In their own words: Volunteer highlights

As much as we love to give you our own updates from our projects, there are also plenty of volunteers who have spent their summers with us and have documented their own highlights. Whether it's their weekends away, their time on projects, or reflecting about their volunteer experience, the following blogs were kept by volunteers during their time here. 

Harmony with spirit
Created by community volunteer and UCLA international development student Perry from Colorado in the United States. Perry reflects on her time as a volunteer, attempting (and succeeding!) to make an impact on our projects.

Megan's travel blog
UK teacher and world traveler Megan blogs during her visits to our project, Mozambique and from her current teaching position in Ghana.

Sum bag lady
Canadian volunteer Karen blogs on tumblr from our community projects, despite only being with us for two weeks. She also had a chance to travel the Western Cape - follow her adventures!

42.3583N, 71.0603W
Sarah, an American medical volunteer, blogs about her time on our projects - her blog includes loads of gorgeous photographs!

South Africa
Voluntourism skeptic Pat blogs about his two weeks on our community project with his girlfriend, Monique. They're also avid world travelers, so their adventures are endless!

Flip-flops and a backpack
Former volunteer coordinator Kassie's blog from her time here in St Lucia over our peak season, as well as an archive of blogs from Mozambique and around the world!

Johanna's Adventure Africa - TIA
Follow Johanna's day-by-day account of life on and off our community projects.

Highlights of High Season: Part Four

Volunteers and Zakhele pose with a newly-constructed
ramp for one of our disabled home-based care patients.

The large number of medical volunteers throughout July and August have allowed us to visit over 67 home-based patients in need care - a great accomplishment to start off our last installment of our "Highlights of High Season" blog. 

Volunteers over the past two months have began using a simple home recipe for the treatment of diarrhoea called Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS). ORS is made using 8 teaspoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt per 1 litre of water. This has reported great success among the HBC patients that have tried it, resulting in symptoms subsiding within a few days.

Volunteers have also begun working in Ezwenelisha clinic on their busiest day (Tuesday) and furthermore have begun giving health talks in the morning on topics such as maternal health before they join our Khula Support Group.

During our visits to Gogo Breast Cancer in July and early August she has been doing well. Gogo's wound has been kept clean, however it is still bleeding when we remove the bandages. Unfortunately our most recent visit to Gogo Breast Cancer found her quite ill so we were unable to dress her wound. Gogo's husband is still looking after her and has been an inspiration to the many volunteers that have passed through. We are still seeing Gogo Breast Cancer weekly and keeping a close eye on her condition.

We have been visiting new home-based care patient Cute Baby Mama for approximately three months now and she is doing fantastic. Our first visit to this frail woman who was lying on a mattress on the floor of her house, she could not muster the energy to sit upright in her bed and had a weak two month old baby boy lying next to her. After our first visit it was suggested that Cute Baby Mama would be a good candidate for our 10 Families programme. As the weeks progressed Cute Baby Mama was seen once a week on home-based care and once a week to be delivered her Epap. This lady has completely transformed. Each week she has gained more and more energy, and has even joined our Ezwenelisha Support Group. And as a direct result of Cute Baby Mama feeling better here young son is looking extremely healthy.

Gogo Fish has not been doing well over the past few weeks, so Nokwethemba and the volunteers have made a concious effort to visit her at least once a week and sometimes twice to bring her to the clinic. On their HBC visits volunteers have been moving Gogo into the shade and trying to make her as comfortable as possible. You will be pleased to hear that Nokwethemba is continuing to insist that she needs to be taken to the clinic where she will most likely be transferred to the hospital and given the professional help she needs.

In other news, Gogo One Leg 1 is feeling good. She has been suffering from a cold the past few weeks causing her to feel some pain however volunteers were able to give paracetamol to help eliminate some of her pain and has reported to be feeling much better. The volunteers even spent two afternoons making a ramp at her home so she can easily move in and out of her residence. 

Sibusisio is also doing well. He has a lot more energy and is now up and walking around. In addition to the food parcels we bring Sibusissio has also received spinach and chilies from our AMREF Garden.

A big thank you too all of our medical volunteers over peak season. Your hard work and constantly wanting to improve the work we do has made a great difference. We would also like to thank those who compiled 'volunteer to volunteer' manuals so that new volunteers can hear it from the people who know the projects best: The volunteers.

Highlights of High Season: Part Three

Continuing with our "Highlights of High Season" blog, here are some of the goings-on throughout the last few months...

Afterschool Club

Volunteers have had a busy three months getting creative at Afterschool Club. In true African Impact style volunteers have embraced their freedom to be inventive with creating weekly plans filled with games, activities, sports, arts and crafts. They have made creations out of dough, sand pictures, papier-mâché, various ball games and educational learning games. Most importantly however they have given their time to play, read and colour, among other things, with the orphans from both the Ezwenelisha and Khula communities.

Keeping in theme with current world events, volunteers have had their own 'mini' Olympics at both the Ezwenelisha and Khula afterschool clubs. This involved the usual relay races and the like but also fun obstacle courses such as egg and spoon races, sack races and running with a balloon between their legs (the laughter from the children during this race was infectious)!

Volunteers have also spent time teaching the children the art of bracelet making. Remember when you were younger and everybody was crazy about making scooby-doo bracelets? Well volunteers were able to re-use those skills while making friendship braclets with the children from afterschool club which was a nice treat as they were able to take them home with them.

We have had a very talented group of volunteers over peak season that have utilised their skills and talents. On one such occasion, four volunteers from Venezuela shared their rhythm and dance moves with the children at Ezwenelisha afterschool club - teaching them a mixture of Zumba and Salsa and in return the students taught them Zulu dancing. Carrying on from this volunteers have also held talents shows at both afterschool clubs which erupted in song and dance and a lot of happy children.

On another note, volunteers and staff members Zakhele and Zanele put a new linoleum floor in the boy's dormatory in Monzi Primary School. The dorm now looks a lot cleaner and brighter! Over one of the holidays in August, the boys and girls living at the school were brought by African Impact to the Crocodile Centre in St Lucia and to the beach - an exciting day for everyone!

Adult Literacy / Reading Club

Although it took a number of afternoons, the container's
mural was a project favourite for many!

Peak season was also a time of great expansion for our projects and the completion of some projects that have been ongoing for a long time, like the completion of the library’s mural. 

Volunteers planned and executed a mural of a bookshelf on the outside of the container’s orange walls, leaving a space for the African Impact logo. They also painted blackboards on the outside of the container so that we can make announcements about upcoming plans for our Reading and Adult Literacy Clubs.

Adult Literacy Club has been a big hit in Ezwenelisha, where learners have practiced their reading, writing and oral skills. For a few weeks they even practiced interview skills with the volunteers. 

Despite success in Ezwenelisha, we continue to make an effort to get the community members in Khula interested in our Adult Literacy Club. 

However, our Reading Club in Khula has really taken off and is a hit amongst the Khula kids and volunteers. Every Friday afternoon, over 20 kids come to the container to read, sometimes with the help of volunteers and sometimes all by themselves. The aim of the club is to make learning fun, and it seems like that goal is being attained each and every week. We're looking forward to seeing these projects expand further. 

Highlights of High Season: Part Two

Karen, a community volunteer from Scotland, who gave a
very generous donation to the building of Inkanyezi
Creche, pictured here with Mama Gumede. 

Continuing from our first "Highlights of High Season" blog, here are some of the goings-on throughout the last few months...

Special events and THAF

Besides being very busy on projects, over the summer volunteers and staff were invited to events, planned extra programmes and engaged with the projects on a number of different levels.

The Happy Africa Foundation (THAF) certainly benefitted from a large influx of volunteers, as many brought donations in the form of toys, clothes and medical supplies, as well as monetary contributions to many of our focal projects. A big thank-you to everyone who brought donations, whether big or small, they have helped us make the most of our time at projects like crèche, afterschool club and on our home based care project.

Monetary contributions given by some volunteers helped us complete Inkanyezi Crèche’s classroom and have gone towards beginning the next stages of the building project. During our peak season we also held a THAF Shop, which is always a hit amongst the communities as they get to purchase some of our donations that we are unable to give out on our projects. 

Finally, with the help of our THAF intern, we were able to hold a pizza night at a local restaurant to raise money for our medical project. We also gave out a great number of donations, including loads of baby clothes that had been donated throughout the year, which went to the patients at the Khula and Ezwenelisha clinics. 

Not only was it a great few months for our focal projects in terms of our donations and accomplishments, but African Impact volunteers and staff were really able to bond with the communities in which we work. Being invited to many local events was a highlight, as we attended Women’s Day celebrations in Ezwenelisha and in Khula. 

At both, volunteers prepared a speech about family planning and healthy breastfeeding. One event was put on by the Khula Clinic, and we have found that our relationship with the nurses and staff are continuing to strengthen. Each month we provide the clinic with statistics and they in turn provide us with some donations for use on our home based care patients.

A donated parachute has become a big hit at creche. 

Crèches

Due to the 33 community volutneers that we had throughout June, July and August we have been able to complete our two-month commitment to each crèche earlier than planned. This means we're also able to offer each one and an extra month of our volunteers working with them - leading to more instruction for the learners and more time with our volunteers for the teachers.

Throughout June, July and August the children at the Ndabenhle, Simunye, Inkanyezi, Khula Nomathiya, Malibongwe, Snenhlanhla, Dukuduku and Impumelelo crèches have received interactive lessons planned and taught by our volunteers. 

The lesson themes have included: myself, my family/home, my community/town, water, fire, transport/traffic safety, wild animals and farm animals. Volunteers also got creative with additional lesson plans that involved teaching opposites, the five senses and seasons.

We have also had a great number of volunteers come through with lots of teaching experience that have helped us to improve the work that we do at the creches. Volunteer Meagan, a primary school teacher at home in England, had great success during her six-week placement helping to show the teachers how to use different classroom management techniques. Megan’s fellow volunteers found a noticeable difference in the behaviour of the children she had worked with. Megan kindly document her teaching methods so that new volunteers can continue her efforts and put these behavioural techniques into practice in the other crèches.

The volunteers, volunteer coordinator Carla and a teacher
at Impumelelo Creche with their new tyre course.

Two week volunteer Gilian made the most of the short time here, using her knowledge from working with children with behavioural disorders at home in Scotland by helping to create interactive resources to help enhance the lessons.

Volunteers have made resources to brighten up each crèche as well as resources to enhance the children's learning. Finally, as something small for the children to remember us by until we visit them again next year we build a tyre course at each of the crèches. Volunteers designed a tyre course unique to each crèche, for example we built Simunye Crèche a butterfly, Inkanyezi Crèche a spider and Impumelelo Crèche a snake-shaped tyre course.

Highlights of High Season: Part One

Painting African Impact colours on the
outside of Inkanyezi Creche. 

It’s been a busy few months for African Impact in St Lucia, as we welcomed even more volunteers than were expected when our Mozambique project was forced to close due to immigration issues. 

This meant that over the last three months we’ve been able to accomplish more than ever, and will be splitting our updates from peak season (from June through August) into small sections so you will be able to see more photographs and get the real details of our many achievements. 

Keep checking back over the next week to see the complete update on how the last few months in St Lucia have gone!

Building and Refurbishment

Where do we begin? Since we have had so many volunteers over the past two months, this has meant that we have had plenty of hands to get dirty on various activities including painting, bed making, the construction of a stall and crèche building!

Refurbishments to the classroom at Simunye Creche were completed over the children’s winter holiday. Volunteers scraped the walls of any old paint, sanded them down, and filled any holes with poly-filler before repainting the walls. The teachers were delighted with the look of their new classroom, which was followed up by the volunteers making a tyre course on the playground.

Hard at work making a tyre course at Snenhlanhla Creche.

Volunteers started and completed a stall at the side of the road over a three week period, where the Khula Support Group could sell their crafts. Volunteers sanded and sawed, fitted wood slats, built a table on the side of the road and sealed the wood with a lacquer. The ladies in our support group are now able to sell their own crafts without African Impact, a great step towards our aims for sustainability!

After many months of fundraising, preparations and brick-making, the classroom of Inkanyezi Creche has been completed, thanks to a lot of hard work and dedication on the part of our volunteers. It was an emotional time for all as we emptied and tore down the old Inkanyezi Creche. However, volunteers put their all into making sure it was completed over the holiday period so that the children had a classroom to return to in mid-July. Volunteer's tasks included making mortar, laying bricks, and painting. 

To read a blog about the opening of Inkanyezi Creche's classroom, visit a past blog or check out our newsletter Sizabantu. 

Some volunteers decorating signs for the Support Group
Stall and our AMREF Garden.

During the final week of the big Inkanyezi build, a group of students aged 15-18 from America and Canada helped in the final preparations for the school. They also designed and constructed a tyre course and built a fence around the already existing garden.

Throughout peak season, we also had small refurbishments and building projects that many volunteers helped with. This included bed making for Inkanyezi, Dukuduku and Impumelelo creches, as well as creating garden signs to be put in our vegetable patches.

Holiday Club

The children in local communities Khula and Ezwenelisha were on school holidays during the first three weeks of July. This gave our volunteers the opportunity to develop their own ideas and utilize their different talents to teach the children new skills at Holiday Club. Best of all, the kids at Holiday Club got to do what they love best: be kids!

In order to make new and exciting plans, every week of Holiday Club was given its own theme. Week One had a 'Music' theme, where volunteers choreographed dances to 'You Can't Stop the Beat' from the movie Hairspray.     

Other songs included 'We’re all in this together' from High School Musical and the famous 'Beat it' by Michael Jackson. For those who were not musically inclined, volunteers created maracas with the children, made from plastic bottles and pebbles. 

Not long after the maracas were complete, a band of fifty children began shaking their maracas and bums to the beat!

In honour of the Olympics in London, Week Two at Holiday Club was a World Sports-themed Holiday Club in which the volunteers planned a mini World Cup tournament and painted the flags of various countries on the children’s faces.

Finally, Week Three of Holiday Club was ‘Animal’ themed. Volunteers played various animal games with children.  They held relay races in which the children ran and pretended to be different animals. 

Volunteers also made dough and shaped it into different animals, baking it at night and bringing them back the next day for the children to paint.  

Donation update: Parachute!

After months of waiting with a parachute on our Wishlist of donations, we finally received one during the month of July from Canadian community volunteer Jasmine DeBoer.

Community volunteer Laura plays with the kids from
Inkanyezi Creche during break time. 

A big African Impact - St Lucia thank-you to Jasmine, whose parachute is now a regular tool used on many of our community projects, including creche, afterschool club and reading club. The parachute can not only be used as an exciting playtime tool, but also an educational one, and we've very excited to continue to develop parachute games and activities.

Jess, a community volunteer from Canada, plays underneath
the parachute at Inkanyezi Creche.

If you are interested in making a donation to our projects, whether it be a physical donation or a monetary one, please visit the Happy Africa Foundation website and view our wishlist.

Update: Inkanyezi Building Project

A BIG African Impact thank-you to Karen Herbertson (pictured above at the Inkanyezi building site and below with Mama Gumede), who has made a donation of over R10,000 to our Inkanyezi Building Project through The Happy Africa Foundation. Karen was a community volunteer with African Impact during the building of the creche, and was present during the opening ceremony on Nelson Mandela Day. 

Karen's donation has enabled us to finish the classroom of the creche and is allowing us to be well on our way to continuing with the project. We may have officially opened the classroom of Inkanyezi Creche last week, but we're still in need of donations to continue with the next stages of our Inkanyezi Building Project - which includes building the creche a kitchen, bedroom for the babies, storage room and permanent toilets