“Do they know it’s Christmas time…”

It feels a little ironic listening to Band Aid whilst being out here in South Africa. We have tried our best to make Christmas special for the few children who are left at the home over Christmas. Many have now be re-homed, either back to their families or to more permanent accommodation, whilst others are spending Christmas with safe relatives and will be returning to Thembelihle in January. I must say it is much quieter here now that there are only 8 or so children left…much different to the 26 I’m used to! We have had some interesting new admissions and children with extremely challenging behaviour, but with each one I remember why I am here J

The lead up to Christmas involved making paper snowflakes, tree decorations and stockings with the kids helping  to decorating the house, office and classroom…I must say their decorating skills are impressive! The day started early and involved lots of smiles hugs and screams of excitement as they saw the pile of presents under the tree… brand new clothes in time for church and new toys to play with…smiles all round! Church was a shorter service than usual and we all enjoyed singing Christmas carols in the heat! The children were then treated to a bouncy castle in the back garden and a Braai!

Thanks to everyone back home who donated presents, clothes and money…they had a super day! J

So…Do they know it’s Christmas time…? – They certainly do here at Thembelihle Home!

Brandy

The rest of the month has been spent being bitten to death by trillions of insects, finally hanging the mosquito net up above my bed, finding a new love of brandy and egg scented shampoo (Mthatha never ceases to amaze me), crawling cockroaches and swelteringly hot days followed by thunderstorms at night…WAHHH! Only in South Africa J

Exams, exams, exams…

Yes for you Scots out there, having the end of the school year in Nov/Dec may seem normal, but for me it was strange to be writing up the end of year exam papers after having been here for only 3 months! With Thembelihle being a home school and having no set syllabus, it was up to me to write the exam papers, invigilate the exams, create the mark schemes, mark the papers and write up the reports for each child at the end of it! So November was spent frantically making sure the children understood everything I had taught them over the past few months, holding extra revision sessions outside of lesson times, one-on-one tutoring and mini tests in lessons. I think the biggest challenge was writing the papers and finding the right balance between phrasing the questions in a way they will understand, whilst considering the different abilities within each class…much trickier than it sounds! Invigilating the exams involved sitting in on 2 hour long exams, although I must say I did enjoy the silence…I think it is the quietest I have ever heard them! Marking the exams was more rewarding than I thought it would be. Although there were some silly mistakes and some disappointing answers, overall I was very proud of every single one of them! They did me proud, and I’m am so happy with the A*’s, but more so the E’s which the less capable English speakers achieved – their faces when they saw they had passed…!

Sabulani

I decided it was about time I explored Norwood a bit more…after all I have been living here for 2 months now and have only really taken the same couple of roads into town. Before I came, I was told Norwood (the area of Mthatha I’m living in) is the most dangerous area and to be fair, my project partner and I have already been attacked in broad daylight whilst walking home with our shopping. But I decided it was about time to get more involved in the community and see what lies beyond Thembelihle…it gets pretty lonely at times and I’ve decided I need to make some friends out here, haha!

So. Sabulani. Located next door – yes just over that wall there to the left, Maya…well done!

I had been invited over a couple of times by Thomas who works there, but have never really found the time to go over and introduce myself properly! Sabulani is a project for boys (well actually more like young men) who cannot afford to go to mainstream schools. Father Guy runs the project and is a very generous man who often gives donations to the Thembelihle children! He takes on young men who have the potential to go far in their studies but who have been denied the opportunity to be stretched to their full potential for one reason or another. The home where approximately 13 boys live provides a ‘studying environment’ suitable for them to work and revise for their exams, whilst at the same time giving them a place to live and paying for them to attend local schools. The project also stretches further, to benefit the local community by inviting boys of all ages from the surrounding area to play soccer and escape the streets of Norwood. I was shocked to see a plaque on one of the walls in memory of a boy who was stabbed in the local area a few years ago, so the community side of the project is really inspiring. The project also owns the building in the field across the road where children go for extra maths classes and a teeny tiny room holds a preschool for about 15 children. In the evenings there are aerobics/fitness classes run by Thomas which are much cheaper than any other ones in the town and which give everyone and anyone the opportunity to get fit without giving up on them (something which apparently happens a lot in the professional gyms in town). After going along to one session to see what it’s all about, I was inspired by one old lady who has had a hip replacement, but who still drives the 2 hours to get here for the session and then 2 hours back home again most evenings! I think I might sign up for the sessions…for a laugh, for something to do in the evenings, to get more involved in the community, to make friends and to get rid of this pap/samp & beans/high carby food belly which seems to be forming around my waist!

What I did take away from my little visit is something very interesting. Talking to Thomas I found out that most (but not all) children in South Africa don’t really start school until they are 12 years old, compared to just 5 years back in England. Which may explain why many of the children in my group 1 class couldn’t do 1+1 without using their fingers? It has helped me in some ways with planning lessons and being proud of what I and the children can achieve. If a lesson goes bad I still look at what good things have happened, even if it is just one child understanding a concept or being able to work out a sum!

Some of the men at Sabulani are 26 years old and are in grade 12…a grade which most 16 year olds have reached in normal schools. I am now becoming more aware of the smaller charities around the area and hope to visit Sabulani more often to see what I can do to help! Thomas is keen for me to share some of my Karate skills…it seems this is the new Norwood craze!

Charity

I love the way charity is done in South Africa. Most of the time people see charity as giving money to a good cause and that’s it (don’t get me wrong, giving money is great and appreciated by the people who receive it), but here it is different. Today we received a donation from one of the Baptist Churches in Mthatha. Although we often get donations from people…food, toiletries, clothes etc. this was different as the donors actually came and spent time with the children too. They donated some meat for their dinner and cooked a Braai (South African BBQ) for them whilst keeping them entertained with games and singing and dancing. So. The children not only got dinner, but also had a chance to meet some other children – something which I think benefits them more than anything. Being stuck in the cramped Thembelihle grounds 24/7 isn’t fun, particularly with the same people around you all the time.

If you see an opportunity to help someone in some way, make the most of it. Feel good about what you’ve done, not because you think it has done good, but because you can see the difference it has made J

General News

My Karate classes have been going down a treat in the evenings and strangely enough it feels good to be punched in the stomach again after such a long break from the sport…the only thing is the puncher has no hand pads and I’m always on the receiving end so I come in afterwards with rather large red splodges across my stomach! Ho hum…she’s happy and it’s great to see her escaping her worries!

Lessons are going well…end of year exams are fast approaching (late Nov), so I’ve been busy revising with the children and re-teaching lessons taught by past volunteers (although this is tricky as I only have a vague idea as to what was taught)! A lady now comes in during the afternoons to teach the children beadwork which they are getting quite good at!

Mthatha is as crazy as ever. I have now been the witness of a man standing in the middle of the road, draped in blankets with his trousers down to his ankles, peeing into his hands and washing himself with it…strange. Also, a man putting his hand break on at the front of a queue at a crossroads before jumping out of his car and running down the hill after a man who had stolen something from his trailer. He’s braver than me! Ohh and the funniest thing ever – I was walking back from town and crossed the single bridge over the Mthatha river, where no one ever obeys the traffic lights (or ‘robots’ as they are called here) on either side. I approached the middle of the bridge after walking past a growing traffic jam to see two cars facing each other, bonnet-to-bonnet. Not too unusual. Normally one will reverse backwards to let the other one through and finally decide to follow the robot rules. But after a closer look I discovered neither car had a driver in it. Both of whom were sitting on the handrail on opposite sides of the bridge, facing different directions and stubbornly ignoring each other. I wonder who it was that gave in, in the end. Apartheid still seems to be an issue here. One driver was black, the other white.

Church has become a bit surreal lately. The children have been taken to Sunday school to practice Christmas carols, whilst I have stayed in the main church with the older girls. Being an atheist I still don’t really understand what is going on and half the service is in Xhosa making me even more confused. On Sunday I was left a little embarrassed as everyone around me collapsed to the floor before wailing, crying, screamed and shouting, whilst I sat in my chair clueless as to what to do, as I didn’t feel his ‘presence’. Oh well, another experience to add to this year’s growing list, at least!

My ears are still ringing from the ‘Away in a Manger’ and ‘Silent Night’ practise we had in the classroom today! The children have been invited to take part in the Christmas service which I’m secretly looking forward to, but strange hearing Christmas songs in late October with the sun beaming down outside!

I hope people are enjoying reading my blogs. If there’s anything people want to hear about, let me know as I love sharing both my good and bad experiences of this year with you all. I'm trying to keep them varied and honest so if there’s anything people want to know, just get in touch J Hope everything’s OK where you are!

Halloween

I must say I do get pretty excited about all the celebrations throughout the year; Halloween, Christmas and Easter, birthdays etc. So I felt like a bit of a kid myself when it came to organising a Halloween party for the Thembelihle abantwana. I dressed as a witch with a bin bag wrapped around my waist and my hair backcombed…the children’s reaction was priceless when they saw me – a mix of amusement and horror! Each child got a little paper invite and turned up wearing the special Halloween masks they made in Art & Culture and the classroom was decorated with the egg carton spiders which they had also made! We played pin the bone on the skeleton which involved me drawing a ‘masterpiece’ of a skeleton on the blackboard with chalk. We had music playing, a treasure hunt and apple bobbing. I must say though, that the highlight of the party was at the end when we asked the children to spend 10 minutes practising a ‘trick’ of their choice before coming to knock on our bedroom door for ‘trick or treat’. I was very impressed with the performances they came up with which featured a mix of traditional Xhosa dancing and High School Musical performances – all pretty surreal in the dark with only a torch shining on their spooky masks! Explaining the idea of trick or treat was slightly more difficult with some of the kids. We had some knocking on our door coming in, grabbing a handful of sweets and running off back to the classroom! Others didn’t knock but just started singing to a closed door…very cute, and the smiles and hugs at the end made it all worth it!  Possibly one of my favourite nights here at Thembelihle so far!

Emotions

Today I think was the first time I have felt properly home sick since I arrived here. No idea why…maybe because I finally got round to reading all your lovely emails and messages as I haven’t had much access to internet recently (don’t get me wrong, I love hearing from all of you so keep it coming!!!).

Anyway, today I found myself acting as a mother to a girl only a year younger than me…a strange feeling, but as I cuddled her and gave her a kiss to calm her down, I realised how much I enjoy providing emotional support to the children. After a little chat in broken Xhosa/English I managed to help her sort out the problem and by the end of the day she seemed much more relaxed and happy about the situation.

This evening I went to evening prayers in the dim light of the children’s sitting room, as I do nearly every evening at 7pm. It started as usual with singing and then the usual chorus of whispers followed by the shaking of hands before a circle was formed for the final song - quite a cheery one today which was sung a total of about 5 times just for the fun of it! Smiles, clapping and loud singing are always a good way to end a day…then BAM! The birthday girl, usually the most confident and loudest of the lot in the classroom, plods over to me from the other side of the circle with watery eyes and head hung to her shoulders, she bursts into tears in my arms as all the other children continue to sing happily around her with only a few glances over to see if she is ok. Although I still don’t know why she was crying, I can have a pretty good guess why - no one wants to spend their birthday away from home, especially when you have just turned 10. As I sat her on my lap and hugged her for the rest of the prayers, I could actually feel the lump growing in my throat, this time not from missing home, but for her…a strange switch from how I had been feeling the rest of the day.

As I looked around the room, I also watched a 9 year old singing his heart out during prayers…a young boy who has spent half his life in the home, still with the biggest cheekiest grin on his face…

There’s no time for me to feel homesick here when the children that surround me day in-day out are often so unexpectedly taken away from their own families with no idea when they will be returned home. For now, I’m still happy to be here and to be their ‘Mama’ as I am now more frequently being called.

Hats off to mum back home <3 xxx

JUNGLE MONKEYYY!!!

October’s weekend off was spent in Port St. John, about a two hour drive from Mthatha. Staying in the Jungle Monkey backpackers was brilliant…again I got to meet some other travellers and found out from a wise old man whilst sitting around a fire, that my name means ‘illusion’?! Surrounded by ocean, jungle and mountains, I got a taste of it all. A bouncy boat ride out to sea in a rubber duck with a motor, gave me a glimpse of dolphins and humpback whales…many of which came right up to the boat and I was a bit wary at one point that it was going to capsize us! A slow boat trip up the river in the evening, followed by an early morning start for a trek through the jungle, guided by two men in bare feet…so glad they were there - I would NOT have been able to spot the apparently poisonous spiders which were strung across our path. A fluorescent green frog which jumped on my forehead and super glued itself there (serves me right for picking it up), along with lots of other strange looking insects! I came out with a couple more bites than I started with, but playing Tarzan on the natural woody swing across a rocky river was definitely worth it! The sundowner on the top of a mountain on Saturday evening was definitely a highlight, as was the bumpy bukka ride back to the backpackers in the dark, through the jungle where fireflies lit the trees above us and I even found a glow worm! :D South Africa is amazing.

This one’s for you Dad! x

I know how much you love gardening; planting your tomatoes and beans and coming in with a huge grin on your face when you’ve managed to pick a handful for tea, and today I thought of you as we cleared out the Thembelihle garden, watered the plants, painted the bricks separating the grass and the driveway and dug up the weeds (with the forks we eat our lunch with, haha). So if you’re still up for sending out some of those seeds of yours I’m sure the kids would love it J I hope you enjoy the photos I took for you…

xxx

Big Momma

I hate spiders. Anyone who knows me well enough will know that. I was laying on my bed just chilling yesterday break time looking at the posters on my wardrobe door that the kids had drawn/painted to welcome me to their home. You know when things don’t register straight away with you? Well my eyes skimmed over one of the paintings and onto the next, just as I thought to myself…’oh that’s strange I’m sure I’ve never seen that picture before, why would one of the kids draw a spider for me?’. Then my hands went clammy, and my body started shaking and I swear my body temperature must have increased by a couple of degrees as I stared into the eyes of what you could call a tarantula (a skinny one to be fair), but a tarantula still – one which literally stretched from one corner of the A4 paper to the other. So I ended up not chilling that break time and went into my preschool lesson just a little shaken up.

Talking of creepy crawlies, the kids all have worms, there are still ants in my kitchen (no matter how much I clean the surfaces and wash up my dishes straight after using them) and I’ve come across way too many giant centipedes for my liking. I’ve been told that now Summer has started, the Cockroaches are on their way too…

…not everything good comes with hot weather.

Black Curls

So I lapped on the sunscreen ready to go to the field with the kids when I was told the children would be spending the afternoon having their heads shaved…something they have done every couple of weeks or so, I guess to keep the nits away and to keep them cool in the 36°C heat we’ve been having! So I offered a hand and ended up spending most of my afternoon doing it – was actually a very satisfying job (just look at the concentration on my face, haha)! Shame about the sticky sunscreen though, as I came away speckled in teeny little black curls all over my body which would NOT wash off!

I’ve decided if all else fails, I’ll be a hairdresser when I return home…

Karate

This morning, I heard a little ‘knock-knock’ on my door…something which isn’t that unusual here J I invited her in and we had a little chat over breakfast. She told me she wanted my help with something, before completely opening up to me about her past. I obviously can’t repeat what she said, but it was pretty horrific and she’s recently found that she gets angry about little things. She burst into tears and begged me to help her by teaching her Karate. Now, I’ve already tried to get permission to hold a Karate class for all the kids, but this is something which isn’t really possible here due to their behaviour and individual circumstances. But I’m hoping this time it will be different as I have been asked directly by one of the children for help. So fingers crossed it will all work out.

One thing is for sure though, and that is that for once I am almost 100% sure I’m making a difference to these children’s lives. For one of them to actually come up to me and be so honest shows me she has a lot of trust in me.  And for me to be able to offer her an emotional form of help, makes me even more motivated to do well at this project. This is definitely a conversation I will never forget and when times get tough, I will be able to think back to this day and why I am here and how I am making a difference to her life.

I’m looking forward to getting back into training after this short break away from it all and it will mean I'm getting some exercise which doesn’t involve lifting small children and spinning them round which is always good J

I just wanted to say thanks to Sensei for training me in the sport for…nearly 9 years is it now? Thank you J

RIP Josh…training won’t be the same without you <3 xxx

Storm

After having what must have been the hottest day here since I arrived, a massive thunderstorm followed in the evening! Actual thunderbolt shaped lights flying through the sky, and big rumbles followed by tons of rain which was cool to listen to, especially as our room has a 60 year old corrugated Iron roof!!! I was just sitting in my bed praying that the builders had actually finished replacing it as they had been here all week making rather a lot of noise doing it!

Epic.

Africa Time

School was cancelled on Friday. The children had no idea why. I did. I told them. The classroom erupted with cheers and screams and laughter, and I was literally thrown backwards by the children bombarding me with hugs, pinning me to the blackboard. This was then followed by “Miss? What’s a funfair?”…so funny how they get excited about things they don’t even know the meaning of! I think it only comes once a year, but it means an actual source of entertainment! Something which Mthatha lacks.

Now I would like to introduce you to something known as ‘Africa Time’; something that is becoming all too familiar to me! Everything always takes FOREVER here! With the bustling streets and impatient driving, you would have thought that everyone here would be doing things quickly, but it seems people are actually realising they’re 3 hours late and are trying to get to wherever it is quickly. For anyone who knows me well enough, you know that I fit in here perfectly, haha!

The taxi that was meant to arrive at 9:30 to pick up the children actually arrived at 12:30 – AFRICA TIME! I travelled in the trailer part at the back of the Thembelihle vehicle, kind of half standing/sitting/kneeling in it, with 7 other people – something that I'm sure would be illegal back in the UK! For once though, it was nice not to be stared at for being white (I stick out like a sore thumb here), but for being with a completely mental bunch of amazing kids, singing off the top of our lungs and blowing the eardrums out of everyone we passed with a whistle - SO much fun!!! When we arrived, we had to wait about 45 minutes (AFRICA TIME) until we were allowed in! But the kids loved it, even though it was the most rusty and uncomfortable fair ever! What was quite funny was that they hadn’t censored  ‘Riverside’, even at a kiddie’s funfair! But a good time was had by all.

A massive thanks to Rotary for paying for the children’s tickets J

Going the extra mile…

I think I mentioned the computers in one of my previous posts? We have a big stack of them in the corner of the classroom covered in about an inch of dust and numerous rat/mice droppings. One afternoon of fiddling around later, and I have successfully managed to set one of them up! I can’t wait to start up an ICT class or teach them some skills in their Technology lessons. Their faces when they saw the screen turn on was priceless…even though all it said was ‘No Signal’!!! Hopefully at least one more of them will be ready to use by next week, but a lot of the wires have been chewed by mice so are a bit useless, but we shall see!

The desks in the classroom were also in bits. They’re a simple metal frame with a wooden platform screwed on, but the screws on half of them had come out and were a nuisance in lessons; slipping off onto people’s toes and trapping little hands and fingers. So our lovely friends Dom and Michaela who are working at Bethany Home on the other side of Mthatha offered to come over with some tools and we helped mend every last one of them! Dom also had to get the grinder in as the screws were too long, so we had sparks flying out of the classroom. But they’re all fixed now and the kids are so pleased with their new desks…surprising the difference a couple of hours makes!

I’ve been spending extra time with the children out of working hours and I feel as though we all get on really well now, which has definitely helped in lessons. I can now remember all of their ridiculously complicated/long names (only took me a month!). I’ve loved sharing my music with them although writing lyrics of every song out 26 times is a bit of a bummer! They’re in the process of teaching me some Xhosa songs which are difficult to learn, but great fun J

I have now officially driven the massive Thembelihle car, which is the most difficult vehicle to drive EVER…well as far as I know ;) Mthatha’s roads are dotted with massive potholes and people walk out in front of you all the time. I don’t think I have come across a single road marking and people tend to make new lanes for themselves whenever and wherever it suits! Oh…and parking in the middle of the road – that’s a new one! But it’s pretty good practice and I actually quite enjoy it although I have nearly died several times…

The children at Thembelihle rarely get out of the home, unless they’re going to the hospital or across the road to play in the field. So it was nice to take one of the older girls out to the supermarket with us…a simple trip put a massive smile on her face and it was a great opportunity to get to know her better! I’m hoping to take the children out more often so they get a change of scenery!

I’ve also started helping out with admin work in the office outside of school hours, and adding to the Thembelihle website which I’m really enjoying. It makes a change from the teaching aspect of the work, and means I am making a difference to the home in a different way!

Basically what I’m trying to say in this post is that every little helps…even the smallest thing will make a big difference to these children’s lives and I’m finding new things every day that will help the home in some way…loving it J

Heritage Day

I’ve started to pick up the odd bits of Xhosa, although the clicks are really tricky…for anyone that didn’t know, the language has various different clicks which appear in some words…check it out on YouTube to appreciate the difficulty, haha!

As well as the basic ‘Hello, how are you?’ and ‘Thank You’ I’ve also managed to learn the words for ‘big’ and ‘small’, although the way I found out wasn’t that flattering. One of the children came up behind me, grabbed my bum and shouting ‘Ikhulu’ (big) before proceeding to grab my boobs and shouting ‘Ichici’ (small), haha! But, these two words have actually come in quite useful during lessons when trying to describe things so it’s not all bad news J I seem to have gained a bit more respect from the children, knowing a little bit of Xhosa…definitely the way forward for controlling their behaviour.

So. Heritage day was meant to be on 24^th Sept, but here at Thembelihle we celebrated it a day early. Instead of going to the field after school, we stayed at the home and had our faces decorated with dots, suns, spirals and various other designs, using something similar to Camomile Lotion, applied with matchstick ends and blades of grass, which was really cool. Our lunch was prepared on a stove outside, which tasted…ermm…different ;) The Xhosa bread /dumplings were pretty good, but were covered in the ‘gravy’ from the meat which tasted strange. No idea what animal it was, or what part of the body for that matter! All sorts of unusual shaped pieces of fat and gristle, bleurgh. But I'm sticking to the promise I made to myself that I will try everything this year! Fortunately we have started eating in the main house with the children, where it’s easy to dispose of any unwanted food…the kids love you for leaving food on your plate!!! After lunch, we set up some music and got the drums out, ready for some traditional Xhosa dancing! The kids all put on black and white string skirts and showed off their amazing skills…they’re such amazing dancers! Even though I can’t dance, I couldn’t resist and it seems my Ikhulu Bum is rather useful after all, as Xhosa dancing basically involves making your bum as big as possible and bopping it to the beat…heheheee.

Coffee Bay

I get one weekend off work a month, and for September’s weekend I headed to Coffee Bay with some friends at other projects. Having only seen the outskirts of Mthatha from the plane window, it was great to see the surrounding area during journey and the contrast between the town and the more rural areas of the Eastern Cape was amazing. In the 2 hours it took us to get there, we had gone from a bustling city through a sparse landscape with teeny rondavels dotting grassy planes, to rolling hills with a pink sunset, to the winding roads which led to even more little villages, and finally to the coast, all along a VERY pot-holey track! I wish I had the opportunity to get some photos during the journey, (Sam, Stu and Kirsty…just WOW! You would have had a field day out there with your cameras!).

Although I haven’t had a chance to explore South Africa properly yet, I know that Coffee Shack is going to be one of my favourite places! My accommodation for the three nights was a Rondavel with 3 bunk beds … the best bit was I had to cross a (bridgeless) river to get to it! Quite funny actually, especially when the river leads to the sea and the currents are fighting to knock you over both ways…not quite so funny when the tide is in and the water goes up past your thighs! But an experience I must admit and what a sight for anyone watching me attempt to cross J

During the 3 days I was there, I got to see why the area is called ‘The Wild Coast’. It’s completely untouched and such a beautiful place to visit – if anyone is ever in South Africa, it’s worth a visit in itself! On one of the days I went for a really long walk along the coast, down a very steep crumbly cliff on my bum, over lots of slippery rocks and into a bat cave which stank of poo, before squeezing through a very narrow gap between two rocks and taking a dip in a ‘natural jacuzzi’ as it were...VERY COLD! I then clambered up some huge rocks before being shown where to/not to dive off by a man throwing a rock into the sea below. What was worrying was that the ‘where NOT to jump’ rock was about 3 foot away from the ‘where TO jump’ – there is no ‘health and safety’ here at all! It took me three attempts to actually do the cliff dive, but I DID IT! J

What I loved most about Coffee Bay was that everyone staying there were all travellers too and they all had such amazing and interesting stories to tell around the campfires in the evening. One guy was telling me about how his sister used to live in Bishops Stortford…small world, eh?! I also managed to squeeze in a surfing lesson (yes I did manage to stand on the board and hold it there for about 10 seconds, and no I did not get eaten by sharks, although I did see some Dolphins!).

The whole place was really hippy and everything was eco-friendly (you Scriven’s would have loved it). We did lots of singing and dancing in the evening to 4 men playing drums…a shout out to Rhino…I’ll keep my promise and will be back soon, haha J

Human climbing frame

It gets pretty cramped here at Thembelihle, particularly when there are new arrivals, as there is much less space in the classroom and much more weight on your arms, shoulders, legs, head, back and stomach, as you’re used as a human climbing frame by 26 excitable children. I don’t think I can count the number of times that I’ve been wrestled to the ground and had various vital organs crushed by bony little elbows. I’ve also found that once you let one child sit on your shoulders, every single child expects to be allowed on too. It’s pretty hard to explain without knowing Xhosa, that because they’re much bigger, they will probably break me, haha! J Although, 7 year old Boy-Boy has managed to clamber onto my back and use my hair as a stabiliser, pulling and grabbing on it, before shakily standing on his tip toes on my shoulder to retrieve a bean bag he had thrown in the air and that had somehow got hooked onto the basketball hoop…a painful experience. Next time, the beanbag is staying up there!

My clothes which I have so lovingly spent hours hand washing have been adopted by Preschool as their new tissues, and I seem to come in every evening with a selection of new bogies in various places across my stomach, back , shoulders and knees. Unam, the 6 year old with the runniest nose you will ever see now has competition, as Aya and Zethu seem to have developed a cold! My face has also absorbed rather a lot of sneeze recently, and yesterday one of the pre-schoolers decided to save the wall she was looking at from her spray and turn to face me, just as she sneezed…lucky wall, eh?! But they are getting there with their numbers, colours and animals. They are even moving onto simple addition, to catch up with group 1! Their handwriting is coming along well, although the letters seem to get bigger towards the end of the line, and they don’t understand that words REALLY DO need finishing, and the first few letters aren’t going to explain the rest of the word/sentence! Very cute :)

Group 1 now have constant pins and needles in their fingers after having spent most of their maths lessons sitting on their hands to stop them from counting on their fingers! Shame they can’t sit on their toes at the same time, as this seems to be their sneeky back up plan! But it has worked and I’m so proud of all of them. The 10 year olds who at the beginning of the week couldn’t do 1+1 or 1+2 without the aid of their fingers (no joke!) can now do basic sums in their heads! WAHOO!!! And most of the more capable students have now moved onto long addition with 3 and 4 digit numbers!

I have also been teaching them basic First Aid in their Lifeskills lessons (St John friends, you would be proud of them!). I came out of the lesson with pen drawn all over my arms which acted as ‘cuts’. Having no equipment for them to practice on meant they had to mime it all, but they loved it and I managed to work out which students learn better from practical activities, which is always useful! Their descriptions go something like “Ohh Maya, your arm is paining!!! I help you. I wash my hands, put on my gloves, I squeeze (a.k.a. apply pressure…yes this time it was me with the pins and needles). I clean clean clean cleeeeannn the arm, I get bandage on, I put on shoulder (a.k.a. elevate), I take the gloves in the bin and I wash my hands…” all whilst acting it out. SO CUTE! And they can all do it perfectly and remember it – they keep coming up to me and practising! We’re moving onto the recovery position next lesson which should be interesting!

I’ve now decided that black boards really aren’t that bad, after having spent a whole evening with one, drawing up the solar system for the following day’s science lesson, and coming in absolutely covered in chalk dust! Group 2 now know the basics of space, although are still struggling to get their heads around the fact that Pluto isn’t actually a planet! I also managed to squeeze in a bit of my beloved Geology and did a lesson on the structure of the Earth :D

UPDATE: I have now found a shop nearby that sells Lemons.

Mthatha and a little bit of Superglue...

So I figured Mthatha deserves it’s own post on my blog…

I have now had a chance to explore the town and get to know where most things are – post office, supermarket, internet cafe etc, although I think by the end of the year, I will still be coming across the odd gem of a shop; maybe, just maybe one nearer the home that actually sells a lemon…we made pancakes the other night for tea and had to settle for an orange and sugar topping (tasted quite nice actually)!

Heading into the centre of town, we need to cross a bridge (the safest of the two in the town). If any of you lovely readers ever visits Mthatha, it’s the one with the massive lamppost that’s squished flat to the ground and which has become engrained as part of the landscape. Be careful not to trip over it – trust me, it’s very easy to do! That, and the massive potholes in the road and the drains with no covers of course. I can just see someone snapping their leg in one of those one day, eep!

So the bridge goes over the Mthatha River which I think is the dirtiest river I have ever seen. The banks leading down to it are just a pile of litter, and it’s quite sad to see the residents of the town polluting it with such disgusting rubbish – but then again, I’m here to accept how things are done and not to judge or change anything.

I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to the stares, the pointing and the “Helllllooooo Ladies!!!” from every second man we pass in the street. That along with the stroking of my arms as you walk past them and the fact I nearly got my phone pickpocketed at the taxi rank last week (don’t worry I realised in time and he ran off)! But we’re learning quickly and are stuffing our bra’s with all our possessions and not going out after dark when it really just isn’t safe to do so!

Combitaxi (Maya’s definition) – a minibus taxi that is pretty cheap to use and which basically picks you up and drops you off wherever you want, on route. Often rusted so much that the sliding door doesn’t close, and the person sitting nearest must barricade it so that no one falls out. The place where your fare is passed along the line of passengers to the front, and where your change is then passed back, by people who can’t believe you didn’t have the right change in the first place, oops! One of the bumpiest rides you will ever experience, but something you should have a go at, even though the taxi won’t leave until it’s full – this could be 3 hours or 30 seconds!

Now onto Superglue...I pass countless people sitting on the side of the road with their own little stall set up, selling Superglue. It just seems to be the thing here, although I haven’t actually seen anyone buy any yet! Superglue? Just why?! No idea, but if I ever find out, I’ll be sure to let you know. At least I know where to go if something breaks, which will no doubt happen, knowing me, haha!

When you are walking through the streets of Mthatha, you will come across people sleeping in the streets, and others peeing in the drains (you have to watch out for the many stains on the pavement – I’d hate to think what half of them are)! The only thing that has been successful at unblocking my nose from my cold is the smell of something dead which I can guarantee you will smell at least once during a trip to the shops…niiiiice… What is quite funny but also very worrying is the rather large number of A4 posters plastered on bins, walls, buildings (generally every surface the eye can see) that read “100% Safe, Painless Abortion” followed by “Penis enlargement” and then a phone number…very random!

But Mthatha is not all that bad. It’s nice to see the women dressed in traditional clothes who rely on their head and the strength of their neck to carry rather oversized items through the streets. There’s the good music blazing from the shops (you can’t go wrong with a bit of Reggae) and there’s the odd whiff of a fat cake or two (my new favourite food, for only R20 – that’s 20p…)!!!

Ohh, and I have finally conquered crossing the road! You simply walk out in front of the fast moving vehicles, and voila! You are now sprinting so as to not get knocked down. I swear the cars speed up when they see you. There really is no other way to get across though…

So that’s Mthatha…not the greatest place on earth, but I’m already learning to love it for what it is!

Teaching and other bits and bobs...

So Church on Sunday was new...like I said in my last entry, I had seen the children praying in the evenings, but this was something quite different. We took the children to the Baptist Church down the road and the service lasted about 2 and a half hours (is that normal?!) but they kept us entertained, and there was lots of loud singing, clapping and dancing…the children all looked so cute dressed in their best clothes! Myself and Emma are now in charge of taking the kids to and from Church every Sunday – the rest of the day is spent lesson planning!!!

First full week of teaching is now over…wow, just wow! It’s now Friday and I have no idea how I feel about it all...

The week started off pretty poorly with several of the older children having fights during the lessons. The arguments being in Xhosa meant I had no idea what was being said or what the problem was, so I couldn’t do much to help, and by the time I had turned from the blackboard (yes the days of interactive whiteboards have now passed for me, and have yet to arrive for the children of Thembelihle) the two girls had already stood up and were kicking, slapping, biting each other etc. What I have found particularly tough this week is when the children refuse to make eye contact with you or join in with the lessons. Zero hands being put in the air at the simplest questions, as if they don’t want to be there! Really heart breaking when I know they can do it, and they just won’t try, and it’s upsetting when I have put so much hard work into planning the lessons so that they are interesting and fun. It’s hard not to get angry with some of the children sometimes, but I have to keep remembering that the tantrums they thrown when they are not chosen to write something on the board, and then fights and arguments with each other are all down to traumatic events that I have never, and will probably never experience or understand. As a past volunteer told me before I came…’the children are little angels with troubled hearts of gold…’ – so true, and that’s what it is that is keeping me going!

As the week went on, however, and after a gathering with all the children and the director of the home to discuss their behaviour, the lessons went a lot better (although we did have had a couple of minor incidents)!

Preschool can now identify all the colours and various shapes in English and can count up to twenty!!! Their handwriting is getting better by the day and they have started simple addition sums…shame about the wet trouser incident…they’re still too young to hold to go to the toilet!

Group1 can now tell the difference between odd and even numbers, and are able to draw tally charts that don’t involve 30-odd tally’s bunched together with one massive long line cutting through them - success! :D

Group2 are still struggling with their verbs, adjectives, nouns etc, but they understand the relationship between animals and plants when it comes to the transfer of oxygen and carbon dioxide! They can also explain how rain and clouds are formed, along with the connection between wind formation and the rise of hot air. They loved the Art & Culture lesson I planned for them today on China…shame I didn’t have any photos or music to share with them from the SWCHS trip in 2007 – would have been very useful! I wish I had a photo of their faces when I showed them some Chinese symbols…they didn’t believe me when I told them that that was what their writing looked like! And, it was quite tricky explaining to them, that ‘No, Chinese people definitely DO NOT get eaten by dragons…they’re not actually real, they’re just featured in art work and on buildings etc!’ … they all looked rather disappointed by this, haha! They learnt how to use ‘chopsticks’ (which were actually pencils, but it did the trick) – a really successful session…none of them had known anything about China 2 hours earlier and they were all talking about it afterwards! I will get a photo of the lovely posters they made with everything they had learnt during the lesson uploaded soon…such an amazing feeling J What really shocked/upset me was that they had never heard of the Olympics before…they’re 17years old…I think I have my next lesson planned!

Spending 2 hours every afternoon with the children outside of the classroom organising sporting activities and fun and games has been really good and has given me the opportunity to see a different side of them. They’re all such amazing children, but just change as soon as they step into the classroom – quite sad really L

We’ve been playing Rounders in the field across the road for the past couple of days in the 32degree heat, which they have enjoyed a lot (I’m not gonna lie…I’m loving it too)! We all come in dusty and my feet have seen better days - maybe I should keep my flipflops on next time?…naaahh! Although, I have managed to cut my foot on a bit of jagged metal fence across the road, so if any of my St. John maties are reading this, do you fancy sending me one of those Tetanus advice cards that we seem to have unsuccessfully manage to get rid of at ANY of the shifts, hahahahahaaaa! Mum, if you’re reading this, could you send some sort of foot stuff in the post, please!??!?! Chaaaars… :D

Today we were joined in the field by the local Mthatha chavs, whose street dancing even puts Diversity to shame. It’s amazing to watch - I’ll try and get some photos or a video up if it works! They come from the school down the road and invited me to play football with them (or ‘soccer’ as they call it here) and they actually seemed impressed by my football skills – no idea why! But I saw one of them in town later on and he invited me to join their team…should be fun and it’s good to make new friends my age, outside of Thembelihle and have something to do in my (very limited) free time!

So…my Friday evening has been spent out in the classroom marking the children’s books…I love my red pen and stickers – makes me feel more of a teacher!!! It’s obvious who has worked hard and who hasn’t, and it has given me something to work on for next week – I’m actually looking forward to it, even with the highs and lows of the past 5 days of lessons.

I’m hoping to be able to spend some of this weekend setting up/mending the stack of ancient computers gathering dust in the corner of the classroom, as it would be great for the children to have some ICT skills up their sleeves - we shall see. I doubt that with my shoddy computer skills I will be able to do anything, but it’s worth a go, eh?! Hopefully I will be able to design some sort of fun image to paint on one of the blank sides of the classroom and on a wall along the edge of the driveway. It is in desperate need of some touching up, and some of the walls are completely bare…

Better be off to have a shower now – still covered in chalk from the blackboard, snot from preschool, and various colours of felt-tipped pen….I hope some people are finding this blog vaguely interesting…if not, let me know. Thanks to those who have written comments – a real boost of confidence, and it’s good to hear from you. Sorry I haven’t got round to replying yet, but will do soon. I like to babble a lot, so tell me if it’s too much. If there is anything you want to hear about in particular, let me know, yaaa?

Hope everything is ok back home or wherever you are right now. Can someone please tell me what is happening in the world at the moment as I haven’t seen any news, and come to think of it, haven’t actually seen a single newspaper being sold or read in Mthatha…will have to have a look around for one tomorrow on my day off.

Loadsa love

xxx

Prayers...

I probably wouldn’t normally do two blogs in 24 hours, but I had to write this down now before it becomes the norm…

Tonight I decided to go over to the childrens’ home across the courtyard for evening prayers…I’m not religious, but I probably will end up being by the time this year is over. It was amazing…

When I arrived they were all chatting away and watching a programme on one of those big old fuzzy TV’s that makes everything look the same colour! Some of the younger ones were sleeping on the floor, whilst others were trying to sing to the lyrics of various old songs I had on my phone which they had been playing with earlier today. I had scribbled them down on paper for them, and they had miraculously not been destroyed in some way shape or form…(unlike the spinny toy I mentioned in my last post)…it turns out SHAWTY means Poo in Xhosa, so they found that quite hilarious whilst trying to sing to Iyaz’s ‘Replay’…

…anyways…they’re similar to the ones they sing in the morning before school, but half way through they all chanted their own individual prayers out loud, and the whole room was awoken by a chorus of whispers in Xhosa…AMAZING!!!

One of the little ones at the front who had been woken up for the event was wandering around and swaying whilst rubbing her eyes trying to keep awake, whilst one of the older children behind her attempted to hold her up and keep her in line! Adorable :’) The prayers ended with the children snaking around the room, shaking everyone’s hands in the traditional South African fashion which is a combination of three handshakes…our ‘normal’ handshake, followed by linking the thumbs and gripping the other persons hand, and the normal handshake again…it stands for Love, Hope and Friendship (or something…will check!)

But yeah…an amazing experience, and I will probably do it as often as I can throughout the year. The children had been asking me all day to come along, and I could tell how much it meant to them, me joining them!

Whilst praying, we had 6 new faces sitting in the corner observing...6 new admissions to the Thembelihle Home of Safety...although it is sad, i'm looking forward to inviting them into what is now also my new home...

Week 1...

Molo J

So my partner (Emma) and I arrived at Thembelihle Home on Monday night (29th) after spending a couple of days with the country group in Joberg, 'climatising'…we got picked up from Mthatha airport  - it’s the smallest, skankiest airport you will ever see and we had the most crazy, bumpy landing ever, in our little plane which carried only 27 people!!! Looking out of the window I could see all the little round houses/mud huts, in the middle of a pretty bare landscape. The toilet in the airport pretty much summed it up…no lock, no toilet seat, and no flush…just a continuous dribble of water…I decided to wait ;)

Pumeza, our host then met us with two of the children from the home…both with the most amazing smiles you will ever see  - they sang the whole way home (IN HARMONY!!!) in the back of the truck, looking after our massive rucksacks so they didn’t fall out :) The arrangement seemed quite dangerous and I felt bad that the girls were sitting there, but as we entered Mthatha, I realised it’s actually a norm! The town (which I think should really be classed as a city) was how I expected it to be; busy, noisy, bustling and absolutely MENTAL! But I love it…although I’m pretty worried about having to drive the kids around…A, because I haven’t driven since I passed, and B, there seems to be no highway code…everyone drives where they want to, and if someone’s not happy about it they will beep, shout, get in your way, or generally just a mixture of the three!

I was quite nervous about arriving at the home. It seems pretty safe with a security gate at the front, but I didn’t really know what to expect, even though I had seen photos. We were shown our accommodation, which is a simple shared room between the two of us. The children had painted/drawn pictures for us and stuck them on our wall to welcome us into their home which was lovely! We have a toilet (which is thankfully MUCH nicer than the one at the airport) a bathroom and kitchen, all of which we share with the staff and any visitors. Unfortunately a couple of the lights weren’t working when we arrived, so it was dark and a bit cold which made it all the more weird to actually have arrived! We then went to meet the children who live in the building on the other side of the small courtyard. They were eating dinner when we were being introduced, so along with the bread stuffed in their mouths (their standard dinner), their accents, their slight shyness and the fact they mainly speak Xhosa, it was nearly impossible to make out what they were saying…along with the fact that they all have very complicated names and a few of the louder ones even insisted they were called MAYA or EMMA! They were all so cute though and I couldn’t wait to get to know them better the next day!

I’ve now decorated my half of the room with all your lovely letters, cards and a stack of photos… J It’s made it seem more like home! After having dinner and spraying the ants which seem to have infested the kitchen we unpacked and settled in for the night, preparing to wake up at 7am, ready to meet the children…

…7am….didn’t happen…the kids wake before 6 and run around in the courtyard (our door opens straight out onto it!), sing LOUDLY, play with things, laugh, dance, hit things with metal poles…all the noisy things children generally get up to…so we lay there, trying and failing to get back to sleep :P

We were greeted by 31°C (it’s only Spring here!) and 28 excitable children when we emerged from our room. They seemed to love us already, even after their shyness the night before. We lined up outside the classroom facing them. They sang to us in Xhosa  before singing AMEN, AMEN, AMEN, AMEN continuously...(I think these are the morning prayers we were told about!!). Thankfully we didn’t need to teach on our first day. We played ‘get to know you’ games, before having a meeting and going through everything with Pumeza.

Our working hours are 8 – 11:30 (one lessons worth!), half hour break, then 11-13:00 (another lesson), then an hour lunch, and 14:00 – 16:00 which is recreational stuff, like going to the field across the road and playing football etc...i’m considering starting up a Karate class! :D

Our first lunch…fish from a tin with some sort of stinky sauce, carrots and green beans which had landed in the stinky sauce and Pap which looked nice, sort of like mash, but really wasn’t….more like rubbery foam which needed to be broken apart into edible chunks, haha…

We’re quite fortunate to have other volunteers nearby. Jayney and Sarah, are working in Bethany Home…a sister project to ours which is aimed at younger children, located on the other side of town. We’re hoping to meet up with them every so often, but it turns out their day off is Thursday and ours is Saturday. However, our Rep Ian took us all out for a meal on our second day, before he headed back home to Jo’berg, which was nice!

The next day we had a go at teaching…although we had nothing prepared as we don’t formally start teaching until Monday (5th) we wanted to get a feel for the classroom and the ability of the children. The small classroom is split into 3 groups, each facing different walls to make it seem like 3 rooms in one. Preschool is taken by another member of staff, Refiloe, whilst the other children are split into two groups. Group1 is further split into, 1A and 1B depending on abilities…this means who ever teaches this group must set work for, and manage both groups of children at once, however it will be the same subject, so shouldn’t be too difficult. Group2 is the older children, who have much better English, and has fewer children in it than Group1. The subjects we teach are:
English, Lifeskills, Life Orientation, Maths, Natural Science, Social Science, Economic and Management Studies, Art & Culture, and Technology, whilst Refiloe takes Xhosa lessons during other sessions. Our working hours are 8-4, after which time we can play with the children, read bedtime stories, have prayer time with them etc.

Because it gets dark before 6pm here at the moment, combined with the fact that it’s too dangerous to go out after dark in Mthatha, we haven’t been able to adventure out of the home much, so we’re looking forward to when it gets lighter! Pumeza took us into town for a sort of orientation session where we were shown the supermarket and Child Welfare building…a place where we will have to visit to hand in documents for funding and when a new child is admitted to the home.

I’m really looking forward to starting the teaching. The school year here runs from Jan-Dec, so arriving in September is a bit annoying…we have no syllabus so the lesson plans are completely up to us! We can teach them what we want, but it’s going to be tough as not all of them speak English, and we’re not completely sure as to what they were taught last year. We’re going to be spending the weekend planning the curriculum for the next 16 months, for up to Dec 2012…it’s going to be a challenge!!!  

The kids are AMAZING!!! They all have such warm hearts and love being cuddled and lifted into the air! We played in the field across the road this afternoon, making friendship bracelets and playing with my camera :D The settings are now all jumbled on it, hahah!!!

We cooked our first meal last night…the light in the kitchen is now broken, so we had to cook using my torch as the source of light :P We had pasta in a tomato/onion sauce from a tin…the tin opener doesn’t work, so we stabbed it open and we chopped up garlic with a big sharp knife which is actually blunt and doesn’t have a handle…we forgot to buy washing up liquid (the main reason we went into town to get the shopping, haha) so washed up with water…again…from the drippy tap. …Today we noticed the drippy tap was no longer drippy…we had our first water cut – not great when you want to flush the toilet! :D

One of my favourite moments from Thembelihle so far:

The little stick plastic spinny helicopter toy I brought with me went down a treat! :D I wish I had a photo of their faces when they played with it! It’s already lost, but Pumeza said she thinks she knows where it is…the masking tape grip I carefully stuck on was fiddled with and ripped off within 5 minutes, and one of the older boys has already picked his earwax out with it :D It’s their favourite toy at the moment!

The children, like us, handwash their clothes. Today when I was hanging out some laundry, one of the little ones ran around the corner, grinning, collected her knickers she had supposedly washed earlier from the line and showed them to me proudly…they were still all muddy and wet, but she proceeded to run back to her room, and I presume put them back on :D…I think I might help her with her washing next time! J

Will upload pics soooon xxx

Thembelihle...

So...I guess I should really say a bit more about what it is I will actually be doing in South Africa. Obviously I haven't been to the project yet, but I have heard loads about it. I will be able to give you a better idea when I have spent some time there and have uploaded some photos for all you wonderful people to seeeeee!!!

'Thembelihle' is the name of the project, and it is a 'home of safety' for around 25-30 children aged 5-18 who have suffered from, or are at risk of abuse in their home setting. The home provides 24/7 care for the children, for as long as it takes, whilst court cases are being processed etc. As a volunteer, my main role will be as a teacher; planning and organising the childrens’ timetables, lessons and exams from scratch, before teaching a wide range of subjects, covering a broad curriculum. Because of the backgrounds the children come from, they are unable to attend local schools whilst The facilities in the home are very basic, and the classroom is limited to one room in the courtyard of the home, so I will need to use my imagination and creativity to make sure the children get the best education possible.

As well as home-schooling, Thembelihle provides for the psychological needs of the children. The nature of the backgrounds from which the children come from, means that they lack the love, care, stability and security needed by children of their age, and it will be my role as their primary carer, to enable them to develop their social skills through a range of extra-curricular activities which I will organise and run. Out of school hours, I will also be helping with the running of the home, doing jobs in town, and taking the children to hospital/dentist appointments etc. I’m really looking forward to working alongside their social workers to ensure they are set up for the best future arrangements, whether it be a return to their families, or to new foster parents.

Living in the home with the children 24/7 is going to be tough, but it means I will have the opportunity to get to know the children better, and provide additional care; reading bedtime stories for example. Although this may seem like a simple task, it is often what the children appreciate most, as it is something which none of them will have experienced before bedtime back home! It sounds like such an amazing and worthwhile charity and I can’t wait to fly out there to be a part of it...

With only 6 days to go, i'm starting to get a little nervous...as usual, i'm not prepared at all, but I am going to do my best not to leave everything to the last minute!!! I had my leaving party last night...made it all seem so real! Thank you all so much for coming...you truly are the most amazing friends ever ♥ I'm so proud of all of you with your results, and best of luck next year with whatever life throws at you! :) Enjoy...I'm going to miss you all so much!

Maya x

A massive thanks!

So after a successful raffle in town today (my final fundraising event), I am pleased to say that I have reached my fundraising target of £4950...1 day before the deadline...good timing, eh!?

I just want to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you to everyone who has helped me over the last 9 months to achieve this huge target...I really couldn't have done it without you, and I don't know how I can thank you enough!

Maya x

Where to start...

So maybe Training isn't the most ideal place to start my blog; after all I have been through so much with Project Trust over the last 9 months - an awesome selection course last October, the (what seemed like) long wait for my offer/rejection letter to arrive the following week, £4950 worth of fundraising, a parents' meeting in London, my mid-May placement letter, a project change, and the excitement and nervousness leading up to training...but here I am, training complete and only 31 days to go until I depart for South Africa!

It was great being back on Coll...such a beautiful island, and a great place for Project Trust to be based. I got to meet my partner, country group, and the other amazing volunteers heading off to Jamaica and Malaysia this summer. The course was really intense, but so much fun - the staff really couldn't have prepared me/us better for the year that lays ahead (thank you PT if you're reading this!!!)...

The course covered everything you could imagine; from teaching effectively, to safety overseas, local customs, to essential house-keeping skills...PT really know their stuff, and I now have every confidence that this coming year is going to be the most worthwhile and enjoyable of my life so far. I found out more about my country and project, and I cannot wait to go now! We were also given our long-awaited departure date which is August 25th...it's come around so quickly! 

Below is a picture of our country group...24 girls and 1 boy, heading off to all corners of the country to make a difference to their local communities.

Maya x