Blogs from Siyabuswa , Mpumalanga , South Africa, Africa - page 2

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Africa » South Africa » Mpumalanga » Siyabuswa August 13th 2015

The whole team were up in time for breakfast at 6.50am so that we could be at Grace School for assembly - today we joined the seniors (ages 10-14 approx.) After the assembly, Frances went off to teach Grade 6 a science lesson all about energy transformations, Rob and Tim went off to the new (built just after we were here in 2012) DIY store where they bought paint and wood and various supplies for DIY projects at the school, Eva/Suzy/Amy returned to our base to meet with Vimbai and to catalogue the new library books that we have brought from the UK. Rob & Tim returned to the school at 10.45am and began sanding the playground equipment, ready for a white undercoat. They were joined by the rest of the team except for Frances who ... read more
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Africa » South Africa » Mpumalanga » Siyabuswa August 12th 2015

Hello, Clarry, Larry, Sally (three monkeys), Charlie (teddy) and Panama (tree frog) here! Today we had an early start to get ready for a day trip out to Kghodwana cultural village, about 90km from Siyabuswa. After breakfast with Bishop Hendrick and Evelyn at 8am we left to collect our cameras and water bottles before setting out at 9:45. We arrived at Kghodwana (pronounced cod-wan-nee) cultural village which had been opened in 1990 and we were introduced to our tour guide who gave us an introduction to the culture of the Ndebele people starting from the 13th century up to modern day. We discovered more about the culture of the Ndebele as we went round the site. The traditional houses were round, starting with a wooden frame which was covered in a thatched roof, then a short ... read more
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Africa » South Africa » Mpumalanga » Siyabuswa August 11th 2015

Dear Reader, Today was our first day in the Grace School (it was a bank holiday yesterday) and we were all looking forward to seeing old friends and getting underway with some of the things we had planned. It was an early start; morning assembly at 7:30am meant we had to be out of bed before dawn (a challenge which defeated one of our group!). With a quick breakfast in our bellies we made our way to the school and arrived just in time for assembly. Assembly is an experience not to be missed with the children singing in such as magnificent and tuneful way that even Simon Cowell would be moved! Assembly was followed by a tour of the new infant block before we split-up to do our individual projects. Frances and Suzy unleashed their ... read more

Africa » South Africa » Mpumalanga » Siyabuswa August 10th 2015

Following breakfast with Mama and Bishop Hendrick, we met with Bishop Hendrick to discuss our itinerary for the next two weeks. There are so many things we'd love to achieve and we will do our best. We hadn't realised that today was a holiday. It is Women's Day. We went into Siyabuswa where there is a new shopping mall. A lady in the queue told Tim and Robert they should be buying us ladies cake as it's Women's Day. Their response was not positive and said it wasn't healthy. Sigh. Never mind, we'll get our own another time! During lunch the Bishop entertained us as he told us about how he killed a snake with his bare feet! We'd been talking about the beautiful kittens which Evelyn's cat gave birth to a few months ago. There ... read more
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Africa » South Africa » Mpumalanga » Siyabuswa August 9th 2015

We have arrived, all went smoothly at Heathrow Airport, we departed from a very busy but efficient Terminal 5. Tim had organised the taxi to get us to Heathrow nice and early so we had a calm wait after we got through security, we even had time for a meal at Weatherspoons! We waited and watched the planes arriving and departing as we waited to be called to board, everyone was calm and relaxed. The flight was long and we were able to watch a few films on the way, the flight departed at 9.20pm so it was a night time flight and we managed a little bit of sleep. At one point during our flight over Africa I looked out of the window to see streetlights in the darkness, the surprise was that there were ... read more

Africa » South Africa » Mpumalanga » Siyabuswa August 4th 2015

So it's finally over. Children are safely restored to their families, bags are unpacked and the heap of washing has begun to be tackled. The talk is no doubt of the past two weeks' experiences (with perhaps a little more information coming from the girls than the boys--though I hear Nat has been talking all afternoon!) and the photos are already being downloaded and bringing back memories which will linger long. It's good to hear that Charlie's have mostly been recovered, as he took the most. May I take this opportunity of reminding everyone that I would very much like to see your best 50: these photos are used again and again in slideshows and accompanying articles in the Chronicle, on the website and in the media, and just about everyone will have captured some unique ... read more
Goodbye Ekukhanyeni
Those sky blue hoodies went everywhere...
The Canasta Crew

Africa » South Africa » Mpumalanga » Siyabuswa July 28th 2015

Our final day at the Grace School. The day began, as it always does, with assemblies - the incredible singing, dancing and group praying that we are now so accustomed to. Almost immediately afterwards, preparations began for our team's own performance of "Chicken, Pap and Mopani Worms." The teachers in the school seemed to view this as the perfect opportunity to skip lessons, and gathered together their classes half an hour before the performance was due to begin! As a result, Mrs Davis (that's me!) did an impromptu story to the audience who were sitting patiently waiting for the show to begin. After the story, once the entire school had gathered, Mrs Reeves read out a touching letter from a girl who visited the school last year. Then it was time for the performance to begin! ... read more
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Africa » South Africa » Mpumalanga » Siyabuswa July 28th 2015

Charlie did indeed partake of really African food yesterday evening, and he was not the only one. Several others did, including Angela who ate a Mopani worm... Josh was another, though he did say it was disgusting! Please keep your comments coming. We love to read them. That said, we do not know whether we shall be able to communicate so easily in Ekukhanyeni, and Siyabuswa will be without power tomorrow.... read more
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Africa » South Africa » Mpumalanga » Siyabuswa July 28th 2015

This team of children are amazing throwing themselves into everything at The Grace School with 110%! We are very busy and have had lots of laughs and all have helped one another to create a great "family". All the children are sleeping and eating well - all cuts and bruises healing, although Josh did need a new plaster after losing his scab during the chicken and pap sketch in Assembly, and our Malarone moment after dinner is going without a hitch after a couple of inventive ways of pill taking. We are currently enjoying some dairy milk chocolate with a canasta tournament on one table and journal writing on the other. Looking forward to the next stage of the trip tomorrow, so an early night and packing!... read more

Africa » South Africa » Mpumalanga » Siyabuswa July 26th 2015

Another very good meeting tonight discussing the day in which we went to church, had lunch (which took all afternoon, hence no washing of clothes yet!) with Mrs Ntuli and her family, rather raucously rehearsed a really ridiculous sketch for use at The Grace, and had a beans-on-toast supper with the Mahlangus, who are saying they don't want us to go on Wednesday! Church was much enjoyed by the children, despite being five times longer than our chapel services, even after we missed the first thirty minutes of dance and singing, which some of our team thought was a pity because it was the bit we all enjoyed the most. They did not hold back, but threw themselves into the party atmosphere immediately! The general verdict was that it was a pity that church and chapel ... read more




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