Sydafrika
Umhlabuyalingana

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    • Dag 11

      Day 10 early morning safari

      14. april, Sydafrika ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

      We are up at 5am and out at 6am on a 3 hour safari to see the sun come up.
      So many giraffes! The sound of the animals around us is wonderful, crickets and birds.
      It's brilliant, bouncing around.
      We go to the river and see a lion with her cubs but to distant for a photo.
      We have seen to big 5 of animals!
      There was a monsoon last month and the rangers tell us they have never known it, so lush and green.
      We stop by the river for a cuppa tea and cake, this is where people get married. We have such fun as a group all messing around.
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    • Dag 12

      Day 11 I spent in bed!

      15. april, Sydafrika ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

      I got a 24 hrs sick bug! Which is going through us all. I was very close to passing out! But I'm much better now and eating again.
      3 off us stayed in bed and 4 went to the orphanage for the day. They did crafts and played games. They all said the children had a great time. Making friendship bracelets, using stickers for cards, playing with bubbles, and doing team games.

      Yesterday we visited adam, which was such incredible engineering. It amazed me that a large town is right behind it, if it ever breache, they would not stand a chance.
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    • Dag 13

      Day 13 at the biuld

      16. april, Sydafrika ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

      We drive to the biuld and can not believe how much the home has changed. It has a roof, a screeded floor and two wooden front doors.
      Our job today is to bag wash the blocks.
      We begin by collecting water from the pond. We carry buckets in pairs, and the Gogo pops hers on her head. She is stronger than us all!
      Bag washing, I learn is a cement wash that is thin enough to brush over the block walls filling the holes so they are waterproof.
      Some of us change into old clothes as we have been warned we will get messy. Lesley wears old PJs.
      It's hard work on your arms and splatters everywhere. I kneel down to do the low parts and let others go up on the scaffolding.
      The son of the family is cheerfully helping us as he has done every day.
      As we are clearing up the tools, we notice the Gogo and children leave and are all dressed very smartly.
      5 mins later, the most beautiful singing rings out across the site.
      We ask Chris, and he says they have gone to church. We ask if we can go, yes, but you must try not to get upset. We walk following him towards the sound.
      They have a tiny church full of people wonderfully singing the most beautiful songs, it sounds like it's coming from their souls.
      There is a grandfather in a suit at the back cradling a tiny baby. The church is ramshackle and brings home to us all that church is more than a biulding, it is faith. They have it in spades and seem truly thankful for things and seem happy that we are enjoying their service.
      We say goodbye and return to the lodge, shower and go out for dinner.
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    • Dag 4

      Day 4 Sunday am

      7. april, Sydafrika ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

      Had a very warm welcome in an incredible church today. So many hugs and smiles. Incredible singing and dancing so much love and energy. They shared their service with us and Dorathy from the school we met yesterday translated for us.
      We were invited up and I did a reading.
      The children were so incredibly well behaved, they could go in and out at leisure.
      I had to pop my hand over my ears a couple of times as soon loud and powerful!
      It was a very special couple of hours.
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    • Dag 4

      Day 4 Sunday afternoon

      7. april, Sydafrika ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

      We drove to visit a home biult before covid for a lovely man sponsored by Sue who is our pastoral carrer on the trip. She was overcome with emotion on seeing him again.
      Here if you do not have an ID you get no money, you cannot work, so cannot feed yourself etc
      He had been living in a tin shack and was lost and poorly. But Sue felt a connection on meeting him 5 years ago and paid for a home to be built for him. He now lives in it and welcomed us in today. After research by Coco's he was able to get ID 2 years ago and the government has built him a new home BUT he will not leave Sue's one. He loves it. He still gets food aid every month from Coco's as he has no job.
      We discovered today he is same age as Chris 54 years old.
      He has chickens a home and now pride.

      The roads were wet, its rained! We had to push the van as it got stuck!

      We visited 3 brothers who were given a new home 7 months ago. They are growing their own vegetables and biulding a chicken cope. They were pleased to see us and had a terrific sense of humor.
      We visited the family we are biulding for and start tomorrow. We leave at 7am to get to the site. It rained today hopefully it will be dry for biulding.
      Saw storks, zebras, cows and goats, loads of chickens all free roaming and often in the middle of the road!
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    • Dag 13

      Day 13 morning at Midwana School

      16. april, Sydafrika ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

      We drive into the school grounds at 11 am. and are soon surrounded by children crowding around the minibus. They are smiling and waving and remember us from last week when we gave out porridge.
      It is overwhelming so many faces looking at us. The school has 500 children and 60% are orphans. We stay in the van and wait for the teachers to guide what happens next.
      We climb out to say hello, so many high fives!
      Slowly, many children go into class, but around 200, stay out with us and form a large circle. Then it starts raining, we put on rain coats, they have none, and many are barefooted too. The circle moves under a large tree.
      A teacher asks us all to introduce ourselves, our name, where we are from, and what we do at home. He asks us to give the children hope and inspiration.
      I say I work in an office and help look after the environment, a child asks what we do to help the environment and I explain that we have alot of rain in England and to protect our land we biuld flood defences to protect us from floods, we help farmers look after the soil so we can grow our food and we think about waste and how to reuse and recycle. I also say I am a grandmother and help look after my granddaughter.
      Later a girl comes to me and says you are a grand mother and I say yes, she says, I have a grand mother and I tell her everything from my heart. I say that is so special, and thank you for sharing with me. She gives me a hug and runs off.
      I can not write it all!
      Paula and I lead a form of rounders, the soon learning and naturally divide into girls and boys. The girls develop strategies quickly to win and form chains through the balls. The boys keep moving the posts!
      Then we blow large bubbles so much giggling, but all want a go. We have to be firm to do it ourselves.
      It was a true experience. Most took their shoes off and played barefooted. We did it for 3 hours. I was exhausted but so happy to have spent time with them. They kept stroking my hair and high fiving.
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    • Dag 8

      Day 8 shoes

      11. april, Sydafrika ⋅ 🌙 20 °C

      In the afternoon we went and brought 10 pairs of shoes for children at the school! And we are going to get shoe laces.
      We also visited the studio where the clothes are made.

      At the biuld we took some photos of two of the children we are biulding for, they are looking out of the door of thier current tin home.

      At dinner this evening, it was hard to eat the wonderful meal cooked for us, vegetable pasta, Moroccan salad, and garlic bread, as we were all thinking of the children. We said grace, but it's was hard.

      Here is a picture of us making lunch to take out. I am writing this on the sofa in the lodge after we all had a laughter melt down. We needed it! But my sides hurt now...
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    • Dag 8

      Day 8 biulding 1

      11. april, Sydafrika ⋅ 🌙 21 °C

      We rejoin the house biuld around 9.20am and as we are getting to know the builders we joke saying ahh the Gogo's are back! But they are so patient and I'm taught how to cover the lintels with pug and make it smooth. I stand on blocks to reach. We move the remaing blocks to the home and I find a small lizard inside one! Heather helps scoop it out and it makes us both jump when it skuttles.
      Everyone helps and we are all bonding together as a team.

      PS, a Gogo is a grandmother.
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    • Dag 8

      Day 8 visiting Mdwina School

      11. april, Sydafrika ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

      Chris blog.

      Up at 5am today to ensure we left at 6 am sharp, to allow time to get to Mdwina School to serve porridge to the children before they start school.
      This is the only meal many will have all day. It contains all the vitamins and minerals they need, and once digested, it quadulpes inside them.
      It's 7am, and many are already waiting. They are quiet but pleased to see us. They line up, and we can now see that many do not have shoes or if they do, they have no laces. Most are holding a plastic container in various sizes, colours, and conditions.
      We take turns to serve...
      We think it's going well, then we start noticing porridge on your faces, eyes down bowl held out.
      Hang on, you've come around again. One has taken his jacket off and quewed again.
      We try and police this worried we will run out until all have eaten. But Chris helps saying give them seconds but a smaller amount. It turned into a little game, cheeky smiling faces, but thankfully, everyone ate.
      This fuels them for a day of learning.
      Assembly is lovely singing in straight lines, and one child reads to us all.
      They all file into class, and 1 teacher can have 70 children in a class!
      All learn in English and have a book containing all the subjects for that grade. Lesley asked about science, but everything is from the 1 book, no other resources.
      We help give the school uniforms we raised money for being given to children by
      Vamsile, who made them.
      We visit classes. It's very moving, and I think it's fair to say we all became emotional at some point. For me, it was when the children say thankyou, I don't feel worthy of thanks, as my life is so easy by comparison.
      We leave having been touched by the opportunity to meet them.
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    • Dag 2

      Day 2

      5. april, Sydafrika ⋅ 🌬 24 °C

      Arrived in Durban which had wonderfull mosaic pillars in airport. Internal flight which was very very bumpy! 4 hour drive with goats, horned cows and antelop along the road side and in the roads. Arrived at wonderful lodge, at Sodwana Bay but just getting dark when we arrived. Gegos on the walls inside!Læs mere

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