areas of operation are divided into areas of 30km radius, with up to a total of 150 zones or communities, which are set up to be within a reasonable walking distance for each group of five, so they can access support and training on an ongoing basis. This model means that ACAT have a presence in 2/3 of the whole KwaZulu Natal province. Their ethos is to reinforce the importance of family and to demonstrate how co-operative working can benefit the whole community, through strong family groups and strong role models. The ACAT programme has four phases, it starts with what is called a "Survivalist Garden". This shows people how, with their hard work, they can cultivate a moisture trench garden (gardeners dig into the ground to create an east to west trench into which they place organic materials and moisture retaining layers before planting crops. Only a small amount of topsoil lies above ground level) which will provide sufficient produce to supplement the household food requirements and may even allow for excess crops to be sold or bartered. This is usually in the first year.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxrnczM-yBk_UkP9YXJgFv-uLvRZn5sottgVWjRTIijW1gEs3RxSeY6ZBnnDVXdS2AiP3IaE1W0lSM68N3f-nXAsOAgpuGwZnlvrpfv5srhDdGbdyhlxpSWo9ihAehip4cL6DT3957qsg/s1600/ACAT+farmer+potatoes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxrnczM-yBk_UkP9YXJgFv-uLvRZn5sottgVWjRTIijW1gEs3RxSeY6ZBnnDVXdS2AiP3IaE1W0lSM68N3f-nXAsOAgpuGwZnlvrpfv5srhDdGbdyhlxpSWo9ihAehip4cL6DT3957qsg/s200/ACAT+farmer+potatoes.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Phase two takes two or three years and it creates what is known as a food secure homestead. This expands the size of the production and adds livestock, chickens, goats etc which provide dairy and protein in addition to the veggies and carbohydrates. The measure of food security is a well known gauge to assess the well being of a community - you can find out more <a href="http://www.fao.org/home/en/" target="_blank">here</a> - Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS). The ACAT programme has demonstrated an 87% improved food security score from a 2011 baseline! Phase 3 is in year 4 and this is where each family is operating a sustainable homestead, they have enough food to eat and additional to sell which provides income so they can improve their housing, send children to school and access healthcare.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_cR1bzmbRfMijPaKjYZpOydGuEwk49wziCKKxWtP2wPJXLz9cyVWb10JUOZnmKCSVEixgI6MI7RurWTln9_xltnQz3JSB6PIyQ23iNwNXNsTs6tl3j0BPAZhE-8GefJYbjIZhCWzPzfU/s1600/ACAT+farmer+house.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_cR1bzmbRfMijPaKjYZpOydGuEwk49wziCKKxWtP2wPJXLz9cyVWb10JUOZnmKCSVEixgI6MI7RurWTln9_xltnQz3JSB6PIyQ23iNwNXNsTs6tl3j0BPAZhE-8GefJYbjIZhCWzPzfU/s200/ACAT+farmer+house.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Phase 4 follows, which moves into a more commercial enterprise, whereby they may extend their land, start employing others and sell on a more wholesale basis.<br />
All this is achieved through the initial training, supplementary training, mentoring and support. The group of five is the bottom rung of this model, culminating in a zone committee which oversees the support of the participants in the zone and also runs the savings and loans scheme; which encourages financial responsibility and future planning.<br />
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There is so much more to say about fabulous ACAT and you can find more information <a href="http://www.acatkzn.co.za/" target="_blank">here</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipLikXIp2XVf5foH65HFmtsB4rt_o1Gf-z8GsPjwvW7GVICe2_RK4HQqHahsSBEvF1WZr0IvQqosvVp_VCTjuhzG-DpDvKje449MUK1LB5LpT-0sLRKa-0l6tlvr8yzUD4-BDB-XKoTIM/s1600/IMG_0048+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1324" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipLikXIp2XVf5foH65HFmtsB4rt_o1Gf-z8GsPjwvW7GVICe2_RK4HQqHahsSBEvF1WZr0IvQqosvVp_VCTjuhzG-DpDvKje449MUK1LB5LpT-0sLRKa-0l6tlvr8yzUD4-BDB-XKoTIM/s200/IMG_0048+%25282%2529.JPG" width="165" /></a>Following this visit I hit the road and headed back to Hillcrest Library where I was due to attend the Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust (HACT) Peer Educators annual debating contest! This is a programme in secondary schools where individuals are trained and mentored to be peer educators and they lead events and discussions in their school to raise awareness of issues from HIV Aids prevention, gender based violence, bullying and many others. Each year, in conjunction with <a href="https://goldyouth.org/" target="_blank">Gold Youth</a> there is a debating contest at the end of the school year (South African schools run a January to December school year) and the subjects debated today included "Should the school leaving age be lowered to Year 9?" "Should secondary schools provide condoms in school bathrooms?" "Should knowingly transmitting HIV Aids be a criminal offence?" "Should smacking as a means of discipline in the home be banned?"<br />
The debates were lively and passionate, considering some were arguing on the side that conflicted with their own personal belief, it was impressive. The debates were judged by representatives from the University of KwaZulu Natal and there was much deliberation by the judges.<br />
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Whilst this was going on, a group of student nurses from <a href="https://www1.villanova.edu/" target="_blank">Villanova Universit</a>y in Philadelphia conducted a session of "Fact or Nonsense" about all things HIV Aids related. The students were engaged and although initially some were a little reticent, they soon got involved and were able to debunk some myths about HIV Aids transmission and prevention. That was followed by an increasingly complex game akin to "Simon Says" but conducted in a mix of isiZulu and English with a key word switching the game from doing what was said to doing the opposite!<br />
Following the prize giving Candace, the CEO from Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust invited me up and kindly included me in the photos and introduced me to the group! So an impromptu (and brief) GAGA pitch later... I headed back to the lodge for some much needed grub!<br />
So there you have it GAGA friends, another day done in KZN and so much learned and experienced. We are so fortunate to have these connections here and to be able to be the conduit to sharing knowledge and experience and connecting projects and people. So much that ACAT has to offer can be utilised by our very own GOGO lunch club and the peer educators at HACT are so close to the CINDI project at 1000 Hills. As GAGA we are so lucky to be able to visit each of these and share what we find, and of course, we wouldn't be able to do that if it were not for you, our awesome supporters, without which none of this would be possible! Siyabonga (Thank You)!<br />
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Claire @ GAGA UK http://www.blogger.com/profile/00433084410981694794noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328785735583116340.post-37303456673367354912019-10-16T11:53:00.002-07:002019-10-16T11:53:47.497-07:00Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust Visit<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This morning I was delighted to visit the Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust (HACT), this is always such an inspiring project to visit as they really do think outside the box when it comes to supporting individuals and communities who are coping with the impact of HIV Aids. GAGA is one of the sponsors of a bed in the 24 bed respite unit situated in the heart of Hillcrest in KwaZulu Natal in South Africa. <br />
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However, the work of HACT does not start and end with the respite unit. Those of you who followed the blog in January may remember the home visits and the GOGO support initiative. Well, you'll be pleased to know Mr Mshengu is still driving his patients every day to their hospital appointments in Durban and carrying out his home visits. Remember Victor? <br />
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Well he's doing so well, still living independently and has not had the need to be readmitted to the unit since January which is great news. He is hoping for a place at a new elderly care home for 2020, we wish him the very best of luck in that move.<br />
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The GOGO support initiative continues and has moved into a family strengthening stage, whereby to Gogo's (Grandma's) and grandchildren come together to talk openly about subjects that concern them. A marvellous example of this was when HACT visited a community deep in the Valley of 1000 Hills in KwaNyuswa. A Gogo said that no projects had every visited there before and they were so cut off from support and facilities. The HACT team set up under the shade of a tree and started to talk to people about family strengthening though conversation. One of the subjects chosen was bullying and everybody discussed it. Afterwards a 7 year old boy opened up to his Gogo to say he had been bullied at school for two years. He'd never told anyone. The Gogo said she knew his behaviour at home had become worse but she didn't know why. Now, they have talked about it and the Gogo walks the boy to school and he can now talk about the day and be open if he has been bullied and the Gogo can support him.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh35kjw6q-AqkqRveoijnyGAhrUkqmc20bnFXX35S_87JpBoGDa-L0izM06G2_SU66pqgN-98ubSq7oMEu5YBONyvE7IwIfGyxVI4c8PwSUaZbdIufE2UIwwKUSHkfZwMGUeAoKPeCFwH0/s1600/IMG_0039+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; clear: right; color: #0066cc; float: right; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh35kjw6q-AqkqRveoijnyGAhrUkqmc20bnFXX35S_87JpBoGDa-L0izM06G2_SU66pqgN-98ubSq7oMEu5YBONyvE7IwIfGyxVI4c8PwSUaZbdIufE2UIwwKUSHkfZwMGUeAoKPeCFwH0/s320/IMG_0039+%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a>After catching up on the news with Candace and Claire we went along to the Respite Unit and met some of the team there. This is Candance and Sister Sphe the Nursing manager in front of the artwork created by the staff and patients for Mandela's birthday this year.<br />
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I was also delighted to meet this gentleman who, after nearly six weeks in the Respite Unit had recovered sufficiently to be discharged today! As a discharge gift, HACT likes to give something special that has been donated and what could be more special than this beautiful crochet blanket that I was privileged to bring out to SA with me on this trip. We get some fantastic donations at GAGA HQ but it is always very special when we learn a story behind a particular piece.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9sPjARwU3zrjvkYPZV-dqQHCqne_NwWlMSiwgFrdRdB3EVb0US5zTOTtHDdm6Qb_ssFu95cHbgBnCHLEs9cQeYijdL7YxJrKlh_CrIygf2u2uR0SB43SEq9jWmmmiuY3dMLWE7qiJb3E/s1600/file1-53+%25282%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: #b00000;"></span><br /></a></div>
This is Vera, the lady who made the crochet
blanket.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
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Vera’s
daughter Andrea was one of the founding members of the Click and Chatter club
at Holy Trinity in Stratford upon Avon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Holy Trinity is where Shakespeare is buried and it has a long
association with the great and good of Stratford upon Avon!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is also one of the places we yarnbomb in December (as
well as the big tree in the Bancroft Gardens).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Andrea sadly passed away from breast cancer earlier this year, but she
had already roped her mother into supporting GAGA, as she did, with crochet
squares and beanie hats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whilst Andrea
was ill, Vera was busy making her crochet squares for a blanket for GAGA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her granddaughter Abi (Andrea’s daughter)
told me that it was a great comfort to Vera to have a focus whilst her daughter
(Andrea) was so unwell and it was a great comfort to Andrea to know that her
Mum was continuing to support a project and charity that she was so passionate
about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Andrea passed the blanket
was not complete, but Vera told her granddaughter that she was determined to
finish it in honour of Andrea and wanted it to come to GAGA so we could pass it
on to someone over here who needed the love and comfort that was in each
stitch. Well Vera, I am delighted to say, this gentleman was overwhelmed with his gift and everyone at HACT sends their sincere thanks to you for your kindness. Rest assured that your blanket will be cherished and offer comfort for many years to come.<br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: "Open Sans",Arial,sans serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 28px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 300; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 33px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">"There can be no greater gift than that of giving one’s time and energy to help others without expecting anything in return." Nelson Mandela</span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
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Claire @ GAGA UK http://www.blogger.com/profile/00433084410981694794noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328785735583116340.post-82296835506480276692019-10-15T13:04:00.001-07:002019-10-15T13:04:07.929-07:00First visit to 1000 Hills Community Helpers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I was so happy to be visiting 1000 Hills Community Helpers today! Wow, this is a remarkable project and it's always a joy to visit but I had no idea what was in store for me today! As I drew up the guys were busy with the school buses, washing them after the morning school run. As the parking area was so busy I left my keys and, taking my heavy bag I went into the campus. As I walked through I could see that there were scores of people waiting for the baby clinic (Tuesday is always a great day to visit as you are guaranteed to see so many cute babies!). <br />
My first stop was the office to sign in and say hi to the team who work so hard behind the scenes! Then I went in search of Dawn, the formidable founder of this whole project, she was busy in the back kitchen overseeing the distribution of the food parcels going out to the community this morning. We went through to the office and had a good catch up about the latest news from GAGA UK and all that was happening at 1000 HCH. <br />
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Zandi joined us to give some information about the newest project, Cindi (Children in Distress) that they have taken on. <a href="https://www.cindi.org.za/">https://www.cindi.org.za/</a><br />
This project is in collaboration with USAID and it aims to focus on children who are affected by HIV AIDS. 1000 Hills are working with the CINDI programme to affect social and behavioural change, starting with groups aged 10 to 14 and 15 to 18 who are either HIV positive status or have family members who are. The aim is to create awareness and a support network to ensure that families and friendship groups can openly discuss the impacts of their HIV status, understand the need for keeping up with their medication and understand how to manage their HIV status. Some of the sessions are mixed and some are single sex to allow for open and frank discussion, without embarrassment or holding back.<br />
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Then Karin joined from the clinic and I was able to handover the bounty of dressings we had brought from the Bidford Pharmacy. The clinic staff were so grateful for the dressings, they had just reached a critical low in their stock and our donation was so well timed. It's quite something to see that items that we may just throw away or stick in the back of a cupboard have such immense value here. More of this later in the visit.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizYD9lhHXkETUQPdqFEMSdJ0WhXbjbWE3qQYSVJ0yH3q-j8gmt5xMJkEeMHKToc72uOmdoCm8aoeZvFAkLD_lGoDFI2gFKLIB_1CI03g6mNIR0VbhU7GeIzILmWVjWjjpG5zH2hPRLC0o/s1600/IMG_6996+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="765" data-original-width="1600" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizYD9lhHXkETUQPdqFEMSdJ0WhXbjbWE3qQYSVJ0yH3q-j8gmt5xMJkEeMHKToc72uOmdoCm8aoeZvFAkLD_lGoDFI2gFKLIB_1CI03g6mNIR0VbhU7GeIzILmWVjWjjpG5zH2hPRLC0o/s320/IMG_6996+%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
I then had the joy of a tour of the grounds and saw the new classrooms that have been built since January. The demand for quality, affordable early years education is unwavering in this province, and the quality of the provision at 1000 Hills Community Helpers is unmatched. It is such a delight to meet the children and staff here!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJVZKV-0h-Uimc3ID0d09pBFb0lqVfH4qiwmAUm65MfsyE1_NhXV1rnN7BG5-lZdicgp4YP4cdqI1ZdtkOAOSfdGksHy5CB5PICX2hX1zUKbxXzwjVo66JlgS6-qBpA3v8nPHXHLP1Ydc/s1600/IMG_7021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJVZKV-0h-Uimc3ID0d09pBFb0lqVfH4qiwmAUm65MfsyE1_NhXV1rnN7BG5-lZdicgp4YP4cdqI1ZdtkOAOSfdGksHy5CB5PICX2hX1zUKbxXzwjVo66JlgS6-qBpA3v8nPHXHLP1Ydc/s200/IMG_7021.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
By now, it was lunch time and I got stuck in serving up lunch to the children from the nearby Primary school who came across for a nutritious hot meal, today it was rice with pilchard stew followed by apples. The team in the kitchen work so hard, they are all volunteers from the community (only the head chef is on the staff) and in return for their labour they can send their children to the creche or preschool and have a breakfast and lunch at the centre. This is the winning formula of 1000 Hills Community Helpers, it is exactly that, the community helping each other. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy5L_RBqLmKoqSinz9hLPSYfrI8Ue0uKuBnkuqT8LG5z_52xCeHoRLH7O8SeuAq8hhB8ogGuZp_Xj2pxcblGQJKViHNqArg7lB1RWI1DMP8VSSqxAHjb7_j2XbGkDvBesoeymeMvFNqC4/s1600/IMG_7025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy5L_RBqLmKoqSinz9hLPSYfrI8Ue0uKuBnkuqT8LG5z_52xCeHoRLH7O8SeuAq8hhB8ogGuZp_Xj2pxcblGQJKViHNqArg7lB1RWI1DMP8VSSqxAHjb7_j2XbGkDvBesoeymeMvFNqC4/s200/IMG_7025.JPG" width="150" /></a>A prime example of this is their garden. The produce from the garden supplements the kitchen, and, like the kitchen staff the gardeners are volunteers. I met Christian who told me his story. He had been unsure what to do leaving school but was interested in agriculture. He was able to join a municipality agriculture scheme and complete the training but at the end there was no money to take it forward and get a plot of land. So he went to 1000 Hills Community Helpers and spoke to Dawn, she said he could volunteer to develop their veggie patch. So Christian took charge of the volunteer gardeners and put his knowledge to use. Well, the results speak for themselves....<br />
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Spinach and cauliflower ready to pick, not to mention carrots and a potato crop coming along. Everything is organic, the gauze covering the growing area protects from bugs and birds, and the irrigation comes from the small dam nearby. The kitchen waste is composted to enrich the soil and the only problem is the snails.... Christian has become an important member of the 1000 Hills team and he is now having training as part of the Cindi project to become one of the facilitators.<br />
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I can't let you go without showing that GAGA really does get stuck in when we are over here.... because after lunch, as we all know, is the inevitable washing up...<br />
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Claire @ GAGA UK http://www.blogger.com/profile/00433084410981694794noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328785735583116340.post-78041976661792602522019-10-15T12:17:00.002-07:002019-10-15T12:17:32.446-07:00A visit to Number 9 Creche <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Monday dawned rather overcast and chilly but that soon changed as the morning progressed. My first job was to run a few errands in Hillcrest to pickup some stationery items for First Step Right and get some posters printed to advertise admissions for next year. The team are very excited about the plans for 2020 when they will offer a creche and preschool, with "wrap around" care for the morning and afternoons. Many people find it hard to place young children in a safe and stimulating environment to fit in with their shift working patterns and the plan for 2020 is to focus on the age six and under for early learning (ECD - Early Childhood Development) and then offer an after school homework club for primary aged children. There is no doubt this will be challenging for the team but they are determined to make a success of the new model.<br />
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On arrival at the school I found the creche children lined up for some running races. Nicole had them balancing with pigeon steps, hopping, hop-scotch and balancing bean bags on badminton rackets!<br />
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Once that lesson was over, Nicole and I went to visit Number 9, the creche in Msunduzi. This is a lovely creche, beautifully run by Promise and originally set up by fabulous people from Northern Ireland, who continue to take an active interest in their well being through their strong association with GAGA. We enjoyed playing with the parachute with the children, who were learning their primary colours by calling out which segment the ball was on, before shaking the parachute to get the ball through the hole in the middle! Truly learning through play in action. Thanks to our lovely supporter in Northern Ireland we had two new balls and a bat and ball game, so we set up the over and under game for the children to play. Trying to get them to stand in two lines and pass the ball alternately over their heads and between their legs was a mission! Quite a funny sight to see!<br />
The children then went in for singing before their lunch and we showed them a beautiful quilt another one of our lovely supporters had made. The children were delighted to see the pictures of the farm yard animals and there was soon a cacophony of animal noises as they explored the beautiful quilt and recognised the animals depicted there! <br />
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Going back to First Step Right the afternoon session was in full swing. Year one were doing reading comprehension with two familiar stories, the Three Little Pigs and How the Zebra Got his Stripes. Meanwhile, it was Grade R's turn to be out in the playground doing some games and Grade 4 and Grade 5 were busy with a craft activity, making cards with a flower pattern crafted out of scraps of wool. There was much hilarity when, in answer to my question of "who are you making the card for?" one lad said his girlfriend.... the whole class burst into laughter! <br />
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After the children left for the day, the team and I sat down to discuss plans for the upcoming Graduation, as the Grade R classes graduate from preschool to Primary education and for other plans for 2020.<br />
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Still having problems transferring photos from my phone to the laptop, so will publish without pictures but will try to add some at a later date!<br />
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Thanks for following the blog!<br />
Claire<br />
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Claire @ GAGA UK http://www.blogger.com/profile/00433084410981694794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328785735583116340.post-65544044398508536912019-10-11T09:24:00.000-07:002019-10-15T06:21:13.012-07:00Knots, cakes, windows and buying the moon in a shop!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsR_7v_QgrDfSihzVUqLK9NgS6qwEPq7Msg1o5ixdkHb7F8L66ZF2LSvl35kXRAr1qwnbUtBS7TfqU0O2NFnLpWcFV2Y4bt7xCG2TEvaJbZGAmKYuOK8J_t66Hrkrj25ZFPOx-KYYwoNE/s1600/111019+fixing+scramble+net+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>Arriving at First Step Right this morning I saw that Nicole, the Indigo volunteer was busy with rope and tape on the jungle gym, the scramble net had worn through and was unusable so Nicole had decided to make some repairs. Luckily she has done some rock climbing in the past and therefore knows a thing or two<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsR_7v_QgrDfSihzVUqLK9NgS6qwEPq7Msg1o5ixdkHb7F8L66ZF2LSvl35kXRAr1qwnbUtBS7TfqU0O2NFnLpWcFV2Y4bt7xCG2TEvaJbZGAmKYuOK8J_t66Hrkrj25ZFPOx-KYYwoNE/s1600/111019+fixing+scramble+net+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; clear: left; color: #0066cc; float: left; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-right: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsR_7v_QgrDfSihzVUqLK9NgS6qwEPq7Msg1o5ixdkHb7F8L66ZF2LSvl35kXRAr1qwnbUtBS7TfqU0O2NFnLpWcFV2Y4bt7xCG2TEvaJbZGAmKYuOK8J_t66Hrkrj25ZFPOx-KYYwoNE/s200/111019+fixing+scramble+net+2.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDJwOePYFnCzsgoyGoO07UuTB3nWq_VJT1xp6Ie2Fi-SM22P426icnplZWw0ekcgL4vf4PUeF9Alm5cy2avS4pFH5F8n9mXP_U3USk1VzRNwa_FTPh99Tq99aDdM9C4NWID7T91W2vgqE/s1600/111019+fixing+scramble+net+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; clear: right; color: #0066cc; float: right; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-left: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDJwOePYFnCzsgoyGoO07UuTB3nWq_VJT1xp6Ie2Fi-SM22P426icnplZWw0ekcgL4vf4PUeF9Alm5cy2avS4pFH5F8n9mXP_U3USk1VzRNwa_FTPh99Tq99aDdM9C4NWID7T91W2vgqE/s200/111019+fixing+scramble+net+1.JPG" width="150" /></a> about ropes and knots, which combined with my rather hazy recollection of knots from scouts, we put to good use as we "wove" a new grid into the scramble net. As we were working the bell rang and it was break time, therefore we had an interested audience watching us! Whilst we didn't have enough of the thicker rope to make good the mesh, we were pretty pleased with the out come, as we reinforced the joins with cable ties and, gingerly invited the children to try out our work! All was good and now we have a fully functional scramble net at First Step Right! <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj02hu-o3pSHeTgFPOAKboCZzTq7BTsMaX0en6envrorN9IAvW2fjFS3NkOMfaIQwZ9IsYuUZ8Lmm6Az0uOnGkz2V8vOXvp0-bYkJf2C1AXYy3HeNiiLq9VdBr8HiS7HxMORpmPFsqMAaA/s1600/111019+birthday+party+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; clear: left; color: #0066cc; float: left; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj02hu-o3pSHeTgFPOAKboCZzTq7BTsMaX0en6envrorN9IAvW2fjFS3NkOMfaIQwZ9IsYuUZ8Lmm6Az0uOnGkz2V8vOXvp0-bYkJf2C1AXYy3HeNiiLq9VdBr8HiS7HxMORpmPFsqMAaA/s200/111019+birthday+party+4.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj02hu-o3pSHeTgFPOAKboCZzTq7BTsMaX0en6envrorN9IAvW2fjFS3NkOMfaIQwZ9IsYuUZ8Lmm6Az0uOnGkz2V8vOXvp0-bYkJf2C1AXYy3HeNiiLq9VdBr8HiS7HxMORpmPFsqMAaA/s1600/111019+birthday+party+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>You never really know what the school day is going to bring, we had a lovely time celebrating a birthday in Grade R with an amazing cake and the birthday girl looking fabulous in her party dress! Whilst the smaller children enjoyed the birthday celebrations the older children did some quiet reading in their classes, I joined Grade 2 and just before the home time bell rang, we played a game of "Simon Says" and "I went to the shop and I bought..." You'd be amazed to hear of some of the things this shop stocks... everything from ice creams to the moon! <br />
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It was good to have the opportunity to get to know some of the teachers better today, I spent a little time chatting to a few of them and it is always so inspiring to hear of their ambitions and hopes for the future. After school finished one of the creche teachers, L was waiting for a taxi (that's what all the public transport is called, unlike a UK taxi, this is a minibus service which runs certain routes around the province) so I offered her a lift in the bakkie. She wanted to go to the nearby town of Hammersdale to the hardware shop, as she is in the process of fixing up her house and has saved enough for two new windows. So we set off on our adventure, the guys at the hardware store were a little taken aback at these two women asking for windows and lintels…. They brought the lintels on the forklift and I casually asked L whether there was going to be any help at the other end to off-load! The forklift driver didn't seem to keen to follow us along the way! 👷😂Luckily, she assured me her husband would be home and so off we went (slowly and with hazards flashing as the lintels were sticking out of the back of the bakkie!). Sure enough the arrival of the GAGA bakkie laden with building supplies caused a little bit of a stir as we travelled to L's home, but we soon got off loaded with the help of said husband and her youngest son and L showed me the two rooms that would be getting new windows. One being a new room that can be used for a Dining Room and also a place for the children to do their homework and the second being the kitchen (which currently doubles up as a living / dining space). <br />
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Now feeling much more familiar with the valley, and my visual memory from the January trip kicking in, I realised I was very close to Ithembalihle, the orphanage we often visit. However, I didn't drop in on this occasion as it was a busy time with the older children coming home from school and having homework to complete. Within 30 minutes I was back at the lodge, another reminder of just how physically close these two widely different communities are in South Africa. As I reversed the bakkie into the carport I was entertained by the resident monkey troop performing an acrobatic display in the tree opposite. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimcCWYwaHNK0z6nujtGW7TOMOoC9LJqzxS7DRsldWwuTVxJ9S4Mix98YKCRm5OQVV0WoH6Z_-2mgf-yiQgk3xxkoq4EjGuxfPSh39D9AlwiG415Pb-mCj8FwpC4N2NMQYudX5qsHbugSI/s1600/IMG_0019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; clear: left; color: #0066cc; float: left; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimcCWYwaHNK0z6nujtGW7TOMOoC9LJqzxS7DRsldWwuTVxJ9S4Mix98YKCRm5OQVV0WoH6Z_-2mgf-yiQgk3xxkoq4EjGuxfPSh39D9AlwiG415Pb-mCj8FwpC4N2NMQYudX5qsHbugSI/s200/IMG_0019.JPG" width="200" /></a>Back with WiFi I was able to check my emails and … write this blog. All in all a good couple of days for the start of my trip. Now, as the crickets start chirruping and the sky darkens with the swiftly approaching sunset I say, "sala kahle" (stay well)<br />
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Claire @ GAGA UK http://www.blogger.com/profile/00433084410981694794noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328785735583116340.post-75446414447102861902019-10-10T10:21:00.002-07:002019-10-10T11:22:33.168-07:00Making myself at home!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hello GAGA friends,<br />
Safely arrived in Durban, South Africa yesterday late afternoon after the 17+ hour flight. All went well on the first leg of the journey, being a night flight it was pretty quiet in spite of being packed to capacity. On the second flight I was (ironically considering I am five foot two) allocated a seat reserved for extra leg room! On the plus side this meant I had plenty of room and could get up and about easily (unlike on the first leg where I was in a window seat and both the passengers between me and the aisle were sound sleepers...). However, this also meant that the area was the congregation area for the queue for the toilet, so a steady stream (no pun intended) of temporary travelling companions, so little chance for any shut eye on that journey. <br />
Arrived on time and despite a little delay at the baggage carousel, in which I was on the verge of having visions of my luggage having been sent on an adventure of it's own, I was through arrivals and greeted by Debbie, our SA based project co-ordinator.<br />
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It was really misty, apparently some long awaited rain had appeared in time for my arrival, and as we set off from the carpark the first swipe of the wipers stripped the rubber off the passenger side wiper blade! After an otherwise uneventful journey to Hillcrest, Debbie jumped out at home and I made my way, in the dark and now pretty heavy rain, to the accommodation at PheZulu. All was well on arrival, security were expecting me and arrived at the gate with keys and I quickly off loaded the luggage and thankfully found my room and a very welcome hot shower!<br />
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After unpacking I went into the lounge and there was a lovely couple from Israel who invited me to join them. It was so good to chat and hear about their trip so far, they had arrived in Cape Town and were driving up through South Africa on a month long holiday! Then a lady arrived in the lounge and introduced herself, it was Carol, one of the team from Spirit of Africa, a fellow UK charity who fund the orphanage Ithembalihle. We were so fortunate that our trips overlapped by 24 hours and we were both able to put faces to names, having previously only communicated by email. Carol had been visiting Ithembalihle for 10 days and was supporting them with some school entry activities for the older children as well as getting school shoes and other essentials. She also showed me the Christmas gifts that the Spirit of Africa supporters had provided.... Thandiwe will need some good hiding places to keep those under wraps until Christmas!<br />
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This morning Carol and I had a final catch up before I headed off to First Step Right, the creche and low primary school in Cato Ridge. It was lovely to see the jacaranda trees starting to blossom as I drove along the road, their beautiful lilac flowers providing a wonderful contrast to the evergreen trees all around. The Cato Ridge area looks to be thriving, with more low impact factory units opened since I was here in January. This bodes well for employment in the area but it has certainly increased traffic! The children were just coming out for first break when I arrived and it was lovely to have a happy welcome from them and the teachers. After visiting all of the classrooms and meeting Gael and a volunteer called Nicole who is with First Step Right for a month I sat down with Reception class to try to read them the Wide Mouthed Frog story... but they were so excited they couldn't sit down for long!<br />
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My next meeting was a little along the road in Kloof, so I said farewell to the children and headed off to my meeting. One of the key objectives of this trip is to assess the plans for the creche and low primary school for 2020, but more of that later. Suffice it to say there is a lot of work to be done on all sides but the vision is very exciting!<br />
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Late afternoon meant a return to Hillcrest to go to Pick & Pay for some shopping and to top up my pay as you go, SA mobile phone. That done I had to track down somewhere to replace my wiper blades as by now the driver side blade was starting to come away and more rain is forecast! Luckily the manager at the Esso station not only gave me directions to an auto spares store but even said if I brought them back to the filling station he would fit them for me! What a star! Job done, and seeing clearly through the windscreen, I headed back to the accommodation to prepare some supper. <br />
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Sitting here now in my room, with a chorus of crickets in the background I am so happy to be back in Africa and am looking forward to all that this trip has ahead. Keep checking in on the blog to follow the adventure!<br />
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Night night, Claire </div>
Claire @ GAGA UK http://www.blogger.com/profile/00433084410981694794noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328785735583116340.post-87118633785299260612019-10-03T06:34:00.000-07:002019-10-03T06:34:02.946-07:00Getting Ready for the Next Adventure<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Just a few days to go now until the next monitoring trip to Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa. I'm using the same blog as Sarah and I did for our January 2019 trip - no need to spend funds on a new blog URL when this one is still open!<br />
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This trip I will be flying solo for much of the time, but I will be joined in the school half term by my youngest son, Brett, who will be spending the week volunteering at the wonderful 1000 Hills Community Helpers. A big adventure for him and for me! <br />
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We have so many beautiful crochet and knitted blankets and sweaters to take out with us, thank heavens for vacuum bags! I'm really looking forward to catching up with the fantastic teams who run the projects we partner with, the Sangobeg scholars (including two new ones!) and of course, Debbie, our Project Co-Ordinator in South Africa. I don't think the Royal Party will cross our path..... but who knows!<br />
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I hope you will look in on the blog and follow the adventures as we once again sleep under African skies!</div>
Claire @ GAGA UK http://www.blogger.com/profile/00433084410981694794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328785735583116340.post-76145423445206389252019-02-01T08:33:00.001-08:002019-02-01T08:34:53.547-08:00Back where we started...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
For the first Friday of February I was back at the Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust (HACT), the very first project we visited on this trip some two weeks ago. On that first day Sarah and I were given a tour of the facility at HACT and we were told of some of their current and future initiatives. You can find out about all they do by following this link: <a href="https://www.hillaids.org.za/" target="_blank">HACT </a><br />
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One of their newest initiatives is the Grassroots Soccer programme that they are rolling out from April to replace the existing LifeSkills Programme they run in Primary Schools. This change was one of the decisions that came out of their annual monitoring and evaluation exercise at the end of last year. The intention is that the Grassroots Soccer engages the Primary school pupils in an activity they enjoy and enables them to build a mutually supportive cohort to whom the facilitors can then deliver the AIDS Awareness curriculum. This will later be extended to cover Gender Based Violence, all in an age appropriate manner. They will also continue their Peer Education Model for High School, this is a programme where 10 to 15 students are selected from Grade 10 (15 to 16 year olds) and these students are supported by a school based facilitator and mentors from HACT. They are taken through the AIDS Awareness programme and then these peer educators are responsible for delivering the programme and any other associated Life Skills, in a manner of their choosing. Sometimes it will be assembly based presentations, perhaps inviting a guest speaker or another form of peer interaction. They are encouraged to be as creative in their delivery as they wish and as ambitious as they dare! At the end of the year, the peer educators from the 6 high schools all join together to attend a three-day leadership camp, which enables them to reflect upon their experience and allows HACT to learn from that cohort's experiences and make any necessary changes to the following year's scheme.<br />
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Increasingly HACT are seeing the impact of the national crises in Oncology provision in South Africa, which is more marked in the region of KwaZulu Natal. There is a severe shortage of cancer diagnostic and treatment equipment in SA and a corresponding shortage in competent and qualified practitioners. Terminally ill patients are increasingly co-infected with HIV AIDS and Cancer, consequently HACT are experiencing an increased stay duration in their respite unit. The consequence of this is that the total number of patients who can be offered care in the unit has dropped from 240 in 2017 to 200 in 2018. The need for this facility does not diminish and HACT cares for people from all walks of life and all ages, young women with HIV AIDS and Cervical Cancer to Gogo's (Grandmother's) with HIV AIDS. The issue of cervical cancer is increasingly alarming as even if women do have access to Pap Testing, they often are not given the results and even if they are, they have a typical nine month wait for the next stage of treatment, by which time they may already be at Stage 4. This is particularly galling for a cancer that has a good chance of treatment if it is diagnosed and treated at an early stage.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEpNeUJMhrhZ3yiYy1Tidc3-avRWxG16kZzoGsZKwlmd0d47NycpXo_rwhYUIhAIMMLXQlZdLXd4cuaPAjnB6Xwyo9FnMhZtvuRqpcaF3FACZpKmsMhrK4qIQUcG-V5a7uSbRMrVRLHtc/s1600/IMG_5027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEpNeUJMhrhZ3yiYy1Tidc3-avRWxG16kZzoGsZKwlmd0d47NycpXo_rwhYUIhAIMMLXQlZdLXd4cuaPAjnB6Xwyo9FnMhZtvuRqpcaF3FACZpKmsMhrK4qIQUcG-V5a7uSbRMrVRLHtc/s200/IMG_5027.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Sr9dVTQU4VTMLCe0lcNBGEMJanxE4L-wi8KsAwBqZP6ZO51f2eUxTmAnlQfvWedBI3QBti52q_lsA2K_-1CbDHipCtZM1K75cS9w0iQcTcnPVuD_B8GtoS6JzOH_MZ0olUd-3ymbn2A/s1600/IMG_5025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Sr9dVTQU4VTMLCe0lcNBGEMJanxE4L-wi8KsAwBqZP6ZO51f2eUxTmAnlQfvWedBI3QBti52q_lsA2K_-1CbDHipCtZM1K75cS9w0iQcTcnPVuD_B8GtoS6JzOH_MZ0olUd-3ymbn2A/s200/IMG_5025.JPG" width="200" /></a>The beautiful blankets and quilts that were kindly donated by our wonderful knitters, crocheters and seamstresses were very gratefully received and will be an additional comfort for individuals in palliative care. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBVWLxAjXmkCz_CEskoEsASE487ZYsW6c36d8VbzAw_6GXC8Wzj2Y1-qpbmlxL3R8l6sSr5p3WChu0gJaF-tndoGIMsbwm83ImYM2CxccUKDorECtUmgjLB8EcyY_edqWrWvPRt4AA8y4/s1600/IMG_4978.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBVWLxAjXmkCz_CEskoEsASE487ZYsW6c36d8VbzAw_6GXC8Wzj2Y1-qpbmlxL3R8l6sSr5p3WChu0gJaF-tndoGIMsbwm83ImYM2CxccUKDorECtUmgjLB8EcyY_edqWrWvPRt4AA8y4/s200/IMG_4978.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioZQTPqjTkxGvoXWP7R3K0MjVpIJOIaOitElX8o1UkzmpZ2LmS2TElFB_aUFtYUq2WQ878RXjEhkkBzU673mlCz6Sc1Q6_p6CV1g2TOPM6axvqxWbTMmGvmSd_0UkqZtswNXMH1mqn7Vw/s1600/IMG_4970.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioZQTPqjTkxGvoXWP7R3K0MjVpIJOIaOitElX8o1UkzmpZ2LmS2TElFB_aUFtYUq2WQ878RXjEhkkBzU673mlCz6Sc1Q6_p6CV1g2TOPM6axvqxWbTMmGvmSd_0UkqZtswNXMH1mqn7Vw/s200/IMG_4970.JPG" width="150" /></a>Much of this information was explained to me as we went on two trips from the centre in Hillcrest. For the first, our driver was a charming man called Mr Mshengu who works tirelessly for HACT. At 9 am, he had already taken two of the Respite Unit patients to two different hospitals in Durban, about a 70km round trip, in Friday morning rush hour traffic. He was due to return to collect them, after their treatment about 10 hours later! In the meantime, there was no time for him to rest, he commenced his home visits, one of which we joined. We went to meet V, a gentleman who has had a number of stays in the respite unit and is now living independently again for a spell. He lives in a rural community deep in the 1000 Hills Valley. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ZoqD2F-D29e11Q4BpqpF0UJ8ZWzNRe9lLF8hrQ_QdNNPoyXLQSz5kxATsZSngZa4xZHL0Vc4P5HafXbGjJKgPnt0HixHFCCWH3-c9LZSnANsiKC7aN_aQVQoShm90h7NVOwCXIo_hUo/s1600/IMG_4973.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ZoqD2F-D29e11Q4BpqpF0UJ8ZWzNRe9lLF8hrQ_QdNNPoyXLQSz5kxATsZSngZa4xZHL0Vc4P5HafXbGjJKgPnt0HixHFCCWH3-c9LZSnANsiKC7aN_aQVQoShm90h7NVOwCXIo_hUo/s200/IMG_4973.JPG" width="200" /></a>When he first came to the attention of the HACT his accommodation was a rather tumbledown mud brick hut with no toilet facilities. He was so unwell and had been bedridden, so that he needed to be taught how to walk again. Thanks to a generous donor, funds were made available to build a solid brick house on his land, with a ramp for access and also a separate toilet hut. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyHOmxfDxqcWb6bmTrZI-beRXpchP2LujgCRwD1DVF2CAcCmJkCnVBu8-8_tkxzItXQBkUY2UftOfkl6D4TYpdQoMUid6lkpZs2Cl-XeBg3isFwZE-1X9T9TQXXZm26oE0ka4agOnEagY/s1600/IMG_4982.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyHOmxfDxqcWb6bmTrZI-beRXpchP2LujgCRwD1DVF2CAcCmJkCnVBu8-8_tkxzItXQBkUY2UftOfkl6D4TYpdQoMUid6lkpZs2Cl-XeBg3isFwZE-1X9T9TQXXZm26oE0ka4agOnEagY/s200/IMG_4982.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
This meant that he could return home after his period of convalescence at HACT. As we drove down the track and then off-track into the bush, V came into sight, sitting in his walker/seat in his yard. His wide smile was all the evidence one could need of the esteem and love he felt for the team at HACT and for Mr Mshengu, who looks in on him from time to time. He manages quite well alone, as a friend will pick up his disability grant and buy food for him and his 21 year old son also stays from time to time. HACT keep a close eye on him, to ensure he maintains his medication and he eats sufficiently well. He is hoping to have electricity installed before the winter and he has started to grow a few veggies (tomatoes and butternut) which he has to keep a close eye on to ward off goats and monkeys!<br />
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After saying farewell we headed back to Hillcrest and then set out again with the Assistant Manager for the Gogo Support Programme. This is a fabulous and much admired programme that aims to educate, empower and uplift grandmothers who are caring for orphaned grandchildren in the Valley of 1000 Hills region of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, leading to better life outcomes for both the grandmothers and their grandchildren. The success of this program is such that P now has the Gogo Toolkit, which helps other communities to set up and run their own Gogo support activities.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnzZ-kvqZofGwctgqXjXkhaUs7vhL5-_b_W-zyMLRzszujNT9FlkZNeS_ue4xVFq36tH4eEDG9A_Ulv_M49KYV1ncIVoWC8EUAanKE6J_G97Gv9pUSv70O5-Vu9VLoVRbXPwAlkx2Au34/s1600/IMG_5005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnzZ-kvqZofGwctgqXjXkhaUs7vhL5-_b_W-zyMLRzszujNT9FlkZNeS_ue4xVFq36tH4eEDG9A_Ulv_M49KYV1ncIVoWC8EUAanKE6J_G97Gv9pUSv70O5-Vu9VLoVRbXPwAlkx2Au34/s200/IMG_5005.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Soccer coach puts me through my leg press routine</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy-UZlgDOAvGRFeILJHWvvIvX9_be8uVh2YiIeoxj_jFTeWmX5cvfCqBWeBZnsR4mVsbxJ4NB4uEnvJtVchgKngYTSLkk2HV2eLr4I5ThiIF-_4OujKvHelcUEOReloxYbdvGgEgXjt9c/s1600/IMG_5012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy-UZlgDOAvGRFeILJHWvvIvX9_be8uVh2YiIeoxj_jFTeWmX5cvfCqBWeBZnsR4mVsbxJ4NB4uEnvJtVchgKngYTSLkk2HV2eLr4I5ThiIF-_4OujKvHelcUEOReloxYbdvGgEgXjt9c/s200/IMG_5012.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One Gogo tackles the shoulder press</td></tr>
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This has been running for 10 years in the 1000 Hills region and one of the wonderful events is the Gogo Olympics in April every year. Gogo's from various communities in the region join together to compete in a Soccer tournament which is the culmination of that year's fitness activities. In the Kwanisa area there is an additional fitness facility, an outside gym. My money is definitely on this community's Gogo's to win the gold at the 2019 Gogo Olympics!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgYf8kcxbutD5_vDxb6DmyHdv0MaGrJinhTyLxlOvVSLifGl-47gSMn0JljD152MT8KWpyl5tHGhxO_r9QaObpv9Jlfb2MhJ9MDb8_OCXyrep7jtdbMxGlmgek59BCAjJQls-7cPzgfMs/s1600/IMG_5018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgYf8kcxbutD5_vDxb6DmyHdv0MaGrJinhTyLxlOvVSLifGl-47gSMn0JljD152MT8KWpyl5tHGhxO_r9QaObpv9Jlfb2MhJ9MDb8_OCXyrep7jtdbMxGlmgek59BCAjJQls-7cPzgfMs/s200/IMG_5018.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sindi (centre) has lost 7kg since starting to use the gym in December!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhScLdjIe-kfGMrB9V0GL7X1ITipQW3tds6jrFlKcxUfCvQ5qIRDdHWAlY-yLcw2uuZVIfDnyZaHDTEki0fKXrANX8PCuADD84wo_WuTgCoSQxas8fm0CW9KB-endgv6Sk-KDEWXLtW28A/s1600/IMG_5020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhScLdjIe-kfGMrB9V0GL7X1ITipQW3tds6jrFlKcxUfCvQ5qIRDdHWAlY-yLcw2uuZVIfDnyZaHDTEki0fKXrANX8PCuADD84wo_WuTgCoSQxas8fm0CW9KB-endgv6Sk-KDEWXLtW28A/s200/IMG_5020.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The local facilitators participate too!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhJRmNGQpwoD1zGniZT9YFQapGSyPt19CodbnRLWcbt5obaxiszDqSPg4-59r2uf57GvfXkxRhAhvL4PPRauaK2cMpF_m-J-WGvVibHQNgTHERcZkF6d3UTj85BF9Y-Z0VI6dkk08qjSw/s1600/IMG_5024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhJRmNGQpwoD1zGniZT9YFQapGSyPt19CodbnRLWcbt5obaxiszDqSPg4-59r2uf57GvfXkxRhAhvL4PPRauaK2cMpF_m-J-WGvVibHQNgTHERcZkF6d3UTj85BF9Y-Z0VI6dkk08qjSw/s200/IMG_5024.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZowLWJvqE5Ik5PqjrZHsCZwExfm99GywVyvBIH9uGsJD2nMiZ28bkoaeoShVt7OlkOiP6eYLRbKGxYnjmTOGO9dSYzh3TH9oC_0_nyMmIDAopUoPRTx1sFpBHryIowDrrY86cVgt4SJs/s1600/IMG_5004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZowLWJvqE5Ik5PqjrZHsCZwExfm99GywVyvBIH9uGsJD2nMiZ28bkoaeoShVt7OlkOiP6eYLRbKGxYnjmTOGO9dSYzh3TH9oC_0_nyMmIDAopUoPRTx1sFpBHryIowDrrY86cVgt4SJs/s200/IMG_5004.JPG" width="200" /></a> The great thing about this gym, is that it is not only great for agility and fitness, it is also very sociable. It is adjacent to the local Primary school and the football pitch where the Gogo's practice, often to the enthusiastic support from the school children on their break. It is also a great community facility, today there were lots of school age children there, as the local school was closed for a teacher's awards day. <br />
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Returning to HACT I reflected on the proactive and empowering activities that they operate, it's is most definitely a "hand up not a hand out" mentality. Another example is the clothing scheme, women are selected to participate and each Friday morning they purchase a bin bag full of mixed clothing that has been donated to the centre, sorted by volunteers the previous Tuesday or Wednesday. The bag costs R15 (just under £1) and the women then go back to their communities where they sell the clothes on to make an income for themselves. This is primarily a short term intervention to allow women to get back onto their feet, but some women have made quite a business out of it.<br />
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This blog cannot do justice to the extent of the initiatives and support HACT undertakes; as with all my monitoring visits I am overwhelmed by the dedication of the staff, the selflessness of the skilled volunteers and the proactivity of the recipients of the care and support. Their enthusiasm is infectious.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV1wrv4jdoMo75YPppXyTKbK0QRAVcSmUPi7ViMi29KzL6i1_PVzOfwqZHf_ngPoHK-4gxUtuCnpRHjImY3k9EbGLItjNWB83Q_OaGauowhJivuuQWiaGzNYy5n5tkqC2yF7mex9nDN5M/s1600/IMG_20190131_143023.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="765" data-original-width="1080" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV1wrv4jdoMo75YPppXyTKbK0QRAVcSmUPi7ViMi29KzL6i1_PVzOfwqZHf_ngPoHK-4gxUtuCnpRHjImY3k9EbGLItjNWB83Q_OaGauowhJivuuQWiaGzNYy5n5tkqC2yF7mex9nDN5M/s200/IMG_20190131_143023.png" width="200" /></a>Once I got back to the lodge, I was delighted to receive two photos from 1000 Hill Community Helpers in my email in box. These were photo's of the young girls who each received one of the lovely school dresses that were kindly donated to us and some of the children who received a lovingly handknitted jumper from our wonderful knitters! These will be most welcome on the chilly valley mornings.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjK4A3dnLSRodrWumgOYw0i1BBYX1gmqk_JeJfz9dW4ATtOLCCl1sDMWfFB603sRIJllTkQpEfDFjgifRScVJQvtbwjyUa1dXqxFci3_CJEyC4rssd8hXI0fUgEkRqZIFaKdV3RC7xKfg/s1600/IMG_20190131_143002.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="799" data-original-width="1080" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjK4A3dnLSRodrWumgOYw0i1BBYX1gmqk_JeJfz9dW4ATtOLCCl1sDMWfFB603sRIJllTkQpEfDFjgifRScVJQvtbwjyUa1dXqxFci3_CJEyC4rssd8hXI0fUgEkRqZIFaKdV3RC7xKfg/s200/IMG_20190131_143002.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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Smiles all round today! For me, it's the last day visiting the projects for this trip. I'm popping to a local farmers and craft market tomorrow to see if I can acquire any more lovely items for our beadwork and craft stall. After that, it's off the Durban to catch my flight back home.<br />
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Thank you for having me South Africa, I look forward to coming back soon. To KwaZulu Natal I say "ukuvalelisa, ngizobuya" <em>(I bid you farewell, I will come back)</em></div>
Claire @ GAGA UK http://www.blogger.com/profile/00433084410981694794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328785735583116340.post-24055621546221138532019-01-31T07:00:00.000-08:002019-01-31T07:00:14.784-08:00Last Day of School (for me, for this trip, that is!)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9FtVWE7zdZh0ja5inyeRpfFEN3_Xv41i9ccWXq2b2HHRKgt9I8mnQC_wkeaIGWE-QuvPCvIhdBh_sT3si2TF51LaH8_m_jDE1aBuAWbAyY-UxsSDfzTGz2vtGomd5qUMsbPh5P90W8P4/s1600/IMG_4964.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9FtVWE7zdZh0ja5inyeRpfFEN3_Xv41i9ccWXq2b2HHRKgt9I8mnQC_wkeaIGWE-QuvPCvIhdBh_sT3si2TF51LaH8_m_jDE1aBuAWbAyY-UxsSDfzTGz2vtGomd5qUMsbPh5P90W8P4/s200/IMG_4964.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfB-8FuyUvjDgw8cGeYrqNSv3m-D9SasHkK98iWSySWHKD8_6I6anEajRtAVK1hbORHpVt3vsvy1NpEfgqo-7OyQpN1SVN3eOnWfwXe189cRwzOyF6pxBbmymL5zjXoWfbjvHgJbqdukg/s1600/IMG_4937.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfB-8FuyUvjDgw8cGeYrqNSv3m-D9SasHkK98iWSySWHKD8_6I6anEajRtAVK1hbORHpVt3vsvy1NpEfgqo-7OyQpN1SVN3eOnWfwXe189cRwzOyF6pxBbmymL5zjXoWfbjvHgJbqdukg/s200/IMG_4937.JPG" width="200" /></a>It's been another warm day in KwaZulu Natal and I was early to school this morning as I had lots of deliveries to make. Thanks to the wonderful support you give us, we have been able to add a few little extras to First Step Right this visit. I went to "Build It" early to collect some bags of compost for the school veggie garden, they have plans to grow onions, beetroot, spinach, courgettes and butternut squash! I played a game with Grade R this afternoon, giving each child one of these five words in turn and then asked them to stand when their veggie was called out to see how well they grew!! They thought this was quite good fun (sadly spinach didn't do so well as most of the children who were "spinach" forgot about it)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHmX2zpLxPcTnI2ES4wCekoTb-Z0NcXmRcceol35XMdtth7DDonoCQqW_5J6kLZzceK33HmD_XposB5zJia14Mw0ec6JBAIXYESCGcgvtkayC6VufyqQ9gngSxNuyyuMu-5d_rpdoOc4g/s1600/IMG_4963.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHmX2zpLxPcTnI2ES4wCekoTb-Z0NcXmRcceol35XMdtth7DDonoCQqW_5J6kLZzceK33HmD_XposB5zJia14Mw0ec6JBAIXYESCGcgvtkayC6VufyqQ9gngSxNuyyuMu-5d_rpdoOc4g/s200/IMG_4963.JPG" width="200" /></a>GAGA supporters also provided 150 new cups and bowls for the children, as well as pencils and erasers, some wall charts for the early years classes and some items for hygiene too, like buckets and toilet brushes. Thank you all so much for your regular donations as these help us to plan for this type of replacement items.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4q_BdUJDiK7QWfyZThYmYm-4bp2gwdrfRkskHf_9vHbzysd09A4OnvQ6dwNBS69JhpsYkXzl6jAhpmB9jfJUdwyJ1BTKgGfokGaeIDPkW5oJ5h1LlYNuBuCW0r0RtE2DfwNgdXUQmAD0/s1600/IMG_4957.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4q_BdUJDiK7QWfyZThYmYm-4bp2gwdrfRkskHf_9vHbzysd09A4OnvQ6dwNBS69JhpsYkXzl6jAhpmB9jfJUdwyJ1BTKgGfokGaeIDPkW5oJ5h1LlYNuBuCW0r0RtE2DfwNgdXUQmAD0/s200/IMG_4957.JPG" width="200" /></a>As it was my last day with the school for this visit, I also brought some fruit for the children and the teachers. Some of it supplemented the lunch today and the rest was an afternoon break snack. Here are some of the Grade R children enjoying their bananas! There are two Grade R classes, these are their teachers, and we had a lovely time this afternoon singing songs in the shade of one of the trees in the playground. The children joined in enthusiastically with "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" and "The Wheels on the Bus" amongst other songs.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYBrcJ7KMKSmK1wgDGqSaBhuW4AICzGA-09RzDbOWckW8LwrRlz4ynrefbmuyUzdePW0hNsBEYoDivFVF5dip_Yg7BZCJvCQ5q_tHsmZ_oQ5oe4uMa68A-K3ym8uadnPj02XxxhqysXKU/s1600/IMG_4949.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYBrcJ7KMKSmK1wgDGqSaBhuW4AICzGA-09RzDbOWckW8LwrRlz4ynrefbmuyUzdePW0hNsBEYoDivFVF5dip_Yg7BZCJvCQ5q_tHsmZ_oQ5oe4uMa68A-K3ym8uadnPj02XxxhqysXKU/s200/IMG_4949.JPG" width="200" /></a>Today was a little different from a standard Thursday, as there was a parent's meeting from 10 am in the school. This first meeting of the year was very well attended and, as every person who has Primary School children with recall, the parents all gathered in the school and perched on the little chairs! The meeting started with a wonderfully melodic song of blessing and a brief prayer. The meeting covered all of the administrative items that are common in schools the world over, a reminder to put names in school uniform, a request to support their child with their homework...but not to do it for them! There was also a discussion about learning to read and some hints for the parents of smaller children to point out words on packaging around the house and signs on the streets and a request that the older children practice reading for at least 15 minutes a night. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWneXFBWl5SJGl365_kErId26HwlYZybS60Ze9GhwLeYGc9yJ8Ac1VS0l4i1An05W5Z5ORHMq6w7Az-0NzrZdgAxqryF5wP-5bykmozDDMet4T1_PPaJU-ZijO5E7kFQt5S3npqsQ5yIA/s1600/IMG_4950.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWneXFBWl5SJGl365_kErId26HwlYZybS60Ze9GhwLeYGc9yJ8Ac1VS0l4i1An05W5Z5ORHMq6w7Az-0NzrZdgAxqryF5wP-5bykmozDDMet4T1_PPaJU-ZijO5E7kFQt5S3npqsQ5yIA/s200/IMG_4950.JPG" width="200" /></a>All of these items were well received, first Gael spoke in English and then Khanyisile repeated it all in isiZulu. I took a small time to say hello from GAGA and to express how much our supporters enjoy hearing lovely stories from First Step Right and how we are delighted to work in partnership with the school team, themselves as parents and their lovely children. I didn't say too much as it was getting really warm and stuffy in the classroom and the parent's had been in the meeting for a while! Then followed a question and answer session, and the ubiquitous request for member of the Parents' Committee.... as in schools all over, initial nominations were slow to come but eventually all of the posts were filled!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF2l1DrT71xfemvgfZJB2yLUDWZe-2Ozv8p2OZp491iqOxyYwBIPk-EONNUOAw7MMJQW-Lv2_D1JKgB9l_THKrhj5XpCIwmZeePGmvXGi7VjC6Tqk8jbO1eBOd_ipiEBhSItl-6qP0clE/s1600/IMG_4947.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF2l1DrT71xfemvgfZJB2yLUDWZe-2Ozv8p2OZp491iqOxyYwBIPk-EONNUOAw7MMJQW-Lv2_D1JKgB9l_THKrhj5XpCIwmZeePGmvXGi7VjC6Tqk8jbO1eBOd_ipiEBhSItl-6qP0clE/s200/IMG_4947.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqVQ31Le53h0RtwnPr8Y96-vd8CptViH32cglDrar_hAAEPBkjyL5jjY2R7U8jl6TmLPjUPUmVXqvkzHvru8R80_P8swcu9T9YYmtKOyNmW9CIVljAVTVd2YolBgUlEnjJW0C_qhF-r4Y/s1600/IMG_4948.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqVQ31Le53h0RtwnPr8Y96-vd8CptViH32cglDrar_hAAEPBkjyL5jjY2R7U8jl6TmLPjUPUmVXqvkzHvru8R80_P8swcu9T9YYmtKOyNmW9CIVljAVTVd2YolBgUlEnjJW0C_qhF-r4Y/s200/IMG_4948.JPG" width="200" /></a>The children were outside during the Parents Meeting and some of the teachers were singing and dancing with them under the shade of a tree. They had all run around in the sun for a long time and it was a welcome relief for them to be in the shade for a while. As the parents left the meeting the children ran to see their Mum or Dad or Gogo. As expected some of the smaller children wanted to leave at the same time as their carers, not really understanding that there was some of the school day left to complete!<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>"It makes you realise that people are the same wherever you go."</em> Nicholas Lea</span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Thank you to the staff and children of First Step Right for making me so welcome in their school! I can't wait to come back and see how they are all progressing and how the veggie garden is growing!</span><br />
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<br /> <a class="oncl_a" href="https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/nelson_mandela" title="view quote"><img alt="Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. - Nelson Mandela" class="bqPhotoFullDesktop" data-img-url="/photos_tr/en/n/nelsonmandela/157855/nelsonmandela1-2x.jpg" height="336" id="qimage_157855" src="https://www.brainyquote.com/photos_tr/en/n/nelsonmandela/157855/nelsonmandela1-2x.jpg" width="640" /></a></h2>
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Claire @ GAGA UK http://www.blogger.com/profile/00433084410981694794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328785735583116340.post-37973402422346253202019-01-30T07:26:00.000-08:002019-01-30T20:20:07.982-08:00Meals on Wheels<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFu1b48Q_8pwD9alcJDXKCHkXAnABRE2tyVWOgqzuvdSRw3r8UCw_QdBiwVjtLhXnLaNrPLSjwsX9rjQk3okgrvpVaFWzuqlSSHUMSCqqYMKI288zG5IXQ_7pTj983MhqMgTTfmQ7coV0/s1600/IMG_4764.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFu1b48Q_8pwD9alcJDXKCHkXAnABRE2tyVWOgqzuvdSRw3r8UCw_QdBiwVjtLhXnLaNrPLSjwsX9rjQk3okgrvpVaFWzuqlSSHUMSCqqYMKI288zG5IXQ_7pTj983MhqMgTTfmQ7coV0/s200/IMG_4764.JPG" width="200" /></a>What a fabulous day I have had today, following the 1000 Hills Community Helpers Meals on Wheels initiative as they made one of their visits to the Sithumba area. The meal of minced beef and veg, rice and beetroot is made in the kitchens at 1000 Hills Community Helpers and it is loaded onto the trailer. The team join Patrick the driver in the pick up and I followed along behind in the backie with Modise who was to be my guide for the day!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq0tHEdJxiFlxPH8fL_Tu4s6fZNxnuzuTCQBhKBqCVvq4zUJCMIf1jnq9WXDP1BrCmvxDNEKzIzyddv_bqFZbgcjUHy1J9gpTnw1fBIf20fyXS7K0TNSBlPFKGFGiyx-tmyNcT0IBMDzE/s1600/IMG_4763.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq0tHEdJxiFlxPH8fL_Tu4s6fZNxnuzuTCQBhKBqCVvq4zUJCMIf1jnq9WXDP1BrCmvxDNEKzIzyddv_bqFZbgcjUHy1J9gpTnw1fBIf20fyXS7K0TNSBlPFKGFGiyx-tmyNcT0IBMDzE/s200/IMG_4763.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinbCPIEQX4QeNI9UGySqV6vCarWwsq6Jx9_xd3-2hpFP6k-KwomSerMZnV8PJaA0VLB3udKUyB87MY6_lToP6VIYDLwB_kEpWHc4eyvyZj5OLvg8CYCGr1NVzAjoJDYtNfQVzkgC6V-Is/s1600/Sithumba+JP+School.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="488" data-original-width="581" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinbCPIEQX4QeNI9UGySqV6vCarWwsq6Jx9_xd3-2hpFP6k-KwomSerMZnV8PJaA0VLB3udKUyB87MY6_lToP6VIYDLwB_kEpWHc4eyvyZj5OLvg8CYCGr1NVzAjoJDYtNfQVzkgC6V-Is/s200/Sithumba+JP+School.PNG" width="200" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyiuSho1Sx-PC5dK1zhyphenhyphenonGZMUlK2B8A2trw-jWW-ZTacmmbRmmwCpUSgd1nDSj09068BuHzk4K_h79HEmUK7GfDJwarmMBNOt_m4Vg5sBfNWWoUyObMwTkLi9PnoQjKJJaENh_Y3eme4/s1600/IMG_4768.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyiuSho1Sx-PC5dK1zhyphenhyphenonGZMUlK2B8A2trw-jWW-ZTacmmbRmmwCpUSgd1nDSj09068BuHzk4K_h79HEmUK7GfDJwarmMBNOt_m4Vg5sBfNWWoUyObMwTkLi9PnoQjKJJaENh_Y3eme4/s200/IMG_4768.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEkho4FFbmToDc713Q8oHMQYFo6fLaTU4YwRgAA1TG03myRU7hwumUN-4IfEtaKLw23fKa5mv102vV9mBgIszOK7G-8PifGEeodX3WXAJNBxPZzoJBNNc2U04_LYJr8_CsYbbH41ECzig/s1600/IMG_4772.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEkho4FFbmToDc713Q8oHMQYFo6fLaTU4YwRgAA1TG03myRU7hwumUN-4IfEtaKLw23fKa5mv102vV9mBgIszOK7G-8PifGEeodX3WXAJNBxPZzoJBNNc2U04_LYJr8_CsYbbH41ECzig/s200/IMG_4772.JPG" width="200" /></a> We headed out along Layby Road and continued as far as the hammerhead that is the full extent of the tarmac road and therefore the full extent of the available taxi routes. Luckily we have good vehicles and so continued on the dirt track until we arrived at the Primary School. No sooner did we draw up outside the gates than the children could be heard, their excited chatter as they caught the delicious aroma of the meat sauce on the air! The team set up the servery and in no time there was a long line of children excitedly queueing up holding out their plates. The meal was rice with beef mince and vegetables, a side of diced beetroot and a cup of squash. The children clearly enjoyed the novelty of being served from the trailer and they enthusiastically ate their lunches. There is a kitchen at this school but this service supplements the school's food budget, as they do not need to cook on the day that the Meals on Wheels arrive. Whilst the team were busy serving the long line of children, Modise, Elsie and I headed off on foot into the valley to visit some housebound patients and take them food and healthcare supplies (dressings, nappies and incontinence pads).<br />
In total we visited six homes, of varying condition and facilities. Our first stop was to a 74 year old lady "T" who had suffered a stroke which left her unable to move her left side. She is being cared for by her daughter and her pension is the only household income.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2uISPPRX9y0lo3noxNeGXWFiaBOsq4UVbeCPZ5suVLm4OrPHr2yeHEZ6REj8_RCzBcmeiULUfK6nf4XiR25rf9yw0EuMvk2ceCdOK7WGWkc1rpoJNFkoivvTW-vwwAta9Ww8PFsY3C7A/s1600/IMG_4793.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2uISPPRX9y0lo3noxNeGXWFiaBOsq4UVbeCPZ5suVLm4OrPHr2yeHEZ6REj8_RCzBcmeiULUfK6nf4XiR25rf9yw0EuMvk2ceCdOK7WGWkc1rpoJNFkoivvTW-vwwAta9Ww8PFsY3C7A/s200/IMG_4793.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKwQWqmgYX1iKBvxOvKbks8Vz1orvaxr7JJF4q1nP4yjzNQJitWL-IENcTkm9Kgpjg_QqIkVFnX2jNYmFPoxSTZc-db2wVQ_0zfudpAotiqTy3JR_nFIA_gWwE2PbjdzvoL74PQ9bBHMQ/s1600/IMG_4899.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKwQWqmgYX1iKBvxOvKbks8Vz1orvaxr7JJF4q1nP4yjzNQJitWL-IENcTkm9Kgpjg_QqIkVFnX2jNYmFPoxSTZc-db2wVQ_0zfudpAotiqTy3JR_nFIA_gWwE2PbjdzvoL74PQ9bBHMQ/s200/IMG_4899.JPG" width="150" /></a>The lady in the orange top has two children and is a single Mum, her youngest was at school when we visited but her daughter, who is 17 was asleep in the bed. She was a healthy child until she was two years old but then she began to show symptoms that were thought to be related to epilepsy. "N" is now completely bedridden and without a wheelchair her Mum is unable to get her out and about. Next we met "S" an eleven year old girl who was born with her disabilities, her Mum passed away when she was a baby and she is now cared for by her Gogo. The love the Gogo has for her granddaughter is evident in this lovely photo, and her other granddaughter who attends the nearby secondary school (which is next to the Primary where we were running the lunch service) popped in to see her sister and Gogo in her lunch break.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ADkOpVdvxQtDBbXeQZwLrD83ydXrFWSDrRgABanPBhYM_QT6d_4y6wF3mfPx-Da1SavyU4ZHEf8IdQphAlHfmYBt6LftRnILVTfpWj9D83YuTrs-F9B6bbXwCRAJBwLmeIGSszTAVEs/s1600/IMG_4908.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ADkOpVdvxQtDBbXeQZwLrD83ydXrFWSDrRgABanPBhYM_QT6d_4y6wF3mfPx-Da1SavyU4ZHEf8IdQphAlHfmYBt6LftRnILVTfpWj9D83YuTrs-F9B6bbXwCRAJBwLmeIGSszTAVEs/s200/IMG_4908.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf4ocKc5krUG_D0foXVkbH1cSNSDHTPvFGus112-8IRK3XjQV3P_arXL4AJOqGssx1CnK3wQxdujuzmmNFznHX2bEikBmy3T90F19h48omDqxFMYAaj0Pc4GtwVUxF22mwaLsOKZ-YOWk/s1600/IMG_4906.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf4ocKc5krUG_D0foXVkbH1cSNSDHTPvFGus112-8IRK3XjQV3P_arXL4AJOqGssx1CnK3wQxdujuzmmNFznHX2bEikBmy3T90F19h48omDqxFMYAaj0Pc4GtwVUxF22mwaLsOKZ-YOWk/s200/IMG_4906.JPG" width="150" /></a><br />
We headed back up the track and could see that the children had all now been fed and so we gathered up the remaining food parcels and healthcare supplies and Modise, Elsie and I got back in the backie and moved across to the other side of the district.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpBtmBDtZmz5FyfHJmypmEs_A_sWtQWXNZuZEOIvEPA6GndnlKUgBHSTYjqx8zB84SpoFZETNW4Ghu606qiQlxrbxq8POGth_jpJ-OmkTYyDtxC93tD4nNFXgO2Jvsbr8OBSgQLa8IHi8/s1600/IMG_4924.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpBtmBDtZmz5FyfHJmypmEs_A_sWtQWXNZuZEOIvEPA6GndnlKUgBHSTYjqx8zB84SpoFZETNW4Ghu606qiQlxrbxq8POGth_jpJ-OmkTYyDtxC93tD4nNFXgO2Jvsbr8OBSgQLa8IHi8/s200/IMG_4924.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4cSRU3U9DBRzEc-oX1iW9jmrUlWmhrL68HYRNNigI0_yNgAnXCvoKlzEoqig6X202v_GRS2T_N1_VL4f9lMgQtFTsU6aMfTgl63qYioT7oPp27HpFWGjy1VOAKBgRQb7vq-DqftjyxZA/s1600/IMG_4932.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4cSRU3U9DBRzEc-oX1iW9jmrUlWmhrL68HYRNNigI0_yNgAnXCvoKlzEoqig6X202v_GRS2T_N1_VL4f9lMgQtFTsU6aMfTgl63qYioT7oPp27HpFWGjy1VOAKBgRQb7vq-DqftjyxZA/s200/IMG_4932.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8VmZIk-aAH59C-5FNFT9NU2vxCU6xNAFU8U8KnbV7WghP6AHG5GUD2GPAkKCRDtFdF0b3Ete_W7ACpSi12TcirflKGpL1X79pCXu4HDuhfNQDVr9ZZu9jEvNbKtBrRKrtX0uD1xs9T44/s1600/IMG_4929.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8VmZIk-aAH59C-5FNFT9NU2vxCU6xNAFU8U8KnbV7WghP6AHG5GUD2GPAkKCRDtFdF0b3Ete_W7ACpSi12TcirflKGpL1X79pCXu4HDuhfNQDVr9ZZu9jEvNbKtBrRKrtX0uD1xs9T44/s200/IMG_4929.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
Here we met "O", he is a 98 year old man who has a large open sore on his right shin. He lives with his family in a small settlement on the valley side and is cared for by his energetic, ebullient 65 year old wife. She has learned how to clean and dress his wounds and her ministrations are paying off, as his wound is closing up and healing well, albeit slowly. Her neighbour was visiting, which was fortunate as she was due to be our 5th "house call". This lady is 55 years old and has gastric ulcers, she also has limited mobility due to swollen legs and she currently uses a branch as a stick, if she can get a walking stick she will have improved comfort and may be able to be more mobile. The availability of medical equipment like walking frames, walking sticks and wheelchairs is limited but having these items could dramatically improve the quality of life for the frail members of this community. Modise takes notes about every visit and photographs to help with the assessment of needs back at 1000 Hills Community Helpers. He has a wonderful way with his patients and their families. He listens to their needs and asks searching questions to ensure he fully understands the situation. He is patient, empathetic and thorough. Our final stop was with this 77 year old lady. She has balance difficulties and slow reactions so if she looses balance and falls she is likely to go down face first as she cannot react quickly enough to put out her hands to break her fall. She is cared for in the day by her daughter and another family member, who works in the day, stays with her at night.<br />
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After all the house calls were completed we headed back to the 1000 Hills Community Helpers where I chatted for a while with Dawn, the Founder. She was able to give me very useful advice in respect of some of the challenges and strategies for charitable organisations and NPO's operating in South Africa. Talking to the people who do this day in day out is invaluable for developing a deep understanding of the situation and for gaining advice and ideas of ways of working that will be most effective for the long term. <br />
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I was sorry to say goodbye to Dawn and the team at 1000 Hills Community Helpers for this trip. They have shown me immense kindness, patience with my questions and given of willingly of their time and experience. I look forward to seeing them all again on my next visit.<br />
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A couple of amusing aspects to the day - firstly the football team made up entirely of cows....<br />
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and secondly, my relief that I am not the only one with an inexplicable phobia of small creatures (those of you who know me, know it's frogs for me) when Elsie, the Community Care Giver whose round we shared today, stopped stock still on the path and would not pass this little fella...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5N1CWuu3Ns2skNhhBCHd5lhoRMSpacZWNHtTaGjbuP3a87JFQht9rwWzWSNJNJRmaXIyUECthIz2cNi0H8XV5LocpD3ufKetz_rpohS53kR_VSAyQzNCiAt2ViDFJqyKaQVEQpB9_swM/s1600/IMG_4893.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5N1CWuu3Ns2skNhhBCHd5lhoRMSpacZWNHtTaGjbuP3a87JFQht9rwWzWSNJNJRmaXIyUECthIz2cNi0H8XV5LocpD3ufKetz_rpohS53kR_VSAyQzNCiAt2ViDFJqyKaQVEQpB9_swM/s320/IMG_4893.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Can you spot him????</div>
Claire @ GAGA UK http://www.blogger.com/profile/00433084410981694794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328785735583116340.post-72980710071509931482019-01-29T11:04:00.001-08:002019-01-29T11:04:41.461-08:00Yay! The Sun is Shining Again!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://www.bing.com/th?id=OIP.lA0zRx7JjcJOhb6rkUz_DgHaE4&w=300&h=197&c=7&o=5&pid=1.7" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for vervet monkey" border="0" class="mimg" data-bm="37" height="131" src="https://www.bing.com/th?id=OIP.lA0zRx7JjcJOhb6rkUz_DgHaE4&w=300&h=197&c=7&o=5&pid=1.7" style="background-color: #4b6135; color: #4b6135;" width="200" /></a>After so many days of drizzle, torrential rain and fog it was a delight to see that the sun had got his hat on this morning! As I made my coffee, I noticed a small vervet monkey sitting on the roof of a nearby property warming up his tummy in the early morning sun! Not this guy - my camera isn't that good - but I thought you'd like to see a cute monkey picture nonetheless! <br />
I had two visits planned today, firstly a stop at the 1000 Hills Community Helpers, you may remember that Tuesday is baby clinic day and I called in to drop off the wonderful donations of knitted items and baby vests and sleepsuits that have been given to us. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This robust baby boy is doing so well and his Mum also works at 1000 Hills Community Helpers </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5yCXcXrLGz9Du-PFJRrRX_moZ8hEoaWe8XyUFUAoW7237ZRRP27v5P_Ko6eeT5PU6gvp1UB_s5hrA_qT0KGdok61yass8pKijsYJnGaehVjEjRxjuxKUFrvrKammePb10i2tA53dsvg0/s1600/IMG_4726.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5yCXcXrLGz9Du-PFJRrRX_moZ8hEoaWe8XyUFUAoW7237ZRRP27v5P_Ko6eeT5PU6gvp1UB_s5hrA_qT0KGdok61yass8pKijsYJnGaehVjEjRxjuxKUFrvrKammePb10i2tA53dsvg0/s200/IMG_4726.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is Nurse Teddy with another smashing baby boy!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq1O9o7dHs-f_aZZGVpqDyh2ab7KDalv6lxV8xZX-TjqGqVVc7_cCqzpSJEb-ECigpqCu8yOzRWDQcMW-XVR-hM7E_rTboFwmSc58psnLhNyiVSTdJW7pteH0Us1NJFK2VbsZ8ZxQ9-lc/s1600/IMG_4730.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq1O9o7dHs-f_aZZGVpqDyh2ab7KDalv6lxV8xZX-TjqGqVVc7_cCqzpSJEb-ECigpqCu8yOzRWDQcMW-XVR-hM7E_rTboFwmSc58psnLhNyiVSTdJW7pteH0Us1NJFK2VbsZ8ZxQ9-lc/s200/IMG_4730.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This young Mum is doing a fantastic job with her little girl, she was delighted to receive one of the beautiful crocheted blankets we were given by one of our supporters. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1orYCR8rTI7jkprScuOKpwNdJ_MHf784nZAkxZtrvJflBHuxrPeojXENOJVBeRhyphenhyphen_QiaMvk341dXb5v-Cf51SGBWkB7-oLDUH_P5fS_i1VWT-6Sr2icN8oPtRbpKlMxzEnqDgKgwQaI8/s1600/IMG_4733.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1orYCR8rTI7jkprScuOKpwNdJ_MHf784nZAkxZtrvJflBHuxrPeojXENOJVBeRhyphenhyphen_QiaMvk341dXb5v-Cf51SGBWkB7-oLDUH_P5fS_i1VWT-6Sr2icN8oPtRbpKlMxzEnqDgKgwQaI8/s200/IMG_4733.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This Gogo (Grandma) is helping her daughter to cope with her new baby, we were delighted to offer her some additional babygrows today!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhURCio2Xnf8M77hGpBRKM309j673WdRH-0OoERJ5UiLx-XYwc62V-DNEI3KGAT_sUGHit268_DG41wWxNVCyxQ15YBuQd58vEZF8wqq9bvJd-HBSV3Rd1ldCIWaBlrVeF-Zt1TQw6eris/s1600/IMG_4734.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhURCio2Xnf8M77hGpBRKM309j673WdRH-0OoERJ5UiLx-XYwc62V-DNEI3KGAT_sUGHit268_DG41wWxNVCyxQ15YBuQd58vEZF8wqq9bvJd-HBSV3Rd1ldCIWaBlrVeF-Zt1TQw6eris/s200/IMG_4734.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This young Mum is also the happy recipient of a lovely new blanket for her gorgeous baby, she is currently studying Business Administration and balancing the needs of her newborn and her older son.</td></tr>
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Dawn and her team at 1000 Hills Community Helpers were delighted with the donations, they are always in need of good quality clothing items and the knitted items (whilst not needed today in 31 degrees) will be very welcome as the winter approaches. The lovely school dresses we have been given will be distributed amongst the pupils of 1000 Hills Community Helpers own pre-school and the larger sizes will be put aside for children in need who may come alone or with their parents to seek support from this wonderful organisation. I joined Sister Faith in the baby clinic where I was privileged to sit in on the consultations with the Mum's and Gogo's who are looking after babies from newborn to four months.<br />
Sister Faith monitors the weight of the babies, gives advice on feeding (whether this is supporting the mother who chooses to breastfeed, advising on the correct make up of formula or assess whether the baby is receiving solids) and also assess the general health and well being of the baby. In the short time I was in clinic this morning there was a baby with scabies, one with thrush in the mouth and two baby boys with undescended testicles. These, amongst other common ailments, are critical to have diagnosed and treated early on. Women are encouraged to attend the clinic regularly to ensure that their babies have the best possible chance to thrive.<br />
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After an hour or so observing the clinic I took a browse in the craft shop and I have bought some lovely protea print items to trial for our merchandising. I'm back at 1000 Hills Community Helpers tomorrow for the Meals on Wheels ….<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ikN-cHUp0rbeUufDDg_9LCec_ZKB4wHczcdt6YvxakzaHOgf3MKYtMCuAaWdzikB1ZSfYyCFwefVGdJfdubBwEgSWHw899PHV6vMeBAKThyphenhyphenBjwNFrNT9AJnfwS8R2-9btA9BfJ5300Y/s1600/IMG_4738.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ikN-cHUp0rbeUufDDg_9LCec_ZKB4wHczcdt6YvxakzaHOgf3MKYtMCuAaWdzikB1ZSfYyCFwefVGdJfdubBwEgSWHw899PHV6vMeBAKThyphenhyphenBjwNFrNT9AJnfwS8R2-9btA9BfJ5300Y/s200/IMG_4738.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuzUAXsJ55ZPV6PwieenrOAArB3ZQ18CfdjOwb2OnmbhzLF49pOPXOhOhtacSv48vgUjVMIkC9h3VN8ItTJtQwvQBoO4RywJKMOseupvl1DkgAslN1ZWRPLG6QVomUDKArniWw8kolbCg/s1600/IMG_4739.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuzUAXsJ55ZPV6PwieenrOAArB3ZQ18CfdjOwb2OnmbhzLF49pOPXOhOhtacSv48vgUjVMIkC9h3VN8ItTJtQwvQBoO4RywJKMOseupvl1DkgAslN1ZWRPLG6QVomUDKArniWw8kolbCg/s200/IMG_4739.JPG" width="150" /></a>My backie was blocked in as I went to leave and the guys who keep the mini buses and meals on wheels vans spick and span were insistent that they should give the backie a good wash before I could leave! Lucky me, I got to enjoy the scenery and beautifully kept gardens!<br />
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Next stop was back to First Step Right, when I arrived the pupils were lining up to return to class after first break. I did a swift circuit of the school, saying hello to everyone and then sat in with Grade R for storytime. I was so pleased to find the book of Bear's Blue Boat which I remember reading to my own sons. We read it through three times with the children joining in on the colours and the rhyming of the last page. <br />
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Then I took Gael, who runs the school, to PMB to do some shopping for the school, we purchased some wall charts (days of the week, seasons and months of the year etc) as well as basic stationery supplies (pencils, erasers etc) and also some more cups and bowls for the kitchen. We had some fun rolling the heavy trolley down the ramp and we were chatting so much on the return journey that we forgot to buy the compost for the veggie patch! That has to be a job for tomorrow now!<br />
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When I returned to PheZulu, I was desperate for a cooling shower and something to eat! When I went to the kitchen to prepare an omelette, Magda, the manager told me that earlier a cheeky monkey had slipped under the door leading to the kitchen and snatched two eggs from the tray on top of the microwave! So today's blog starts and ends with some "Monkey Business"</div>
Claire @ GAGA UK http://www.blogger.com/profile/00433084410981694794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328785735583116340.post-6766139997054497322019-01-29T10:18:00.002-08:002019-01-29T10:19:53.477-08:00Have you ever noticed.. there are no positive song titles with Monday in them...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I don't like Monday's<br />
Manic Monday<br />
Monday, Monday, Can't trust that day<br />
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Well, I wish there was a positive Monday song, cos I would've been singing it this Monday! Apart from the small matter of misbehaving internet at the accommodation which meant I couldn't write my blog!<br />
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I spent Monday at First Step Right which is the Pre and Primary school we support near Cato Ridge in KwaZulu Natal. There are 187 pupils on the role and they range from the pre-schoolers to a small class at Grade 5. The school is located on the property and buildings of the neighbouring Frey's Food Brands, supplying meat products to the foodservice industry.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXgMp81djLPdMYxtQ39sxOz68YQJGe7Pzxu-mPhYBolp40vMB2DnmBCcSzZbC_YW8uYRq1QQoRJA1u0ML2epUnJwYUbAgHRaL3apViUb9YZvVvcgnMZFy0Gen1J3pIfA47lMlNZxDvdsk/s1600/IMG_4723.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXgMp81djLPdMYxtQ39sxOz68YQJGe7Pzxu-mPhYBolp40vMB2DnmBCcSzZbC_YW8uYRq1QQoRJA1u0ML2epUnJwYUbAgHRaL3apViUb9YZvVvcgnMZFy0Gen1J3pIfA47lMlNZxDvdsk/s200/IMG_4723.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
The continued support of this company is essential to the life of the school and on Monday I was pleased to meet with the CEO and HR Manager to discuss the ongoing partnership between Frey's and First Step Right. As a funder of First Step Right we at GAGA are committed to ensuring that the pupils at the school receive the best possible education and pastoral care, this is one of the main reasons we endeavour to make regular monitoring visits to the projects we support. <br />
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The children of FSR are delightful and I spent much of Monday, one on one working with one of the Grade 5 pupils on his literacy exercises. His determination and concentration was admirable and I really enjoyed spending time with him (and reminding myself about the story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!). <br />
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A school like this faces many challenges, not just funding, although that is an important factor. FSR is fortunate to have a corporation like Frey's supporting it, and there are other supporters too; a company called City Logistics has recently confirmed that they will provide some much needed sports equipment. Our own GAGA supporters have also contributed tremendously to this school, both with the ongoing funding which helps to pay salaries and provide learning materials and equipment but also with practical help, like the redevelopment of the kitchen worksurfaces and cupboards and the creation of a learning vegetable garden. <br />
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We feel that there is immense potential to continue to support FSR and see it develop and thrive - watch our Face Book and Web Site for further plans as they materialise.<br />
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After school I went into Hillcrest to meet with Debbie who helps us "on the ground" in South Africa. Debbie met us at the airport last Friday but I hadn't seen her since, before the appointed meeting time, I popped into Pick & Pay to top up my SA phone airtime and there was a lady in the queue ahead of me. As I spoke to request the required airtime she turned around and said "Hello, we are meeting up in a minute" ha ha - I hadn't recognised her at all! Luckily, I was wearing my GAGA t-shirt so she recognised me immediately (nothing to do with the blight accent I'm sure!).<br />
Debbie has been working with GAGA since we started and she is an invaluable advisor and "ear to the ground" when we are back in the UK fundraising and raising awareness. Debbie is also a vital "go-between" for our Sangobeg scholars and she helps us to understand their needs and ensures they have what they need to be successful in their studies.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjiYr6T8HJ17bbZ6cj5vPWlIkuBO0XaAnflBiUi8BeSRuPQyfJURIxalVC5Nlepbl98PCFu1devrXrUeoa6TBDvCUDBZCzL-5Pzgy62tubZdko5vBY4wQ4H4XcXgOQFsDCIiEjbL_14mA/s1600/IMG_4535.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjiYr6T8HJ17bbZ6cj5vPWlIkuBO0XaAnflBiUi8BeSRuPQyfJURIxalVC5Nlepbl98PCFu1devrXrUeoa6TBDvCUDBZCzL-5Pzgy62tubZdko5vBY4wQ4H4XcXgOQFsDCIiEjbL_14mA/s200/IMG_4535.JPG" width="200" /></a>Debbie gave me a great insight into life in South Africa and she also suggested a super farmers market which I will go to on Saturday to see if I can acquire some interesting items to add to our merchandising range. We are hoping to be allocated a stall at the Stratford River Festival in July and, in addition to our popular bead necklaces and animals, I am keen to see if there are any other items that may be popular for the stall. Here's a selection of what we have purchased so far.... don't you just love those chickens??? And of course, elephants are always so popular!<br />
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A quick drive back to the accommodation at PheZulu and some admin for the day and I was done! Oh, and I have just remembered.. The Happy Mondays.... I'm not the only one who had a good Monday!</div>
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Claire @ GAGA UK http://www.blogger.com/profile/00433084410981694794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328785735583116340.post-91511355817108833272019-01-27T20:52:00.000-08:002019-01-27T20:52:00.982-08:00Meeting the neighbours<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
**************NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED!*************************<br />
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It's still a little cloudy and overcast here in KZN - waking up this morning the mist was nestled deep in the valley like whisked egg whites! I hadn't intended to drive today but was told about a Farmer's Market in nearby Drummond, only 15k down the road, so I fired up Keith the Backie and headed off. It was a small market of only a dozen or so stalls, and largely produce *(eggs, biltong, marinades and sauces etc) as well as some great furniture and household items made from reclaimed pallets. Couldn't resist a Mozambique jalapeno marinade - will be bringing that back to the UK - but nothing suitable for our GAGA merchandising. On the way back I stopped briefly at the Comrades Wall, read all about it here: <a class="mw-jump-link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comrades_Marathon#p-search">search</a><br />
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<table class="infobox vevent" style="width: 25em;"><tbody>
<tr><th colspan="2" style="background-color: gold; color: black; font-size: 125%; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;">Comrades Marathon</th></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;"><a class="image" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Comrades_Marathon_logo.JPG"><img alt="Comrades Marathon logo.JPG" data-file-height="99" data-file-width="103" decoding="async" height="99" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/dc/Comrades_Marathon_logo.JPG" width="103" /></a><div>
The Comrades Marathon logo</div>
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<tr><th scope="row">Date</th><td>May/June</td></tr>
<tr><th scope="row">Location</th><td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durban" title="Durban">Durban</a>/<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietermaritzburg" title="Pietermaritzburg">Pietermaritzburg</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa" title="South Africa">South Africa</a></td></tr>
<tr><th scope="row">Event type</th><td>Road</td></tr>
<tr><th scope="row">Distance</th><td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultramarathon" title="Ultramarathon">Ultramarathon</a> (90 km)</td></tr>
<tr><th scope="row">Established</th><td>1921</td></tr>
<tr><th scope="row">Course records</th><td><div class="plainlist">
<ul>
<li>Down: <div class="plainlist">
<ul>
<li> Men: David Gatebe: 5:18:19 (2016)<br /> </li>
<li> Women: 5:54:43 (1989) <br /> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frith_van_der_Merwe" title="Frith van der Merwe">Frith van der Merwe</a></li>
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<li>Up: <div class="plainlist">
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<li> Men: 5:24:49 (2008)<br /> Leonid Shvetsov</li>
<li> Women: 6:09:23 (2006)<br /> Elena Nurgalieva</li>
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<tr><th scope="row">Official site</th><td><a class="external text" href="http://www.comrades.com/" rel="nofollow">The Comrades Marathon</a></td></tr>
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The <b>Comrades Marathon</b> is an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultramarathon" title="Ultramarathon">ultramarathon</a> of approximately 89 km (approx. 55 miles)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-cutoffs_1-0"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comrades_Marathon#cite_note-cutoffs-1">[1]</a></sup> which is run annually in the <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KwaZulu-Natal_Province" title="KwaZulu-Natal Province">KwaZulu-Natal Province</a> of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa" title="South Africa">South Africa</a> between the cities of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durban" title="Durban">Durban</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietermaritzburg" title="Pietermaritzburg">Pietermaritzburg</a>. It is the world's largest and oldest ultramarathon race.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comrades_Marathon#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup> The direction of the race alternates each year between the "up" run (87 km) starting from Durban and the "down" run (now 90.184 km) starting from Pietermaritzburg. <br />
The field is capped at 25,000 for 2019. In all but three runnings since 1988, over 10,000 runners have reached the finish within the allowed 11 or 12 hours.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-ARRS_3-0"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comrades_Marathon#cite_note-ARRS-3">[3]</a></sup> With increased participation since the 1980s, the average finish times for both sexes, and the average age of finishers have increased substantially.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-lindsay_4-0"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comrades_Marathon#cite_note-lindsay-4">[4]</a></sup> <br />
Runners over the age of 20 qualify when they are able to complete an officially recognised marathon (42.2 km) in under five hours (4h50 for 2019).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-rules_5-0"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comrades_Marathon#cite_note-rules-5">[5]</a></sup> During the event an athlete must also reach five cut-off points in specified times to complete the race.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-cutoffs_1-1"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comrades_Marathon#cite_note-cutoffs-1">[1]</a></sup> The spirit of the Comrades Marathon is said to be embodied by attributes of camaraderie, selflessness, dedication, perseverance, and <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_(philosophy)" title="Ubuntu (philosophy)">ubuntu</a>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Cathsseta_6-0"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comrades_Marathon#cite_note-Cathsseta-6">[6]</a></sup> <br />
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On my return to PheZulu I browsed the gift shop here, and found some lovely items which I will try to negotiate a "trade price" for when the manager is around during the week. Then it was time to meet the neighbours. The first sight at the reptile park is an enormous crocodile, housed in a glass cabinet, this fella departed in 2012 at the grand age of 109, having lived at PheZulu since he was 50 years old! There was a little time before the guided tour so I strolled down the row of glass fronted snake cases. There are 11 potentially deadly snakes native to Kwa Zulu Natal and each one of them is represented here! Luckily they are safely behind glass. Many were curled up - it was a relatively cool morning - but the black mambas were very active and they provided a sinuous dance routine for the camera.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Boomslang</td></tr>
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I was very fortunate to witness a diamond backed rattle snake shed his skin - I have great video footage of that. It was fascinating to see the snake contracting and relaxing as it's old skin peeled back, inside out. A small tag did not come away and the skin started to tear, clearly the snake realised it was not coming off smoothly, so he twisted around and slid over the offending bit of skin to dislodge it fully. He was about half way through when I arrived at the case and it took a further 7 minutes for the whole skin to come away and the rattle to finally appear out of the sheath of skin left behind. Apparently you can tell when a snake is about to shed as it's eyes become milky to look at.<br />
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There are approximately 85 (give or take, as the guide said) crocodiles in the park, of various varieties, Nile Crocodiles, Long Nosed Crocs and good old African Crocs.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUJ1Ep1b_veW3iRvUjH7RVPgJvqvi5LPPa_8WuRg3ELvm7BmRpFC0bmEqhkKHLGt6cThI8Ua2NwuAfO-hoALizpzKNZAhM62NSEuif8ki9VrNIUDysPP1HGcFg5a8MEGIkFJRkT8Vruww/s1600/IMG_4638.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUJ1Ep1b_veW3iRvUjH7RVPgJvqvi5LPPa_8WuRg3ELvm7BmRpFC0bmEqhkKHLGt6cThI8Ua2NwuAfO-hoALizpzKNZAhM62NSEuif8ki9VrNIUDysPP1HGcFg5a8MEGIkFJRkT8Vruww/s200/IMG_4638.JPG" width="150" /></a> Crocs are basically lazy, they lie still and regulate their body temperature by opening their mouths. However, they can move on land at about 18km/hour and are much faster in the water, so if a potential meal strays too close to the seemingly unmoving reptile, the situation can change very swiftly. The crocs are housed by age, the tiny ones in an enclosure of their own, hugging the wall under the heat lamp and moving slowly over one another to be uppermost and closest to the warmth. The ones aged 6 to 9 years are the most vulnerable to poachers as this is the time when the skin is pliable and ideal for belts and handbags. At age 10 they mature and are able to breed. The crocs from age 10 to 25 are the most bothersome, they are aggressive and fight for dominance in the enclosure. Many sustain injuries, like one guy who has had both front feet snapped by a rival. The crocs do not need Vet's attention as they will cope with these injuries and heal well without intervention. <br />
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Moving on to the tortoise enclosure I was able to walk freely amongst them. These ones are very used to human contact although they are still shy and retreat to their shells when you approach. Then it was time to get up close and personal with a boa constrictor...…………<br />
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Claire @ GAGA UK http://www.blogger.com/profile/00433084410981694794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328785735583116340.post-23788224784980974652019-01-26T07:51:00.000-08:002019-01-26T07:51:53.389-08:00Soaked Through on Saturday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hello blog watchers! <br />
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Oh boy was it raining this morning!!! I had promised I would take watermelon and bananas to the children at Ithembalihle, so in spite of the torrential rain I headed out in the backie, down the drive onto the main road. The water was running down the driveway like a river and the road was awash with surface water. I sincerely hoped that SA DORIS (aka SAT NAV) would behave after the roadtrip she had taken me on yesterday, as I was heading back to the rural community that is home to Ithembalihle. Visibility was so low as I made my way through the roads of the Valley of 1000 Hills, familiar landmarks were hidden by the heavy fog and visibility was all but impossible through my rear view mirror and side mirrors and the windscreen was only cleared by my constant wiping. I was delighted to see the playground that I had noticed yesterday on the turning that SA DORIS instructed me to take - she was behaving! As I headed along the road SA DORIS kept saying "you have reached your destination".... but I hadn't! Soon I realised I must have missed the track that led up to the football field I mentioned in yesterday's blog! So, as soon as the opportunity presented itself I executed a 3 point turn and made my way back towards the last landmark I recognised. <br />
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Out of the fog I saw a track and squinting hard I just made out the posts of the goals! So I turned up and soon saw another landmark, the yellow painted post just before the gate. There was no sign of movement, such a wet day keeps every sane person inside, but after sounding my horn, a little girl ran up to the gate, closely followed by one of the care givers. <br />
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I was warmly welcomed and everyone laughed when I said I had brought the rain from England for them! Thandiwe (who runs Ithembalihle) told me that the person who arrives in rain brings good luck, so that bodes very well indeed for 2019! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcbgNDTBu2Xghrg6eV3qpCqvPVabe95SAT3m-gR7RtUWUaeynIFefb2DknCxPyLIUY62_oJbHiW_P7cxkkDSljZY0wJr1kkCexYpx0VSpw7IdqPLW8KwHFQ-52zFS7zcY-H43pRoyEo9k/s1600/IMG_4601.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcbgNDTBu2Xghrg6eV3qpCqvPVabe95SAT3m-gR7RtUWUaeynIFefb2DknCxPyLIUY62_oJbHiW_P7cxkkDSljZY0wJr1kkCexYpx0VSpw7IdqPLW8KwHFQ-52zFS7zcY-H43pRoyEo9k/s200/IMG_4601.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjakOk1XWc2hdcdPMXgDKt6ivmDDowh5s3lygpQoABLCLle1PosyoXlAOJMNAVSuA8h749MqVuL5v4OR2gOy6li7dFpKysqsbUuJmbiFNMHa9uGT3I6MM1nKHyUrE9w6YrSu_NCSlEINYM/s1600/IMG_4606.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjakOk1XWc2hdcdPMXgDKt6ivmDDowh5s3lygpQoABLCLle1PosyoXlAOJMNAVSuA8h749MqVuL5v4OR2gOy6li7dFpKysqsbUuJmbiFNMHa9uGT3I6MM1nKHyUrE9w6YrSu_NCSlEINYM/s200/IMG_4606.JPG" width="150" /></a>The children were delighted to receive their fruity breakfast and everyone also received a new knitted hat, kindly made and donated by our wonderful knitters who provide some many lovely items. There were also two beautifully crocheted blankets for the smaller children and two smart tank tops for the smaller boys. Some of the girls also received new school dresses and three of the older boys were delighted with their new football boots! The smiles and laughter made the drive worthwhile and the bananas were delicious! I was also pleased to pass on some new clothes for the older girls so that they could have some new things to wear while at home or to go to church.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ34Y6mhFPMSIH8YSCegh2QAbQfU-cPnprZURAra_H80Ho1OVFx1qkfCgFD6t7dKjrwkAeHo6Hhkup1GNGnqkZXle3C4N2jIl2g1VQ45QDINbeRluq2IyAf3MOLJT4B03-Gqcl8zHxWo4/s1600/IMG_4604.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ34Y6mhFPMSIH8YSCegh2QAbQfU-cPnprZURAra_H80Ho1OVFx1qkfCgFD6t7dKjrwkAeHo6Hhkup1GNGnqkZXle3C4N2jIl2g1VQ45QDINbeRluq2IyAf3MOLJT4B03-Gqcl8zHxWo4/s200/IMG_4604.JPG" width="150" /></a>After saying goodbye I was very pleased to be able to turn the backie round and make my way out without the embarrassment of wheelspinning or getting stuck due to the mud! SA DORIS kindly escorted me out of the community and onto the N3 heading for Pietermaritzburg and my meeting with two of our Sangobeg Scholars!<br />
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The road to PMB was straightforward despite the continuing rain and the Liberty Mall was easy to find. I located Mugg & Bean (#favouritecoffeeshop) and then, as I had 20 minutes to kill, I wandered the Mall. It was interesting to see the usual brands, Vans, Adidas, etc alongside shops that I remembered from my childhood in Africa like Truworths and Checkers. I bought myself a rucksack (a bargain at R69 or £4) as due to luggage weight I had removed my rucksack to take my case below the 30kg level but was finding it rather unwieldy to manage with a shoulder bag that I had borrowed for the first week. Looking like a Grade 6 pupil (with my school bag!!) I headed back to Mugg & Bean and ordered a delicious and very welcome cappuccino! Sitting in a conspicuous spot with my GAGA T-shirt on, I waited for the students to arrive. Soon Pretty arrived, you may remember her story from the summer newsletter - follow this link for her story <br />
<a href="https://us6.campaign-archive.com/?u=5d954937833bad912d5416de5&id=5c152221c3">https://us6.campaign-archive.com/?u=5d954937833bad912d5416de5&id=5c152221c3</a><br />
She is now working at an NGO called Umkhumbi kaNoah which provides meals and school uniforms for children who would otherwise go without. Pretty is keen to continue her development and hopes to enrol in a PGCE course to teach at High School later this year. Hlengwe is one of our new Sangobeg Scholars, she is about to embark on a two year course which will qualify her as a Primary School teacher. We shared a lovely lunch and it was wonderful to meet these two ambitious and accomplished ladies. I look forward to following their progress and sharing it with everyone in our newsletter throughout the year.<br />
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Blogger is not letting me upload any more photos, so I will try to publish this one now and will update it later if t'internet starts playing nicely again! Bye!<br />
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Claire @ GAGA UK http://www.blogger.com/profile/00433084410981694794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328785735583116340.post-50992938711162957882019-01-26T06:50:00.002-08:002019-01-26T06:50:45.534-08:00Phe Zulu Farewell Friday for Sarah<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's FRIDAY!!!!<br />
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As of 5pm today, we have officially been in Africa for a week. This morning we are heading off the Ithembalihle - Place of Hope for a brief visit. Ithembalihle is now funded by another UK charity but we maintain out links with the staff and children there and like to pop in when we can to say hello.<br />
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Another quick visit to First Step Right to say Happy Birthday to Gael who is the founder and driving force behind this project and a fond farewell to the staff and children from Sarah.<br />
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Yes, it's Sarah's last day today and she flies home later this afternoon, it's also Sarah's last day working for GAGA UK - find out more here <a href="https://claireandsarahinsa2019.blogspot.com/2019/01/salakahle-from-sarah.html">https://claireandsarahinsa2019.blogspot.com/2019/01/salakahle-from-sarah.html</a><br />
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Claire has another full week and already has a packed schedule planned out.<br />
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Picking up from yesterday's blog.... lack of wifi and a long return trip from Durban to blame for not blogging last night.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZcnGXZj2yRJsbDZmlIu60zjGBnT2py4Q_BDBgGo3OWSmQe9brn4ATgqHmvm5Jp-8pJqgF_Lxz6XyrBWLR4i40PfF4grXOjb3EkJPWM7ZJD7ZqMi3DBEi1zJbtKvWMyumUTR4xGu2-r8c/s1600/IMG_4541.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZcnGXZj2yRJsbDZmlIu60zjGBnT2py4Q_BDBgGo3OWSmQe9brn4ATgqHmvm5Jp-8pJqgF_Lxz6XyrBWLR4i40PfF4grXOjb3EkJPWM7ZJD7ZqMi3DBEi1zJbtKvWMyumUTR4xGu2-r8c/s200/IMG_4541.JPG" width="200" /></a>So, best laid plans and all that... we went to First Step Right after a quick stop to pick up some apples for the children to mark Gael's birthday. When we arrived some of the children were still arriving in their taxis - these are the only form of transport, they are really mini buses or mini vans and the children pile in the back. Sometimes the journey is shared with some chickens and also on a memorable occasion a dead pig! The taxi costs R350 a month and school fees are R200 a month, which demonstrates the impact of the high cost of fuel in this country. Often families will pay the taxi and then fail to pay the school fee... so the child arrives because the driver knows he has been paid for the month and they arrive at school and cannot be turned away irrespective of the unpaid school fees. It is a constant battle for the school to collect the school fees on a timely basis. It was rather a wet and dull morning and we saw first hand how difficult it is to teach in the classrooms that don't have much natural light when there is no electricity! I had to use the flash to get the photo of the class above. After saying a quick "hello" around the classes, Claire stepped in to help the Grade 4 with their maths lesson - the skills of writing number in words rather than digits and visa versa, followed by expanding numbers... to show how the number is made up of thousands, hundreds, tens and units etc. It was good fun and the children are enthusiastic and keen to show their work.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNj5hol2ocdRY5SgEZ0_9XU8VtPT2vnvw_u3OGu4Mha836gOilgP5QilJ113cfP_nhqZVtZQ9go92LDz4wQawqPLQG3YRscY1Yia-IbZGfqc2NXUWnCvEL3Z5mEnVfa9vgDLz6DI_ADYw/s1600/IMG_4566.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNj5hol2ocdRY5SgEZ0_9XU8VtPT2vnvw_u3OGu4Mha836gOilgP5QilJ113cfP_nhqZVtZQ9go92LDz4wQawqPLQG3YRscY1Yia-IbZGfqc2NXUWnCvEL3Z5mEnVfa9vgDLz6DI_ADYw/s200/IMG_4566.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzaPcsks7vk8uE0odkKbCgtZenwwp-HV1bHrwmriaMRFzZDo8EtRoC8EcO7fEkBGF6diOaYpgGeWiKGm1iOqiclTn9nivFqIx7hpIXv2Cq7DvSBOXHwI55TcuihUbZBd62KS0RSNzyDGY/s1600/IMG_4550.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzaPcsks7vk8uE0odkKbCgtZenwwp-HV1bHrwmriaMRFzZDo8EtRoC8EcO7fEkBGF6diOaYpgGeWiKGm1iOqiclTn9nivFqIx7hpIXv2Cq7DvSBOXHwI55TcuihUbZBd62KS0RSNzyDGY/s200/IMG_4550.JPG" width="200" /></a> Just before break the children gathered on the back veranda to sing some songs, I have a video which I will share on our Facebook page shortly after my return to the UK. They sang the First Step Right School song and a lovely farewell song to Sarah! The children of the creche lined up on their veranda, out of the drizzly rain, too shy to sing along but looking so cute, all wrapped up in coats and hats! Whilst the children were on "wet break", playing ludo, snap, connect 4 or reading their library books, we said our Friday farewell. School finishes early on a Friday - 12 instead of 2pm - so the children have a short morning break and an early lunch before the taxis return for the trip home.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaiD9yBVDchYEC6kHs4HXZnl_kKaBm_l7_CdFI4dQFLxZV_OLlYntT8bnfzjpHh3iAqF5BGQr-I8YpsBKOXKQeJy-3y4Sh0MiQvA81Q80jlrd9rWxyvtoJEA6b6tgVpbCilJS5yTR_4Ps/s1600/IMG_4583.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaiD9yBVDchYEC6kHs4HXZnl_kKaBm_l7_CdFI4dQFLxZV_OLlYntT8bnfzjpHh3iAqF5BGQr-I8YpsBKOXKQeJy-3y4Sh0MiQvA81Q80jlrd9rWxyvtoJEA6b6tgVpbCilJS5yTR_4Ps/s200/IMG_4583.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm8wf1aVmsmLX0nD7tK9ZazXmfyUMoxmRsSANwBW04P7Wjb7l1tSwiqmL5Owuc6cs34DU1qqGsq-lsNwMQmflLoK2y0VJTfzCUpvtI2tz6p7CJqJCdk1SNEPuztv9uL7YQ4b8pso9EeZE/s1600/IMG_4584.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm8wf1aVmsmLX0nD7tK9ZazXmfyUMoxmRsSANwBW04P7Wjb7l1tSwiqmL5Owuc6cs34DU1qqGsq-lsNwMQmflLoK2y0VJTfzCUpvtI2tz6p7CJqJCdk1SNEPuztv9uL7YQ4b8pso9EeZE/s200/IMG_4584.JPG" width="200" /></a>We made a brief visit to Ithembalihle, so that Sarah could direct Claire and Claire could save the location to her Google Maps, as we realised that the planned trip to meet the children would have to take place on Saturday morning instead of Friday due to time constraints. The orphanage is in a rural spot, on the sight there is a creche, with 29 pupils, a small church and the dormitories with two sides, housing 6 boys in one and 8 girls in the other. Some of the children attend First Step Right whilst others now go to High School in PMB. The compound is on a steep slope, at the end of a deeply rutted dirt track. As you turn off the road, you can see a football pitch - or rather a flat rectangle of scrub grass with two wooden goal frames at each end (no nets) - and the track goes right across the goal area at one end!!! However, this is a good landmark and proved to be invaluable when Claire returned to the area on Saturday...…<br />
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Our next destination was Hillcrest where we enjoyed a delicious "Mugg & Bean" lunch - this is a super coffee shop / restaurant chain which is an extremely popular meeting place for us to meet with our Sangobeg Scholars for a rare treat! But today we were meeting our friends Mary & Adrian (from Letcee) whom we had stayed with for our first weekend. It was Mary's birthday in the week and they also wanted to say a final farewell to Sarah. From there it was a drive to Durban to the airport to drop Sarah for her return flight home. The drop off area at King Shaka was pretty hectic, Claire waited patiently for a space and then realised that waiting in turn was not the way to get a spot and just muscled in like everyone else! Sarah safely dispatched for the return flight, Claire then had to tackle the drive back to Hillcrest alone! <br />
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As the rain came down heavier and heavier, so the visibility of the roads decreased! Claire had her South African DORIS (Driver Orientation Road Information System :-) ) on and intended to follow the N3 all the way.... SA DORIS however had other plans..... due to the heavy rain and heavy Friday afternoon traffic on the N3, SA DORIS decided a country road route would be better and directed Claire onto the Inanda Heritage Route..... Well reader, I am sure this is a beautiful scenic route on a sunny day.... but Claire became increasingly concerned as the road wound deeper and deeper into the mountains and villages, when SA DORIS suggested a right hand turn that looked like it went directly through a rural settlement, Claire decided it was prudent to pull a U-Turn and head back to find the N3 - traffic or no traffic. Eventually the signs for the N3 appeared and, about 40 minutes later than planned, Claire was back on a familiar road and safely returned to PheZulu, our accommodation.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNfxcaKmKBgoGFRiHtS2ModBSJRZZbeKcn1ato5cB9YyMOdLx0HWaRWjne06thVEeajM17JsPGfRF71A6uPWiUHm-B437EtHXz9s1bPiEV31ugWeyAN6xgj-OL-N8I53lT-KII0QlUZtI/s1600/IMG_4586.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNfxcaKmKBgoGFRiHtS2ModBSJRZZbeKcn1ato5cB9YyMOdLx0HWaRWjne06thVEeajM17JsPGfRF71A6uPWiUHm-B437EtHXz9s1bPiEV31ugWeyAN6xgj-OL-N8I53lT-KII0QlUZtI/s200/IMG_4586.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQoZcfLUCUs8BzAbelTVCX_NpC_OoEEvaloOd1DaOrPg8Xsx68BsYPcbrnyToEmTWw18aRhB3BzZFbjXoNZ2GIsph4fIxLIQB6geYroJcKKk8wtgtHeYMKjFiKFwDRIUFjcfcL480cwl8/s1600/IMG_4588.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQoZcfLUCUs8BzAbelTVCX_NpC_OoEEvaloOd1DaOrPg8Xsx68BsYPcbrnyToEmTWw18aRhB3BzZFbjXoNZ2GIsph4fIxLIQB6geYroJcKKk8wtgtHeYMKjFiKFwDRIUFjcfcL480cwl8/s200/IMG_4588.JPG" width="200" /></a>As the lodge is fully booked for the weekend, Claire has been moved to a chalet overlooking the Valley of 1000 Hills. This will be beautiful.... once the cloud clears! After a little problem with the lights was resolved, Claire curled up on the sofa and enjoyed a well deserved glass of South African Sauvignon Blanc with a gecko for company! And so, to bed! A full week done in South Africa and so many sights and sounds, thoughts and plans to bring back to the UK.<br />
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Claire @ GAGA UK http://www.blogger.com/profile/00433084410981694794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328785735583116340.post-82400846129250263452019-01-24T12:18:00.004-08:002019-01-24T12:19:18.448-08:00Thundery Thursday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A thunder storm in the night knocked out our power from 2 am and we awoke to a drizzly morning. After boiling a pan on the stove to make coffee (essential), we headed out to 1000 Hills Community Helpers for their General Clinic day. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFg8xxUyszgF04vAT3JxqNc9ZAsaM14dC-Ao_7AXOiL_TbKagnK1QhWCF8tfM5nDDC9i6DLeUbJP4gx1RYdsZl-wi9t0FIwRX9iNkt-sOHUXkou_3nSKclzpBJ47t0zGMUQFVGgLr0iKA/s1600/IMG_4481.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFg8xxUyszgF04vAT3JxqNc9ZAsaM14dC-Ao_7AXOiL_TbKagnK1QhWCF8tfM5nDDC9i6DLeUbJP4gx1RYdsZl-wi9t0FIwRX9iNkt-sOHUXkou_3nSKclzpBJ47t0zGMUQFVGgLr0iKA/s320/IMG_4481.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
We had the pleasure of delivering the dressings and other medical supplies that had been donated by Bidford Pharmacy (open boxes of dressings are often returned to pharmacies in the UK but they cannot re-dispense them so they are often wasted). Many thanks to Bidford Pharmacy for their donation, Karen was so delighted and she immediately opened the bag and extracted two dressings that she needed to dress an abscess on a patient's neck. The medical supplies are largely donated and the clinic will use what they have and adapt it accordingly. They are also very resourceful and will split bandages into thirds, using one third per patient. Medicines are also dispensed sparingly, patients are given a small amount of medication or ointment (maybe three days worth). This is for two reasons, firstly scarcity as medicines are expensive and the budget is limited, but also so that they can monitor the patient closely. If the patient returns after three days of home treatment they can assess whether the medication is being effective, if the patient is taking it correctly or if further intervention is needed.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5erOO_xLcXQ17z6Chrdw-2NY0Ykt4L97_P8DBhUkhg81GgYdHGn8tQTkdRuxprWDB1oDckslmjNS0StfWenIsFmFUDpVzHZB5mNf2sVbTkGyo2t2UQ_eUrQqdLHKfMgIr9oGmym5zXXU/s1600/6efc3e4e-c8a6-4aba-b299-fb6bea0fd8ee.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="722" data-original-width="1280" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5erOO_xLcXQ17z6Chrdw-2NY0Ykt4L97_P8DBhUkhg81GgYdHGn8tQTkdRuxprWDB1oDckslmjNS0StfWenIsFmFUDpVzHZB5mNf2sVbTkGyo2t2UQ_eUrQqdLHKfMgIr9oGmym5zXXU/s200/6efc3e4e-c8a6-4aba-b299-fb6bea0fd8ee.JPG" width="200" /></a>The clinic is staffed largely by a volunteer workforce, some are retired from the medical profession and give their time and expertise one or two days a week and others are employed in the health service and volunteer their time and skills on their days off. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJs3qie3uNrIp_0XhzKmTl25y3XojMSbSrQ71ZFvoEYAKWbyRfUbqPqNTRqQKadFYJg6i6jEepsaYOiUHRk3NCTxFbsyiMRQ_OW-T0SGYrGJpe3G1t0Fu54GtECthJ48Yet3M5hy2ACqY/s1600/14ab985c-58f7-4673-bcf4-9515e386eb9b.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="722" data-original-width="1280" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJs3qie3uNrIp_0XhzKmTl25y3XojMSbSrQ71ZFvoEYAKWbyRfUbqPqNTRqQKadFYJg6i6jEepsaYOiUHRk3NCTxFbsyiMRQ_OW-T0SGYrGJpe3G1t0Fu54GtECthJ48Yet3M5hy2ACqY/s200/14ab985c-58f7-4673-bcf4-9515e386eb9b.JPG" width="200" /></a>There are so many jobs to do and so many patients to see - there were about 50 patients inside the clinic waiting area at 8:30 am and at least twice that waiting outside on the veranda - that every volunteer is cherished and their contribution greatly valued. The system works like clockwork, patients come in with their card, their record is retrieved from the filing cabinet, they move to the next desk for their obs (blood pressure, pulse, temperature, breathing) and then are triaged to be seen by the Sister or Doctor as required. TB screening also takes place at this point, if a patient comes with a cough they are asked a number of questions about the duration of the cough, exposure to others suffering from TB, history of TB etc and if they are suspected of having TB they are immediately referred for a sputum test.<br />
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The smooth running of the clinic is in many ways down to one man, Modise (photo above). He was born in Botswana and came to the community as a teenager when his parents died and he came to find his Grandmother. He asked for work in the 1000 Hills Community Helpers but there was no paid work. However, he was offered some gardening work which he accepted. One day, he noticed that the windows of the clinic needed cleaning, so he asked if he could clean them.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlsQkXjvh56prOE4PR0BbPMXNUdc2mSc3f6khli6tUlcUE4cLUxCj87THSQ3qMoL0b5sl8MJzN7Kfd4Lg-byaVCZlyHyeIf-eq6hzi9z2unyO4kunqFLV33drGA6BPSJLMlqFiecu6rcY/s1600/1000+hills+pharmacy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="1001" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlsQkXjvh56prOE4PR0BbPMXNUdc2mSc3f6khli6tUlcUE4cLUxCj87THSQ3qMoL0b5sl8MJzN7Kfd4Lg-byaVCZlyHyeIf-eq6hzi9z2unyO4kunqFLV33drGA6BPSJLMlqFiecu6rcY/s200/1000+hills+pharmacy.JPG" width="200" /></a>Through the windows he saw the boxes of dressings and medical supplies were jumbled and in disarray; he asked if he could go in and sort things out. His offer was accepted and he arranged everything in an orderly manner and labelled the shelves. From there his place in the clinic was assured, he moved into the records office and worked his organisational magic there too and now he is in charge of the card room which houses patient records for all the clinics. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaPhHBndZwyp93n8WQXUe31xMcndD-ob7Sk3QaWyrS-ALomDv8aEID_y2E8rVEzQM7eMzNwUemF7ks63TrsXLE4pW7mOJWjzy4j3tUVOrWmEvdiJZGn61K-P9rF_2cgM7d1caax5Vbm10/s1600/IMG_4485.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaPhHBndZwyp93n8WQXUe31xMcndD-ob7Sk3QaWyrS-ALomDv8aEID_y2E8rVEzQM7eMzNwUemF7ks63TrsXLE4pW7mOJWjzy4j3tUVOrWmEvdiJZGn61K-P9rF_2cgM7d1caax5Vbm10/s200/IMG_4485.JPG" width="150" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEils3SsXtIN5Ik9GvtTEioNmc1SiSWCAcjYa_twJednnsynMmCGJPvBf5hazYlSPcsKXlrzuzER091h5Ay-chJlmbIIy2kcqLgETDqK_GfSTY7_kkuvwiUnUcOg36mtj7EevT6zU3ka1CI/s1600/IMG_4484.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEils3SsXtIN5Ik9GvtTEioNmc1SiSWCAcjYa_twJednnsynMmCGJPvBf5hazYlSPcsKXlrzuzER091h5Ay-chJlmbIIy2kcqLgETDqK_GfSTY7_kkuvwiUnUcOg36mtj7EevT6zU3ka1CI/s200/IMG_4484.JPG" width="200" /></a>However, the team are not complacent and they are keen to hear patient feedback and find ways to improve their service, there is a suggestion box and a feedback form that patients can complete. These are reviewed weekly and suggestions taken on board where possible. Unfortunately there are many requests for the clinic to be opened on a Saturday and Sunday, as it is difficult for people who are employed to attend the General Clinic on a Thursday, but this is currently impossible.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwHrAfDh0viJ8NsAzv22IhYr4GgIlE04BOmOfOkU6qUZPJtvhAvin-XafHtIERcCVK8hA4gA_gS8orPUSND0p72V1n3AIW9dcF2UNwIAdlcjcxb5tkxoM8MgeNLW6S1abj8erZ6aQRIIU/s1600/IMG_4535.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwHrAfDh0viJ8NsAzv22IhYr4GgIlE04BOmOfOkU6qUZPJtvhAvin-XafHtIERcCVK8hA4gA_gS8orPUSND0p72V1n3AIW9dcF2UNwIAdlcjcxb5tkxoM8MgeNLW6S1abj8erZ6aQRIIU/s200/IMG_4535.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy2Nwkv-UW2BJQDUeAr0exfYvC15G8q_Iu3XFrYxdMkuXOm36wtHwEA85tB13YByxggJeWMWd8Dxi9tkAokmsrahEzy87iuu5RY-3F_aKfLt8t9MGkdk2Isq-iEZKNFhhizbJN3VoNlvU/s1600/IMG_4536.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy2Nwkv-UW2BJQDUeAr0exfYvC15G8q_Iu3XFrYxdMkuXOm36wtHwEA85tB13YByxggJeWMWd8Dxi9tkAokmsrahEzy87iuu5RY-3F_aKfLt8t9MGkdk2Isq-iEZKNFhhizbJN3VoNlvU/s200/IMG_4536.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaczUMQ6prXSlNHVVWfLJ62tVJts5hxxvLhwG4JwRUz9Jv05gZgkV5N1wz43N65-RN4Kxd72ft0ejUfK_3MAqIL_agUHPm-TdFxTvqRIPv5CwtiS2B9_3wpEtAtD-Ki5ayQMJznJBUduo/s1600/IMG_4537.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaczUMQ6prXSlNHVVWfLJ62tVJts5hxxvLhwG4JwRUz9Jv05gZgkV5N1wz43N65-RN4Kxd72ft0ejUfK_3MAqIL_agUHPm-TdFxTvqRIPv5CwtiS2B9_3wpEtAtD-Ki5ayQMJznJBUduo/s200/IMG_4537.JPG" width="150" /></a>After lunch we headed into Victoria Street Market in Durban, this is where one of our main beadwork suppliers has an outlet. We were delighted to find some new designs and look forward to including these in our beadwork sales - check out the chickens!!! We also have the favourites, elephants and giraffes galore! We bought a selection of key rings, some animals and also some letters which we hope will go well at the Stratford upon Avon River Festival in July (fingers crossed we get a stall allocated!), We also needed to replenish our stock of necklaces and we went in search of the stall that has supplied us in the past... sadly we found it was boarded up, but we came across an alternative outlet and have some beautiful necklaces. We tried hard to get items that would co-ordinate with the colour palette for Spring / Summer 2019 … but couldn't resist some of the vibrant colours that are always so popular as well! We were given an amazing demonstration of how one necklace can be worn 6 different ways... we've some video footage that we will post once we've worked out how to do it! LOL!<br />
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Our next visit was to the Crisis Baby Home, HOLAH (House of Love and Hope), Holah take in abandoned babies found by the police and social services and provide them with a loving home until suitable "forever families" can be found. Often these children have special needs or disabilities which mean that there are challenges in being able to place them with families. Holah will provide the child with love and shelter for as long as it takes, they are wonderful people who seek to give these children all the support and assistance they are able to offer. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibKERuyo2IxaTNG1noGXVcBOb6bdWGBdU_C_RqMuLIoQW3RiiUJi6cyfE2qaY9n0C2-__z2cE6sjsMCIDXrw5zebx6t5pVQ5PUr_PdzDhaE9HVgT5h3y2GL6ZlAzM5OJDyi9nLTNZYV2I/s1600/IMG_4499+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1554" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibKERuyo2IxaTNG1noGXVcBOb6bdWGBdU_C_RqMuLIoQW3RiiUJi6cyfE2qaY9n0C2-__z2cE6sjsMCIDXrw5zebx6t5pVQ5PUr_PdzDhaE9HVgT5h3y2GL6ZlAzM5OJDyi9nLTNZYV2I/s200/IMG_4499+%25282%2529.JPG" width="193" /></a>In order to respect their privacy, we do not share identifiable photographs of these beautiful children on social media. I would love to describe in words the experience I had at HOLAH today. On arrival we were met with L (aged 5), who proudly showed me her journal from school, this recorded her homework and reports from her lessons. She is a delightful child who is still looking for her forever family and her laughter when she is tickled is deliciously infectious. B, aged 3 was delighted with the wonderful knitted toys we presented to the children, immediately holding them close to his chest and kissing them tenderly. <br />
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Little baby L sat beautifully on her gorgeous knitted and crocheted blanket, surrounded by the delightful knitted toys so lovingly donated by our wonderful supporters. Little M came over to me and held on so tightly, his smile could light up a room and his bright eyes sought mine as he enjoyed a game of "round and round the garden". Some of these children have been born with Cerebral Palsy, others have physical disabilities; in a country where life is already hard the challenge of bringing up a child who will need extra support is just too much. For others, the challenge of a child full stop is too much...and this is why the service HOLAH provides is so vital and the demand does not diminish.<br />
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Today has been so thought provoking. We can't solve everything, but we can make a difference. For one person needing a dressing for an abscess, for one small boy with tonsillitis, for one child who needs those special parents who will see the promise not the problem. Night night.<br />
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Claire @ GAGA UK http://www.blogger.com/profile/00433084410981694794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328785735583116340.post-21680787853634451062019-01-24T11:57:00.000-08:002019-01-24T12:13:59.852-08:00Salakahle from Sarah... Well, it's my last evening here in South Africa and it's been yet another inspiring week.<br />
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When I return to South Africa I think that there can't possibly be more stories to learn, more people to meet and more friends to make, but each time I come I'm reminded of what a wonderful country this is and that it is full of heart-warming stories, hope and people doing the best they can to make their communities an oasis of peace and love. </div>
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As Claire has described, we've visited LETCEE, Hillcrest AIDS Centre, First Step Right, 1000 Hills Community Helpers, the Gogo Lunch club and HOLAH, as well as catching up with some of our Sangobeg Scholars and as always, we've been reminded of the great need for these organisations and the work that they are doing. </div>
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Without your support, we would not be able to provide crucial funding to these organisations doing life-changing work. </div>
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Thursday....</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyXZ-VSLPkulUt3S7VzOjlyeVJRJFKktjqN79pjT8H1ZZT3laVuoGi42dH8uuQFgLzJ3MV1wM6K8qZaL95L-9Ae1XBKpUKdZz-dGfhkUIj5VsQ80BW3XvH4tbJtrgPOXyJELA-GxVs2rs/s1600/IMG_5446%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyXZ-VSLPkulUt3S7VzOjlyeVJRJFKktjqN79pjT8H1ZZT3laVuoGi42dH8uuQFgLzJ3MV1wM6K8qZaL95L-9Ae1XBKpUKdZz-dGfhkUIj5VsQ80BW3XvH4tbJtrgPOXyJELA-GxVs2rs/s320/IMG_5446%255B1%255D.JPG" width="240" /></a>Thursdays are always lovely days anyway aren't they? The day before the end of the week when you can look back at how that week has gone, as well as deciding what still needs to be done. </div>
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Today was one of those Thursdays. Claire headed off to 1000 Hills to donate some dressings (thanks to Bidford Pharmacy, as always!). I had a bit of a lie in to try and recover from my man-flu which I've had the past few days. We then headed off to Victoria Street Market to meet up with Carlos who makes many of the beaded items we sell at the craft fairs in the UK. We're now very well stocked up - so don't fear... If you were just looking for a beaded giraffe, or that beaded chicken that was missing in your life, look no further!! </div>
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We finished the day at HOLAH, visiting Kim and Leanne. It's so great to hear that their year ahead is going to be fantastic!! (It's something we've heard throughout the trip, and I hope it's a theme for everyone we support, and for all of you, that '2019 is going to be a good year'). HOLAH is a crisis care home for abandoned and orphaned babies; they believe that every child has a right to family, and work hard to find 'forever families' for all the children in their care. This year they hope, they will move in to their 'forever home', a property to be purchased so that they have a stable place to live, and somewhere in which they can grow and develop as an organisation and as a place of safety for children. We wish them all the luck in the world. </div>
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South Africa is and always will be, for me, a place where I have found nothing but friendship, warmth and love. To all the friends I have made along the way whilst being at GAGA, both in the UK and in South Africa... what a joy and an honour it has been getting to know you all. I feel nothing but privileged to have gotten to know you all a little, and to hear of the lives you have touched. Thank you for welcoming me with open arms. I will follow your news and updates with interest and love and will be back in South Africa one day. </div>
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Until then.... Salakahle abangane. Stay well my friends. </div>
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<i>A fundamental concern for others in our individual and community lives would go a long way in making the world the better place we so passionately dreamt of. </i></div>
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Claire @ GAGA UK http://www.blogger.com/profile/00433084410981694794noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4328785735583116340.post-56934048600884447232019-01-23T12:37:00.000-08:002019-01-23T12:37:07.544-08:00Wow, What a Wonderful Wednesday!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hi lovely GAGA supporters!<br />
We've been back to school today, visiting First Step Right, a creche and primary school and Number Nine a preschool! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVvrOKiSJlRz1RnNMhdv9TpiBa17Mm-yt56qFp82LuK1Zj-BU-2eWC6ayewE16-K460w07aP7iBER7gIqSxWn1CNCr4HUtimJddsaVdzz42T_6L2RPH6OnLhV3ZsgnXZE0vutqDpnaMmA/s1600/IMG_4470.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVvrOKiSJlRz1RnNMhdv9TpiBa17Mm-yt56qFp82LuK1Zj-BU-2eWC6ayewE16-K460w07aP7iBER7gIqSxWn1CNCr4HUtimJddsaVdzz42T_6L2RPH6OnLhV3ZsgnXZE0vutqDpnaMmA/s200/IMG_4470.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaWV7pHEKacKutvxG0XHuoJx7TmNVx8q4AIIt_3luvsDp4mCsQh_uJyzWsvTV1EiU-3Gvw59dYJgBg9-qxaqV5D2mcfnHCXB4RLDgSUFb1-VE9pMrqDmCzDE4DKHj8E4GwA1MX8Q8P4gA/s1600/IMG_4465.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaWV7pHEKacKutvxG0XHuoJx7TmNVx8q4AIIt_3luvsDp4mCsQh_uJyzWsvTV1EiU-3Gvw59dYJgBg9-qxaqV5D2mcfnHCXB4RLDgSUFb1-VE9pMrqDmCzDE4DKHj8E4GwA1MX8Q8P4gA/s200/IMG_4465.JPG" width="200" /></a>We were thrilled to spend a lot of time with Gael and the teachers and pupils of First Step Right School today. Gael gave us a comprehensive tour of the facilities and we learned first hand of some of the challenges of delivering an inspirational education and pastoral care to 187 pupils ranging from 4 years to 9 years of age. Such is the demand this school year, that Gael has two classes in Grade R and two classes in Grade 1! We have some lovely video footage of the Grade 4's and 5's playing sport - watch out for this on our Facebook page in the coming weeks. We were delighted to hand over several copies of "James and the Giant Peach" to Grade 4 and you can see, they were delighted to receive them! Claire joined a Grade 1 class in their numeracy lesson and saw how well they understood their Even and Odd numbers and could recite them beautifully as well as write them down so neatly. Sarah sat in with Grade 2 and was impressed with the energy and enthusiasm of the class. Grade 5 were so happy to see the book that they had co-written with their preceding Grade 5 class, finally in print and several copies were covered in laminate and will be a super addition to the lovely library at FSR. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-zoL7drR1Vsg9RXnDLdQ4BUHa3ZaXaQLcATfW0WMI9LxGjBEGca-SzR1bDuzEE4m_szl3o1WSWIG_uT9IgVTDHRIz2srynaSW1SkZea7bejVxPvpSNdtbx-g5FXtCDtHsDKMv13cnRec/s1600/IMG_4432.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-zoL7drR1Vsg9RXnDLdQ4BUHa3ZaXaQLcATfW0WMI9LxGjBEGca-SzR1bDuzEE4m_szl3o1WSWIG_uT9IgVTDHRIz2srynaSW1SkZea7bejVxPvpSNdtbx-g5FXtCDtHsDKMv13cnRec/s200/IMG_4432.JPG" width="150" /></a>Just after morning break, we popped out to make a quick visit to Number Nine, a lovely creche & preschool accommodating 27 pupils. The children range from babies to age 5 and they have a lovely, caring environment. The super veggie garden supplements the food budget and we arrived just in time to smell the delicious aroma of a chicken and squash stew that was being prepared for lunch! Just like FSR, Number 9 has it's challenges to face, especially with the maintenance of basic facilities like toilets and the fabric of the building - both have issues with their roofs and it is so difficult to manage the demands of property maintenance with funding for educational and pastoral care of the pupils.<br />
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We returned to FSR in time for their lunch break and saw how nicely each class sat under the shade of the trees in the grounds, under the watchful eye of their teacher, whilst they ate their lunch. FSR currently provides a cold sandwich lunch or a porridge, as there are no facilities for a hot main meal. <br />
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After lunch the children rush to wash their hands before returning to the classroom and for the little ones in the creche, it is nap time whilst the older pupils continue their lessons. Each class has a designated library day and they all line up to return the book they borrowed the previous week and collect a new one for the week ahead. After school, whilst the pupils were waiting for their transport to arrive Sarah sat with some of the pupils to read all about a funny octopus whilst Claire discussed a football book with one of the older boys and was grateful for her knowledge of some of the players - thanks to her own sons interest in the game! To pass the time we had several rounds of "Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" which the children enjoyed immensely and had some fun taking photos of them wearing a mask one had made in his class! <br />
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After school we met one of our students and heard all about her ambition to become a qualified Chartered Accountant. She is a determined young woman and is studying her Bachelor of Accounting Sciences in Financial Accounting with UNISA (University of South Africa). She has successfully passed her first and second level and now embarks upon the third and final level. All of this study is in addition to working a 12 hour shift pattern of 4 days of days, 4 days of nights and 4 days off! A truly punishing schedule. She is a fine example of the Sangobeg scholars we are proud to support, her ambition and commitment is admirable and we wish her every success in this next stage of her studies.<br />
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The next meeting was with the organisation who own the land and building that FSR occupies, we had a very productive meeting and look forward to working alongside this company to support the aims of the school. <br />
Finally Claire and Sarah dropped Gael home and popped to the supermarket where our favourite parking guard, Keith, guided the backie into an impossibly tight space! In his honour, we have christened the backie "Keith" and Claire has committed to practicing her reverse parking technique this weekend! <br />
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Another fabulous day in SA! Check in tomorrow for more updates & please look at First Step Right's Facebook page for more information about the school and lovely stories of the activities and achievements of the children. Follow this link <a href="https://www.facebook.com/FIRST-STEP-RIGHT-116792908400910/" target="_blank">First Step Right</a><br />
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G'night!<br />
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Claire @ GAGA UK http://www.blogger.com/profile/00433084410981694794noreply@blogger.com0