FW: CUDDLE Project : Pre-school Equipment distribution

The CUDDLE project has come full circle - Training teachers , upgrading their facilities, demo teaching, and now providing equipment - the appreciation of the teachers are humbling to say the least.

Due to the generosity of the INVICTA group we can now systematically provide 5 pre-schools a month with equipments that will enhance the children's education tremendously

Dora broke into tears when she saw the equipment. It took quite a while for her to stop shaking her head in disbelief and then she started smiling with the broadest smile we have seen in a long time. After a while the whole pre-school broke out into spontaneous singing and dancing. Similar joy met us at the other four schools with teachers expressing how much it meant that someone cares and continually support them. The children were also interested in the books and stationary.

It was a wonderful day - long to be remembered.

With abiding love and ever thankfulness to our heavenly father.

Ignite2020 team - KMP

Team Zoomer Takes Durban

Team Zoomer?

During the months of March and April, the old white Corsa has taken on the identity of "Zoomer," and has been busy transporting the team of Rachel, Abi, and Lauren to various projects in the Durban area.  Here's what we've been up to:

Clermont After-School Program

We've partnered with an NGO called NOAH that is already based at the Christianenburg Primary School in the Clermont township, headed by a spectacular woman named Thabiso Hatshatsi.  The focus of NOAH's "arks" in various townships around KZN and Gauteng is to provide a safe after-school environment for orphans, vulnerable children, and children affected by HIV/AIDS.  In addition to games and educational programming, the students are also fed a full meal every weekday afternoon.  Thabiso wanted someone to come in and help run some of the programming, so that's where we came in.

Each Thursday, we work with an energetic group of about 50 students from nearby schools that have been identified as vulnerable.  They range in ages from about 7-15, and represent a broad range of abilities, engagement, and English skills.  We've tried to pair life skills lessons with fun activities, and have covered topics such as basic first aid, sewing, swimming (there's a community pool just down the road, but many of them have never learned to swim!), team sports, origami, and how to follow a recipe.

We really wanted to teach the students some basic cooking skills, but were faced with the obstacle of not having any source of heat or accessible electricity.  So, we decided we could still teach them how to follow a recipe and use measuring tools-- while making play doh.

Everyone wanted bright colours, so a lot of food colouring was used.  Some of it ended up staining our hands... 

The students had to combine forces and work in groups to sculpt monsters with their finished product.  (Apparently the group on the far right interpreted this as "make a birthday cake.")

 

Thabiso chose the winning group, who demonstrated a lot of advanced technique.  Ferocious-looking.

 

Basic first aid was also a big hit, and we hope some of what they learned will serve them well in future situations.  We covered how to deal with burns, cuts, seizures, choking, and what they should do if they find someone unconscious.  Ambulance service in South Africa is notoriously slow, so any basic knowledge they can apply can help to keep a situation under control until professional help (eventually) arrives.

Lamontville English Class/ Homework Club

On Wednesday afternoons we run an English class with the Lamontville youth.  They're also encouraged to bring homework with them, so that we can help them understand assignments, or tutor them in math or science concepts.  We've been using a curriculum that Jude kindly developed and left behind (thanks, Jude!), and the kids are loving it.  The class is aimed at ages 10-15, but we have a lot of little ones who come along for a good time.  They sit down and colour while the others participate in the lesson, (at least, that's what is supposed to happen...)

It's incredibly impressive how after a full day of school, these kids are so keen to come and learn more.  When they've completed a task, they'll run up to get their work checked over, and beam with pride at the slightest reinforcement.  

 They're quite a tenacious group, and readily ask questions when they don't understand something.  They're also a good time:  after a rhyming activity that resulted in them presenting raps to the class, one student instructed us "now you can call me 'Smooth.'"  Naturally, we've complied.

Happy's

A classic volunteer favourite, we've taken up running Bible classes on Friday afternoons for the student's at Happy's (The Mason Lincoln Special School for Students with Physical Impairments).  It's always an interesting challenge planning the crafts to go along with the lessons, because their is such a broad range of physical abilities, and some students really struggle with fine motor skills.  It always seems to result in big smiles, though.

These kids are an amazing testament to perseverance in the face of adversity.  

 

 So many smiles.

Clermont Good News Centre and Sunday School

We've ended up teaching several  Sunday school classes at the Clermont ecclesia, and love the atmosphere of the Sunday service.  Our introduction to the ecclesia was on the Sunday that Durban caught the edges of a tropical storm, and the rain poured down, both inside and out (note the bucket in the middle of the circle to catch the drips coming through the roof).

 

Despite the wet introduction, Clermont has definitely grown in our hearts, and one of the Sunday school students also attends the after-school club at Christenenburg, so we get to see her multiple times a week.

 

 Note to future volunteers:  this is Wanda, he is the naughtiest boy at Clermont Sunday school.  He is also irresistibly cute.  You have been warned.

Sometimes Clermont gets so much sunshine. 

Creche Theme Workshops:  Lamontville and Mariannhill

Another one of our projects is running theme workshops at the Lamontville and Mariannhill Good News Centre creches, modeling teaching skills and strategies for the teachers that work there.  Conveniently, this task also includes spending lots of time with all the babies.

Rachel works in a nursery in the UK, so she brings a good deal of expertise to our creche work.  She also has secret baby-whispering skills.  They all want to be as close as possible to her at all times.

 

Abi is in the midst of a degree in child psychology, so she's also in her element in the creches.

Pile-up (on Rachel, of course), during story time.  The Zulu/English language barrier can be challenging at times, but we quickly learned "hlala phansi!" ("sit down!")

Only one month left?

We've been having a fantastic time sharing the good news of the Kingdom of God with so many children in the Durban community.  And of course, along the way, they've taught us so much about why Jesus said it belongs to such as these.  Good news indeed.

Repairing the house rented by Ramazini & Sangani

Bro Norman Fadelle (Illinois USA) reports on one of his many busy days whilst here in SA during this month of March.

Bro Ramazini and his wife Sis Sangani rent this crumbling, leaky, two-room building that is located "in the bush", on the way to Pretoria from J'burg

 

Lucas & Leona had taken Ramazini and Salinga home the night we had gone to the Congolese meeting 2 Sundays earlier; it was night-time, but we  were invited into their house; it was evident that significant repairs were needed -- as this daytime photo reveals

 

Having agreed for us to come, Ramazini stayed home that day from work; here we began to determine what to tackle first

 

The dwelling is home to the 2 parents and 8 children (1 adopted); the 5 oldest were at school; all the beds in this room had to be cleared out before the repairs could start

 

"Before picture" #1 - big holes in the walls.  What prompted us to come and make repairs was the story told by one of the boys the night we visited; he described and showed us where he had been bitten by a snake; this injury did not happen outside but when the snake had come into the house through one of the holes in the wall (or so the story went).

 

"Before picture" #2 = holes in the tin roof, rotting rafters, dangerous wiring

 

"Before picture" #3 - mud was pushed into the wall cracks and let harden; I had to dig it out before cement could be troweled in; the mud crumbled easily

 

"Before picture" #4 - corner crack from floor to ceiling

 

The van was unloaded of the things Michael had bought and packed for us: besides hand tools and shovels, we brought 2 ladders, 2 bags of easy-to-mix cement, 2 shelves and rails, paint and brushes etc. 

 

Michael patched the wall crack which had been "cleaned out" by me (using a screwdriver and rough brushes)

 

Lucas and Randy also had to brush down the wall before experimenting whether the paint would stick; two coats were required, with at least one more come; the man in the corner is named David -- he is the owner of the building, and lives in the back half of the structure; he is an out-of-work construction guy, and asserted that he wanted to help with the repair work.  [When we first arrived, David was standing outside, and Lucas confirmed that it would be OK for us to make some improvements to the Ramazini part of the house; I confirmed that the upgrade would not prompt a raise in the rent; David said that he had intended to do some fix-up stuff, but ran out of money; for him, we were a God-send: free labor and material]. 

 

The painters worked around the patchers

 

Ramazini patched the cracks in the floor, and was working here on the threshold between the two rooms

 

David was an effective "mud" slinger; Randy was putting on a second coat of paint; this front room was the easiest to work in, since (a) everything was removed from the room except a few bricks left in the center on the floor (b) the walls were relatively smooth; the ladies watched from the storage area shared by both families

 

Lucas took this and the next shot; one challenge was making the cement stay in the holes especially where there were big gaps; I went outside and picked up sizable stones to stuff into the crevices, a process that worked very well in both rooms; I brought in two tubs of rocks for Michael to use in the second room -- it also required the most cement. 

 

A goal was to get all the major cracks filled, with intention to have someone come a second time and  plaster the walls -- or at least smooth out the initial troweling effort

 

Break time -- it was determined that we needed to get more material, and did so at a nearby "Easy Building" center that was surprisingly well stocked.  E.g. we purchased some roofing tape that had metal on one side and "tar" on the other; it was designed to fuse with the hot tin which could be accomplished from the inside; it would have been dangerous to attempt getting  onto the roof from the outside (rafters would not be able to carry the weight)

 

We also bought some brackets, another bag of quick-mix cement, and a sheet of plywood (for a bed)

 

Lucas also bought lunch food for everyone; we decided to eat offsite, and thus be able to start right into the work when we returned to the house

 

When we got back, we gave the remaining lunch food to Ramazini's family plus David and his wife Nooke; they elected to lay out a picnic blanket and celebrate

 

It was fitting to have a feast

 

In case you did not recognize it, that's apple pie being eaten

 

This plywood would replace R & S's bed slats/boards

 

Lucas also purchased a hot plate for Sangani -- she was having to borrow one from Nooke

 

"After picture" #1 - but in the second room

 

"After picture" #2 - again, second room 

 

"After picture" #3 - MIchael had patched every hole in the roof except one -- and that's because he ran out of the metal tape

 

It took 3 men to mount this shelf

 

But they got it straight and firmly attached; the rail underneath the shelf allows hanging clothes etc, 

 

It was no small feat getting this shelf level and flush to the wall (which was not plumb)

 

Randy and I were very pleased with the day's labor and results.  Sangani said that the 5 older kids would not believe  what had happened that day -- until they saw it of course.  R&S still had to put furniture & clothes back in, set up the new stove and bed, but that was something they could and should do on their own.  What fun to lay out what goes where into the "new" rooms (which still need lots of work, but a solid start has been made).

 

Michael and Lucas were checking the outside for further repairs; Michael thinks he can install proper electricity.  Both  intend to bring out another team of workers in the near future for upgrade #2.   A new roof and rafters would be in order