August 2008- A Place finally!

August newsletter

A Dream Fulfilled

At last we are here and operational!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After years in Limbo we have made it. Somehow we have renovated two classrooms: one for the clinic and one for the office. Now there is a never ending flow of people bringing their problems and requests for help. Some for special needs children, for whom there is neither school placement nor the basic equipment to render them mobile. Others are trying to cope with the aftermath of rape. Most poignant are the children, abandoned to their own devises as the consequence of death or neglect.

However, we now have an agreement with the owners which will enable us to utilise the whole site for the princely sum of ZAR 1 per month. We have a project manager to oversee the design and drawings and we can now continue renovations in earnest. This relieves me of a duty which never sat comfortably. I have discovered the hard way that shouting and stamping my feet rarely advances the cause.

We need a multiplicity of skills. Some we can begin to develop ourselves. Others must rely upon government or NGOs. Sometimes we can provide no more than a ‘band aid’ approach, while we build up relationships with outside organisations which we hope will supplement our current efforts.
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Domestic Matters

Four weeks ago a social worker asked us to accommodate a 17 year old girl with a mental age of around seven years. She had been repeatedly raped by her brother and the request was for an estimated three day respite. Three days can be amazingly elastic in KZN and she is still with us.

In between events we had yet another break and enter. This was the last straw. So I have done a mad pack up and moved close to Winterton. We are now five minutes away from the new centre with electricity and reliable water, so my life has changed overnight.
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The Way Ahead

Local government departments are increasingly supportive of the centre and are slowly starting to find ways to work with us: a major breakthrough. Perhaps too much of a breakthrough as the local police now refer just about every issue short of homicide. I fear that sorting out the ‘rules of engagement’ will take some time and not a little patience.

Special needs children suffer from a severe absence of facilities. We are aiming for a monthly workshop which will involve physiotherapists from the Department of Health providing massage and remedial exercises as well as training for the mothers/carers. Hopefully the Department of Education will contribute through efforts to find places suitable for these neglected children. We have further plans for a similar day for special needs adults.

We are trying to set up extra training for the home base carers specifically in the areas of counselling and screening for conditions such as AIDS and TB. The aim is to replace the current twice monthly clinic with a five day a week service. In this connection we have just completed a two day HIV support workshop. We have also gained a social worker/counsellor on a one day per month basis: her first day is already oversubscribed.

An Australian nurse who has been working with another NGO in another town has just joined us full time and will head up the clinic and the respite (hospice) centre. This is a huge benefit, especially as she is self funded and has worked in South Africa long enough to avoid the sense of despair which can often affect the enthusiastic novice. A still further bonus is being able to work alongside another stable person.

So all in all, an amazing month. There is a renewed sense of purpose and an increased momentum which is not just limited to the present crew. The locals are becoming more interested and aware and this includes some in the white population.

Many thanks again and, as always, volunteers welcome!

July News for Sofi, Champagne Valley

June/July Strelitzia Newsletter

We are in!.....and busy doing up two of more than 12 classrooms at the old school site. Soon to become a ‘drop-in’ centre and hospice. The first room will be an open plan office, incorporating a help desk offering advice on welfare matters and home affairs.

The second room to be commissioned will provide an all-weather home for a twice-monthly mobile clinic, currently housed under a tree. With luck and a good deal of encouragement of government departments we hope to gradually build up to a full time facility open on a daily basis.

Other members of the community are now getting excited and wanting to become involved. So, from these modest beginnings, we may develop into a much more comprehensive service.

The potential improvement in the lives of people resident in the local township of is hard to imagine. Currently a sick person has to travel 25 kms to the nearest clinic, spend all day waiting in the hope (often not realised) of receiving an accurate diagnosis (also something of a gamble) and being prescribed treatment which corresponds to the diagnosis.
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We are constantly trying to match what we can offer to the needs of the community. As part of this process four of our Home Bases Carers (all volunteers) have just completed a door-to-door survey. This has enabled us to focus on the more pressing needs and not become side-tracked by the ever-present requests for help. But the aim, as always, is to promote self-sufficiency.

Cindy, who has been working with me, is amazing and a huge asset. She has been heading up the survey in the township and hopes that, once finished, we can do the same thing in her village.

The down-side is that such projects create an even heavier load on the Home Based Carers. There are approx 14,000 people in Khetani alone, not including the surrounding farms and villages, and virtually every household has at least one member infected, most often with HIV/AIDS or TB. We are even finding orphans of 15 years pregnant and HIV positive.

What is the answer? The parents, at best, are stretched just getting them to school and providing sufficient food. They do not have the wherewithal to discipline them or hold them to account. Then they die leaving no one to support these children in the basics necessities of life

We will attempt to provide a long term answer, starting with the four new crèches. The aim being to establish discipline and values which will continue through primary and secondary education. Currently the role models on whom these children have to rely are often sick, impoverished and possibly abusive parents and family members. Teachers and local officials are often corrupt and guilty of sexual misconduct. Little wonder we are faced with infectious diseases and childhood pregnancies. But improvements are possible and have occurred in the past. To wit, the Steiner School founded by Nino but, sadly, no longer in existence. The products of that school, of which Cindy was one, have great personal integrity and strong leadership attributes.

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The day care centre will offer a vital service to working Mums, who are often faced with the choice of carrying the child on their back all day as they work in the fields or keeping an older sibling off school to care for the baby. Already the routine of bringing children to the bright, clean crèche has encouraged the mothers to show greater pride in their children, particularly their cleanliness. Being fed twice a day shows in the energy and alertness of the children. Adequate food and some personal attention is turning them into new people and demonstrating that change for the better is always possible.

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A young HIV positive mum with whom I have worked with for nearly a year is now living with me. She is four months pregnant and her alcoholic husband has just put her in hospital for a week after beating her. Herself, an orphan, with two children living with another family and two babies who died. All that and now homeless....
it seems like the women’s shelter has started.

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Despite these dramas, things really are coming together and we are beginning to offer a more holistic support to people within this community.............and I have finally received the plans for my house so am hoping that work will start soon.

Thank you again for all your support in helping this come about..

NEWS FROM MOSES- didn't upload?

Dear all


Brothers and sisters ones again I would love to welcome you back in the new years and I hope you had a great festive season.


First of all I would like to apologise about my news letter it took me long to keep you guys updated but hopefully soon I’ll get asses to the internet then I will keep you guys updated every two weeks.

I have been placed to Mpumalanga in one of my school property that is owned by Three cities and there website is www.greenwaywoods.co.za encase if you guys want to see it. Basically what we are doing is we work there as the trainee and they pay as little money that we live out of it and I am also saving on that money to go overseas next year.

We were living in the property but they had to take us out because they wanted to us that chalet we were living in it. Its not that far its about 10km away from the hotel. Our hotel has got 50 chalet and they also have rooms.

We have got a huge kitchen that has 5 sections 1.Hot kitchen
2. Cold kitchen
3. Pastry
4.Staff food section
5. Ala carte section
Our hotel runs more than 6 functions a day and at the same time we also have to run the ala carte orders. Mostly what we are do is they put all the students on shift and they have to work split shift in order to make sure that the job is done.


I started in the hot section for few months and my previous chef took me out there because that’s the section I am good on it, he putted me in pastry for more month and I had to work very had so that they will put me in cold section and cold section is the most good one coz you have to be very much creative there.

Ladies and gentlemen ones again I would like you guys to put your faith on me and I promise I won’t let you down. I would be sending my results soon as possible we just waiting for it to come back in UK and I am go to attach it on the next newsletter.


Every months we go up in joburg for classes and we also get a chance to show our creativity over there, what we do is you get your own section and they tell you that you go to cook three course meal which ism, starter, main course and dessert, from there what they do is they get professional chefs to come and taste our food and give marks and all the wrong thinks you did.

Please keep emailing me when you can I enjoy it too much.

Note from Sofi

Thank you for all your support, as you see Moses is doing very well and is loving it. Speaking to one of the ladies from the organisation they are very happy with his work and is well liked by the head chefs.

I am still waiting for the 2008 school fee amount but guess it will be around R18,000 as per last year. If anybody would like to support Moses again you can transfer into my account:-

South African Account Or Australian account:-
Standard Bank NSW Teachers Credit Union
Acc Name: SJ Ntshalintshali Acc name: SJ Cogley
Branch Estcourt 057625 Acc number 1196097
Acc Number: 060110910 S1 Account
Ref: Moses studies Ref: Moses studies

News from Moses

January 08 Newsletter

THANK YOU…………………………………..

To all of you thank you so much for giving us all such an amazing time in oz. For Hlo especially his life has been transformed, he is now a confident man who knows what he wants and is going to get it.

We had a fairly uneventful flight and arrived safe with all out luggage to be met by a brother of a friend who took us to his house cooked for us and let us stay the night. The car had been cleaned and fully services absolutely amazing after warning the kids we were back to roughing it what a welcome!

The house was still standing although overgrown, but we found it. We were all waking at 4am in the morning so got up and had breakfast and started cutting back the weeds.

Monday spent most of the day checking on people who I had been assisting before I left all were well and recovering well so much for being indispensable………………

Hlo has come to work at home for a week to try and get the yard under control and fix all the leak.. He has been researching chefing courses and has found two possible that we are working on fingers crossed.

Doong found a uniform we had been given a year ago just in time for Monday morning with a pair of shoes we have bought in oz and the grey airplane socks he had a uniform and looked like he should for his first day hoorah! I must be a real mummy!
He hopped out of the car and was swamped by the older girls and escorted off to his classroom he is having a ball and loving it from one day to the next he is reading unbelievable

Homework more of an issue as I couldn’t work out how to do it, fortunately Tris who looks after him in the afternoons has volunteered to do it with him joy!

Miya is back into freedom mode running round like a mad dog and loving it, although still asking to go home so not sure how the ultimate realisation will go.

Sli and her two kids are still in the volunteer house and she has now enrolled back in school so have had words regarding her finding alternative accom.

Thando, I went to visit her at Eka Jesu the orphanage who have been looking after her, she has started in Grade 1 this year with them, after talking with them they offered to take her on long term subject to welfare to issue a safe house order for her there which they verbally agreed and she is doing so well and loving it. It is an amazing place with only 9 other children full time there so for now a great environment.

Moses was here on leave for 10 days and is flying and helped Hlo a lot with his college research. He left to go back today to college.

Cameron leaves on Monday and is counting the days, his work has gone mad so he is running all the way.
We now have a 2 month old whose mother is very sick and not strong enough to look after the baby and the neighbours’ are stealing the babys milk so hopefully just a few days until she can get on her feet again. He is very sweet Miya on one side and the baby on the other bed does not allow for much sleep between 2 hour feeds aghhhhhhhhhh

Other than that it is great to be back and lots happening the crèches are under way in Khetani.

I have just come back from a meeting with the owners of the old school site Celumfundo and I can pick up the keys tommorow we have the go ahead to move in and start, after nearly 5 years of trying to get land it is happening…………. Hoorah!!!

Lots of love to you all and thank you

Sofi, Hlo, Doong, Miya and cling ons…………………………

Moses Interview 2

Talk with a teacher KwaZulu Natal