Read the first installment of our October update here.
Support
Group
Sadly
this month saw the passing of Khula Support Group member Dolly's son. Her fellow members, including African Impact Staff and
volunteers, have been supporting her through this difficult time.
On a
happier note, the ladies from Khula Support Group were brought to yoga
instructer David's house where they discussed the effect of other drugs on
antiretroviral medications before enjoying a dip in his pool and a swimming
lesson instructed by David himself!
An
applicable topic discussed at both support groups this month was 'stress'. An
interesting topic because stress can affect people in many different ways and
people have their own was of coping with stress. Members shared their own ways
of reducing stress and discussed what they found to be most affective.
Volunteers also made stress balls using balloons and sand for the members to
squeeze during the duration of the morning and to keep for future situations as
a method to help them relieve stress.
Furthermore,
this month at Ezwenelisha Support Group the members received new banana plants
which they planted with the help of the volunteers in their garden. As bananas
are a difficult crop to grow successfully, volunteers prepared information about
how to take care for there plants both in
English and in Zulu. We’re confident the Gogos know how to grow the
banana plants, and at the end of the month they were looking healthy. The end
of the winter months also means our garden needed new crops, which were planted
this month after the last of the onions, beetroot and spinnach were handed out
between the members by Gogo Joyce herself.
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| Reading Club has flourished even more this month! |
Other
It may
have rained for well over half of October (the estuary and park are looking
beautiful and green!) but that did not stop us from handing out over 20 Garbage
Pick-Up certificates this month. Even through thunder and lightning meant the
afternoon activity had to be sidelined, the volunteers managed to deliver their
Khula Environmental Initiative speech underneath the cover of Jimbo’s Car Wash!
Volunteer
Gabby and Volunteer Coordinator Carla painted the ABC's on the classroom
wall in Simuyne Creche. The teachers were so delighted that when they finished
they came into the classroom and started to sing 'A is for apple, B is for
Banana, C is for Cat...etc'.
Finally an
update on our Reading Club, and there is not much more to say than it is
continuing to grow each and every week. The number of children and their
enjoyment of reading continues to increase along with the volunteer’s ideas to
improve the Friday afternoon activity. Volunteer Ulla has suggested making
library cards to issue to all the children that come and read at the library to
give them a sense of belonging to a club and being part of a team – this will
happen at the beginning of November.
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| Volunteers and staff with their delicious braai on the beach. |
Weekends and special events
With few
volunteers at the beginning of the month Volunteer Coordinator Carla took the
volunteers through iSimangaliso Wetland Park on game drive where they saw
impala, buffalo, warthog, water buck and rhino. After an eventful braai where
they had to constantly chase away the monkeys they went for a walk on the beach
and a dip in the sea and finally stopped at beautiful mission rocks on their
way out of the park.
Volunteers
have also had fabulous weekends away at Bayete Zulu Game Reserve where they got
very close to the elephants and despite the weather had a wonderful time,
self-guided tours of Swaziland and a long weekend at Kosi Bay on a turtle tour.
One particular group’s game drive in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi park produced the Big 5
(leopard, lion, elephant, rhino, buffalo) before 9 am!
To hear all about our special events with The Happy Africa Foundation, check out THAF Intern Miriam Willmott's blog.
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