November in a nutshell

Hello Everyone!

Hope this post finds you all well! Here the weather is getting very hot and the children are still being their amazing selves so I cannot complain. School is almost finished and most of the older children are writing exams, which means they get to come back to Saint Anthony’s early (around 11 am). Although the care workers may not be too happy about this, I definitely am because it means I get to spend more time with them. With Christmas holidays just around the corner, I am making the most of their company before they go to their relatives or foster families for 6 weeks.

A few weeks ago, the children were also invited to Mr Theron’s annual Christmas Party. Mr Theron is the owner of a chain of big lodges dotted around South Africa and one of these is situated in Newcastle. Every year he invites the whole of Saint Anthony’s, including the staff to come to his lodge for a big feast. Every child received a big bag of presents as well as lots and lots of sweets. The staff also received a goodie bag J the kids were so happy (and super hyper!). Even Winnie the Pooh and Hello Kitty were able to attend!

Teenage girls dolled up for their Christmas Party

Winnie the Pooh and Hello Kitty with some of the girls

Children's desert buffer #1

Children's desert buffer #1

The staff loved them too ;)

We are all big kids at heart!

Over the last few weeks, I have been helping Slindo (oldest girl) a lot as she is currently sitting her Matrics (or as we know them, A Levels). She only has four exams left now and in general she seems very pleased with them which is a good sign. She also braided my hair and it took her a whole hour ! It was quite painful especially when it came to sleeping but I got used to it after a couple of days. I can’t believe this is what basically all women go through here when they get their braided or when they have weaves put in which is all the time!

Slindo hard at work!

One hour later :)

Slindo has also started backing her things because she will leaving the Home for good in December. I am sad to see her go as I get on so so well with her, she always looks out for me. However I am also happy for her because she gets to be with her sisters and have her independence. Nevertheless, I am going to miss her.

I also had my first visitor last weekend (14^th – 17^th November)! Christoph (my boyfriend), who is currently working in Cape Town, came to the Home for a long weekend. We played football with the older girls and spent some time with the toddlers who all called him “Malume” (uncle). They really warmed to him which was great to see J He was also put on the spot on Sunday at mass when he was asked to stand in front of the whole congregation (approximately 200 people) and introduce himself! I have a feeling all visitors from overseas have to do this so I better warn my mum who is visiting for two weeks on Tuesday (26^th November).

On a much sadder note, the toddlers were all playing outside yesterday (Wednesday 20^th November) when one of them, Nqobani, fell backwards and hit his head on some bricks. I was right next to him and saw what happened so I ran to him and picked him up to make sure he was ok. He cried for a few seconds but then he started fitting. His whole body was stiff including his head and eyes but he was shaking at the same time. His breathing was very heavy and he was foaming at the mouth. I ran back into the cottage where the care workers were. We laid him down on the bed where he then started to calm down but he was still very stiff. He only started to regain consciousness when Phendile (the care worker) put some water on his face. It took him a while for him to be able to hold himself up. This all happened in the space of 10 minutes. We then took him to hospital where he spent the night so that they could observe him. I really hope he gets to come home today (21^st November). I will let you know how he is in my next post.

Remember if you have any questions or comments about my experiences, Saint Anthony’s or South Africa in general, please do not hesitate to write them in the comment box below!

I have now had over 2000 views so thank you all very much for reading! It really means a lot...

Isabel x

My week with Robin Williams!

Yep you read right, Robin Williams was invited to the Jubilee Celebration and was able to take some time off to not only attend the event but also do some activities with the children. Robin is a parishioner of Our Lady of Ransom in Southend (got you!) and first visited Saint Anthony’s Home in 2011. All of the children were very very excited to see Robin, aka “Coach”, again.

Robin arrived Thursday afternoon (24^th October) and left the following Thursday. Despite being at the Home for just a week, Robin had many plans for the children ranging from football coaching to practise interviews. With Friday and Saturday being taken up by the Jubilee Celebration, Robin was only able to start his activities on Sunday.

On the first day, Robin concentrated on the Khwezi cottage (girls aged 7 – 12) and Witness of God cottage (boys aged 7 – 12). All 45 children were split into 5 teams and told to create a football team using animals from a list, for example a kangaroo could be chosen as goalkeeper because he is tall and can jump to save the ball. Each team had to then present their animal football team and explain why they had chosen to put a particular animal in a particular position. It was great to see them get into the activity, discussing the animals and then giving good and sometimes funny reasons for their choice. We thankfully had Victor with us; he is a local who I’ve met him at many events and who likes to visit the Home. He was able to translate what Robin was saying, ensuring all the children understood exactly what they had to do.

We then all went outside to play some team bonding games, all of which involved a football (of course!).  All 5 teams were playing against each other, so it all became very exciting and competitive very quickly. After an hour of team bonding, it was time to play some football. Each team played against each other and all of the children played very well; there was minimal fighting, minimal arguing with the ref and all games having to go to penalties (again very exciting!).

It really was a great day; the children did so well and were therefore all rewarded with lollies! Robin should have been rewarded too! I don’t know how he coped with 45 very hyper children on his own!!!

Monday was dedicated to the older children; Zanzibar (boys aged 13 – 18) and Masakhane (girls aged 13 – 18). Here, Robin wanted to give the teenagers a realistic insight into how they will need to prepare when seeking employment. Robin went through some tips and then split them into 5 teams. Each team had to nominate one person to represent them in an interview taking place the following day. Once chosen, they then had to fill out a Curriculum Vita, which they had to bring with them to the interview. This was very much an 'Apprentice' style interview with Robin, Khaye (Zanzibar Care Worker) and I on the interviewing panel! All three of us were dressed smartly and it was great to see the chosen five candidates had taken this task as seriously as they were also all smartly dressed.

The candidates and interviewers

They all coped extremely well considering it was their first ever interview and considering the fact it was in English! I would have been petrified! Unfortunately there could only be one winner but we were unanimous in choosing Josef. He spoke very well, he was calm, not afraid of asking for questions to be repeated and gave clear, well reasoned answers. Josef and the rest of his team received a R150 book voucher whilst the other 4 candidates received a book as a reward for their hard work. Another successful day J

Myself, Josef and Robin

Unfortunately, the weather was not on our side on Wednesday (last day of activities) when Robin wanted to teach the Masakhane girls rounders. Robin therefore improvised with some indoor games which got the girls catching, throwing and passing the ball. These actually worked very well and it was clear to both Robin and I that together, the girls would make a very strong rounders team. It is now my role to get them practising at the weekends so that they can play a game against another orphanage on the next Sports Day!

It was another busy week but all of the children had an amazing time. With all Robin does for the children when he is here along with all of the football shirts he brings for each child, I know for a fact the children will never forget him !

Until next time...

Isabel x

Golden Jubilee Celebration - in pictures

The tents

Masakhane and Khwezi girls performing their Majorette dance

The alter

The turn out for the mass was a lot bigger than expected!

Bishop Graham Rose

The Choir made up of both parishoners and Masakhane girls

Former Saint Anthony's child

Thembani - social auxiliary worker at Saint Anthony's

Unveiling of the new Saint Anthony's Stone

The new stone

Official cutting of the cake

Some of the Kwezi girsl

Cake Cake Cake Cake Cake Cake Cake Cake

Myself and Father Mathew

Mbongiseni - the Director (aka Malume)

Father Mathew with Ncami, Deli, Samu and Philile

Zanzibar boys in their traditional clothes

Dance troop from Ladysmith

Bonginkosi (former Saint Anthony's Child) with Mum Martha (Care worker at Saint Anthony's)

Testimony from Irene (former Saint Anthony's child and now member of the Board of Directors of the Home)

Speech from Chairman - Mr Xolani Majola

Testimony from Bonginkosi

M.E.C of Health

Dance troop from Ladysmith performing another trandition zulu dance

M.E.C of Health and Bishop Graham Rose

Golden Jubilee Celebration

Hey everyone!

Hope you are all keeping well! Sorry for being so quiet lately!The Home's Jubilee Celebration, which was celebrated on Saturday 26^th October, has been keeping me very busy. However now that it is all over I want to tell you ALL about it J

Although most of the staff had been preparing for the celebration for the past month, things really started to come together Wednesday (23^rd October) when the two cows donated by the M.E.C of Health were slaughtered on the grounds of the Home. I knew this was going to happen on that day and I was really dreading it! Having spoken to Nkosikhona, one of Saint Anthony’s garden and maintenance workers, about the slaughter, it was something I definitely did NOT want to see. I was told the cows would be slaughtered at around 2 pm so at around 4 I thought it would be safe to go and see the girls who, at that time, are normally cleaning their clothes outside. It was only once I had walked around the corner that I realised I had in fact arrived right in the middle of the slaughter! Approximately 7 metres away from me, there was one cow laying on the floor dead and another still in the trailer about to be slaughtered.

As I arrived, some of the Child and Youth Care workers told me to come and sit with them to watch the slaughtering... All I wanted to do was run in the opposite direction but that would have come across very rude. So I did the polite thing and sat with them all. The cow that was in the trailer was then attached to a tree where it was then killed (its throat was slit using a long knife). I didn’t watch this part, instead I looked away and blocked my ears as I did not want to hear the cow cry... (I'm a wuss, I know!) After this, the skinning began:

That evening, some of the cow was braaied (same as being barbecued) so that everyone could have a taste. I’m not going to lie, it tasted delicious!

The following day (Thursday 24^th October) was again full of preparations! The two main tents were erected, Robin Williams, a parishioner from Rayleigh, arrived at Saint Anthony (I will tell you more about his stay in another post) and Malume and myself drove all the way to Durban and back!!! This was to pick up the report we had professionally printed, which Malume wanted to give out during the celebration (I have spoke about this report in my previous post). Please feel free to download your own copy, print it and share it:

 https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-pO4GYnMvC-cWo4a1JiemtuZDg/edit?usp=sharing

Our contact person told us the reports would be ready by 3pm therefore Malume and I had planned to leave by latest 10am (it takes 4 hours to get to Durban from Blaauwbosch). However Malume's morning meeting took longer than expected meaning we only left Saint Anthony’s at 12:30pm! Nevertheless, thanks to Malume’s excellent driving we managed to get to Durban by 3:45pm J Unfortunately as we arrive in Durban, we received a phone call from the printing agency who tells us that the machine which binds the report has broken down and will only be fixed by 9pm!!! As you can imagine, we were not amused, especially when he had phoned us whilst we were on our way to tell us to arrive as quick as possible! Very cheeky!

Once we arrived, they reassured us that the machine had been fixed and that the reports would in fact be ready at 7:30pm. Although this meant we wouldn’t get back to Blaauwbosch until very late, I was pleased it wasn’t 9pm... At 7:30pm, we receive a phone call from them to say that actually the reports would be ready at 8:15pm. At 8:30pm we still haven’t heard from them and when Malume tried to call them, it goes straight to answer phone! Nightmare! At 9pm, they inform us the reports are ready and that they were making their way to the place we had agreed to meet. 15 mins later, Malume and I arrived at the car park (our meeting point) to find no sign (surprise surprise!!!) of our contact person. At this point I was starting to lose patience (Malume had already lost it 3 hours ago) as we still had a 4 hour car journey ahead of us! The guy eventually arrived at 9:45pm; we quickly loaded up the car with the 2000 booklets and made our way back to Blaauwbosch. By 3:00am, I was tucked up in bed. Malume again drove amazingly well (with the help of 5 redbulls!).

Friday was extremely busy but although there was a lot to be done, everyone was very calm and smiley! I was up until 3am finalising, printing, folding and stapling the 200 programmes, which contained the hymns for the mass as well as what will be happening throughout the day such as speeches, entertainment, lunch etc. However those in the catering team were up all night! That is mainly because Saint Anthony’s did everything themselves from the decorating and music to the catering! That’s right, Saint Anthony’s fed over 500 people with a team of about 15 staff!!! They worked really hard and not once complained! On the contrary, as I was heading to bed, I could hear them singing J Mbongiseni had organised for a big group of traditional dancers to come and perform at the celebration. He picked them up from Ladysmith on Friday night which meant they needed somewhere to stay... all 60 of them! As they only arrived at midnight, the older children were up until very late helping set up mattresses for them all. The whole of Saint Anthony’s came together and worked as a team to make this day happen.

After just 4 hours sleep, the big day had arrived! The rain had thankfully stopped and the sun came out to play! Malume had put me in charge of taking pictures whilst Robin was in charge of filming the celebration. The day started with a mass in one of the three marquees and was said by The Bishop of Dundee, Bishop Graham Rose, supported by other members of the local clergy. This was followed by the unveiling of the stone, moving and heart warming testimonies from various Board members and former residents of Saint Anthony’s as well as a speech from the M.E.C of Health of KwaZulu Natal! These were broken up with performance from the professional dance troop, the Saint Anthony’s children and the staff!!! Guests were then invited to have a nice big lunch J Everyone left with very full stomachs! All in all, it was a fantastic day filled with smiles, tears and laughter! However it would never have been possible without the hard work of all the Saint Anthony’s staff! They all did a tremendous job and many of the guests commented on the amazing team spirit of Saint Anthony’s.

It will definitely be a day that many people will remember for a long time and I feel privileged to have been part of it and helped make it happen!

Isabel x

P.S: I am still waiting on Malume to give me a copy of the photos. Once I have them, I will make sure to post them on here.