new sports shoes for our mentors

guys and girls with their new sports shoes

well once again a week has passed since the last blog post, things are so crazy busy here at the minute and what with that and the Easter break, during which time myself and maz celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary (yes i know we don't look that old!), i haven't had time to update on all that's been happening so here goes with some latest news.

this afternoon i was able to bless our 12 sports mentors (yes i know there's only 11 in the photo but one couldn't make it) by buying them some much needed sports footwear, this was due to a wonderful donor (you know who you are and the team say a big thank you) from the USA who after visiting our sports clubs late last year wanted to ensure that the guys had proper shoes, or even a pair of shoes, as they coach the other younger children.

the shopping trip was a bit of a whirl wind as i gave the boys and girls free reign of a couple of sports shops, however i did set some boundaries and made sure that the shoes were within budget and suitable for playing soccer. some tried to get some fancy school shoes, others wanted proper football boots with studs in, however we compromised on a couple of requests and it seems that they were happy with their purchases.

it is so great to be able to bless these amazing mentors, who coach at our sports clubs/outreach every afternoon and to ensure they are fully kitted out is so important as they share their skills with others!

food need outweighs flashy headgear!

happy but hungry mentors

late last week i was able to bless two of our sports mentors with a wonderful gift that was donated from our latest team who visited us from the united states. the gift was a sports cap with built in flashlight which is not only a cool accessory, maz has one so as not to wake me when she is reading at night!, but will make such a difference for our two mentors as they struggle to complete their school homework in their dark and electricity free tin shack in the iraq informal settlement in grabouw.

delivering our life skills in iraq informal settlement today

the boys were very pleased to receive this gift but once i had presented them with their cool hats, see photo, they asked if there was any way that i could help them out as they didn't have any, yes any, food in their home for that evening meal..........it suddenly stuck me that although they received a $30 cap which would help them in the future their immediate need was to put some food on the table!

engaging with their peers, so cool!

as a charity thembalitsha don't encourage us to provide hand outs, we are seeking to provide new hope via empowering people to a place of self reliance but what could i do, what would you do?, leave the boys with a wonderful new cap but with empty stomachs?......no i took them into town and purchased a few tin cans of meat, some eggs, fresh milk, sugar and paraffin to lite the stove, God calls us to love our neighbours as ourselves and i couldn't face the thought of leaving them with nothing knowing that my cupboards were full of food and a nice cauliflower cheese bake that maz had made for me to microwave as she was out for the evening!

today those two same boys were back helping with our sports outreach, they told me that their hats were great and that they could now read some of the educational magazines i had left with them, and that their mother had received her pay cheque and they had some food for their family....at least for this week!

stuffing more sacks!

we have been so blessed over the last week with visits from 'random people' who have heard about our work via the stuff your rucksack web site.

on friday, we were visited by peter jackets and his wife iris who blessed us with some amazing toys, dressing up clothes and colouring books for the children, peter had also raised some funds (of which we were truly thankful for) by driving around britian in his car...in less than 17 hours, i hope that was legal!....

and on sunday julia and her husband geoff visited and donated some medical and educational supplies, they visit south africa for 4 months each year and we hope that this will be the first of many visits that they make to our project.

thanks guys, and thanks to 'stuff your rucksack', what a great site and one to look at when you are planning an oversees trip, wherever you are visiting there are charities like ours that need your help.

facebook funds via travelstart

one of the most active of supporters for thembalitsha over this last year has been a company called travelstart, this week they have launched another way of supporting thembalistsha, this time via facebook. basically if you are on facebook and become a fan of travelstart they will donate R50.00, around £3.50, to thembalitsha.

we would obviously love for all our friends and supporters to sign up to this, so if you are on facebook please follow this link and sign up......