mandela day visitors....for 67 minutes!

the aleit group with
 maz (and wind)

three of our sports mentors

today, 18th july, was nelson mandela's birthday and it's a day where the people of south africa have been encouraged to spend 67 minutes helping others...why 67 minutes i hear you ask, well nelson gave 67 years of his life serving his country so we should all be able to spend 67 minutes thinking of others less fortunate than ourselves.

as with other years we have found this to be a very busy day but it's well worth hosting the various people and organisations who are keen to come and see the work we are involved in day in day out and it's always a blessing to receive the wonderful donations that people often come with.

the shoprite team

this morning we welcomed a team from 'the aleit group' who bought up some wonderful materials, including colouring pens and paint pots, as well as bright coloured tables and chairs on which the children will undertake to create some masterpeices. (as you can see from the photo the wind almost blew them and maz away)
three of our sports mentors came up to do their bit for 67 minutes, it's amazing that these guys give of their time so freely each and every afternoon but they were still keen to come and make a difference. josh took them into the woods where they collect wood ready for chopping and burning on our fires, this was very thoughtful and helpful too.

girls modeling the wonderful glasses

four ladies from imperial came up with food and hosted a small party for the children, which they thoughly enjoyed.

the local shoprite (supermarket) came up with various donations which mel, barbara and jenny are busy sorting, with some degree of fun, as i write this blog post, see photo below of the fashionable eyewear which we found in one of the boxes.

imperial party!

frank christie kindly came up the windy mountain path with 67 cupcakes baked by the folks at 'pajarmas and jam' in somerset west, most of these have already been eaten and taken out to our 'rainbow smiles' adolecent support group which runs every friday afternoon.

and finally a large team from appletiser arrived bearing gifts and took time to look around the unit and play with the children.

we really have been blessed today and thank everyone for coming up and engaging with our children and wonderful project.

delicious cup cakes

to cap off the activities emma was busy last night making cakes which our rainbow smiles group will be icing and then taking out to local creches, old age homes and even our thembacare staff in town, this is a great way of those children seeing the difference that they can make in their own community and we trust that emma has a good time!

the team from appletise