July 2013

Hi there!
We are still busy building houses for orphans that have been living in unbelievable circumstances.   Our funding for these current 20 houses is coming through the South African Catholic Bishops Conference from Home Plan, an organization of builders in Holland

House 13 (wrong date on photo)

                                                                This is the original home stead

We got a "no strings attached" donation from a church in Malelane so we bought soccer and netball gear.   The kids are so proud of them selves!

                                              Bongani Centre Soccer and Netball teams

On 26th June a group of children went on a hike and picnic.   They tackled quite a steep mountain at the back of Shongwe Hospital.   They had a lot of fun and realized the importance of staying fit!

                                                          Wrong date again - sorry!

09/04/2013

Hi there!   As you can see, Home Plan volunteers visited us for 4 days in March and helped with the painting, and building of the first few houses of a 20 house outreach that home Plan is financing through the South African Catholic Bishops Conference.    They worked hard, painted the houses, cleaned up the rubble, dug and laid foundations and in the meantime had lot of fun!    They were hosted by the local people who are involved in Makhundu Christian Support, including a few of our assistants.

The world at their fingertips

The arrival of five brand new laptop computers has made most of our children think of their future in a different way. Earlier on when I interviewed a group of 20 children from Driekoppies and Bongani,  about what they want to be when they grow up, six out of ten wanted to be in the police force. Most of them actually said they wanted to become traffic cops.

And now when I explain the role of the computer in the world today, I get new careers;

“I want to be an accountant, I want to be a programmer, I want to be a bank manager, computer technician” etc.

Some children already became familiar with the computer through the MCS’s BIG-BOET, and 2-TYPE programs. However the ratio of the computers to the number of children was problematic, 2: 20. The new laptops may not have an effect on the current ratio, but they brought innovative thinking to the staff. The question was how can we use them effectively? A digital projector and a big screen brought the answer.

With these tools at hand, five children sit on the computer, while the rest of the class follows the lesson on the big screen. And group after group take turns. By the end of an hour and a half or so, everybody has learned something. The fascination and eagerness to learn more is obvious in their faces.

On behalf of all the MCS children, we would like to thank the people that donated these computers. Their contribution has not gone in vain, because to the children it’s a contribution that brought the world in their fingertips.