African Impact St Lucia 2015!

Hey everyone,

Here in St Lucia we are a new team ready for all the exciting project developments and new opportunities that await us in 2015!

I would like to introduce our wonderful new Business Manager Sianne Pedder from Tasmania, Lorna Bonnington the new Project Manager from Scotland, Alyse Umbinetti the Volunteer Coordinator from Seattle and our new THAF intern Andrea Martinez from Colombia! Our incredible Zulu team members are Mumsy our cook/housekeeper/coordinator, Nonhlanhla our Community Coordinator, Nokwethemba our Education Coordinator, Shwele our Healthcare Coordinator and Patricia our housekeeper/cook who is currently on maternity leave. So our diverse international team is looking forward to working together this year on developing our projects and bringing new ideas to our operations here in the beautiful St Lucia. This blog is a forum for us to share with supporters, past volunteers and friends what is happening on the ground here in St Lucia.

I would like to start the year by sharing the summary one of our current volunteers gave on his experience during his first week on our Orphan Daycare and HIV Education Project 

African Impact: Changing Lives One Experience At A Time

By: Brian Cockman, Volunteer, January 25 – February 8, 2015

African Impact uses Explore, Inspire, Impact as part of its tagline, but after one week of volunteering in St. Lucia, South Africa, I can tell you it’s so much more. Each of these words is brought to life through daily programming where volunteers can work alongside the community in order to affect positive change. Activities like working with children in the local crèches (daycares) and participating in HIV / AIDS prevention groups to learning about local Zulu customs and meeting people from all over the world, African Impact delivers.  

 

My first week I focused on education, which is one of several tracks you can select, and taught young children their ABCs, how to count, and several other enrichment activities aimed at making these young people more comfortable in using English. While at the Inkanyezi Creche, I joined two other volunteers from Australia in singing songs to teach the students their colors, body parts, and shapes. The children and the women who take care of them are amazing and truly make you feel welcome.

 

Also a part of this experience was a house-building project for an elderly lady (gogo in Zulu) in the community. She currently lives alone in a 10’ X 10’ (just over three meters squared) house. We laid the concrete floor in her new house on our first day and then put the roof on during the second day with the help of an experienced builder. What struck me the most was the gogo’s genuine gratitude and kind nature. I learned many lessons on this particular project, but perhaps the most important was this: Being happy isn’t about how many material possessions you have. Happiness comes from within.

This week, I’ll be on healthcare and HIV / AIDS outreach within the community. If it’s anything like my first week, I’m sure it will give me an even greater appreciation for this once in a lifetime experience. Hats off to all the African Impact volunteers and its staff for making this trip something I will cherish for the rest of my life.

 

Here at A.I. St Lucia we would like to say a HUGE thanks to Brian and all our volunteers so far in 2015 for all their hard work and commitment to our projects.

March Monthly Update

Some BIG projects have taken place this month and it was all down to our awesome volunteers who, with their commitment and passion saw the needs of the community and decided they could make a difference.

Volunteer Eline fixing Veronics roof

We can’t talk about the month of March without talking about nutrition patient Veronic’s roof refurbishment.Healthcare volunteer Eline came to St. Lucia with donations from her family, she wanted to spend the money on something that she could do whilst here. On her weekly trips to see Veronic she was very touched by this lady and how she was able to be so positive even with everything life had thrown at her. After some very heavy rain Veronic couldn’t hold her frustrations in any longer and told Eline along with our coordinators how it was so difficult living in that house with a roof that constantly leaked and wasn’t always held down. 

Eline came home and asked if it was something she could spend her money on. After a lot of planning and preparation the materials were bought and Eline and her team of volunteers spent a day and a half fixing the roof.  It is so incredible to see what a small group of people can accomplish in such a short amount of time.  The roof is now completely sealed allowing Veronic to live in her home without any of the concern she once had.
Take a look at the video made about the day at Veronics house. 

Volunteers Kat & Reid with teacher Nok splashing around!

At the beginning of the month volunteers and staff got an offer from a local business to take the children from Inkanyezi crèche to their swimming pool and give some lessons. 

It was the first time for many of the children to be in a pool and they all did so well. 

The boys at the end were even jumping in and going completely under the water. We hope to make these swimming lessons more regular and continue building the children’s confidence in the water.

The four children getting excited about the beach

 Huge progress has been made with all of our 10Families groups. Gogo and the 4 children are starting to show great improvements with their weight gain also the older two children are now attending school. 

Thanks to peoples kind donations we were able to help provide the children with school uniforms and backpacks.  

Volunteers had the opportunity to take the 4 children to the beach. It was the first time any of the kids had been in St. Lucia or seen the ocean, they couldn’t get over the amount of cars in town and where completely surprised at the amount water they were looking at when it came to the sea. It was a fantastic afternoon for everyone involved. 

The four children enjoying the beach

The three brothers have also come so far since volunteers started visiting them, they boys can now have a basic English conversation as well as counting and reciting their ABCs confidently. We are very proud with all the work that has happened with these families and want to thank all the volunteers that have been involved along the way.

 If you would like to read another blog about the trip to the beach with the four children then click here and see what volunteer Shelley thought of the afternoon. 

If you would like to find out any more about any of the St. Lucia African Impact projects then either link to our facebook page or find our website and get in touch! 

DELICIOUS BANANA BREAD

Delicious!

We had some bananas at home that were starting to take a turn for the worse so staff and volunteers decided that inside of wasting them that it would be a good idea to bake banana bread and take it with them to support groups! If you find yourself with an afternoon with not much on, have a go at this scrumptious recipe they followed..

Assemble the following ingredients..

·       3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed

·       1/3 cup melted butter

·       1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)

·       1 egg, beaten

·       1 teaspoon vanilla

·       1 teaspoon baking soda

·       Pinch of salt

·       1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

No need for a mixer for this recipe.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl.

Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla.

Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in.

Add the flour last, mix.

Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan.

Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve. 

This simple recipe is easy to whip up and makes a hefty loaf which is even more delicious served warm with some butter on top. Happy cooking readers!

Let 2014 Begin!!

The first two months for us in St. Lucia African Impact has been a whirlwind of awesomeness! So much has been happening and we’ve already seen 25 volunteers from all over the world already pass through our doors and put their epic stamp on the African Impact St. Lucia projects.  We are well on our way to achieving our quarterly goals and we are excited at all the enthusiasm that goes into making it all happen.

ISV Volunteers working hard on the final touches

A huge success was seeing the completion of ‘The Blue House’ after it was totally destroyed by a storm last November. With a huge thanks to the ISV team (an Australian university group) who were instrumental in raising funds in November, which helped replace the roof and repair structural damage. Another ISV team came through again in January and put the finishing touches by helping sand, plaster and paint the house transforming it into a beautiful new home for the family of 7. Thanks a million to all the volunteers and their families who were involved in making this happen!

The Rural Healthcare and HIV/AIDS Awareness project has seen developments to the Nutrition project with more of a focus on educating patients surrounding basic healthcare and positive living that will directly benefit them. Volunteers have been working hard on short information packs revolved around subjects such as, ‘double boiling water’, ‘healthy food’ and ‘exercises’. Topics have also been prepared for individual needs, for example, patient Veronic will be taught more about the cancer she has and how it is specifically affecting her body.  Combined with these topics patients have each been set a series of individual goals, once they have completed these volunteers will assist them with building a garden and a tippytap directed at improving their lifestyles in a sustainable way.

Volunteer Freya helping out at Reading Club

Volunteers from the Orphan Day Care and HIV Education project have been busy with Reading Club!! The first Reading Club of the year saw 75 children attend, we started with a simple come and read session with no certificate goals in sight, we just wanted to get the kids back and excited about reading again and oh how they were! Following this, volunteers had prepared new sign off sheets and reading member cards and registration got underway. With over 120 children registered volunteers are making sure as many children as possible are getting the chance to reach their reading goals as part of the Zulu Readers for Zulu Leaders program. 

This year two new certificates have been brought into play, diamond and platinum, with this comes extra tasks such as roleplays on their favorite books.. Watch this space!

Volunteers assisting the three borthers

We are happy to announce that the Vulnerable Children and Rural Family Support has seen an awesome progression with our 10 Families Project. The project receiving a revamp and the results are very exciting – with three families identified as vulnerable, volunteers and staff are working closely to assist with specific needs for each family. Whether it is education, assisting in and around the home, healthcare or helping the parents or guardians apply for grants, write CVs or giving the basic English lessons, everyone is benefiting from an afternoon visit dedicated just to them. 

We have so far helped the ‘three brothers’  (11, 8, 5) who have never received any formal education access the enrollment process to begin school.  It was such a special moment when we were able to provide the three boys with their first school uniforms! Massive thank you to all the assistance with fundraising through The Happy Africa Foundation for our ’10 Families’ focal project.

The Happy Africa Foundation (THAF) is constantly working hard to assist our projects here in St. Lucia and we wouldn’t be able to do the work we do without the generous donations. In the past two months we have had an incredible amount of donations come in and we have made sure they fine great new homes. 225 nappies were distributed to nine crèches and two clinics along with 144 items of clothing to After School Clubs and heaps of toys, books and stationary as well. THAF has also raised ZAR 3870 through various events in St. Lucia.  We are currently on the hunt for a new THAF Intern… if this is something you would be interested in then take a look at the intern page and drop us an email. Interning is a great opportunity to learn and experience new and amazing things while working within the beautiful communities that surround St. Lucia.

Overall the start of 2014 has been great and with the help of fantastic volunteers the rest of the year is set to roll out perfectly!

Scrumptious Bread Rolls

Remember those chilly nights when our lovely housekeepers made scrumptious butternut soup with delicious bread rolls? We would tease you with a picture to refresh your memory, but thought, why not try making them yourself for your family and friends? Follow the simple instructions below and see how you go!

Time to prepare: 15 minutes

Time to cook: 30 minutes

Serves: 30 rolls

Ingredients:

2.5 kg	Flour
6	Eggs
2 cup	Milk
1 cup	Sugar
1 cup	Cooking oil
1 spoon	Vanilla essence
½ teaspoon	Salt
4 teaspoons	Baking powder
½ teaspoon	Bicarb soda

Method:

Pour flour, bicarb soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

Take another bowl and mix eggs, milk and pour in the sugar and oil. Stir until well mixed. Then mix in with the flour.

Mix together with hands until well combined. Then add 3 cups of warm water. It should not look too wet or too dry.

Make small balls and place on oven tray.

Bake on 150degree for 30 minutes. They are ready when they look slightly brown on top.



Happy cooking everyone!

Brought to you by African Impact staff Nonhlanhla and Thobile Mthethwa.