Blogs from Siyabuswa , Mpumalanga , South Africa, Africa

A nice leisurely start to the day, up for breakfast at 8.00 am then we got ready for a shopping spree in Marble Hall - an hour's drive - we were joined by Evelyn and Gugu (as she needed some new clothes and a suitcase for a forthcoming school trip). Some clothes were bought for the boarders, some more games (that can be shared) and a suitable lockable box so that the games can be stored for the boarders. Tim and Rob discovered a different hardware shop which was a great delight (just two weeks later than required). Then we stocked up with snacks for our journey to Kruger and a few supplies for the next few days (breakfast cereals etc.) Tim treated us all to an ice-cream (after all, we are on holiday) we were ... read more

Another busy day for the group, Frances was early to rise and at school by 7:00, the rest of the group took a little longer to emerge but eventually we were all awake and getting on with our list of jobs to be done before the presentation assembly on Friday morning: -finish the alphabet boards, -make a start on bunting, -fill up buckets of water just in case the water system goes down due to the strike by the water workers, luckily it hasn't (yet), -continue building shelter, -finishing touches on painting the playground, -make swing seats to replace the broken tyres, Tim and Robert made their (hopefully) last trip to Cashbuild (sad face from Tim) first thing. Then they headed straight to school. Tim continued working on the shelter, for which he'd dug the holes ... read more

Another early start, Frances was at Grace School for assembly at 7.30am and the rest of the group arrived at 8.00am ready to continue painting the diamond patterns on the playground equipment, all of which is looking as good as new (although the challenge of fitting new seats on the swings is still to be resolved - we have tyres but we are looking for different fittings). After an hour's painting the temperature had risen (as it always does) and it was time for us to return to base and split forces. Suzy and Rob drove off to Groblersdal in search of material (with which Suzy and Eva will be making some bunting). Meanwhile, Eva and Amy designed and decorated a couple of boards which will be installed in the infants playground, one board will have ... read more

Suzy's bit... We managed a bit of a lie-in this morning. Breakfast with Evelyn and one of her Granddaughters at 8am. Evelyn instructed Robert to wear a tie because he is a Pastor, but Tim was off the hook; He didn't need to wear a tie with his shirt. Our Sunday clothes were given to us beautifully ironed by one of Evelyn's ladies and Robert's shoes had been polished. Such a different way of life! We were ready to leave for Church at 10am, arriving at 10.10 (as instructed again by Evelyn). The music and singing was already in full swing and we could hear the church just as we pulled into the car park. Any hopes of lurking in the back row were dashed as a lady ushered us up and into the front row. ... read more

Frances was the only one who was awake enough (and full of beans), ready to go to school at 7.00am. The rest of us had a more leisurely breakfast before preparing for the day. The sun was shining and a hot day promised as Tim and Robert made a prototype bench. They were banned from making the bench last night inside the guesthouse so they set up their workstation right outside the front door....the poor lady who was cleaning the house today, looked at all the sawdust on the doorstep and I could almost see what she was thinking! An hour or so later, the first bench was ready for testing. It is just exactly right. So we hope they will be able to make several more. Muriel and her husband came to visit. They were ... read more