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Published: November 15th 2006
Sadly the birthday celebrations have now ended but I have milked it in true "Claire style" and loved every minute!
Last Saturday I had a joint party at the Swaziland Backpackers Lodge with a couple of other girls. Being as the decorations consisted of blown up condoms and surgical gloves, it was pretty much guaranteed to be a pretty good night and it didn't disappoint. Cocktails on tap, being thrown in the pool, dancing till my shoes broke (literally), and a dip in the local swimming pool/Jacuzzi finished the evening at around 8am! But wait, clearly that wasn't enough; the celebrations had to continue...
I had another random 'shot/porn' party on Friday then went camping for the weekend to the San River Dam where we experienced the most intense/amazing/frightening storms ever. The tents blew down, a tree caught fire about 10 metres away having been struck by lightening and I never knew that water on a lake could be struck too, it can!
Obviously, the proceedings couldn't stop there because we had to go out for a Chinese and drinks, just to confirm that Sunday was my actual birthday but not everyone could come so I decided to have a big party last night and I taught the Swazis 'Beer Pong' and shot roulette!
Told you I milked it didn't I?!!!
Don't worry, despite all this partying I have still been working hard at the NCP. I organised a Sports Day for the kids which they absolutely loved. They went crazy over the sack race and it was a bit of a challenge trying to get them to balance the eggs on the spoons rather than eat them! I managed to get sponsorship from a couple of local supermarkets so we fed the children hot dogs and lots of them ate ice cream for the first time ever!
I'm also coordinating a building project in my spare time. The NCP consists of one room, about 3m by 5m and for 26 children which is well, pretty damn squishy particularly as temperatures and humidity can often be extreme. The children were all inside toady because of the rain and rather than putting paper maché on the balloons, I think we did a pretty good job of wallpapering the walls too! We clearly need more space so I've been e-mailing and writing letters to loads of local businesses asking them to donate building materials. So far I think we've got the bricks, door, window and cement so we're doing really well. We hope to start work in December when I'm sure I'll be begging people left right and centre to don a pair of overalls and lend a hand.
Oh and next week we'll be clearing a rubbish tip which the children walk across to use the toilet before we start getting the ground ready for a veggie patch to supplement the food available for the children's meals.
So all in all, pretty busy what with one thing or another but it's all good fun and probably the most rewarding thing I've ever done.
The money that many of you kindly donated is being used to fund these projects. I have also purchased much needed resources such as stationary, paper and I hope to purchase some art and sports equipment in the near future. Thank you once again for your generosity. Without it, none of these projects could possibly take place. I hope to have some photos available soon so watch this space!
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anonymous
non-member comment
Hi Claire! Wow - you certainly know how to party! You're an inspiration and I echo what Chris S said about writing a book as your writing is so interesting. We really miss your dynamic personality around school but it sounds like you're really making a difference to those kids. I welled up when you wrote about the sports day and the fact that they were able to try ice-cream for the first time (I'm so wet!!). It reminded me of sports day at SH and your great 20p race - fantastic... Can't believe you have 'spare time' enough to coordinate a building project! Anyway - take good care of yourself and have the time of your life... Gemma x