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22nd June
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” (Nelson Mandela)
Today was a truly special day as we walked away from African Angels school work knowing that the classrooms are ready for September and knowing that our hard work made this possible. The local church congregation provided the musical backdrop to our work and we found it affecting as the music was celebratory and rousing, complementing our own feelings of accomplishment and satisfaction.
Mr Weeks had been to purchase cricket and other sports equipment with Wellington (SA expert and one of our group’s leaders) on Saturday with the intention of donating the cricket equipment to the team in Wellington’s village. So when we finished work, we drove to Wellington’s village to hand over the fantastic new kit to the local cricket team.
Wellington ( a retired police detective) and his son Zoro have made a huge contribution to their local village since they returned there from Cape Town in 2009. Together with the help of volunteers, they have built a crèche for young children, helped to organise a tar road to connect the village to the main road and have made a start on building a cricket ground for the village. The local boys and girls all came to watch the inaugural overs with the new cricket kit. We would like to thank all of the visiting cricket teams who donated money towards buying the kit. We would also like to wish Wellington and the cricket team every success and look forward to hearing about how the team and the cricket ground progress.
After this treat, we returned to another treat at the hostel: some free time! Several students headed out on horseback for a trip around the area, while the rest walked to the beach and took a swim in the Indian ocean. This was followed by a final volleyball match back at Bucks. Everybody also got their things packed up before dinner as Tobula (Tobs) had invited us to watch an important film by director Richard Attenborough Cry Freedom after dinner. It was a moving film and helped us all remember how far the South African people have come on their long walk to freedom.
We would like to commend all of the Form 11 students for their perseverance, hard work and dedication during the trip and to ask them to remember that:
“A fundamental concern for others in our individual and community lives would go a long way in making the world the better place we so passionately dreamt of.”
(Nelson Mandela)
Ms Corcoran, Mr Weeks, Ms Lee
Today was a truly special day as we walked away from African Angels school work knowing that the classrooms are ready for September and knowing that our hard work made this possible. The local church congregation provided the musical backdrop to our work and we found it affecting as the music was celebratory and rousing, complementing our own feelings of accomplishment and satisfaction.
Mr Weeks had been to purchase cricket and other sports equipment with Wellington (SA expert and one of our group’s leaders) on Saturday with the intention of donating the cricket equipment to the team in Wellington’s village. So when we finished work, we drove to Wellington’s village to hand over the fantastic new kit to the local cricket team.
Wellington ( a retired police detective) and his son Zoro have made a huge contribution to their local village since they returned there from Cape Town in 2009. Together with the help of volunteers, they have built a crèche for young children, helped to organise a tar road to connect the village to the main road and have made a start on building a cricket ground for the village. The local boys and girls all came to watch the inaugural overs with the new cricket kit. We would like to thank all of the visiting cricket teams who donated money towards buying the kit. We would also like to wish Wellington and the cricket team every success and look forward to hearing about how the team and the cricket ground progress.
After this treat, we returned to another treat at the hostel: some free time! Several students headed out on horseback for a trip around the area, while the rest walked to the beach and took a swim in the Indian ocean. This was followed by a final volleyball match back at Bucks. Everybody also got their things packed up before dinner as Tobula (Tobs) had invited us to watch an important film by director Richard Attenborough Cry Freedom after dinner. It was a moving film and helped us all remember how far the South African people have come on their long walk to freedom.
We would like to commend all of the Form 11 students for their perseverance, hard work and dedication during the trip and to ask them to remember that:
“A fundamental concern for others in our individual and community lives would go a long way in making the world the better place we so passionately dreamt of.”
(Nelson Mandela)
Ms Corcoran, Mr Weeks, Ms Lee
21st June
In the morning we started off by doing the finishing touches on the exterior wall and also by finishing the blue paint in room 2 and touching up all the walls in the first one. Kika Costa consulted with us all and we democratically decided the design which she then painted on one of the walls. We finally began to clean the floor in the first classroom, which was satisfying and made us feel as if the job was very nearly done. We then had lunch and at one o’clock we started off our drive through the Mpongo park, a nature reserve where we got to see first- hand an abundance of local exotic animals, such as impalas, giraffes, zebras, springboks among others. To finish the day we were presented with a typical Xhosa meal which was different to what most of us were used to but still delicious and for the first time in our time here we had a desert which consisted of ice cream, chocolate mousse and cake which was very well received.
20th June
Today was a very rewarding day; we had a delicious breakfast with a wonderful view and went to the African Angels School to continue refurbishing both rooms. Later on the afternoon we felt grateful as we each received a card and a bracelet made by the students and we were able to distribute the gifts that we had brought them as well as a t-shirt for each student. After having hot dogs for lunch we went for a three hour hike down the mountains and across the sandy beach which we then concluded by having a presentation on the background of the ‘Volunteer Africa 32º South´ foundation. Tonight dinner was especially good – a hearty braai in the campsite beneath open skies.
19th June
When we got to the Project site today we knew we had to get a lot done before lunch, as in the afternoon we would be going to Nxigongo village. We cleaned the first classroom in order to get rid of all the dust so that we could begin painting; we finished painting the bars on the windows with black gloss paint and made the finishing touches on the outside walls. Many of us had the wonderful opportunity to go up to the classrooms and work with the children, this was a gratifying and rewarding experience as were able to interact with those for whom we are working so hard for in this project. Grade 1 and Grade R were the classes we visited where we read stories, helped wit arts and crafts and other activities. The classrooms were very impressive; colourful and well- organised! When we left after lunch we made our way to visit Mama Tofu, a 95 year old Xhosa lady, who showed us some of the traditions in the Xhosa culture, we ate a traditional meal and there were children who danced and sang who were extremely entertaining! Overall it was an excellent day out here in South Africa and we all had a lot of fun!
18th June
Today was very productive; so far we worked the hardest since we got to South Africa. We started the day off by painting the outside of the classrooms in white, while some of the people were inside finishing the cement. After painting the walls we started painting the frames on the windows in black, it was challenging because the black paint was quite sticky and hard to get off the skin, but the contrast worked very well. We had the opportunity to go into the classrooms and interact with the children who are students at African Angels, which was a very enriching experience as the children not only were very friendly and warm but also spoke English very fluently for their age. We also got the opportunity to see some monkeys when we woke up, this time they were our alarm clock! We are exhausted but feeling very accomplished, and we can´t wait for tomorrow as we are going into some of the rural areas of Chintsa to speak Xhosa and meet the locals!
17th June
Today we went to the African Angels, a private school set up by an Australian immigrant, to refurbish two classrooms for grade four and five. The classrooms were excessively dirty and one of them was used as a storage room for more than ten years. After removing all the materials (and spiders), we scraped off and sanded the extra paint on the windows as well as the walls. Additionally, we washed the windows and the walls preparing them for paint. We ate some hot dogs and watched as the local students nearly killed themselves throwing sticks at each other, which apparently is a popular game. We arrived at the hostel at five o’clock after a productive day of work where we had some time to relax followed by a delicious Indian meal and a Xhosa lesson, the local language.
16th June
After a very long and tiring journey, we arrived to Chintsa at 1pm today. We are thoroughly enjoying it, the view is stunning and the place is amazing. We have met another group from Australia with whom we played volleyball. At 6pm local time, we also watched the match Portugal – Germany and later had dinner. We are looking forward for a hard-working day tommorrow
Prize Draw
Tickets for the Prize Draw 2014 are on sale from all OBS pupils and teachers. Please support this by asking your friends and family to buy tickets for 1 Euro each.
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All proceeds will go to the charities supported by the CAS South Africa 2014 Team. The winning tickets will be drawn on Wednesday, April 30th 2014.
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All proceeds will go to the charities supported by the CAS South Africa 2014 Team. The winning tickets will be drawn on Wednesday, April 30th 2014.
Valentine's day
Valentine's day was a success this year! Form 11s distributed all the carnations during the day and organised a disco for Form 2-5 which was very popular amongst the Primary students as more than 80 students attended. The students enjoyed themselves and participated in several activities including karaoke, making the event extremely entertaining for everyone. Futhermore, in total the Form 11s raised over 1000€ during the day therefore adding to the total of €2500 raised currently which includes the book sale, sponsored spelling challenge and Valentine's day. It was a day full of excitement, love and enjoyment!
"Our hard work paid back when we saw everyone having fun at the disco" Pinky, Catarina, Tilly (organisers)
"Our hard work paid back when we saw everyone having fun at the disco" Pinky, Catarina, Tilly (organisers)
Thank you for your continued support and generosity!
Carnations
To fundraise money for the 2014 CAS trip, Form 11 will be organsing a project to hand out carnations out on the 14th of February.
Each carnation will cost €1. There will be an additional cost of €0.50 for a card with a message.
Slips will be handed out tomorrow (Tuesday 4th February), during tutorial.
Please hand in the slips back in to your form tutor or to Miss Davis with the money by Tuesday 12th February.
All funds raised will be towards buying materials such as paint, gardening equipment or donated to the community in Cintsa, South Africa
Each carnation will cost €1. There will be an additional cost of €0.50 for a card with a message.
Slips will be handed out tomorrow (Tuesday 4th February), during tutorial.
Please hand in the slips back in to your form tutor or to Miss Davis with the money by Tuesday 12th February.
All funds raised will be towards buying materials such as paint, gardening equipment or donated to the community in Cintsa, South Africa
Sponsored Spelling Challenge
Book Sale
On the 17th of December, there was a book sale to raise money for the 2014 CAS trip to South Africa. This was our first event organised by Form 11 students. It was very successful and we raised over 110€.