another first day at school..

its off to school we go!

its amazing to see the children grow as they spend time with us, there are many mile stones that we celebrate with them and their first day at school or pre-school is one of those most precious moments.

today our little three year old who has been with us for about 18 months made his first steps into the 'education system' which was a real joy, thanks must go out to our social worker, emma, who has been busy trying to find a place at a local creche since the school term started about a month ago.

our little one with pinkie (his new teacher)

the creche/pre-school that he attends is further away from the village of hope than where the other children go, so the school run will be extended by a few minutes but he was reunited with an ex house mom who is now working at the school and will be his teacher....good news all round and it seems like his day went well as maz picked him up around lunchtime all he could talk about was the fun that he had had.

starting school

following on from yesterday's blog we are delighted to inform you that our dear little girl who has issues around her mobiltiy started at our local preschool this morning, this is amazing news and it's important that she is treated like any other child and to hear her chatting away about seeing some of the other children who have stayed with us at the village of hope at the preschool was a joy.

please continue to pray for her development, which has increased in so many ways, and for her future as we seek to work with her mother in any reunification that could take place.

back to school...

here in south africa the school year starts in january and for those children who passed the end of year exams (which means that they can progress to the next grade) it can be an exciting time, however going back to school means a lot of expenditure which can put further pressure on families, school uniforms, books, stationery and school fees need to be bought and paid for and for those who are already living below the poverty line this can be a tough time.

one of our elder girls has started grade R this morning, which is a big step for her with two of our other children starting their first pre-school at the age of three tomorrow.

our 16 sports mentors are also going back to school and this year we have been able to assist them with some much needed stationary packs, which were kindly put together by a family who had recently volunteered with us from the united states (thanks susie and family). it was amazing to be able to give these 16-20 year old boys some welcome supplies and the joy on their faces as they opened their packs was a sight to behold.

however, and this is the real focus of this post, we have had some very heart wrenching stories from a few of our mentors who are really struggling with family issues which can really comprise their schooling.

on monday for instance i had to play dad as i collected one mentors 2013 report, his mom has moved out of town and he now lives on his own in some accommodation that we sorted for him in the community. three other mentors asked for help in finding uniforms, white shirts, pale grey trousers, white socks, black shoes and a back pack. its embarrassing for these guys to ask for such a hand out and as a foundation we don't make a habit of doing that randomly, however these boys are key players in our sports outreach programme and give so much to help support our work within the community.

i'd like to finish this blog by posting an edited letter that i received from one such boy, i hope that it gives you an idea of the types of situations these boys live in and it was our pleasure to be able to help him with the supplies he needed and today he started school with his other friends with a smile on his face.

i have changed names and dates but kept the grammar, he is xhosa speaking and english is his second language..(and by the way he calls me 'team' so i haven't changed that!)


Team, its me Paul, 

things are going bad to me, my mother doesn have money to buy a school clothes and school shose. my mother at 21/12/13 had use all the money to his father for funeral and now i am stay alone its just i write this lettar i need you help me please help me and i am stay alone the things that i was eat are finished, at 15th janury 2014 kids are going to school but i no God will make a plane for me and i am happy because i am going to grader 9. enjoy 2014 Team and also a school bag.

from Paul


these stories have highlighted a great need to us so it is our intention to address this situation next christmas and have those people who would like to give a present to focus their giving to be around the basic school supplies that we would take for granted, a fancy toy at christmas is great but what the children in our communities really need is help to get them to school with the right uniform and supplies.

first day at pre-school

one of the most amazing things we can do to support the little ones who we have been given care over is to ensure that we don't miss those most important dates in their lives, and obviously one's first day at school, be that real big school or pre-school, is key date in anyone's life. so today we had the pleasure of taking our little three year old boy to his first day at pre-school, well i say we as it was actually emma who got up early to ensure that this boy fitted in well and was made a bit of a fuss over.

as you can imagine the lives of the children to stay with us are so complex so what is already a very trying and emotional time was made all the harder as there were many hurdles to overcome this morning, firstly his estranged mother who lives near the school, and who we have had very little interaction with since he has been with us, was calling to him as he arrived, an over friendly dog was waiting to greet him at the school gate, the little boy is very scared of dogs so this wasn't such a warm welcome and he started to cry when emma finally had to say goodbye!

that said our five year old girl who attends the same pre-school made him feel really welcome and by the end of the morning he was talking excitedly as emma picked them up from his first morning at school.

(sorry no pictures but emma said that there was a little too much going on to get her camera out to capture the moment, i don't know what she means!)

hi ho hi ho its off to school we go....

walking out with his little school bag

we can hardly believe that the little bundle of joy that arrived at the village of hope aged just five days has taken his first steps along his journey in education, yes today he starts his first day at preschool aged three years. he joins our other little girls, one who has moved up into reception class which is a very big step for her too!

for this little boy it will be a huge step, he has had little contact with his family and most of his experience has been in our children's unit at the village of hope, please pray that he has peace and makes lots of new friends, and that he also knows we will be back to pick him up at 12 o'clock.

joining his other new friends who started school today
with mommy maz!

first days at school

today is the start of a new school year in south africa and for one of our little girls it was her very first day, maz (and lizi allen) left the village of hope at 7.30am, and by 8.00am she had joined her new classmates for the start of her school life. unfortunately she (the little girl not maz or lizi) had a slight accident before she had even got into the car, but we understand that the rest of her day got a little better!

please pray for all of our children, 4 of whom attend local schools, or preschools and for all the other children that we work with in the community via our sports outreach who moved up classes from last year.

photo shows our house mom getting our little girl ready for her first day.