Volounteering for GVI!

---

I arrived at Gordon's Bay to beautiful sunshine on the hills, which was a great first impression to what lay ahead. It soon became a warm family environment at the appartments we all lived in and i have met such a wounderful group of friends who have been great company and support throughout!

The time so far seems to have flown by, i have worked at the Nceduluntu Educare centre in Nomzamo which has been incredibly rewarding! The centre was set up recently with funds from the GVI charitable trust for families who cannot afford care for their children, they pay R1 a day (the equivillant to 1p a day in the UK) and the children are cared for, fed and educated by the volounteers (programs running from two weeks to a year with a constant turnover, generally every two weeks) The children are so adorable, their enthusiasm and happiness to see you every day is very special! I was greeted daily with 'teacher,' 'teacher' and waved to at the end of the day as i left. There was a lot to take in at first with the surroundings and routine...at times it can be very hectic but after time and with patience it became more familiar and bonds with the children grew! I worked with two volounteer's teaching a group of 3-4 year old children every day. The children are still learning basic english so it is a challenge to create lessons that they understand, it has been a great experience planning and carrying out lessons, especially when they listen and respond to you! Seeing the potential of the children and what they can achieve is a very satisfying reward of volounteering!!

In my last two weeks i was located at the orphanage which was a very humbling time for me. The children have come from walking on the streets without a home or family (some serverly disabled) to violent backgrounds where social services have had to intervene. I had the priviallage of being introduced to the most amazing woman...'Mama Lukra.' This is a woman who's incredible devotion has inspired me with all that i want to achieve!! Volounteering at the orphanage took a similar role to the work i did at the Educare centre as the routine was familiar to what i had already done. There is more space at the orphanage for the children to run around...which they LOVE to do (sometimes during classes!) although it is hard to build their focous and consentration as the space we have to teach is their home where they eat and sleep! However after my first rather hectic day i learnt that with patience and enthusiasm anything is possible...i was very pleased that taking the time to plan had paid off and the children were interested in the lessons and responded well to what i was teaching them! ( I had a group of four wounderful 3-4 year old children) There is a child called Lea who everyone adores as she is a very special child who mama took under her wings, she suffers from Autism and is a very charismatic child! Lea also enjoyed getting involved in some of the lessons! I can't enthisise enough what an amazing experience it is to be a part of the children's development, watching them respond and concentrate when they have not been used to any structure in there life before GVI is incredible, i only hope that in some way i can carry on being a part of their lives! The emotion i have felt from their hugs, enthusiasm and warmth is priceless!

Thank you to all the amazing people who were involved with GVI for making it such an unforgettable experience, my time in Gordon's bay will always be treasured as the best possible experience to start my amazing journey through Africa!

---

Photos

GVI volounteers
awaiting project