saying goodbye is never easy

sharing our highs and lows in the new children's unit
with marlies and erik

it's crazy how time flies, especially when your having fun!, and the last 10 months have been no different. this week we are saying our sad goodbye's to our two dutch students who are coming to the end of their internship with us.

last night we through a party for marlies who has been working with maz on our social work side since august and erik who has been with us since february working with me as we bring our lifeskills programme via sports outreach to the children in our community.

erik and the sports mentors

it was great to honor these two wonderful students with a party which was attended by the majority of our house moms and our sports mentors who enjoyed a great meal prepared by maz and the evening was capped by the village of hope tradition of sharing our highlights and (if applicable low lights) of their time with us.

we are so blessed to have this relationship with the HAN university who we have partnered with over the last four years and our minds were also bought back to the wonderful students that we have hosted over the years, you know who you are and you are all truly missed.

helping through the storms of life!

we have been enjoying some indian summer weather here in grabouw over the last month or so, however last night that came to an abrupt ending when we had a huge storm which wrecked havoc in our little town. this morning over 100 house holds were counting the cost of the damage that the water had caused and we rallied the troops to the call of the municipal town manager who was asking for fresh blankets and other bed linen.

but as normal we look to go the extra mile, or maybe we should say the third mile, and our offer to help didn't stop there, this evening we have welcomed in a family who's home was so badly affected by the water, with over 1000mm of water rushing through their small home in pineview. they have spent most of the day cleaning up the mess that the water has caused however this evening we are so happy to be able to extend a welcome to dolly and her two girls who will sleep in warm beds and enjoy hot showers after their 24 hour ordeal.

May News

The big news this month is that we were finally able to move into our refurbished children’s unit last week! Hurrah! The new space is fantastic and it’s great to be settling in and making it feel like home. We’ve still got some issues like heating for the winter to sort out but we will get there!

Birthday Girl - celebrating in the new unit!

Now that we have more space we are able to begin to take more children in. We had already taken a little boy in whilst we were still in the temporary unit so our numbers are now up to 6 and have space for another 9! The new little boy is HIV positive but was not on ARVs. He had to spend his first two weeks with us in hospital because he arrived with serious diarrhea and was so weak he was unable to sit up. Now, after being fed intravenously at the hospital and being stabalised on his medication, he is doing so much better and is always smiling. He has such a cute face!

Since we’ve moved into the new unit we’ve had a visit from a team at CFNI who came and spent the afternoon with the children and entertained them with a puppet show. We’ve also been able to celebrate our first birthday in there for one of our little girls who has just turned 5.

Sports
The sports team is really coming together and this month we’ve had another new arrival. Boniface is employed by another NGO, Good Sport and he is going to be assisting with our sports programme. He is a class 1 FIFA coach and class 2 cricket coach so he really knows his stuff and we are excited for him to share his knowledge with our mentors and inspire them and the children that he meets through our sports programme.

Other News
New Film -
Emily has been very busy this year compiling Stories of Hope from each of the Thembalitsha projects in the form of short videos and now our story is complete. You can view it here: http://youtu.be/coxbNHyX8OE. Please share it with your friends and help to spread the word about what we are doing.

Volunteers -
In the next couple of months we will be welcoming back two previous volunteers: Barbara Wood and Emma Podmore have both served with us before and this time they are coming back in a long-term capacity. Emma is now a qualified social worker so we will definitely benefit from her knowledge as we try to advance the cases of each of the children in the unit. Barbara is going to come and assist with hosting volunteers as well as helping with the cooking for the children and she has a good head for numbers so we are going to be getting her to help with balancing our books too!

Cycle To The Sea | Date Set for September 2013 - 
We are going large with our Cycle to the Sea event this year! We will be running an event in UK and South Africa on the same day! Exciting stuff!! The date is set for 14th September so please keep your eyes peeled on the Thembalitsha facebook page for more details as our plans develop.

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!!!
• Fundraise – Commit to shave your head, host a quiz night, do a sporting event!!!!! – The possibilities are endless and can raise R10000s with enough enthusiasm!
• Pray – need we say more?!

For more information contact us fundraiser@thembalitsha.org.za


Volunteering
We rely heavily on committed volunteers to do the stuff 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 Thembalitsha please check out our website or email us at volunteer@thembalitsha.org.za

Also, please do NOT book ANY flights before your application form has been accepted. Thank you!

More Than Your Average Mother

Mummy Netti in action!

Today is Mother's Day in South Africa and I wanted to take this opportunity to celebrate the Village of Hope House Mums.

We have a team of wonderful ladies, 11 in total, who we employ from the local community to care for the children here at Village of Hope. But these ladies are more than just carers, they really are Mothers to the children during their time here. They clean their faces, feed them, sing to them and play with them. They are there for them when they are sick and make sure they get their medication on time. They pour their love out to every child that comes through these doors whether they are with us for three weeks or three years.

This 'job' is not easy. They work 12-hour shifts and many of them have children of their own at home that they also need to care for, however most of them have been with us since we opened our doors 4 years ago and they truly are part of the family here.

During the past 4 years they've been 'mum' to over 40 children - no mean feat! They've invested love, time and energy into every one of the children and they've also had to say goodbye to them as they move on...which is tough. Very tough. Most Mothers get to see their children grow and develop and have the reward of seeing them become adults and flourish... Most of them time here, when a child's stay comes to an end, they don't see them again...ever!..

We will never know just how many of the children will remember their time at Village of Hope, but we pray that the investment they receive from these fabulous House Mums will stay with them (even if it's sub-consciously) throughout their lives.

Be inspired by these true heroes! Happy Mother's Day!

Cute As A Button...

...and as small as one too!

2 years old, only 5.5kg....still an absolute cutie

Well here we are at Friday again! We’ve survived our first week without Tim and Maz and no hiccups to report (which is always a relief!).

Yesterday we were able to welcome home one of our most recent admissions - the little boy who’d originally arrived with acute gastroenteritis, dehydration and malnutrition. His situation was so critical that he needed two weeks in hospital! We are so happy that he has recovered his strength, gained some weight and is able to sit up and walk around normally now. He is even smiling now!

Today we have taken in another little girl. She has a similar background to the little boy. She is HIV+ and her mother has been failing to give her the ARV medication regularly *. She is severely malnourished and, although she is two years old, looks no bigger than a six-month-old. I was truly shocked when I met her. She is tiny, weighing less than 6kg (12 lbs). She is not a happy bunny at the moment and keeps asking for her Mummy but we hope she will manage to feel at home here before too long.

This little one’s mother is keen to take her back but we need to keep her until she is stable on her medication and gaining some weight. The mother will also need to be able to prove to the doctors and social workers that she understands the importance of ensuring her little girl takes the medication regularly and that she provides her with a good, nourishing diet and proper care.

These new intakes aren't unique situations. There are many, many children who are extremely vulnerable in this town. Many with extremely young mothers who are ill-prepared or unable to care for a small child and all their needs and demands. Many whose mothers simply don't have access to basics like being close to running water or money to buy food...

With these new arrivals the temporary children’s unit is starting to feel a little squashed! – We’ve been working our way through the snag list for the new unit and are SO close to moving in…..we are crossing our fingers for next week as long as all things go to plan!

... At least then we will have more spaces available for those vulnerable children who need a safe haven.

Please keep us in your prayers.

Love, Emily x
on behalf of the B team!

* It is imperative that ARVs are kept to. Failure to do so means that the body can build up resistance to the drugs and they become ineffective in fighting the virus. Once a patient becomes resistant to one line of ARVs they have to move onto the next line. There are limited lines available in South Africa currently so only a couple of chances to get it right.