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Cheers!

Cheers!, originally uploaded by urbansoulpie.

Bye Bye SA!!!!

Hi!!
Well it's 11am on Sunday and its my last day in South Africa, flying at 6.10pm tonight! Really looking forward to seeing everyone, although I'm sure people are going to get sick on me talking about my travels and showing my photos!

I'll start with last Monday, asusual I'm behind on my blog again! So Monday daytime was spent printing out lots and lots of photos - but there are some good ones so I'm happy! In the evening Lynn, Michelle, Ashley and I went on a township shebeen tour called Dinner at Mandelas. The shebeen was in the first township I visited, (still can't remember the name) we arrived and mixed with the locals, which was interesting! Then we were entertained by street dancers, which was really good! Not sure how they move their bodies in such strange ways, I'm sure mine would never do that, even after years of training! Next we had a traditional Xhosa meal, which was ok, I enjoyed the beef stew and Xhosa bread. The rest of the food (lots of beans and spices) I wasn't too keen on! The next set of performers were a little unusual, it was a group of men dressed in tribal gear (from Zululand) that 'danced' to a beating drum, there was a lot of high kicks and falling on the floor involved! Lastly we were invited to get up and dance with the locals!! I think we were their entertainment at this point, as they all seemed to enjoy watching the white people trying to dance!!! It was a good night and we laughed a lot.


Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning was my last shift at Bap, which was a shame, my time there seemed to go so fast. Was nice to see on the kids on Tuesday and to be greeted by lots of little arms hugging my legs!

Wednesday was a nice day, in the morning I gave out marshmallows and balloons, which the kids loved! So they spent a lot of time playing with the balloons and then fighting over the ones that where left! Sunshine (one of my favourites) arrived back from the Redcross hospital covered in Bandages - from head to toe - I didn't recognise him at first!! Apparently he has a skin condition and will have to wear them for 2 weeks, poor Mr Sunshine!!
During our lunch time, Lynn had organised relay races for the older kids, which was fairly chaotic but the boys seemed to enjoy the races.

Thursday lunchtime was spent doing arts and crafts with the older children, they don't have anything to do all day when school has finished, so was good to keep them busy for a while.
In the afternoon, I found a bubble blower lying around so I took it to play with the toddlers, some really liked them and enjoyed running into all the bubbles, which was funny. I also took some stick on jewels for the kids, the olders toddlers loved thinking they had earings like mine! We had a singing and dancing session late afternoon. The careworkers would often sing and dance with all the toddlers, which is such good fun, they all join in! is a huge part of the Xhosa culture and it really is so much fun!

Friday was a bit sad - saying bye to the kids, will miss them! I wish the things they needed could be bought but they can't. I am so lucky to have loving family and friends, a safe home and opportunities for the future. I've learn't a lot from the children and won't forget my time at Bap, really enjoyed it!
Friday night Lynn, Ashley, Marta and I went out for tea to a local Mexican restaurant, which was ok. Then Lynn had treated us to going to see a play at the Baxter theatre. It was funny, it was 5 Xhosa women singing and tap dancing a play about hating men!!! Strange but I enjoyed it!

Yesterday I spent having a last look round Cape Town and chatting with friends. Lynn had flown home early in the morning so hope her flights are going ok. In the evening I started to pack, which was a nightmare!

So now, I'm here finishing off my last blog from South Africa, packed and ready to go. Had such an amazing time here, will never forget it and I'm so glad I did it. There have been ups and downs but learn't a lot from all my experiences. I would reccommend it to you all!!!!!

My time is running out now so I best go, can't wait to see you all (and bore you with my photos and stories)!!!!!!

Over and out from SA!!!!!!!

Love Han
xxxxxxx

I'm so behind!

Hi Everyone.
I'm so behind with my blog! So gonna try to get it updated today!

So I'll have to start with my last set of days off - (26-29 Nov). On my first day off I came visited Green Point Market again, I could buy so much from there but have been pretty good! They sell lots of African masks, spoons, bowl, bead work, bags, clothes, drums, jewelery etc. In the evening Marieke, Lynn and Me went to see that Christmas lights switched on, which was ok, but the highlight was seeing Freshly Ground (A new South African band) performing - they were very good!
We got back to the house and I was just about to go in the shower when Katie (from my school project) walked in!!!!!!! I was so shocked because she had never planned to go to Cape Town, so I never thought I would see her! Also Howard had come back to Aviva House for a few days before he caught his flight back to the UK. It was so nice to see them!!!!!! So after lots of hugs we headed to Long Street to some bars and to catch up. So it was a late night after being up at 6.30am in the childrens home!

Monday was a strange day! Me and Lynn had booked to go on another township tour so we could stay at the well known Vikki's Bed and Breakfast in Khayelitsha township. Because we work in Khayelitsha and have been on township tours before we weren't bother about the day activities but were really looking forward to staying at Vikki's. She was the first person to set up a B&B in Khayelitsha and is a leading figure in the township for running community/self help projects (such as a bakery and a sewing workshop), so she has a lot of interesting opinions/stories to tell.
The day started badly because Lynn wasn't well, but we set off on the trip anyway. It started at the District Six museum which was very interesting, then we looked around Langa township (a shebeen, hostels, family homes, local 'shops' and met the local people). We arrived at Vikki's B&B in Khayelitsha about 5pm and spent time walking around the nearby area with a guide. The B&B itself was nice, there were 2 bedrooms, a living room, small kitchen and toilet, luxurious for a township home! I began to be a bit concerned about where everyone would be sleeping when more people kept arriving, in total there was 7 people with only 4 beds!! So after eating a traditional Xhosa meal (cold rice, bean stew, chicken, some kind of veg) me having my luck, we were told we would be moving on and would be doing a homestay!!! Not what I paid for or wanted! Anyway we gave it a go but was so disappointed when we arrived, it was just someones house with little kids running around, a messy bathroom and not a nice bedroom for us! So we ended up getting a taxi (hard to get in a township!) at 11.30pm to the V&A hotel at the Waterfront, which Lynn very kindly treated me too!! And it was sooooo posh!!!! Real luxury!!! It was good to meet Vikki and ask her questions, also her children were lovely so it was a shame it went wrong at the end.
After a luxury shower I hit the sack - tired again!

Monday went so quickly! We spent 2 hours at the tour companies offices getting our money back for the tour. They knew it had all gone wrong and we hadn't got what we paid for so a full refund was given - good! (I surprised myself at how good I was at getting my money back - I must be getting tough in my old age!) I was so tired in the afternoon I sat chatting to Howard, cooked my food for my shift at Bap and went to bed early!!

My third shift at Bap has been good again! Although the care workers have been causing problems but thats pretty normal. We had 2 new girls on mine and Lynns shift so it was hard work teaching tham, but again I surprised myself at how much I knew and how many names I remembered!!
On Thursday we got out a water table for the smaller children to play in, and they loved it!!!! They were splashing about and getting soaking!! They seem to enjoy any small activity we do with them because otherwise they just sit on the floor in a small room all day, everyday - shame. Just taking them outside is a treat. One little girl loved having water poured over her head, it was so funny. They all looked so cute and so happy!!
Friday was a good day but so hectic!!!! There were kids coming in and out of the Babyhouse all day! The care workers caused more trouble again by feeding the kids jam sandwiches (for breakfast) whilst we were teeth brushing! A great help -not!
I'm going to be sad to leave Bap, I only have one shift left. Really enjoy the children and have learn't a lot from them, I just try not to think about the chances of any of them having a good future because it is very low. Some might not live many more years, but at least they now have a better life than they did outside the home. I know it sounds silly but if I can give them some love while I'm here I will be happy, because that is what they are lacking.

Came back to Aviva house yesterday. Looked round an exhibition of photos from children at Baphumelele, which was good, visited the market, had a coffee then went back to rest at the house. Some of the others decided to gp down to a festival in the town we stay in (Observatory), it was so busy! Unfortunately like any festival there were a lot of pickpockets and 2 girls had there mobiles, cameras and wallets stolen, so it was mayhem in the house last night.
Today I'm having an easy day, I'm gonna look round the festival (yep I'll be careful) and maybe start packing!

Looking forward to seeing everyone when I'm back, have missed you lot!!! Wish me luck for my last shift at Bap!!

Love H
xxx

An african mama carrying her food

An african mama, originally uploaded by urbansoulpie.

Days off and Bap shift number 2

Hi All. I'm back!

Before I went to do shift number two at Baphumelele, I enjoyed my days off! Got invited back to Pats (host for my Monkey Town project) for lunch. It was really good to see her again, and the dogs, Morgan and all the animals! It felt nice to be back!! We had the usual posh dinner by the pool - nice!!!

Wednesday was a busy day too, Lynn and I were all over town! Firstly we went to visit a sick little girl (Pholile) for Bap, she was in our local hospital and it was her birthday so we took a cake and a pressie. She was so overwhelmed, a lot of the children at Bap aren't used to having all the attention on them, because it doesn't happen often!
Secondly we visited 'Home of Hope' a safe house for women and a place where children go inbetween fostering adoption. It was a lovely place. It was completely different to Bap, it was in a nice area, very clean, only 7 children, bright with lots of toys, lots of well trained care workers to stimulate and develop the children, their own beds (many children at Bap sleep on the floor) etc. It made me very sad for the children at Bap.
Thirdly we went to Cavendish Mall to do some shopping, although I only bought a book.
Fourthly we went to The Africa Cafe, which was great!! Its decorated beautifully inside, even the serving staff look great in traditional African outfits. They perform a traditional hand washing ceremony on you, so you can eat all the food by hand (which was fun!) We were served about 30 small dishes, so you can try everything. The food used some ingredients I have never heard off but was very nice, and I loved the mango and lime juice - yum.
So Wednesday was a very busy day but a good one!

Thursday I returned back to Bap for my second shift. It was a good day, actually managed to let the careworkers take the toddlers outside! (They don't get outside very much) So we spent the morning playing with toys on a patio area, they seemed to enjoy it! They even got to eat outside - woohoo!
On Friday the weather wasn't good so no going outside for the kids, but we did get lots of time to play in between doing all our jobs. All the kids love washing up liquid bubbles and balloons, so they will be good to take in on the last day. Lots of children were ill today so saw lots of poo and crying! Bapiewe is a little cutie, he tends ot get ignored a lot because he has cerebral palsy and just sits on the floor. but he's brill! So my aim is to get him crawling before I leave, he is trying but needs help to strengthen his muscles and move.
Saturday was a hectic day, some children were graduating from creche (I've not heard of that before!) but it was nice to see the girls dressed nicely in white dresses and looking clean for once. I didn't go to the ceremony but apparently there was a lot of singing, dancing and celebrating! Nenana (my favourite) was laughing and smiling a lot today which was so nice to see, (apparently see never smiled when she arrived at the Childrens home). I was saddened and shocked to find out she is nearly 5 years old, she only looks 2&1/2 years old. I dread to think what her life was like before she arrived at Bap, it's bad enough to see her body marked with burn marks.

It's tuesday now so I'm back to Bap tomorrow but don't have time to write what I have done on my days off so it'll have to wait till next time.

Hooray - back to Bap in the morning.

Bye for now
Han
xxx

Baby Patience

Baby Patience, originally uploaded by urbansoulpie.

Welcome to Baphumelele Childrens Home!

Welcome to Baphumelele Childrens Home!, originally uploaded by urbansoulpie.

Baphumelele here I come!!!

Hi Everyone!
I've just come back from my first shift at Baphumelele Childrens Home in Khayelitsha Township and it was brill!! Really enjoyed myself!
There are roughly 80 children at the home, from 0 to 18 years, some have disabilities, some have HIV/Aids, some have parents (that can't take care of them) and some don't, but it's a surprisingly happy place.

Friday was my first day and it went so quickly - probaly because it was non-stop all day! A normal weekday usually runs the following way -
6.am - Wake Up
7am - Go to baby house to prepare bottles, feed toddlers, find shoes for each child, brush teeth. Wash Up.
Playtime
9am - Break for our breakfast
10am - Make and feed toddlers snack and drink. Wash up. One to one sessions if enough time.
12pm - Serve and feed toddlers dinner and drink. Wash up.
1pm - Our dinner time
2.30pm - Collect children from creche.
2.45pm - Make and serve snacks and drinks. Wash Up. Playtime.
4pm - Wash all childrens hands.
5pm - Serve tea and drinks. Wash Up.
6.15pm - Brush all childrens teeth.
7 - 7.30pm - Finish for the day!!
Sometimes we have to assist in Homework groups with the bigger kids and there is also an option to get up at 4am to bath all the babies and toddlers.
Weekends are more chaotic because the older children are not at creche or school and the orphanage don't run any acticities for the children so they have nothing to do all day. Except for on Sundays when they have 'church', this is when preachers come to talk to the children, sing and dance. The children love it!

Saturday started when I got woken up at 5.50am by May (the Preist/Cook/Extremely Happy Man) singing "Jesus loves me", "He heals my heart". Three volunteers had managed to raise money to take the kids out on a fun day, which was really good. They got a bus ride, candy floss, bouncy castles, water slide, paddling pools, ice-cream, McDonalds, new swimsuits, and a day out of the township! They were all so excited and seemed to have a great day! Everyone fell asleep on the way home after such a long day! When we got back we had to start tooth brushing and washing up so we were all tired at the end of the day to.

Sunday was nice, we took the children to listen to the preachers, they love the dancing to the church music. We also had time to so some one on one work, this makes sure each child gets some alone time with one person. I took Patience (a little cutie) to play, she didn't smile much (she never does) but was engrossed by the flashing lights on the toy we were playing with.

This morning was very noisy, all the toddlers were shouting, playing and running about - hard work! We finish at about 9am, then we get brought back to Aviva house and the other shift go to Baphumelele.
I am so tired today! Been to get my hair cut this morning and now having a rest this afternoon. But it was worth it, really enjoyed interacting with the children and got so many kisses and hugs! Although learning 80 childrens names is such hard work!! Looking forward to going back on Thursday!


Han
xx

P.s. I know I'm not supposed to but I have a favourite already! Nenana is the sweetest little girl but unfortunatley very ill. Look out for photos!

The beautiful Garden Route.

Hi All,
Sorry I've only just got round to doing this, it's taken me a while to have the time to write.
Anyway, spent last Monday to Friday travelling the Garden Route with the Bok Bus. The Garden Route is famous for being a very beautiful, green part of South Africa and that it was, I saw some amazing views (when not sleeping on the bus!!)

Monday - Got picked up by the BokBus and met all the other travellers, there were 3 German girls, a Canadian guy, a German couple, a old Aussie man, 2 English girls, Adrienne the guide and me.
We had to drive for most of the morning to get on to the Garden Route but arrived at the Garden Route Game Reserve about 3pm. The game drive was very good, I don't think I'll ever get sick of going on game drives! Saw lots of animals (impala, zebra, wilderbeast, bontebok, springbok, lion, kudu and a snake and got very close to 2 rhino (5 metres away) and 2 giraffe.
We ate at the game reserve, which was strange because we had been on a game drive seeing springbok and they were serving it for dinner!!! I have to admit I did try it! It tasted like beef but was much less chewy and fatty, actually a lot nicer than most beef!
Stayed at a backpackers in the evening which was ok, at least i had a double bed to myself - luxury!!

Tuesday - Visited the Cango Wildlife Ranch in the morning, really enjoyed it! Got to see crocodile, alligator, snake, meercat, turtles, fish, jaguar, lion, monkeys, flamingos, fox, and got to stroke cheetah!!!! They ask for a 120 Rand donation to enable you go to into the cheetah enclosure and stroke them (plus you get a lovely cheesy photo of you stroking them)! The money is used to keep the cheetah and to start a breeding programme. They actually purr like house cats when they are stroked which sounded funny.
Next we visited a Ostrich farm in Oudtshoom, which is a semi-desert area so it was hot!!!! Really enjoyed the Ostrich farm, which surprised me because I didn't particularly like Ostrich before. Got to hold a baby ostrich, which was really cute (shame they don't stay cute!) Some people tried riding an Ostrich but no way was I going to do that!! It looked scary! They put a bag on the birds head, then you climb on its back, then they take the bag off and it runs!!!! But I was brave enough to get a neck massage off 3 Ostrich, which was quite nice (see Flickr for the photo).
The next stop today was the Cango Caves, which were ok, just big limestone caves like in England.
Stayed at Farie Knowe backpackers which was very nice, and again a lovely big double bed to myself!

Wednesday - Went 2 man canoeing in Tsitikamma Forrest in the morning. Shared a canoe with an old Aussie man called Kevin or Eddie (for some reason he had two names and was generally a bit odd), he was so busy talking, I did most of the rowing!! But he did keep me entertained with his stories. We canoed through a forrest which was lovely and so peaceful (apart from Kevin jibbering!), really enjoyed canoeing (I know thats a surprise Mum).
Spent the afternoon walking through Tsitikamma National Park, until we ended up at Storms River Mouth hanging bridge, which I walked over, bit disappointing because it wasn't scary at all. But the National Park was gorgeous, it even had it's own beach.
Next we went to watch the Canadian guy from out group do the worlds highest bungy jump, which looked so scary!!!!!! I think people must be mad to do it!
Stayed at a B&B in the evening which was lovely! I had a great room and again a huge double bed :-)

Thursday - Spent a lot of time driving again today, had a look round Knysna markets and an aloe vera factory before arriving at our accommodation, which was a farm in the middle of nowhere. It was nice to be surrounded by mountains and animals, but I didn't get a double bed! Boo Hoo!

Friday - Again a lot of driving today to get back to Cape Town. Our first stop on the way was Hermanus. Hermanus is famous for whale watching so after looking round the markets (got to get some shopping in!) I sat and was lucky enough to see lots of whales breeching. It's an amazing things to see! Unfortunately its hard to get good photos of the whales, its something you have to actually see.
Second stop was Betty's Bay to see the hundreds of penguins that live there, they look cute but can give a mean bite!
Got dropped back at Aviva house at 5pm-ish. Overall really enjoyed my trip and got to see some lovely places and so some good things.

So now back in Cape Town and try to do something different each day, theres so much to do! Went to watch the sunset at Camps Bay last Sunday. Camps Bay is a lovely beach with great views of signal hill and the 12 apostiles (theres actually 14 of them), then went out to dinner at the V&A Waterfront. And got to stay in a really posh hotel!!!!!!! One of the volunteers had booked her self in and asked if we wanted to come along, so we sneaked in!! 2 of us slept on the floor but we didn't mind! It was so nice and quite and had a lovely big, super clean bathroom, you get to appreciate these things when your used to sleeping in dorms. It was a treat!!

Visited the Turkish Baths on Monday, a funny experience!!! We weren't to sure what we were actually supposed to do so thought it would all be explained when we got there, but no! No one was very helpful! So we kind of made the best of what we knew, so we got changed (there are lots of little rooms with beds in, though I'm not sure what the beds are for!), then went in a hot room with marble slabs to sit on, then went between the steam and sauna rooms and the cold plunge pool. I came out feeling very clean! Which was nice, after feeling constantly dirty when working with the animals and in the schools!
But I think your supposed to take you own loofah and soap, scrub yourself in the steam room whilst dipping in the cold plunge pool, get a massage (on a marble slab) and the whole experience lasts for 4 hours - I think I would have no skin left after 4 hours. The masseuse looked kind of scary too.
Afterwards me and Angela went for a Carribean meal, which was very nice, I would recommend the banana fritters.

Start work at the Baphumelele Orphanage on Friday, I'll be working 3 day on and 3 days off. Looking forward to it but think they'll be tiring long days!

Trying to get some more trips organised for my days off from the orphanage so I'll keep you updated.

Take care all.
Love H

xxx

Forrest the cheetah

Forrest the cheetah, originally uploaded by urbansoulpie.