the village of hope seeks to help children infected or affected by hiv, aids and tb in two different ways: we have a 9 bed children's unit to support those infected by hiv and aids and we also run a community-based sports and lifeskills outreach in the informal settlements and squatter camps each afternoon.

this blog has been set up to allow the key members of the team at the village of hope to share their thoughts, photos and experiences as we work in the community of grabouw in south africa

Friday, April 29, 2011

returning from the transkei

we (myself and maz) have just returned home from a wonderful, if not somewhat challenging trip, to the xhosa homelands of the transkei. it is really hard to put into a few words the experience that we had as we made the 1000 kilometer trip to visit one of the boys who we had provided a home to at the village of hope. his grandmother had invited us to stay in their traditional family home over the easter weekend and to be welcomed with open arms by the whole village was amazing.

maz with the little boy outside his grandmothers home
our arrival was the height of conversation, the grandmother was somewhat of a local celebrity as she welcomed the first european visitors to visit their village into her home. the 'location' as it was called was around 20 kilometers from the nearest tar road and was made up of simple roundhouses (rondavels) none of which had any access to running water or electricity.

we were invited to join the village in a celebration on saturday afternoon where a large cow had been slaughtered and cooked for all of us to share and on easter sunday morning we visited the great grandmothers home, she had never met a white man before, let lone invited him into her home.

it was wonderful to see the boy, who is now 5 years old and coping very well in his new home, and to meet his extended family, to share in their daily lives and struggles. i am currently trying to document our experiences on the trip into some sort of format that i could share and maybe i will post that on this blog when it is finished.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

April News

Much of the focus of our previous newsletters, as you would expect, has been about the work that we are doing on the village of hope and in the community with children infected or affected by HIV and AIDS, however this month we must start by highlighting the work that the amazing students from Stuttgart university and their project managers (Leslie and Ulrika) have done over the last month as they have built us an additional house here at the village of hope.



The New House

The headline this month has to be the near completion of a new home that at team of students from Stuttgart University have not only built for us, but also designed and funded which is an incredible answer to prayer.

The house has been created using local materials, straw, clay, water, local timber and much thought has gone into the using recycled materials where possible. The fronts of the kitchen cupboards are made out of old ship sail, the windows in the kitchen and bathroom from old washing machine doors and the insulation (other than the cob style walls) is made from fibre made of old plastic bottles.

The house will be used as part of our volunteer accommodation. Initially it will provide Rob, Em and their children with some space away from the shorter-term volunteer unit. They have been living in the volunteer unit since they arrived over 18 months ago and are very excited about their new home! In turn this will also enable Mel Kidd (another long termer) to move into her own room and hopefully give her some much-needed privacy.

Over the past month we have watched the students mix the clay and straw walls, tread them down around the substantial timber frame, install the roof and ceilings, and generally throw themselves into making this home. It’s a great addition to our project and they’ve done it with such enthusiasm (working all hours God sends) and dedication and produced something that they can be proud of which will stand the test of time.

There is still some work that needs to be done. Floors and the concrete work tops need sealing and we will need to wait for another month or so for the cob walls to dry out before we can apply the final finish to the inside and outside walls.


Children’s Unit 

The weather has continued to be a blessing to us with temperatures still in the late 20’s or early 30’s most days however the nights are getting colder as we near winter so we can expect the rainy season to be on us very soon.

The children have just enjoyed their first of two ‘autumn’ holiday’s playing in the garden, around the jungle gym and making regular visits to see the new house being built. Whilst the German students haven’t had much time to be with the children they have grown to love them and their visits to check if they are still working!

A few of our ‘discharged’ (such a harsh word for the miracles that these children are) children were able to visit us for the morning as we celebrated our second birthday - Yes, I know, hasn’t time flown! Also the little girl who now lives with a new foster mom in Khayelitsha wanted to come up and spend some of her holiday with us. This was really precious and encouraged us to think that the children do have an amazing time with us and that they want to return to visit when they can.

We were able to provide a home for a short time for a baby boy who’s mother was in hospital having tests and treatment for ‘multi drug resistant TB’. It was a joy to be able help out in this desperate situation; one of many that we see in our community every single day.

We (me and Maz) are going to make a long, but exciting, road trip over the Easter weekend to visit one of our other discharged children who now lives in the rural Xhosa homelands of the Eastern Cape. It’s actually very close to where Nelson Mandela comes from. We were invited to come and stay by his Granny who is keen to show us around the area. She is desperate for a ‘Village of Hope’ in that area which is where many of our Black community come from and where the AIDS virus has taken an even more devastating toll on the local people. Who knows there may be a calling to create a Village of Hope II?

Sports Outreach & Community Work

The work that we are doing in our local community with the 9 – 15 year olds has once again extended back up to 5 areas. We have reconnected with the boys in the Waterwerks informal settlement which, aside from our Iraq squatter camp, must be one of the poorest areas in our town with maybe 20,000 people living one on top of another in basic tin and timber structures with little or no sanitation or electricity. That said, the kids are wonderful and we have identified a new local leader who will help us with that project.

It really is a privilege to be able to share some basic sports and life skills along with bible stories with these children each week. The students from HAN university in Holland have also helped us to introduce a health section to the programme which has been fun. We’ve started to teach the children how to wash their hands and when to do it and will be moving on to dental hygiene over the next couple of weeks.

Our numbers are growing and the children seem to enjoy themselves. Arron is doing really well with his team in Rooidakke (more on them later), and Sophie Child has made a huge difference as we try to introduce Netball into that area too. We also have 3 committed local mentors who are really stepping up to the plate as we invest in them so they can invest in their peers.


The new Dutch students helped with the organising of our first sports Saturday of the year. 11 boys’ soccer teams and 3 girls netball teams made up of the children that we work every week in our communities, joined us at the Elgin Country Club for a morning of fun and competition. The German students provided much needed hands on support as team managers and really got into the event wearing their team colours and encouraging the children, win, lose or draw!

After the 90 or so children had received their prizes and a bowl of hot soup (slightly out of season given the sweltering temperatures - however that was probably the only hot meal of the day that they would have received), the Dutch students challenged the Germans to a 9-a-side football match! This was not necessarily the best idea given the history of the nations but a great game was had by all! I played for the Dutch team who, because of me, Shane (our American volunteer) and a Dutch girl, were the weaker side compared the German Team who Arron played for! The result? Well let’s say that history repeated itself with the game being decided by a hotly disputed penalty which was given by our English ref, Rob House, in the last minute of extra time...You can guess who won!

The prize for the winning boys’ side is to take them down the mountain to play a match against one of my friend’s sides in the Lwandle Township. That’s happening this coming Saturday so please pray for the Rooidakke under 16 team as they play against a very good Lwandle team. We need to find them all football boots or trainers before they can compete which may prove a challenge.

Other News
Animal Antics:

With the new house taking up a lot of our thinking time it’s hard to know what else to write about, however we have now got 4 little laying chickens who are providing a regular supply of eggs to our children’s unit. The pigs are growing and Arron is keen not only to turn some of that into bacon but also to extend our livestock to include turkeys, which we have heard are very tasty around Christmas time!


Our New Look:
You may have already seen my blog post about our new logo but this is the first newsletter since then! We are very excited about our new look and are busily starting to apply it to all our documents and communications. Of course we are indebted to Mel Kidd, our onsite long term volunteer, who just happens to be an Art Director and created the logo.

Good Food For A Great Cause:
We had a very successful evening a couple of weeks ago where we had the opportunity to raise the awareness of the charity locally and get a bit of extra dosh too! A local chef, Gordon Manuel and his wife Emma, offered to host a meal for us at their restaurant, which is on one of the many stunning wine estates close to here. They provided the venue and their skills for free and all we had to do was pay for the ingredients for the meal. We managed to fill the restaurant with local movers and shakers who bought tickets for the gourmet food which Gordon provided. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the evening where we were able to share a bit about what we do and show a short DVD.  We are hoping to do another similar event later on this year. We also raised not far off £1000 which is not to be sniffed at!

Volunteers:

We have been joined by Shane Johnson from the InFocus church in Augusta, USA. He will be with us for 3 months and joins Sophie our other longer term/short term volunteer. It’s great to see returning people and we trust that he will enjoy his stay. That said, we have had a stomach virus going around not only the volunteer unit but also within the German building team and all of our volunteers have been hit by that over the last month.

We have already hosted 10 volunteers on the project this year (and that’s excluding the German team) so we are happily busy. We even have bookings for people who want to come and volunteer for 2012 which is amazing – and very good forward planning! So if you are interested in coming out any time soon don’t be slow in applying!

Grandparents Again!:
We (Tim and Maz) are also celebrating the birth of our second Grandson, Elijah, who was born late on Sunday 10th April. We will be returning to England to make a short visit to see him, as well as planning in time to make a visit to the German University, which we are very much looking forward to.

Events
The prayer day which we organised last month was extremely successful. Thank you to all those who signed up to pray on that day. We are already seeing amazing breakthrough since the event. You can read more details about it from the blog post earlier this month. It makes us wonder why we didn’t think of doing it before! We are planning another one for October which will coincide with the Thembalitsha Foundation’s Birthday. We will keep you posted with more information nearer the time.

We are planning our annual Cycle for September and we still have places available for a the 10k London Run in July. Please get in touch if you would like more details. We are also looking at doing a charity ball for World AIDS Day this December.

If you have an idea for an event that you would like to organise for us do let us know as we would love to have more things planned in the diary for this year and desperately need more people to be doing stuff for us. We will do our best to support you in making it successful.


How You Can Help
We are never short of ideas on how you can help us out!!!!

•    Become a regular monthly giver  - Regular givers are like gold dust to us!!! You can download a standing order form from our website – don’t forget to sign a gift aid form if you are a UK tax payer
•    Fundraise – Commit to shave your head, host a quiz night, do a sporting event!!!!! – The possibilities are endless and can raise £1000s with enough enthusiasm! We also have annual walks, runs and bike rides. For more information contact us office@thembalitshauk.org.uk
•    Pray – Sign up to the prayer newsletter. Prayer is just as vital to us (if not more so) than money! We can’t have enough people committing to pray persistently for us. Sign up at prayer@thembalitshauk.org.uk


Volunteering
We rely heavily on committed volunteers to do the stuff out here in South Africa. It can be a fantastic way to give (and receive!) However, we do have some criteria you have to meet in order to apply. For more information on Volunteering for the Village of Hope please download the INFORMATION FOR VOLUNTEERS documents from our website (www.thembalitshauk.org.uk). Also, please do NOT book ANY flights before your application form has been accepted. Thank you!

Monday, April 18, 2011

soccer in lwandle

arron and djuri giving a half time team talk

on saturday morning we took 15 of our local boys, mainly made up of arron's winning rooidakke team from the last soccer saturday that we held at the country club, plus a couple of boys from the iraq team, down to play their first 11 a side match against a team from the lwandle township just outside somerset west.

the whole event was a real adventure of the boys, the first time playing an 11 a side game, against a very well organised team, run by my friend mbetha, who used to play for cape town ajax in the south african premier league. the game was played in the middle of the township (mainly made up of black african people and what with our boys being mainly coloured and all the coaches being white europeans this was quite a mix!)

it was somewhat shocking to realise that many of our boys, 5 of the 15, didn't have sports shoes, some had trainers, others second hand football boots but some either came with their school shoes or bare feet...at our sports saturdays we always play bare feet so that no one feels out of place but to see our guys turn up without the basics of a kit was a shock.
free kick to lwandle, do you like the grass!

we never struggle for soccer shirts, but we played in a mix of blue and white hooped tops, shinny green shorts and yellow and or blue and white socks, we did look quite a sight!...however as my dad always told me 'it's not the player with the best boots or kit who is the best player' and we proved that by creating some good goal scoring opportunities in the first half and should have been 2-0 up before they scored the only goal of the game.

the boys played out of their socks, literally, and came away with a credible 0-1 loss to a team who had played together many many times before...they all really enjoyed themselves and were a real pleasure to take on this first adventure.

if you are living in and around cape town and do have access to old soccer boots, sized around 2-7 (that's old english sizes i think) then please let us know and we can really really bless our boys who don't have anything to play in...thanks

Friday, April 15, 2011

new look blog....blogs

well i do hope you like the new and updated blog which includes our new logo, we think that it is simple yet effective, a bit like me!.....the 6 other projects that sit within the thembalitsha foundation have also not only started their own newsletter blogs but have had a face lift too, please visit them and read about the incredible work that our sister projects are doing in and around cape town and the western cape.

follow these links to:-

- thembacare grabouw
- thembacare althone
- bosom buddies
- school of hope
- graceland (pre school)
 -themba training

Thursday, April 14, 2011

thankful for the building


last of the team to leave the new house
today we say our sad goodbye's to the last of the ukuqala team from stuttgart university who have been building us an amazing home for our long term volunteers at the village of hope. the rest of the team have been leaving in dribs and drabs over the last few days and are now either back in germany or of on a long deserved touring holiday around south africa!

the guys who left today have been completing the finishing touches to the kitchen, tidying the house and outside area. the team have been such a blessing to us and we are very sad to see them go.


new house is zwelitsha informal settlement

whilst we have been received this wonderful home, planned, designed and funded (all but a few thousand pounds which we are still trying to find!) it's hard to keep in context the work that these guys have done for us and our volunteers, whilst literally thousands of people in grabouw and who live on our doorstep do so with virtually nothing, many call home a small wooden structure with a tin roof, with little access to running water, sanitation and no electricity.

we know that God has blessed us and we thank him for his provision however as we were going to our sports club at zwelitsha on tuesday afternoon i was somewhat surprised to see a new home that had been built in that location. the home had a pitched roof and steel windows, we trust that those people will also be happy with their new home and that God will also bless them as they move in.


Wednesday, April 13, 2011

health awareness at our sports outreach

talitha teaching oral hygiene
as part of the link that we have with the HAN university in arnhem in holland we are blessed with new students every 6 months or so, who come to complete part of their studies with us at the village of hope, over a period of either 5 or 10 months. providing help to maz in the children's unit via social and physio students and to us with our sports outreach in the community via their sports management students.

we run our sports outreach in 5 of the poorest areas of grabouw each afternoon, this sports based ,bible and lifeskills programme uses football and netball to interact with the children, giving us a base to provide them with some basic life skills, such as working together which brings self respect and respect for others as well as allowing us to link that with a suitable story from the bible which shows the children that God is interested in their lives and can help them when they are faced with different issues during their home, school and social lives.

during the last few years the dutch students have been setting up a life style programme which teaches children basic health awareness topics, such as teeth cleaning, hand washing etc and over the last few weeks we have incorporated this programme into our sports outreach, which now provides the children with a wider knowledge for their lives.

this is working very well, although our hour long sessions are a little bit crammed so we are needing to spend slightly longer with the children, which is no bad thing!

Friday, April 8, 2011

running for new hope...

my sister, vicki knight, who couldn't complete a 1 mile cross country at school without having a break and walking with her giggling school friends, is taking part in the coniston plus race tomorrow in the wonderful english lake district, 16 and 1/2 miles in one go! yes that it amazing enough but she is doing it to raise funds for the work that we (at the village of hope) and the wider thembalitsha foundation are doing as we seek to make a positive difference to those less fortunate than ourselves.

if you have a few pounds, cents, dollars to spare then please visit her justgiving site and make a donation...this won't only make her run faster and further but will help us too!

p.s i was the cross country runner of our family but i seem to only be able to manage anything cross country these days in my toyota hilux 4x4...how things have changed!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

holiday time at the village of hope


yesterday we had a visit from a team of guys who attend the his people church in baxter, cape town, tracy and her friends came up to the village of hope to entertain the children during their holiday time.

we took the opportunity to invite a few of our 'ex' children (those who we have successfully placed back out with their families or foster families in the grabouw area) to come and join in the fun.

it was great to see how much the children have grown and developed since they left us, it was great to see them playing with their old friends and enjoying all the activities that tracy and the team had set up for the morning.

we just want to thank the team from baxter for being willing to make the trip over the mountain to visit us and make our children's holiday time a little brighter.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

the last straw!

team working hard outside front of house

well we are into the final week of the visit from the team from the university of stuttgart, they will leave us on sunday and therefore are busy with the last of the building work that they have been completing on the new accommodation. they have worked so hard and are making every effort to finish the building to that 'german standard' that they are known for!

over the last week we have seen the solar panel installed which will provide some cost saving on our water heating bills, the septic tank has been sunk into the ground, the window frames and glass are being installed as i write and the kitchen and bathroom units are being manufactured (the door fronts of the kitchen units are made from old yahat sails)....this really is an ecco house.

light switch in cob wall
we will be so sad to see this team leave, but we are so blessed to have had them come and visit, raising funds and build us a new home. myself and maz are returning to england for a short break at the end of may and we have made plans to visit the team in germany and not only thank but speak to their professor, who knows where our relationship will lead but we do hope to see them again soon.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

celebrating our 2 year birthday

the village of hope has been open for 2 years today, wow that is something to celebrate. over that time we have successfully provided a home to over 20 children who are either infected or affected by HIV, AIDS or TB, 7 of whom are still with us and 18 who have been placed back home with either their immediate family or foster care.

each child who we have helped has an amazing if not difficult story, stories of neglect, abuse and disease, but through the help of our wonderful team of house moms, headed by maz and mel, and the volunteers we have welcomed onto the project over those last two years, we have made a positive impact into each of the children's lives and that is something we can be very proud of.

on saturday evening we had a party with a few carefully invited guests who joined us at the south hill vineyard to eat at the amazing venue, which is run by gordon and emma manuel, a great time was had by all (i think?), with good food and wine, provided locally by elgin ridge and elgin vintners. during the evening we were able to share with those present about the work we (and thembacare) do in grabouw. we hope to have a few photos to share with you later but our google/blogger site is running very slow at the minute so please bear with us. but for now you can visit this link to view the video that we showed, please take time to have a look.

it's hard to think of life before the village of hope, and we want to thank so many wonderful people who have helped us to make a difference, even if it is to just one child, those who helped with the fundraising in england and the setting up, building works, and painting. cutting down trees, erecting fences to keep children in and animals out, plumbers and electricians, handy men and women who have given so selflessly, those who have worked with the children directly, whether here on the project or out in the community via our sports outreach, those who have organised sports events, set up soup runs, built homes for people in the informal settlements or taken time to get to know children individually getting down on their level and providing a shoulder to cry on.

you guys know who you are and we thank and honour you.

here's to the next two years and hopefully with your support, many many more!

Monday, April 4, 2011

new logo

over the last few months the thembalitsha foundation has been reestablishing itself as a provider of excellent health care, training and education, the same wonderful team of project managers have been joined by a new board of directors who are working with frank christie (our chairman) to ensure that the charity is beyond reproach as we seek to serve those less fortunate that ourselves in the most professional way we can.

last year our accounts were audited by deloittie's, which we feel is very important as it provides confidence for those people and companies (including government departments) who donate funds for us to use. we know that the economics of this world are changing and each pound, euro, dollar or rand that is given needs to work as hard as it can to provide care to those in need.

as part of our new look we have been working on a new logo, which was designed by our very own mel kidd who is volunteering with us at the village of hope. this logo will be used across the thembalitsha foundation, each project will use the same image with their individual project highlighted in text below that.

we hope that you like the new look and that it will give each of the projects the 'family' identity that we have with the wider/mother foundation, thembalitsha .

Friday, April 1, 2011

home for holidays

holiday time was always something that i looked forward to when i was at school, the thought of endless days of free time occupied my mind throughout the term and the last day was always something that i looked forward to. my mum worked in a school so she was always around to look after us and dad would take time off work to take us to interesting places or even to visit relatives who lived near the sea.

here in south africa things are different, most of the children that we work with love going to school, unless it's raining of course!, they see their education as a way out of the poverty and hardship that they live in day in day out. holiday's means time when they aren't gaining the knowledge that was denied many of their parents.

holiday's are not when most families make time to take a drive to the country or spend the day lazing by the beach, the children we work with live on the bread line, most parents are earning a few rand a day to pick apples or grapes which grow in abundance in our valley and therefore aren't around to entertain the children, times away from school can be lonely and fearful times.

however some children just love holidays, and one of the children is a girl who used to stay with us at the village of hope who has just arrived home for a long break from here special needs boarding school, which is situated about 2 hours from grabouw. it was a real pleasure to help her uncle, who was also a patient at thembacare in the past, make contact with the taxi firm who were struggling to find her house in the rooidakke township and deliver her home...the photo shows them in a warm embrace.

please pray for her time home, with a family that is currently struggling and for the thousands of children both in our town of grabouw and throughout south africa and the world for whom holiday times may not be the luxury that we used to long for when we were at school!