newsworthy stories...

it's always nice to have the profile of the work we are doing raised in the media and last week the village of hope project, and the work we are involved with via the thembalitsha foundation, made the news in two papers around the world.

for those of you who don't live in grabouw the story of our fifth birthday celebrations made the news in the elgin grabouwer, see photo attached and for those who live outside of the aylesbury vale (the area where myself, maz, rob, emily, barbara, emma and josh hail from) we appeared in the local newspaper, the bucks herald, and if you would like to take a look at the electronic version of that piece then please click this link.

  

starting school

first day at big school!

one of the greatest joys we have is to be able to see our young children grow up and enter their formal education, most of our children stay with us only a short while as we seek to stabilise them on their medication and work with their families for a full reintegration however for some they stay with us a little longer so this schooling process usually takes place when a child has been with us as a toddler and then makes their first steps into pre-school.

however last week we were able to secure a place for our new 8 year old into his first grade of primary education, this child had never attended school before so there was a lot for emma to sort out, especially as all the schools in grabouw were already full, however with her 'never give up attitude' she managed to enter him into his grade one class of which he was so pleased.

he has made some new friends and seems to be very happy, the only down side is that  the school run has got a little more complicated with us having to drop children off at three different sites but it's good to our older children are now attending school in the mornings and with some forethought emma has registered another child already to ensure he can start his education at the right time!

April News

This April we celebrate being open 5 years! It’s so wonderful to be able to reflect on the work we’ve done so far and to be inspired to knuckle down and keep going through the tough days.


Children’s Unit
Perhaps the most exciting thing about ‘turning 5’ is that we’ve been able to receive four new children into the unit which means that we are nearly at capacity. It’s great to see the unit bustling with life – although it’s keeping the House Moms on their toes, especially since three of the new boys are brothers and the other new admission suffers severely with FASD.

The three-year-old boy who arrived here last month has had to spend the past three weeks in hospital. Although he is back with us now the hospital are still battling to determine exactly what he is suffering with. They think it might be a strain of TB usually only found in adults and he is going back for more tests this week, the results of which will hopefully help to determine a
treatment plan. The doctors and staff at the hospital have been wonderful with him and they didn’t want him to leave which is always lovely to hear.

Our three-year-old girl who has Cerebral Palsy has been doing extremely well and was able to stand and try and take a step independently which is amazing! She has come on so far and although some of the medical professionals think it is extremely likely she may not walk on her own we are continuing to work with her and encourage her as far as she can go. When she first arrived it was hard to believe she would ever sit up on her own and we know that miracles can happen! She is a very determined little one and making fantastic progress. Please hold her up in your prayers.

Sports
In the last month, not only have we began our eighth sports club in a new part of the town, but we have also welcomed a new sports mentor to the existing group. Sharon has been working with the younger children (under nines) at four separate clubs, showing a desire to aid them in their development.

We have also started working with two new Good Sport graduates, recruited by Boniface, over the past three weeks. They perform a similar role to Boni, working closely with the very young (under 6's) in order to increase their motor skills and develop their co-ordination. It’s wonderful to be able to offer some stimulation and attention to the younger children who are so desperate to join in the clubs.

With a total of 17 sports mentors and eight sports clubs, the sports outreach programme has seen a big progression over the past 12 months, with more and more members of the community showing a strong desire to help the children from their town.

It was particularly encouraging to have a older member of the community approach us during one of the clubs to commend us for the work we are doing. It doesn’t happen often but helps us to know that we are appreciated and wanted!

Rainbow Smiles –HIV support group for adolescents
Emma and Johan continue to do a fantastic job for our Rainbow Smiles support group. They took the group out for a treat day at the beach to make the most of the last days of summer. Everyone had a wonderful time. They’ve also made one of the older boys a group leader in the hope that giving him more responsibility will help his behaviour but also encourage the rest of the group that they have someone to relate to who is going through similar experienes.



Other News:
The Themablitsha Big Buck$ Bike Ride:
Entries have opened for the bike ride event happening in Aylesbury on 14th June. There are challenges suitable for novices as well as those more seasoned cyclists. Both the distances are circular and culminate in a celebratory BBQ for everyone in the afternoon. Please make every effort to support this event either by taking part, sponsoring the riders or volunteering on the day. For more details visit the Thembaltisha Foundation Facebook page or email bikeride@thembalitshauk.org.uk


Volunteers:
We said goodbye to Gundi, a lovely German lady who came to serve with us for three months. She has proved invaluable in assisting our girl with Cerebral Palsy as she adjusted to pre-school and we will miss her a lot


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!

celebrating 5 years since the opening of the children's unit - its a family affair!

 barbara, maz mommy francis and mommy nettie with the cake!

on saturday we celebrated the fifth birthday of the opening of the village of hope children's unit, this was a momentous occasion and one where we wanted to use it as a time of thanksgiving to God for his great provision towards the project and those that we have impacted over the last five years.

children playing and adults worshiping in the garden

our intention was to host an 'open day'for all our friends, partners and community projects but the numbers would be so huge that we wouldn't be able to cope. so although we have other outreaches into the community via our sports and rainbow smiles clubs this was just for the children, their families and some key staff both past and present. saying that we must have had around 60 people come join us for a time of worship, tea, cake and an easter egg hunt.

the children on an easter egg hunt!

our friends from wholehearted leading worship

the weather was so hot that we had to throw up a makeshift sail to provide some shade to those who joined us, including some of the first children that filled our unit, those boys and girls who were around two years old when they stayed with us and are now six or seven years old and had all grown so much. although not all of the 45 children who we have provided care in the unit for were able to join us we had a great time as we looked back at the family tree and remember those who aren't with us now.

the worship time was led the amazingly talented 'wholehearted' band from somerset west and we want to thank them for their incredible support, however their leading was complimented by some of our house moms who sang some traditional african songs which really embraced the 'rainbow nation' feel of the village of hope.

after we had sung some songs people were able to share some of their stories of hope and gave thanks for the work that has been undertaken by our amazing team, it was great to hear these stories, shared in english, afrikaans and xhosa, of how God had blessed people both children, staff and parents via the support that we were able to provide, proving that we can be Jesus hands and feet in all situations we find ourselves in, be that praying for someone in a supermarket, to giving a life to a person at the side of the road, or providing a safe and loving home to some of the most sick and needy children in our community.

so we celebrated our first five years, we wonder where God will take this project in the next five years...watch this space!

a full children's unit

children enjoying the late autumn afternoon sun 

we start this blog post with some great news.....for the first time since we had the unit extended by the students from stuttgart university we have a full unit!

over the last month we have had five new admissions who join children who have been with us for some time, however whilst we are so pleased to be able to provide a stable home to these children the news of any new admission is always tinged with sadness as every child who is placed with us arrives with a story of suffering and pain. unfortunately this is so true of the three children who we have been able to help this week.

as per normal we can't go into each of their individual cases but please pray for us as we seek to provide a safe home for three little ones who have had a very troubled life so far and also their family who are obviously struggling to support them at home. we hope to be able to sort something quickly with our social workers but as always things don't always follow a quick path.