Okay, so it has been FAR too long since I lasted posted a blog and a lot has happened in the time that has passed. This has meant that events leading up to this point have been split into 4 separate blogs so as not to confuse all you lovely people!
This blog focuses on everything that happened before we went travelling for 6 WHOLE WEEKS! More on that one in my 3 other blogs...
By the middle of November the temperature was getting hot, hot ,hot! I realise that in every blog I seem to be complaining about the heat but I now realise that every complaint I've had before is nothing compared to what I am now having to deal with. Guaranteed, when we return in the afternoon from a morning of teaching at Injabulo or Moriah Centre a jump in the pool or a cold shower is needed, otherwise I just can't get through the rest of the day! I mean, I actually envy the cold winter you lot have had and I've missed out on!
On the 11th of November we had a community at Injabulo so as we could talk to the parents directly and hopefully iron out some of the problems we've been facing there. The start time was 1pm but nobody turned up till around 2pm (typical Swazi time)! The meeting was a great success and we got across all the points we wanted to. Then there was a huge discussion between everyone (a mixture of English and SiSwati) as people came up with suggestions and asked lots of questions! There was even talk of a school uniform being introduced, although I think we need to have classrooms clean and the E10 paid before we start considering uniforms! It was really good to see everyone getting involved in the meeting though, and to know that they all had actually been listening to us. We still turned up on the Monday to unclean classrooms though. Constant struggle!
The last week before the holidays (28th Nov-2nd Dec) was a hectic, hectic one! This was the week of all our Christmas parties, staff parites and graduations and it was also the week that Michael and Martin (volunteers in Botswana) arrived to visit our project before we all headed off travelling together!
Thanks to a generous donation of money from my parents (they gave us money towards Soup Kitchen and Injabulo instead of buying christmas presents for everyone) we were able to head to Shoprite and buy MASSES of food! Cash in hand, we stocked up on rice, mealie meal, beans, tinned peaches, gravy, tinned vegetables, bread, sausages, lots of sweets and all the ingredients you would need to make the most amazing cakes ever! The plan was to buy in enough food for Soup Kitchen so as the orphans could still be fed even while we were away during the festive season. Such a good feeling to know that they are being fed, and not starving, while I wasn't there and there was no food at hostel to take to them!
The Monday of this week went pretty much as normal. At Injabulo the Crocodiles spent a lot of time making christmas trees, christmas stars and paper chains (with a christmas theme of course)!
On the Tuesday it was then time for the long anticipated (and rehearsed) Moriah Centre Graduation! Yes, it was time for the Lions to show the world their brilliant rendition of “10 in the Bed” and it went perfectly! Robyn had the camera out to video the whole thing and I was there with the certificates for the children who would be graduating. Sad to be saying goodbye to half my class, but I'm sure they will all do well in primary school. After the graduation it was time for Robyn and I to stick on the santa hats and hand out all the presents to the children that had been donated by members of the Big Bend Church. Delighted little faces as they pulled out dolls, cars and SWEETIES!
On the Wednesday Robyn and I spent the entire afternoon baking the most amazing cupcakes for the kids at Injabulo and some spectacular looking trays of sponge cake to dish out at Soup kitchen and Injabulo! They were each decorated with red and green icing and lots of little sweets. Delicious! In the evening the Botswana boys arrived in Big Bend to spend a couple of days looking round our project and what we do!
Thursday, and it was a quick pop to the garage in Matata to repair the puncture the truck has received (near disaster there but, luckily, easily fixed) and then it was a morning of cooking tonnes of rice, sausages and gravy to give everyone at Soup Kitchen a lovely, fresh meal.
And then it was time to head off, the back of the truck FULL of food! We had all the children lined up and first to be dished out was the sausages, rice and gravy with a fresh piece of bread and butter! Line up again and next up was a cup of juice which was downed by everyone within about 10 seconds. Line up again and out came the biscuits and peanut butter! Line up AGAIN and it was time for some cookies. Then, and this was the big one, it was line up and we brought out the trays of cake which we had kept hidden in the truck! All their faces lit up at the sight of it and I think it's fair to say it was the cake that went down the best with everyone. It was an amazing feeling to be able to give them all this as a christmas present and to see how much they all appreciated it and enjoyed the afternoon! Once all the food had been handed out and we'd spent some time with the kids we headed over to Aunti Vina's house to deliver the mountain of food we had in the back of the truck for her to keep and give out to the orphans while we were away travelling. She was extremely thankful and promised us she would feed them just as we would every week which was reassuring! We then all spent a good few hours playing tig and football in her garden before it got dark and it was time to head back to hostel. Successful Soup Kitchen Christmas Party!
Friday, the last day of our hectic week, and it was time for the Injabulo Christmas party! Again, we had fresh rice, gravy and sausages for them to have. Makes a change to the maize meal and pap they're all used to. First off though it was time for some good old fashioned party games! Musical statues, musical chairs and musical bumps! Highlight of the whole party has to be when Michael and I started doing the maccarrena along to one of the songs and we had EVERYONE copying us, resulting in a mass Injabulo maccarrena. Brilliant! Once everyone was danced out, it was into the next door classroom where we had the meals all set out, with juice to accompany it. After the meals had been finished, each child got a slice of cake (which again went down a treat). It was then time to hand out the presents (a pair of pants for each of them), give them each their bag of sweets and cupcakes and say goodbye to them all before the holidays started. Some of them I won't see again as they head off to primary school! And that marked the end of working for the year and all that was left now was to pack and head off on our travels! Oh, and a lovely lunch at Nisela with the staff from the Moriah Centre. Even here we were playing party games and eating masses of food. That just seems to be way everyone celebrates Christmas...
THIS IS THE POINT WHERE YOU NOW HAVE TO MOVE ONTO MY NEXT BLOG, WHERE MY TRAVEL ADVENTURES BEGIN...
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