Yesterday 28th November, our niece Celine Cruse and her daughter Farrah came from Nelspruit with clothes and toys, mainly collected by Rachel Cruse, and helped to distribute them. They were eagerly received. Many thanks for your efforts girls!

Yesterday Friday 27th November, Riverview Pre-Primary held a little Christmas party and handed over to some of our younger orphans shoeboxes filled with toys and exciting goodies to mark Christmas 2015. Our little ones arrived, overcome and shy, but the Riverview pupils soon befriended them and made them feel at home. They played together in the sandpit, on the swings, and with hula hoops etc. They had a marvellous time and chattered all the way home. It was a morning they won't forget and hopefully new friends were made. A huge big thank you to Riverview and all those who organized it and contributed - you made 18 little hearts beat faster! Their little world was expanded. They know there are people who care for them!!

You remember the Mhlongo family for whom we were building a little house ? Well, it is finished and they have moved in!! They are so excited - waiting for it to rain so they can catch and store water in their big Jojo tank. They even have a toilet! Thank you Fr Joseph for the funding! We spent R324 over budget.

There's a drive on to improve the use of the local libraries. There's a problem though. Membership fees are R37 per year, which entitles a child to 3 books every fortnight for a year. Being orphans they don't have the money. Please think about sponsoring a child or two! Our banking details are

Makhundu Christian Support
First National Bank
Malelane
Branch code 270952

Mark your contribution - library

Many thanks

Inky

Mandela Day Outreaches

It's Mandela Day today!! Our children have been very busy reaching out to the old folk in their villages. They cleaned out their houses, weeded the yards, cooked a meal with food donated by the neighbours and did the laundry. It's so good to spread a bit of caring and concern - you learn that there are always others worse off than you.

Mandela Day et al

We came across a destitute little family of 2 girls, one with a baby who literally had nowhere to live. They had been beaten and thrown out of the house they were in by their brother. We found a very very generous donor in Austria who provided the funds for us to build them a single roomed house. The local hardware store gave us a whopping discount and so we were able to buy a Jojo tank and gutters to catch and store rainwater, had ceiling put in against the heat and built an outside toilet. It should be finished very soon and then I'll post a picture of the the finished home. Here are some photos of the house being built

17th March 2015

Hi there,

A very kind and generous donor gave us unexpected funds so we were able to replace soccer boots and balls that were very much the worse for wear.   The team was hoping very much to enter the Selati Cup - a local competition.   We had to gather 500 votes to qualify and we only managed 237.   What a pity.   Here are some of the kids with their new gear

Matrix Warehouse at Ilanga Mall, Nelspruit very kindly updated our computers in the Computer Centre as their gift to us.   This means we now have can operate with Windows 7 Professional!   We also have internet access there so the kids can Google to their hearts content!
Hear are photos of Noah and Bradley from Matrix who kindly helped us.    A HUGE thank you to Nikki and Matrix!

There's a drive on to improve the use of the local libraries.   There's a problem though.   Membership fees are R37 per year, which entitles a child to 3 books every fortnight for a year.   Being orphans they don't have the money.   Please think about sponsoring a child or two!   Our banking details are

Makhundu Christian Support

First National Bank

Malelane

Branch code 270952

Acct no 62079127132

Swift Code FIRNZA JJ292

Blessings,

Inky

20th February 2015


Hello - I'd like to share some photos of the kids at Langeloop Centre.   They were busy making bangles or loombands last week with coloured elastic bands that the Selmes family from Dorking UK had sent them.

The Selmes family visited us in August last year and visited Langeloop.   They showed the children how to make loombands and ran races and played games and everyone enjoyed themselves.  Megan Selmes is in the photo, teaching the kids.

Ruby Selmes showing how it's done!

Jules Selmes taking a short cut in the sack race!!

Hello everyone!   I really do apologize for not posting anything for over a year!!   I'm shocked at myself.

We have been very busy.   We've finished building 67 houses thanks to Home Plan who gave us the funding.   We continue feeding our orphans and will be picking up another 24 soon, because the little convent in Kamhlushwa is closing down.   The nuns were attacked and beaten up - can you believe it?

We were awarded a grant from Lotto which has helped us carry on with our outreach.   We bought soccer gear and school uniforms.

Our proud little team has won several matches!

3 very happy schoolchildren who now feel like the other kids

We have been doing puppet shows at the local hospitals to entertain the sick children.   I think the nurses enjoyed the show every bit as much as their patients.

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.

30/06/2012

Hi there this chilly June day!

There are a lot of children who are feeling warm thanks to the SACBC donation of tracksuits and blankets.  On 27th June a Human Trafficking and Sexual Abuse Day was held at our drop in centre in Vlakbult.   It was well attended and a lot of interest was shown.   3 ladies from Social Services came and told the children about the help that is available to them if they should find themselves in trouble.   After that we showed them a DVD drama about a young girl who was sexually abused by her uncle.  Thrn some of the children acted out their own dramas.    At question time the children showed a lot of interest, but you could see the embarrassment and shyness which prevents so many from coming out into the open.   What a world we live in!!   One family who moved into one of the two room houses we built, thanks to the SACBC, told our assistants that they are so happy to have a house, because one girl in the family had narrowly escaped being raped a coupleof times by running for her life, but now she had a door she could lock.   These kids need help if they are to grow into decent citizens - it's a jungle out there!

12/06/2012
Hi there!   The South African Bishops Conference donated funding to buy our orphans tracksuits, blankets, towels, buckets and laundry basins.   Here the kids from the Driekoppies Drop in Centre show off their new tracksuits etc.   This has been well timed with the present cold snap which has everyone shivering!   Thnak you SACBC for your immense generosity.
The building of 2 room houses continues - we have completed 15 already.   You can't imagine the joy generated when these little orphan headed families can move into their new homes which are warm, safe, don't leak - AND- have  rain water tanks and guttering!!   Also a big thank you to SACBC!

We are looking for funding to buy 20 lap tops.   At the moment we only have 5 and so the computer classes are going very slowly.   It is essential to be computer literate in today's world, to be able to do research for projects on Google etc.   As you can see, we also have some budding seamstresses!

March 18th 2012

House no 8 after

House no 8 before

Recycling Puppet Show

Hi,

Here is a photo of a little puppet show we did for the orphans on recycling and collecting rubbish. The children had a huge response and rushed around collecting rubbish in plastic garbage bags which I took to the recycling depo in Malelane. The children expressed amazement at how much rubbish they found - hopefully this kind of "sensitizing" will encourage them to clean up their neighbourhood and the word will spread!

The 2 room houses we are building with funding from the South African Catholic Bishops Conference is going well and the first 10 will be finished soon. The families concerned are over the moon as you can imagine and very happy to be given a water tank and guttering to catch rain water, thus obviating the nasty chore of having to go to collect water in a wheelbarrow if the water lorry rocks up as scheduled - which doesn't always happen and the the household has to try and do without!

9 Feb 2012

House No 5 after

House No 5 before

Hi there!
It is 2012 already and we are off to a busy start! The price of mealie meal per 12.5kg bag has soared which is sad as it makes life difficult for us - stretching available funds.

The South African Catholic Bishop's Conference has awarded us funding to build 20 little 2 room houses plus a water tank for deserving orphan-headed homes. We have built 5 already and will start on the next five very soon. See photos above. Craft classes on a Wednesday are going well. A lot of the older children who were getting on well and producing lovely aprons etc are too busy with school to attend, so we are starting from the bottom again with younger ones who have never seen a sewing machine - patience!!

September 2011

Traditional dance

Sewing aprons

Making gift bags from newspaper!

Hi there!

I haven't posted for so long that I forgot my password and got in by sheer good luck!

Lots of interesting things have been happening, the most important I think is that we are now making and selling beautiful aprons, keyrings and gift bags! Half the money received in this way goes back into the kitty and the other half goes to the maker for pocket money! The orphans are very excited at the thought of earning a little cash. If anyone is interested send me your order by email to inkrollo@mweb.co.za - they make great Christmas gifts!

We had a very successful Heritage Day celebration - over 400 children took part. 2 American friends were there to celebrate too. It was held at our new drop in centre at Bongani village.

We have started building a new centre in Kamhlushwa village and hope to have a soccer fields, netball fields and a bicycle track.

May God bless you all,

Inky

April update

Colouring in

Our granddaughter teaching beading

Hello all who read this blog site. I often wonder who you are! Please send me a message.

We have been busy building another centre at Bongani village which will open soon and it will serve as a drop in centre for the orphans there. They'll have access to learning computer skills, sewing, knitting, embroidery, and beading, as well as have safe place in which to play games, do sport and have their homework supervised. We have a wonderful lady Thandi Ngwena who will be "mother" there, available for the children 24/7.

We are also planning another centre at Kamhlushwa village with much the same in mind, as well as a bicycle track so the kids can ride their bikes, kindly provided by Bikes for Africa". A copy of our our quarterly newsletter has just come out. If you are interested in receiving one, please email me at inkrollo@mweb.co.za and I will send you a copy.

We now have a regular Crafts class going every Wednesday afternoon. where the girls mainly are taught beading, embroidery, and sewing simple articles. We hope to get a market for the articles so the girls can earn a bit of pocket money.

Hello and best wishes for 2011!

I haven't updated this blogsite for some months, as I was having trouble downloading photos but as you can see all is now well!

We have had a busy 6 months with football matches, a huge gathering of children in September where we all had a lot of fun, games were played and the children had dancing competitions. Sabina Govere, our psychologist has been doing wonderful work with the orphans. When she started, the kids were too shy to share in groups, but now they chat away happily, sharing their joys and their pains.

We have also had a lot of visitors - Meredith McCord and her family from Texas, Fr Joseph Knapp, his sister and friends and Yahitta Hassim and a student who was researching childrens rights in particular with regard to orphan-headed homes.

We'll be starting food distribution at the end of this week, on 8th January.

The children sharing in groups

6th June 2010

Hi everyone,
We are approaching the Soccer World Cup in 5 days time in this country. It has created a mad fixation with soccer amongst our orphans. They play mostly on the streets in front of our centres, and there is always a tussle between the girls who want to play netball and the boys who want to play soccer! If they haven't got a soccer ball they make do with one made of plastic shopping bags and string. Goals are marked with boxes or whatever they can find that is useful.


Some very kind and generous young people from our local sugar mill TSB have arranged to have portable soccer goalposts made for street soccer and portable netball posts. Someone has also donated quite a few netballs and soccer balls.


We have bought 700 blankets this year and most of them have been handed out already.