Guestbook entries

This year, 54 of our volunteers took the opportunity to write in our African Impact Guestbook. Here is Mark Rippel's final entry for the year, the last volunteer to leave the projects for 2011.  

Mark takes the lead on teaching English to some of our
Ezwenelisha Support Group members. 

As my time with African Impact comes to an end, I can only shake my head in amazement that I've been given the opportunity to participate in their project.

My time and experiences here have been so rewarding - even life-changing. I came here knowing very little about the culture and the people, but I'm leaving with a lifetime of memories.

The people in the Zulu communities have been so welcoming to us. They have not only taught us about their customs (especially the song and dance) but, more importantly, through them we all learned about genuine hospitality and about appreciating each and everything.

Many of the people in the communities lead difficult lives but I've always been touched by their pride and dignity. They hardly complain about anything and no one who has spent any time here can ever forget the ever-present smiles both from the children and the adults.

Mark and his fellow medical volunteer Laura teaching the
"ABCs of HIV" to a group on World AIDS Day. 

I especially want to thank Michelle, Alanna and Sofie for all the help and support they give the volunteers. They make a difficult job look easy.

I also want Nokwethemba and Shwele to know that they are the keys to African Impact's success in the communities. Their dedication and charisma are amazing.

Thanks also to Mumsie, Zakhele and Nonhlanhla for making our stay so comfortable.

Most importantly, I want all future volunteers to know that over the past eight weeks I've beenconvinced that a small organization with dedicated people can make a difference. No kind deed or gesture can ever be deemed as being too small if it brightens the day of another for even a moment.

-Mark Rippel, Medical Project (October 17 - December 12, 2011)

November Update

November was an exciting month for all of our projects as we worked towards wrapping up over the Christmas holidays. Along with some great additions to our weekly projects came some new and very successful fundraising opportunities for the Happy Africa Foundation.

Read on to find out just how each project developed over the course of the month.

Volunteers Laura and Mark with Ezwenelisha Support
Group member Sindy and coordinator Nokwethemba.

Support Groups

Both our support groups have grown so much over the course of November! The members of each support group have begun recruiting friends and relatives to join on the weekly discussions. We were proud to see many new members at Khula even sharing the intimate details of their TB and HIV treatments. Khula Support Group also had a great craft sale at the St Lucia Bowling Club this month, where a few members even played a match against some of the volunteers!

Ezwenelisha Support Group has begun making bags which have started to sell amongst the volunteers. They are making bags of all shapes, sizes and patterns and have even put our African Impact logo on some using beads. The group has also started growing with the addition of a few of the member’s friends and the return of Sindy from school in Durban for the holidays. One very special meeting in November the group even walked to support group in order to encourage one another to live healthily and exercise. Another great meeting was held at David’s house, where Ntombi and even Gogo Joyce ended up going for a dip in the pool!

Home Based Care

Our regular home based care patients have all done relatively well over the course of this month. Gogo Joyce had to go to the hospital to get a minor surgery on her eyes, which went well. Gogo Breast Cancer is doing well although her wound still weeps a little and we are trying to figure out a plan to help it dry out again. Nonhlanhla went to the hospital over one weekend in November and returned feeling much better as her medications have been changed and her stomach has since improved. Veronica is doing well and we are very happy that she now has to make very few trips to the clinic, as they were both emotionally and physically exhausting for her. We also have a new child patient who has been physically abused – we are working closely with her and her Gogo to ensure she’s well looked after. Visits to her home have been especially tough for all those involved.

Volunteers have developed some great home based care changes over the past month, including adding more detail to the daily home based care Log Sheet and improving the card system used to track patients. They also did a great deal of research on both paracetamol and ibuprofen and developed some literature for future volunteers about each painkiller. 

Afterschool Club

Singing and dancing at Khula Afterschool Club!

We were happy to begin the new Afterschool Club in Khula this month! It’s been a successful few visits and the kids are getting used to staying after their regular meal at Senzokuhle to play the games the volunteers have prepared. Favourites already include Octopus, Soccer Baseball and relay races.

It was a very eventful month for Ezwenelisha Afterschool Club as many of the attendees graduated from Monzi Primary this month – an event many volunteers were able to attend. The group easily outgrew their weekly computer lessons and have already started to develop their typing skills, something the volunteers were very proud about. 

Along with the growing computer lessons, the kids have been playing their usual favourite games including “Lay Down the Tissue,” relay races, Blind Man’s Bluff and Stuck in the Mud. A solar panel was donated to us in the large container of donations, and this month it was fixed to the boy’s dormitory roof – a great addition for them as they can now use it to power their lamps at night without using the school’s power, which isn’t always reliable. 

Creche

During the month of November we continued rotating around to different crèches in Khula including Khula Nomathiya, Simunye and Dukuduku crèche. The learners at these crèches were extremely bright so the volunteers had to come up with interesting and interactive lesson plans. One lesson plan that was created included identifying “opposites” such as up and down, in and out, big and small – something the kids really enjoyed. Number games and matching games were also very popular throughout the month. We were also able to provide Malibongwe crèche with a new bed, and paint the name of Simunye crèche on their outside wall.

Sadly, the Induna of Dukuduku (where Inkanyezi crèche is located) has been arrested and we are trying to figure out the next steps with our refurbishment project. This month many of the volunteers worked hard at making bricks, but we were unable to finish the latrines we hoped to build this month. Increased talks between community members make us confident that the building project will continue with full force.

HIV Education

Our Adult HIV Education classes ended on a great high, with a 100% pass rate between June and December. The class has been so successful with the help of the local councillor putting together groups that attendees have begun asking if we’re running any other courses! We hope to keep the same momentum into the new year and perhaps develop another course that members of the community can take.

HIV education at Ubuhlebemvelo went very well at the end of this year, with our final class taking the course at the end of November. The volunteers worked hard to redo the lessons to make them more interactive and in order to highlight exactly what lessons correspond with questions on the test. A difference in how the learners were doing on the test was found as the last two classes did very well.

10 Families

This month we were able to reach out to our 10 Families in many different ways. The Mtshali door and window are nearly complete (despite plenty of rain which stopped us going there a number of times), and looks great. Although the Ntimbane family has had to deal with a death in the family that resulted in the family members being split up, they were happy to receive new school shoes for two of the children. Along with Ntimbane, a few kids of Mthembu I and Mtshali I also received new school shoes. The reinforcing of the Luthuli fence was also completed.

Other (garden, events)

Much to our surprise we were still able to cultivate cabbages, carrots and spinach well into the month of November. Although our beet root did not fair as well as most of our crops, we also planted corn, which is doing very well, and our newly-planted beans are also almost ready to be picked.

In November, we started a new fundraising project – our Happy Africa Charity Shop. Taking donations that we have been unable to donate to those in need, we sold them in our first Charity Shop at the beginning of the month. All prices were pegged below R20, and we were able to raise R1336.65 in just one afternoon! The community members were so excited and word even spread to Ezwenelisha, where we set up a shop later in the month. We hope to continue the Charity Shop into December and next year. We also held another themed evening at Reef & Dune, which raised over R2,000 for the Happy Africa Foundation.

All in all, a great month both for our fundraising efforts and for the projects as a whole!

To read a reflection about our special events on World AIDS Day, please see our Official Website.

Learning English

Ezwenelisha Support Group learning the parts of the body.

For those of you who are dedicated followers of our Facebook page, you'll know that we have been hard at work teaching English to both our Ezwenelisha and Khula support groups.

The volunteers have been coming up with English lessons at the request of each group's members, who in the beginning wanted to know phrases commonly used during support group. This meant things like "I had a good week" and how to introduce themselves. They also learned the parts of the body, about verb tenses and even spent some weeks doing fill-in-the-blank exercises put together by the volunteers.

From there we moved on to having debates, spoken in as much English as possible - one popular debate at both support groups was a "battle of the sexes" discussion about whether women were better than men.

Perfecting their use of the language will aide them in their day-to-day lives and is also a great skill to have so they can practice English with their children, who must learn English in school. It is a good tool to have if they wish to gain employment.

However, most importantly the lessons have been giving our members confidence like we've never seen them have before. Although most of the men and women who participate are generally outspoken and enthusiastic, becoming more comfortable with English has brought the support groups to a whole other level.

With one of the aims of the support group being the empowerment of the members, volunteers and staff have been ecstatic with how well the English lessons have helped us achieve this goal.

Perspectives

The following is a blog post written by Mark, one of our current medical volunteers. Please follow Mark's adventures here in St Lucia and beyond on his personal site. 

A friend recently asked in regard to my stay in St Lucia, "Are you loving it, liking it or just soldiering through it?"

I love it ---and a 20-minute walk through the community this week helped me put things in perspective.

I particularly enjoy the chance to establish a rapport with the people. This can be something as simple as a smile and "ngiyabonga" ("thank you") from a grandmother I've just helped out of a car, a friendly wave from a man working in a field as I walk by or the recognition and warm welcome I always get from members of the support groups.

The most rewarding experiences, however, are usually the ones I'm most hesitant and nervous about. That 20 minute walk wasn't just a leisurely stroll. I was on my way with another volunteer to teach an HIV/AIDS awareness class for 7th graders at the primary school.

It is a 6-day course taught in a straight forward but hopefully engaging manner. No words are minced and no subject matter is glossed over. There is a condom demonstration on an anatomical model and the students are given an opportunity to practice with a condom as well.

You all know me well enough to know that when I first arrived here the thought of teaching such a course made me uncomfortable if not terrified. I made up my mind, however, that such a course is absolutely critical in a community where potentially 8 out of 10 people are infected with the virus.

The staff here mentioned that time and again past volunteers have commented that, despite early apprehension, teaching the course proved to be a highlight of their stay.

I am no exception.

Thanks to the interest, enthusiasm and maturity of the students and in no small part to the engaging teaching style of my colleague the course proved to be a great success.

As I watched the students eagerly participate in the class I felt a sense of price both in them and, I must admit, in myself for being able to successfully accomplish something way out of my comfort zone.

This is a perfect example of why I find my time here so rewarding.

Making the most of St Lucia

A hippo spotted on our latest hunt down by the estuary.

We live in a magnificent part of the world here in St Lucia, having the privilege to be located on the largest estuarine system in Africa. Living in such a unique area of the world, we try to make the most of South Africa's first UNESCO World Heritage Site, the iSimangaliso Wetland Park.

In order to do so, we take the volunteers on hikes in the park, encourage night drives and game drives and make trips to Cape Vidal, sometimes for surfing lessons.

However, by far the most exciting and unique experience happens every-other week, when the volunteers pile into one of the African Impact vehicles for a tour around the estuary, beach and town in search of some of the 800 hippos that call the area home.

Sometimes the "hippo hunts" are less than successful, though often we discover hippos roaming the parking lots near the estuary, hanging out in the tall grass by the beach road or munching on the lawns in front of the town's stores. One time we returned from an unsuccessful trip to find the hippo in front of the volunteer house! Other adventures have brought us upon birds, monkeys, bush bucks and crocodiles.

Hippo hunts serve as a great bonding experience for us all, but encountering a hippo in the road (while safely in the vehicle) serves as a great warning to volunteers both new and old. Only when one has experienced the hippo's size and agility first-hand can they really appreciate why hippos are so dangerous.

And it's a much happier encounter from the car than on foot.

The volunteers on a hike in iSimangaliso Wetland Park.

Hippo facts

• Hippos can weigh up to three and a half tonnes.
• Hippos have a lifespan of about 50 years.
• They are the third-largest living land mammal (after elephants and white rhino). 
• Hippos were considered the deity of female pregnancy in ancient Egypt. 
• Hippos will emerge from the water a dusk and walk as far as 8km at night to graze. 
• The name "hippopotamus" is derived from Greek and means "river horse."
• A hippo may eat up to 68kg of grass each night. 
• A hippo's tail is about 22 inches long. 
• Baby hippos are born underwater.

Graduation!

The Grade 7s all dressed up in their hats and gowns. 

After what became a very long wait for the Monzi Primary School graduation to start, we were thrilled to have the opportunity to watch some of our Afterschool Club Grade 7s graduate from primary school along with the school's Grade R class.

It was an honour to sit at the head table to watch the ceremony as other learners from the school danced, read poetry, said speeches and were given lectures by members of the community including one of the nurses from the Ezwenelisha Clinic.

Michelle and Nokwethemba speaking on behalf of African
Impact. 

Even our Business Manager Michelle was given the opportunity to say a few words, with translation help from Nokwethemba. Michelle told the learners that they had heard many serious speeches from their fellow community members, but they also must be certain to have fun with their education and enjoy learning.

Despite the graduation we will still be continuing Afterschool Club in Ezwenelisha, though we've been warned that with exams our numbers may dwindle slightly. However, just last week we began our Khula Afterschool Club in partnership with the Senzokuhle organization - a great addition to our afternoon projects.

Our new blog

Hello past, present and future volunteers!

We'd like to welcome you to our new blog, which we hope will become an informative and interactive forum for our staff and current volunteers to post updates regarding our projects, and where future volunteers can gather information and ask questions.

Please read through our updates from this year and check back regularly for photos, updates and fun posts. Feel free to comment and share our blog as much as you'd like, and don't forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and through our official African Impact Blog.

Enjoy!
African Impact St Lucia

October Update

The kids at Impumelelo creche enjoying a game of
"Do As I Do" - which turned into yoga poses.

Creche and Holiday Club

This month started off with Holiday Club, which as usual was a favourite amongst the kids of Khula. Although the weather wasn’t too cooperative, the kids had a great week making crafts, playing games and participating in the talent show at the week’s end.

This month we’ve been rotating between crèches each week in an attempt to evaluate the crèches we will work with during 2012. We visited Impumelelo, Malibongwe and Snenhlanhla crèches this past month. The children at Impumelelo were so clever that the volunteers had to come up with some interactive learning games to challenge the children. It was great to see how involved the teachers at this crèche were with their lesson plans and how eager they were to learn from the volunteers. 

Malibongwe crèche was located in the rondavel of a Gogo in Khula and was filled with very small children. It was an interesting change to have so many small babies for the volunteers to take care of – one day they even helped the teachers to bathe the babies. Not forgetting Mama Gumede and Inkanyezi crèche, we have altered our plans so that we are teaching there every Friday.

Support Groups

Ezwenelisha Support Group has really flourished this past month. After a few discussions about how to get the group’s numbers up, the regular members started spreading the word about the meetings and we’ve subsequently had six new members. Even Gogo Joyce attended during the last week of October. With more members David has been able to begin doing more yoga and stretching with more able-bodied attendees while still giving regulars like Busi and Bheki the attention they need despite not being able to fully participate in the yoga sessions.

Along with the Ezwenelisha Support Group, the Khula ladies have been learning English this past month with the help of lessons prepared by the volunteers. From learning sentences typically used in support group like “I had a good week” to the parts of the body, the ladies have flexed their linguistics muscles and we’ve been surprised by just how much they already know. Khula Support Group has also moved to the Senzokuhle building, in an effort to improve our relationship with the community members and carers of the organization.

HIV Education

With the help of Mrs. Buyazi of the Ezwenelisha Support Group and a few other community members in Khula, volunteers successfully taught our HIV Education course to 41 adults this month. The councilor of Khula has been very helpful, allowing us to use the Multi-Purpose Centre for our lessons. A few of the members of the Ezwenelisha Support Group who did not take the course last month were able to take the test this month, which they were very pleased about. Although the HIV Education at Ubuhlebemvelo had to be postponed, one successful sessions was completed this month.

To improve our condom demonstrations, we enlisted the help of a local craftsman who has carved us 11 wooden penises to use for the demonstrations – it was a big hit amongst our adult learners.

Local kids walking home from the primary school are often
the best helpers in the AMREF garden.

Garden

Our AMREF garden is flourishing as usual with carrots, cabbage and spinach all being cultivated and given out on home based care and to our 10 Families. Although the season for these veggies is quickly coming to an end, we’ve still got plenty of carrots, beet root and onions to give out next month. The beans and mealies, which were planted last month, are quickly growing and will hopefully be used at year-end. 

September Update

At Reef & Dune to watch South Africa's
final Rugby World Cup match.

World Cup Rugby is upon us, the weather is warming up  and with the month of September came some amazing activities and coming changes that we’re all very excited for. Check out what’s been going on this month on our projects.

Creche

At the end of this month, the Induna of Khula has asked us to move on to other crèches in the community who are in need of African Impact volunteer’s help. With the children at Snenhlanhla and Ndabenhle doing so well with their lessons, the Induna has encouraged us to begin attending other crèches, in the hopes that we can reach out to even more learners and spread our love.  

As a result, volunteers have spent September reviewing many of the important lessons from throughout this year. This included reviewing days and months of the year, colours, numbers, the alphabet, hygiene, parts of the body, animals and shapes. When the children struggled with learning shapes, volunteers came up with a song (taken from the CBeebies) and made costumes to dress up like shapes and made a game out of shape identification – a big hit with all three crèches.

As a special treat, on the last Friday of the month both crèches were taken on a trip to the beach, which is always a highlight for the kids and the volunteers. Although we are sad to be leaving Snenhlanhla and Ndabenhle, we are confident that the teachers at the crèches that we have been working with are well equipped to be preparing the students for primary school without our guidance each week.

Support Groups

Khula Support Group continues to sell their crafts and this month they had a successful craft sale at the Ski Boat Club. The group had a very special session this month as the group ventured into Hluhluwe/Umfolozi to bless the park’s rhinos, an idea David came up with after hearing about Tibetan monks who bless the forests to prevent deforestation. The ladies were thrilled to see the rhinos, who all appeared during one of their prayers. The event got some great coverage in the local newspaper, which was a great way to improve our exposure here in St. Lucia.

Ezwenelisha Support Group is growing as the members have been discussing how to increase the group’s low turnout. The members are optimistic that they can encourage friends, family and neighbours to attend the support group in the coming weeks. Some of the ladies have even started to make bags to be sold in the same way Khula Support Group sells their crafts. So far a couple of bags have been made and they’re a great hit amongst the volunteers.

Home Based Care

September was a very positive month for our regular Home Based Care patients, who are all doing well. Gogo Breast Cancer was looking well the last time the volunteers saw her, and Gogo One-Leg did go to the clinic about the sore on her foot, which is currently being treated by the clinic. Scared that she would have her other leg taken off, Gogo One-Leg had been hesitant to visit the clinic so this was a great development for her. Christopher and Veronica area both doing well despite their conditions, although Christopher still has some pains in his eyes he now has visitors that are helping him with daily chores around the house. The boy that was taken to the clinic with severe burns in August has returned home and is very grateful for the clothing donations we provided him. He is making regular trips to have bandages checked at the Ezwenelisha Clinic so we see him quite often. 

After School Club

After School Club started off with a bang as the kids went on a trip to the beach on the first of the month. Always a big hit, the volunteers enjoyed playing in the waves with the kids, who were as thankful as ever for the field trip. Always eager to learn new games, our Dutch volunteers Nadine and Jeanet taught some games brought all the way from the Netherlands and (although it took a while and the kids decided to alter some of the rules), they also learned Capture the Flag from Emily, our American volunteer. The kids also participated in a talent show halfway through the month, all receiving pencil cases with pencils and erasers for their hard work, courtesy of last month’s volunteer Mathilde.

Community volunteer Nadine carrying
books donated to Ndabenhle creche.

Other

Large donations began being distributed throughout Khula this month from our large container of donations that came in June from two former volunteers. After assessing the needs of crèches in the community with the Induna and his counselor’s help, we have delivered donations to five crèches and the Ezwenelisha clinic including books, tables, chairs and other resources.

Our AMREF garden is now filled with vegetables at various stages of growth – from cabbages, carrots and spinach that we are in the process of cultivating to mealies and beans that were planted at the end of the month. During September we were able to pick some spinach, carrots and cabbage to give to home based care patients and some of our 10 Families.

Inkanyezi building project is also moving along very nicely as the volunteers have been making bricks at a breakneck pace in order to begin building the toilets in the coming months, though a few days of brick-making had to be postponed due to a few large rain storms we’ve had in the last week. 

Summer’s here – August Update I

Home Based Care


The volunteers have been helping clean Christopher’s house, who is doing well – his eyesight is much better and at the end of the month he was able to run an errand and walk to the store, something many volunteers will be happy to know after he has been quite ill for a number of weeks now. Veronica’s condition remains very much the same – moving her remains a very painful experience, though she has been seeing the doctor so he can monitor her condition. 


It was a bit of a tough month for those volunteers on Home Based Care, as three of our new patients passed away, all three having only been seen once by our volunteers. We were also asked to transport a young boy who had been severely burned to the clinic so he could be taken to hospital – the boy’s condition is stable though he continues to stay in hospital. On the positive side, Thulani, who had been taken to the hospital with abscesses on his hip, had a skin graft done and is doing very well. 




10 Families 


It’s been a bit of a sad month for our Mthembu II family, as we have discovered that Gugu has been battling with alcohol abuse and leaving the boys at home by themselves. The four boys don’t have much to eat and are struggling with going to school as their youngest brother needs to be cared for and often their school uniforms are left unwashed. The volunteers have been going and playing with the boys, cleaning the house, dishes and clothes for them. 

We have also been providing them with food parcels each week and have been in discussions with the Induna’s son (as the Induna recently passed away) to see what can be done for the boys, whose grandmother wishes to take them in. Gogo Joyce also had her youngest grandson pass away. Volunteers paid their respects to her by bringing a food parcel of bread, tea and sugar. She was also very happy to receive the hoe we donated to her, so she can now tend to her own garden without having to borrow tools from her neighbours. On the subject of gardens, the Mavundla garden is doing very well with some help from the volunteers this month. Clothing donations and food parcels were also given out to the Mhkwanazi and Ntibane families. 



HIV Education


HIV education at Ubuhlebemvelo continues to go well, with our August volunteers coming up with new and innovative ways to teach and review the lessons with the kids. Getting them up off their feet playing games and doing quizzes proved to be a great strategy, as 15 of the 17 learners in the last class passed the course’s test. By learning from one another and creating improved teaching strategies, this month’s volunteers have really developed the program in different ways, and the students are certainly seeing the benefits. 

Summer’s here – August Update II

Support groups


After a successful move to the church, the Ezwenelisha Support Group has been doing very well and the number of attendees is increasing. One week, the group learned about the health benefits of brown bread, and even had a blindfolded taste-test to see which they preferred – with the healthier brown bread coming out on top of course! Renewed talks about making bags and sarongs have begun and some of the group’s members are eager to embark on a money-making venture, particularly after their July visit to the Khula Support Group. 


Khula Support Group is of course, still going strong. The ladies were particularly entertained by Happy Girl’s recent visit to Johannesburg by airplane. In the past few weeks the ladies have been learning about female cancers, including breast and uterine cancer, which has led to some great discussions. They even learned how to do regular breast examinations on themselves. David continues to make his regular visits and the ladies enjoy furthering their yoga learning – including headstands! 



Creche


This past month, the volunteers have been teaching the children about different cultures around the world, as well as Zulu culture. The kids have been having fun doing things like singing “The Grand Old King of Zulu” (created by U.K volunteer Louise Boardman) and learning the colours of the British, Canadian and South African flags.
The volunteers have also begun to review important lessons at all three crèches, including shapes, numbers, colours and the days of the month and year. After speaking to a local Grade R teacher who said reviewing these things are important for learners entering primary school, the August volunteers came up with different games for the kids to review these important lessons. 
After a wonderful suggestion from a few of our August volunteers, this month we made a brand new bed for Ndabenhle crèche, so the babies no longer have to lay on the mats on the floor. 



AMREF Garden


The AMREF garden has been such a success these past few weeks that we have had to start making extra stops at the garden to water the thriving crops. The CWP workers, whose garden is next to ours, even asked what our secret is – we didn’t tell them it’s using chicken poo as fertilizer! If you’ve already seen the pictures you’ll know that our spinach, cabbage and carrots are well on their way to being harvested or already being used on some of our projects, and the recently planted beetroot and onions aren’t too far behind. We’re looking forward to giving out more vegetables on Home Based Care and our 10 Families project in the coming weeks.

A very rainy dry season – July Update I

Over 30 volunteers from various universities in the United
States had a great week with Khula Holiday Club.

July has certainly been an eventful month in terms of weather! The volunteers battled the downpours of rain in their waterproofs and overcome the strong winds, determined to continue their work on the projects. We also had over 30 volunteers from the University of California and Louisiana State University join our team of volunteers for one week. The end of July brought the height of our peak season and the volunteer house was soon bursting with volunteers from all around the world. Here’s a brief highlight of what went on during the past few weeks here in St. Lucia. 



Home Based Care 



In July, the volunteers came up with innovative ways of helping our home based care patients. The volunteers delivered a newspaper to Veronica, whose condition remains very much the same. They have also been cleaning and doing household chores for Christopher and Gogo One Leg. Christopher was having a lot of pain in his eyes (a side effect of the TB medication he is taking), which the volunteers and Nokwethemba were very concerned about, though his condition seems to have improved over the last few weeks. The volunteers are planning to bring him a care package of cleaning supplies in the coming days. Gogo One Leg currently has a sore on her foot so the volunteers have been encouraging her to go to the clinic. Although she was sick at the beginning of the month, Gogo Breast Cancer is doing well despite her old age and the wound on her chest is healing well. Bheki, after numerous visits to the hospital and still more to come, is still in pain although his Kaposi’s Sarcoma is looking much better. 



10 Families



After being quite worried about the Mthembu II family, the volunteers this month have been paying them extra attention, creating a CV for Gugu, making regular stops at her house, and starting a garden for her. With frequent help from Zakhele, volunteers also spent time repairing the Luthuli fence, digging holes for new poles and reinforcing the garden’s wire. Gardens have also sprung up all over the 10 Families project, as volunteers have been working in the Mavundla, Ntimbane and Mkhwanazi gardens and have been clearing Gogo Joyce’s yard to make room for a possible toilet. They have also made plenty of food parcel deliveries to the Mkhwanazi family, as they continue to be affected by several tragedies, including the death of the oldest Mkhwanazi son. The volunteers also visited the Mtshali I household, where they are planning to patch the family’s house. Our growing donations have allowed us to also distribute a number of clothes, shoes and school supplies to a couple of the families, including Mavundla and Mkhwanazi. 



Support Groups



July saw the Ezwenelisha Support Group relocate to the local church for the first time. Although numbers dwindled at the beginning, we soon saw more people start to attend. The Ezwenelisha group also spent one morning in Khula to see how the morning flows at their Support Group. They also took the opportunity to listen to hear how their garden and craft selling works, which gave the Ezwenelisha Support Group food for thought. We are hoping that next month we see the start of their own vegetable patch and their own crafts ranging from bags to purses. 

The Khula Support Group had a very successful month filled with many interesting discussions – in particular, the group discussed pregnancy with HIV and the use of ARVs whilst pregnant. The ladies spent one late morning watching Dolly’s debut performance in a movie filmed in Khula. As always, the ladies have been making and selling crafts by the bucket load and having a blast doing yoga with David. They even spent one Support Group teaching the volunteers all about how they make their crafts and jewelry.

A very rainy dry season - July Update II

Holiday Club



Holiday Club returned as the schools and crèches closed for the holidays. The volunteers spent the first week in Ezwenelisha where the children played many games – including the much-loved soccer-baseball, which had been introduced to the kids by JY from Canada. The Holiday Club ended on a high with a talent contest where all the children sang and danced which had the volunteers up and dancing too! 

While our volunteers were at the Holiday Club in Ezwenelisha, our team of American volunteers were playing with the children in Khula. This was highly successful and the numbers even rose to over 200 energetic children. The American volunteers marked the end of their stay with a talent contest and they even entered by singing and dancing the Macarena. Our volunteers were back in Khula for the last two weeks of Holiday Club, which they thoroughly enjoyed. Melonye, one volunteer from America, even taught American football to some eager boys. Other successful activities included “Pin the tail on the Elephant,” “Stuck in the Mud” and of course plenty of face painting.



Creches



After a three-week hiatus for the holidays, we were back at all three creches and the volunteers were raring to go with the theme of farming. The children have been learning about what animals are found on a farm, what noises they make, and what is produced on a farm. The volunteers have made their lessons more interactive this month by including practical lessons about how to use farming tools, even going so far as to bring spades, forks and hoes to the crèche for the kids to try themselves. Just this week they also took the kids on a little field trip, walking around the community identifying animals. 



The Inkanyezi refurbishment project is well underway. After the American group built the entire fence in just under three afternoons, our regular volunteers have begun reinforcing the fence, building bricks and finishing off the holes for three new toilets. Everyone has greatly enjoyed getting their hands dirty building bricks and hammering extra staples into the fence, but nothing compared to those volunteers who got to jump into (and clamour out of) the eight-foot deep holes. 



After School Club



Throughout the month of July we also continued with After School Club, even during the holidays. Despite it supposedly being the dry season, many afternoons were spent singing and dancing inside the classroom, though neither the volunteers nor the children seemed to mind. Much like Holiday Club, the kids continue to enjoy games like soccer baseball, and were even introduced this past week to “Pass the Parcel”, which provided an afternoon of excitement and suspense. Whether it’s organized sports days or just colouring with the kids, After School Club remains a highlight for all the volunteers.

The container has arrived!

Two volunteers from England who volunteered in September 2009 have been working hard collecting donations for The Happy Africa Foundation. 

The container is full of educational and health equipment - including desks, creche chairs, computers, 15,000 books, toys, 2,000 toothbrushes and lots more. 

After lots of preparation and paperwork from England and South Africa, the container finally arrived at it's destination in Khula village. African Impact are working closely with the Induna of Khula and his committee to ensure the donations are given to the right schools and people. 

We are excited to be part of a community event on Friday (8th July) where some of the items will be presented to some creches and schools, as well as everyone who attends receives a toothbrush & toothpaste! 

Along with giving out donations, African Impact volunteers will share information on dental health and HIV messages - a great way to get some important messages to many people! 

A huge thanks goes to Bob and Julie who arranged the donation and Education For All who donated much of the school furniture.

Winter on the projects – June Update

Kids and volunteers alike practice their Zulu dancing at
After School Club at Monzi Primary. 

Winter has officially arrived in St. Lucia! June has been a month full of enthusiastic volunteers, an unexpected amount of rain, and suitcases full of donations. Thanks to all the volunteers who were here during the past few weeks. Here’s a project update for all past and future volunteers. 



Home Based Care


HBC has been going strong in both the Khula and Ezwenelisha villages. As for some of our patients, Veronica is doing better and has been moved to a quieter house just built on her property, which she is enjoying. Thulani, who has large sores on his leg, has been transferred to the hospital and we will be checking up on him for the coming weeks. Christopher is doing well, though he is going to visit the hospital soon due to a pain in his right eye. Bheki has been a regular at our Ezwenelisha Support Group, though the Kaposi's sarcoma in his leg is giving him constant pain. Mr. Chips and Gogo Blind are also doing well. 



10 Families


Gogo Joyce’s fence has finally been finished and she is eager to not have her garden invaded by cows. The Mhkwanazi family suffered a tragedy this month when the family’s oldest son died in a work accident, leaving the family devastated. With their source of income now depleted, we have supplied the family with a large food donation. Over the past week the Mhkwanazi garden’s fence was fixed to keep the chickens out and new seeds have been planted for them. A clothing donation was also given to the Mavundla family, who have taken in quite a number of the community’s orphans in recent months. 



Crèche

Over the past three weeks the volunteers have been teaching the children at all three crèches about fire, water, and methods of transport. All three lessons included a day about water safety, fire safety, and safety around the roads. Playing games like “Red Light, Green Light”, guessing what items would sink or flat in a bucket of water and learning “Stop, Drop and Roll” were definite highlights. Volunteers have been ecstatic to be teaching the kids practical knowledge that could help to keep them safe!



After School Club 


The kids at Monzi Primary had a blast being introduced to the activity “soccer baseball” by a couple of Canadians last week and some even had a trip to the beach on Youth Day. The boys are doing well – keep an eye on the Facebook page for a photo update of their dormitory, which is looking great. After School Club has been a favourite for many of the volunteers, some of which got to watch and participate in a talent show at the beginning of June – what a treat! 



Gardens


The beginning of June marked the start of our Khula Support Group Garden, a large plot of land behind one of the lady’s houses that is still in the process of being cleared. Our AMREF garden is also going strong (after a few problems with invading chickens and turkeys) and tomatoes were replanted and doing well last week. 



Support Groups


The Khula Support Group has been busy with their garden and deciding on a business plan for selling healthy juices in Khula to generate some income. As usual, their crafts are selling well and all the ladies are healthy and happy. 
The Ezwenelisha Support Group saw a bit of a dip in participation as some of the group’s members are feeling uncomfortable in the Lifeline Organization building as they no longer work as carers. We are in the process of finding a new place to hold the support group and the current members are optimistic that the group will be at full strength once we move locations.

The year so far – Community installment

Following on from yesterday's Medical update, today we have 4 months worth of Community..



Creche/Day Care

“I’ve never smiled so hard as I do at crèche, playing with wonderful kids..knowing you’ve made their day a little more fun, a little more educational, and a little more loving.” Steph, April



“I have to start with the reason I came out here, the kids. They’re so full of energy which can be difficult to keep up with at times but it’s never a chore. They’re all so happy all of the time which makes it even harder to leave. The teachers are all so welcoming and really help you connect with the kids. All 3 creche’s touched me in different ways and it will be impossible to forget the time I spent at each of them.” Romin, March



The Community Volunteers have worked hard with the three crèches and have taught the children the alphabet, numbers, colours, body parts, houses, animals and hygiene. As much as the learning is important for the children’s future, so is the play, love and attention the volunteers give them. The volunteers are giving the children an amazing start to their English, social and life skills, but this has also been reciprocated by the children’s spirit touching the volunteer’s hearts and for many changing their perspective on life. 

The volunteers have also got down and dirty with Crèche DIY; fixing playground equipment, and making baby beds. 

Everyone really enjoys these sessions as their hard work has been physically left at the crèches to get years of use. A great accomplishment by everyone involved and hugely appreciated by the crèches, especially the kids! 

During the school breaks we put on Holiday clubs for the kids. 

Khula Holiday club had a staggering 120+ kids most days, and Eswenelisha had smaller but by no means less significant 20. All the volunteers worked and played hard keeping the kids entertained and happy; and happy they definitely were! 



“The kids that I have met inspire me to be a better person and to appreciate all that I have. I have had the time of my life and I can’t wait to come back.” Drew, April



The beginning of The Year So Far

Looking back on the year so far it has been a good’un...lots of great volunteers, lots of enthusiasm, and lots of happy people. 

Here’s our update from January to April, including snippets from the guest book.



We'll begin the update with Home Based Care and add project updates throughout the week. 



“I can tell you a lot about the great time and the fun I had here. How much you’ll fall in love with Home Based Care, the people that you’ll visit and your life here, but I won’t. Just experience everything yourself and I hope you have, just like me, the time of your life.” Claire


Home Based Care has seen an amazing 129 patients so far this year! It’s great that the volunteers have been able to reach out to so many people in need, and in some cases urgent care. The work on HBC has ranged from seeing a baby with an iron burn to taking amputees to the diabetes clinic to making regular checkups on patients with TB. The patients and families really appreciate the support the African Impact volunteers provide through first aid, food parcels, emotional support and clinic transfers. 

A few updates on some of our regular patients. 

• When we first saw Gogo Breast Cancer she had recently had a mastectomy. The wound was sore and dirty, but with regular visits from our volunteers the wound is completely healed. Both Gogo Breast Cancer and her hubby are doing well – the cutest old couple imaginable! 


• Christopher lives by himself and has sporadic support from his friends and family. He has been suffering from TB for some time, and has recently been diagnosed with a rare form that’s really resistant to treatment. At times he has been so sick that he can hardly move, and that’s when African Impact became involved. Volunteers have regularly helped him into the car to take him to the clinic for treatment. He’s not doing a lot better, but hopefully new treatment from the hospital will help him onto the road of recovery.

 
• Mr Chip’s had been doing well but unfortunately he has developed a chest swelling that the clinic have said is related to TB. Hopefully with a new course of medication he will feel better soon.

- Bheki has received some very good news; he’ll be going to hospital at the end of the month to have some treatment for the kaposi sarcoma that covers his leg. We are and will be in regular contact with him, and we just hope that the treatment gives him some pain relief. 


• Gogo Snake is appropriately named after her frequent unwelcomed snake visitors into her holey stick hut in Eswenelisha. We first met her in April; she’s bed ridden with arthritis. Our contact with Gogo Snake extended outside of HBC due to her need for house repair. The volunteers patched up the holes and in some places had to rebuild the stick structure. In recent news, the Government have granted her with a house; building work will be starting in the very near future! Gogo Snake's story became very close to the hearts of recent volunteers that they even composed a song for her.

 

So, that is the year so far for Home Based Care. We'll finish the update on a singing note with Gogo Snake's song.

 (Lyrics sung to ‘Music’, by Madonna)

“Hey Missy Jojo, put your visor on,
We’re going to cement Gogo Snake’s House.
And when the cement starts to roll,
It feels good in my soul,
We’re going to plug some holes.” – Zara, April



Last intallment of "The Year So Far"

Here's the last of the updates for now...



10 Families


The past four months for the 10 Families project has seen a lot of school uniform and clothes donations, food parcels, cementing, gardening, HIV ed, and general catch up of the families. The volunteers especially enjoyed cementing Gogo Joyce’s house. It was great to see everyone’s enthusiasm and passion to make Gogo Joyce’s house habitable. She has long been settled into her weatherproof house, and can’t thank everyone enough for her new home! Volunteers are currently building her a fence to protect her vegetable garden from greedy cows. 



At the beginning of the year we were unable to find one of our families, Mthembu 2. The husband passed away, and due to the culture saying the house is his, his family asked the wife and four kids to leave. They were left with literally nothing. We have regular contact with her and have offered support in many ways; food, clothing, and CV writing. The wife has had several job promises that have unfortunately fallen through and she has recently become very unwell and unable to work. But hopefully there could be a light at the end of the tunnel as she may be able to claim the family home back for her deceased husbands children. Fingers crossed!





Support Groups


The Support Groups have had a good start to the year; beaches, braai’s and a baby. Both groups have covered a wide range of health topics from worms to itchy parts to back ache to epilepsy. Some of the topics have provoked lots of questions, discussions and sometimes even friendly debate; most interesting being “I’m going to die because my husband won’t wear a condom!” The two men in the room backed up her husband, and the rest of the women in the room defended the female point of view to condom usage. 



For those of you who know Cindy, she will be leaving Support Group as well as Eswenelisha next week for Durban. She's going there to train as a nurse. Good luck Cindy! 

 

HIV Education


HIV education started very well at the beginning of the year with full if not overflowing classes. However, numbers have decreased in the last month, but with posters up in the clinic and new areas to educate; the Secondary School and 10 Families, there is always away to get the HIV ed word out there. From January to the beginning of March our volunteers successfully passed 94% of their students, a great pass rate! HIV education has also been doing well in the Primary school. 

The volunteers have enjoyed using the Secret Question box; a way for the kids to ask questions they may be too shy or embarrassed to ask. It has been hugely popular with the kids and has been a great way for the education to be more effective. 



April was a quiet HIV education month, but our two resident comedians took it upon themselves to educate and entertain fellow volunteers with an edited and very witty version of the adult education over the braai (BBQ). 



Clinic


Eswenelisha Clinic is one of our newest projects, only starting at the beginning of the year. We’re pleased to say that the relationship between the clinic and African Impact is getting stronger and stronger. The volunteers find the clinic really interesting as they get to see how the rural South African medical system works; very different to what we’re all used to. The Clinic really appreciate the support the volunteers offer to the staff and patients on both the busy and the quiet days.



“I would love to come back. I have seen things that have opened my eyes and my mind, and have experienced laughter, sadness and joy all in such a short space of time.” Rhiannon


Another Month Done – March ’11 Update

Time is flying by! 

The school term is coming to an end but what a good term it’s been. The volunteers have been working hard with the crèche children teaching them a variety of topics ranging from colours to body parts. One of the biggest achievements is that the children from Inkanyezi and Ndabenhle crèche, have mastered the pronunciation of ‘H’. It’s taken a lot of patience and perseverance from the volunteers, but the hard work has paid off. 



We have started to compile a curriculum for the crèches so that the lessons are more directed at helping the children to get to Primary School level. It will also be beneficial for the volunteers as it will make the planning and lessons more structured. A group of volunteers and Jo’s mum made a great start to it and we hope to be able to put it into practise within the next term.

 

The volunteers have had some great beach fun with the Afterschool Club boys, as well as the Support Groups. The boys played a lot of football, and the ladies from the Support Groups turned the beach into a semi nudest one! The beach seems to put smiles on everyone’s faces.

 

Our relationship with Eswenelisha Clinic is going from strength to strength. We had a great meeting with the head sister at the beginning of the month and she is happy for us to start general health promotion as well as advertising our HIV Education courses. She is pleased with the work that we have done so far, and is keen for us to continue there. 

It’s been a great month with lots of happy memories for the volunteers and the projects. 

Community and Medical Updates – February

Well we are very pleased to report that both the community and medical projects have got off to a flying start. A specific mention should go to the support groups; the members of both Khula and Eswenelisha are so happy to be back after the Christmas break and even happier when some of our community volunteers sold their crafts and jewellery on their blog. In total they sold over R2700 worth of items to their family and friends back in Holland! Thank you Claudia and Petra.



The crèches are also thriving but with some children attending for the first time the volunteers have had to get a little creative when trying to calm them down. One trick that seems to work well is getting a camera out! The children are amazed and easily distracted by seeing themselves in the photos. Take a look at some of the photos we’ve uploaded, the camera certainly does put a smile back their faces!



Here are a few pictures of Mpho’s last day too. We were all very sad to say goodbye to her so the volunteers got creative and decorated the house with banners and balloons.

That’s all for now, watch out for more updates coming soon….