continued
Books, books, books

Africans suffer very badly in damp and what to them are cold conditions.  With many suffering from a poor diet, underfed and HIV,  a cold or ‘flu bout can be terminal. 

Looking after her young brother in a papoose

Notwithstanding a hard life the children are full of joy, and delight in contact, cuddles and games. They liked to draw using supplied paper and pencils. Often the paper was damp. There were no desks or tables which meant on their knees in front of a chair or on the floor on a blanket!

The indigenous teachers and their assistants were caring and dedicated. But their numbers were low and facilities often very limited.

A meal was provided during the day of basic fare cooked outside over an open fire fuelled by timber - on a wet day this was difficult to manage.

Notwithstanding the dire conditions, each visit ended in prayer and the children presenting Zulu singing and dancing. Thery are very proud of their heritage.

The second crèche they visited was S’Nenhlanhla and while a little better in accommodation terms, it  had a block built extension but with no roof.  Bob and Julie had managed to arrange a donation through a contact which arrived while they were there and they agreed to fund the balance to get the roof completed before the rainy season. Windows and doors have now also been funded.

Another initiative being carried out and initially directed by the Induna or village Chief is to give assistance to a varyinging number of families who for various reasons are not coping. Maybe there is illness in the family and/or severe poverty.

This could be assistance in developing a garden, fencing, helping with children’s homework or, as was done, putting a new roof on a Rhondavell – a first for Bob except for the Roundhouse Theatre at Camden!

Although the volunteers were mostly young and of mixed disciplines one of the programme initiatives was medical help – HIV Education which is self explanatory, or support which involved mentoring families and members in distress  or needing an uplift and possibly some food aid or home based care. This could be demanding and distressing with limited medicines and no doctors on the project.  The prayer and singing of the sick was inspiring and humbling.

It became evident that, even though Bob and Julie are of mature years, their lack of embarrassment and up-front attitude in talking about HIV was invaluable. 

Their overriding lesson from that visit however, was the need for books.  They did not see any books at any school or crèche but when they opened books which had been donated by their friends, children and grandchildren in the UK, the look of fascination and joy in the children's faces was wonderful to see. 

There is a belief that books cannot be given out in a library as they will not be returned.  However, the Induna (Village Chief) is a strong leader elected by the Village and it is anticipated the container library will be sited on his land or on community land.  The community is able to monitor the opening times and if a book is returned another can be taken out - not a sophisticated system but one with a membership card which will give a sense of pride to the family members. 

Sourcing books

Bob and Julie are currently sourcing as many books as possible for children, from pre-school to teenage, as well as some books for adults. All the children are taught  to read English … if they can get to school.

It is planned for the container to be delivered to Durban by ship. From there the container can be delivered by road transport to St Lucia and then onward transfer to the Khula Village location for the container library.

Their aim is to have arrangements finalised to enable a container of books and other school equipment in St Lucia by late Spring/ealy Summer 2011.