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Hello all,

Early this week, we went to shopping for some kitchen stuff, cleaning stuff, school uniforms (inc. socks, shoes, shirts and so on), toiletries and stationery with the cook,  the caretaker and one of the Chird Care Workers. We just told them how much we had on our budget (30% of the fund we had raised at home) and they decided what to buy for the house. It was quite exciting as it was like what people do on the TV! It was also very nice to see them happy with the shopping^^

Over the past 3 weeks,
we have;

taught origami, making baloons, boxes, rabbits, cups and so on;
done colouring and cutting with the small boys;
given the older ones computer lessons,
tried to play volleyball (the volleyball I'd brought from home soon turned into a soccer ball, never mind!);
tried to play a game combining three-leged race and another game outside (and it turned into a water war with plastic bottles and everyone got wet and freezing!);
painted the ceiling (white), the walls (lovely spring light green!);
drawn soccer balls, soccer goals, rugby balls and grass;
got another wooden soccer goal done (now they have a pitch and 2 goals!); and brought a lot of hangers from shops in a mall for the boys and the caretaker to keep clothes tidier.

Please go back to my previous posts as I've just put up photos of the small boys' room, Liebenhaus and the dinner at Peter and Daphne's place! (Me, Zoe (Liebenhaus), Sheron (Liebenhaus), Daphne (the host), Marloes (Liebenhaus), Marloes (Ithemba) and Janneka (previous Liebenhaus).

Hello all,

I'm finally back on my weblog..

We used up the internet capacity (1G or something) for August before the last day of the month and got the internet back early this week!

Two things I've already written on here need to be corrected.

One is that the idea of putting up blackboards for each boys to draw and decorate was changed to notice boards on which they can stick cutting, their pictures or whatever with tapes and make collage of their own.

The reason is because, according to the principal of Liebenhaus, it'd be hard to draw a line between drawing and graffiti, which is seen as one of gangsters' activities. Also, the kids are not going to be given pins to decorate the notice boards as pins aren't safe for them.

Liebenhaus, the kid's home I've been working at, currently accommodate 23 kids aged from 6-17. They are all from very very broken homes, abused or neglected.
Until a couple years ago, Liebenhaus had to call around and ask for basic stuff like food and toiletries. They were always short of food and are still in need for other things to make the home comfortable for the kids so that they can feel proud when they come home.

This area, Galvendale, as a whole has also faced difficulties such as a high rate of unemployment, violence, crime, poverty and so on.

A volunteer who worked for another project told me that a boy's family members don't care about each other at all and none of his family, even his mum, visited him when he got shot on the street and was in hospital for two months because, to them, it was just his fault.

Hello all,

Thanks for visiting my weblog:)

I've arrived here in Port Elizabeth safely in the evening two days ago WITHOUT my luggage, which was delivered yesterday with the locks broken and opened.. What a start! But for some reason, I didn't get too upset about it; rather thought this kind of things just happens!

In 30 mins time, we, 4 new volunteers, are going to meet the 23 boys.
Can't wait!

We all have raised some fund and can decide how it's gonna be spent.
So far, we've decided to paint one of the two boy's rooms (one for little ones and the other bigger ones) and draw some pictures on the walls.