Day 21- We made it! Trying to upload everything and will have the final days posted shortly
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Day 20
Day 20- Project Day Westville and Umlazi-Durban area!
Day 20- Project Day, Durban Area
This day was a rather packed day as we ended up seeing three projects, as well as visiting the family of Ernest in Umlazi Township.
One of Westville Rotary’s largest projects is a community centre called Jabulani. The centre serves children and adults, providing everything from daycare and aftercare programmes as well as crafts and technical skills for adults. All of the people coming to the centre are infected or affected by HIV/AIDS, but it was wonderful to see once again what local initiatives are doing to empower their communities. Unfortunately due to the holidays the centre was not official opened and thus we were not able to see it running as it normally would, however seeing what we did see, we can only imagine the great work being done.
Our second visit was to Streetwise. Westville Rotarians have also been involved with “Streetwise” which takes street children and tries first to reunite them with their families where possible, and where not possible houses them while educating them and attempting to give them a home and a type of family. For more information on Streetwise in Durban please follow the link.
Around midday we headed out to Umlazi to visit our last Noah Ark site. We had started this whole journey at the Noah site in Daveyton and it was nice to be ending with a Noah site on our last project day. The Ark is one of the very first Noah sites, and serves hundreds of children in primarily an aftercare programme. The CEO of Noah, Pat Sullivan, as well as other head office Noah staff were at the Ark to meet us as well all spent the early afternoon being entertained by drumming and dancing the children had been working on. As the guests of honour we joined the Noah staff and children for lunch. Seeing the children at the Ark reminded all of us what it is to truly be a child. Yes there is AIDS, but all of those kids where just kids at the end of it, and on our last project day on a warm afternoon in front of the sea all of us felt a since of accomplishment. The walk taught us a lot about ourselves and about HIV/AIDS in South Africa, but watching the boys dance we also remembered the faces behind the horrible HIV/AIDS stats and even more important we were reminded of the fact that every child deserves a chance to be a kid. After visiting the Noah site a surprise visit was made to Ernest’s childhood home. Drinking cool drinks in front of Ernie’s childhood home we spoke about what we had just done, could it be that we really did it? I don’t think it will truly set in till much later.
This day was a rather packed day as we ended up seeing three projects, as well as visiting the family of Ernest in Umlazi Township.
One of Westville Rotary’s largest projects is a community centre called Jabulani. The centre serves children and adults, providing everything from daycare and aftercare programmes as well as crafts and technical skills for adults. All of the people coming to the centre are infected or affected by HIV/AIDS, but it was wonderful to see once again what local initiatives are doing to empower their communities. Unfortunately due to the holidays the centre was not official opened and thus we were not able to see it running as it normally would, however seeing what we did see, we can only imagine the great work being done.
Our second visit was to Streetwise. Westville Rotarians have also been involved with “Streetwise” which takes street children and tries first to reunite them with their families where possible, and where not possible houses them while educating them and attempting to give them a home and a type of family. For more information on Streetwise in Durban please follow the link.
Around midday we headed out to Umlazi to visit our last Noah Ark site. We had started this whole journey at the Noah site in Daveyton and it was nice to be ending with a Noah site on our last project day. The Ark is one of the very first Noah sites, and serves hundreds of children in primarily an aftercare programme. The CEO of Noah, Pat Sullivan, as well as other head office Noah staff were at the Ark to meet us as well all spent the early afternoon being entertained by drumming and dancing the children had been working on. As the guests of honour we joined the Noah staff and children for lunch. Seeing the children at the Ark reminded all of us what it is to truly be a child. Yes there is AIDS, but all of those kids where just kids at the end of it, and on our last project day on a warm afternoon in front of the sea all of us felt a since of accomplishment. The walk taught us a lot about ourselves and about HIV/AIDS in South Africa, but watching the boys dance we also remembered the faces behind the horrible HIV/AIDS stats and even more important we were reminded of the fact that every child deserves a chance to be a kid. After visiting the Noah site a surprise visit was made to Ernest’s childhood home. Drinking cool drinks in front of Ernie’s childhood home we spoke about what we had just done, could it be that we really did it? I don’t think it will truly set in till much later.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Day 19
Day 19- Inchanga to Westville
Day 19 Inchanga to Westville
Saying goodbye to our fantastic hosts from the Inchanga 1000 Hills Rotary Club, we set out on the last day of official hiking into the Durban suburb of Westville. The Westville Rotary Club, which is also the home club of Rotary district 9270 District Governor, Richard Fisher, became our hosting club in the Durban area and were also responsible for organizing the last “hike” walk to the Durban City Hall. While the amount of kilometers to be covered was much less than previous days, navigating the city traffic through residential areas and making sure not to get lost added a bit more time to the walking for the day than had been anticipated. Despite a few missed turns and a bit of craziness in the end we all arrived in early afternoon to the Westville Country Club where we were met by Jenny Flowers the Westville Rotary President.
The afternoon was left open, and the hike team seized the opportunity to go to the beach. For some of the hikers this was their first time to the beach, and seeing the ocean was for all of us a sight to behold as it confirmed that we had actually arrived, although our official “arrival” was still a couple of days later. That evening was once again spent at a kind Rotarian’s house as we all feasted on various homemade lasagnas.
Saying goodbye to our fantastic hosts from the Inchanga 1000 Hills Rotary Club, we set out on the last day of official hiking into the Durban suburb of Westville. The Westville Rotary Club, which is also the home club of Rotary district 9270 District Governor, Richard Fisher, became our hosting club in the Durban area and were also responsible for organizing the last “hike” walk to the Durban City Hall. While the amount of kilometers to be covered was much less than previous days, navigating the city traffic through residential areas and making sure not to get lost added a bit more time to the walking for the day than had been anticipated. Despite a few missed turns and a bit of craziness in the end we all arrived in early afternoon to the Westville Country Club where we were met by Jenny Flowers the Westville Rotary President.
The afternoon was left open, and the hike team seized the opportunity to go to the beach. For some of the hikers this was their first time to the beach, and seeing the ocean was for all of us a sight to behold as it confirmed that we had actually arrived, although our official “arrival” was still a couple of days later. That evening was once again spent at a kind Rotarian’s house as we all feasted on various homemade lasagnas.
Day 18
Day 18- Project Day in Inchanga 1000 Hills
Rotary Inchanga 1000 Hills is involved in a great number of AIDS related projects, but one that is near and dear to their hearts is the 1000 Hills Community Helpers, http://www.1000hch.charishealth.co.za/about.html. 1000 Hills Community Helpers is sponsored in part by Rotary, as well as having a staff member who is actually a Rotarian herself. At present they are building a large community centre which will have a daycare and aftercare centre for children, a health clinic, a chapel/meeting area, infirmary for sick children, and well as overall resource centre for the surrounding area. It is a huge undertaking, but all involved are committed to their community and the people in it. HIV/AIDS has so greatly affected and infected people in this area, and it is impossible to ignore the impact it is having on the children and the very make up of families. We got to see the buildings being constructed, and look forward to seeing the finished product in March. For more information please check the link above.
In the evening we were once again treated to a lovely braai put on by the local Rotarians. Inchanga 1000 Hills meets at "Arthur's" at the Camelot Country club, and we would like to send a personal thank you to the owners for their personal donation to the AIDS Hike fund!
Rotary Inchanga 1000 Hills is involved in a great number of AIDS related projects, but one that is near and dear to their hearts is the 1000 Hills Community Helpers, http://www.1000hch.charishealth.co.za/about.html. 1000 Hills Community Helpers is sponsored in part by Rotary, as well as having a staff member who is actually a Rotarian herself. At present they are building a large community centre which will have a daycare and aftercare centre for children, a health clinic, a chapel/meeting area, infirmary for sick children, and well as overall resource centre for the surrounding area. It is a huge undertaking, but all involved are committed to their community and the people in it. HIV/AIDS has so greatly affected and infected people in this area, and it is impossible to ignore the impact it is having on the children and the very make up of families. We got to see the buildings being constructed, and look forward to seeing the finished product in March. For more information please check the link above.
In the evening we were once again treated to a lovely braai put on by the local Rotarians. Inchanga 1000 Hills meets at "Arthur's" at the Camelot Country club, and we would like to send a personal thank you to the owners for their personal donation to the AIDS Hike fund!
Monday, December 17, 2007
Day 17
Day 17- Pietermaritzburg to Inchanga 1000 Hills 50km
On this journey we have met some pretty incredible people working in their communities making the impossible possible. We have continuously been amazed by the generosity and kindness shown to us by Rotarians and their families. In Pietermaritzburg we stayed with two families, and while the rain might have been coming down none of us were bored! Their hospitality will never be forgotten. Leaving Pietermaritzburg on yet another rainy day we set out through the mountains that make up the "1000 Hills" region of KwaZulu Natal right outside of Durban. The beauty of the area is truly unmatched and make for a most incredible beginning of the end of our journey. In the afternoon we were met in Inchanga by the Rotarians from the Inchanga 1000 Hills Rotary Club, and went off with off in four groups with four different host families. Tsholo and Des were hosted by the President and his wife (and apparently had their best meal thus far), while the others stayed with other Rotary and community members and their families.
Day 16
Day 16- Project Day in Pietermaritzburg
Visit to Walk in the Light Ministries- Local Rotarians have been working with Walk in the Light Ministries, a Christian based outreach programme working just outside of Pietermaritzburg. Walk in the Light seeks to take on one township community and look at their problems holistically. Rainy and wet we were all still able to see first hand the work that was being done. We joined in on Zulu lead worship service and were later able to help in delivering a wheelchair to a 32 year old man, left paralysed by a HIV/AIDS induced stroke.
Visit to Walk in the Light Ministries- Local Rotarians have been working with Walk in the Light Ministries, a Christian based outreach programme working just outside of Pietermaritzburg. Walk in the Light seeks to take on one township community and look at their problems holistically. Rainy and wet we were all still able to see first hand the work that was being done. We joined in on Zulu lead worship service and were later able to help in delivering a wheelchair to a 32 year old man, left paralysed by a HIV/AIDS induced stroke.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
