Take your pick!

We have had a bit of a breakthrough!The Rotary Club have someone who wants to donate an amount to a project.As I have mentioned before,Thamsanqa is an orphanage consisting of 3 separate homes,each with a housemother.Clair,one of the volunteers,is submitting proposals ,today ,of our immediate needs for these homes:
1 To make the veg. garden at Julia's  home and erect fencing around it.Cows and goat roam freely through the township and the veg. would not last long.
2 Chairs for 2 of the homes,so the chilren can all sit down to do their homework.
3 Cupboards for each home,so that they do not need to keep their clothes in a pile on the floor.
4 Fill the gap in funding for the fourth home.
The 4 of us working on the Thamsanqa project,Martijn,Marloes,Clair and myself,met with Tia this morning.She is the wonderful woman,now in her
70s.,who set up his orphanage and runs it.She is busy conducting courses to train the housemothers,give the children life skills and involve the wider community.
Yesterday,Martijn and I started the veg patch with our newly acquired picks.The ground is like hard rock,with boulders embedded in the earth.Progress was very slow,but we will get there.In the afternoon,along with Marloes,we went to Florence's home,There we practiced reading,writing and colouring with the kids.They are a delightful bunch.The home seems to hum with contentment.Of course,we do not see everything,there do arise problems that can be distressing,as has happened this morning.In another township,where the unemployment is 75%,gangs are a problem and the area unsafe for people like ourselves.In general,weekends in the townships start Friday midday .Drinking begins and violence can be common,mainly of a domestic nature.But we are told to finish Friday midday for that reason.
So it is that we are heading,this afternoon,to Tsitsikamma,where the Storms  River thunders into the Indian Ocean.There are forests of giant Yellowwood and deep gorges with waterfalls.Five of us will make the 2 hour drive.There we will trek;but,I know,high on the list of the others,is to do the bungee jump-the highest in the world-and the 2 hour zipline tour.I will NOT be doing the bungee!I may do the ziplining,but as the longest is over 200 metres,suspended over waterfalls and deep gorges,it will depend on whether I can contol the shaking!
Have a good weekend!
Eric.

Photos
1 Martijn and Marloes with the kids in Florence's house.
2 Workmen erecting a fence around Florence's house.

PS In 2005 there were an estimated 1million orphans in S.Africa.By 2010there could be 2.5 million.

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