International Food week

Last week saw the first (of hopefully many!) GVI Cape Town International Food Festival. As we had a large group of different nationalities it was suggested we have a week of special dinners where each group prepared a dish representing their country. Australia (Chris, Annie, Claire and Sarah) kicked off the week on Monday with a barbeque featuring Vegemite snacks and delicious rissoles but the best part was their after dinner activity which was a raucous lesson on drinking your tea through a Tim-Tam!

Next up was Ireland (Aoife and Jim) with a mainly liquid focussed approach! The main dish was a lovely lamb stew accompanied by Guiness, followed by Bailieys then Irish Coffee while we watched an entertaining Irish dancing performance. Wednesday saw Lulama prepare traditional South African Stampmielles which is always a hit!

Then Thursday was a big effort from the British (Kevin, Emilia, Alice and Kate) as we had some VIP guests! We were honoured to be joined by Mama Lumka, her husband Wellington and twin daughters Bongi and Bongiswa. Mama had never tried British food before so jumped at the chance to and wasn’t disappointed. She, and particularly Wellington, enjoyed the traditional roast beef but the highlight for Mama was the bread and butter pudding which she refused to leave without the recipe for! The after dinner activity was a hilarious game of eat the sweet from the mountain of flour without your hands which everyone, including Mama and Wellington, got stuck into, literally in some cases!

The week came to a close with North and South America (Chris, Brigette, Catalina and Will) teaming up to make a tasty feast of nachos, fajitas and huge banana splits and a salsa performance thrown in for good measure. When all the eating was over it came to the vote. It was a close run affair in a number of categories but the run away overall winner was Ireland. Well done Aoife and Jim and well done everyone for a great effort all round!

Nceduluntu Educare Centre!

At Mama Lumka’s request, we have begun working at Nceduluntu Educare centre, which is a nursery school set up and run by Mama Lumka catering for around 50 children from the local community. Ncedulentu has proved to be a wonderful introduction to childcare for volunteers who have no previous experience with children. At Nceduluntu, volunteers work together with the teachers already at the school, as teaching assistance. There is a great symbiotic relationship as volunteers are helping the both the teachers and the children improve their English and the teachers are passing on invaluable teaching tips to volunteers. Both the children and the staff have been so welcoming and enthusiastic to the volunteers who have been placed here and everyone has had a wonderful time.

This week the volunteers put on a magic show for the children who sat in speechless awe while Magicians Aoife, Emilia and Brigette performed tricks. GVI would like to take this opportunity to thank Brigette for all her hard work in the early days of setting up and developing this strong relationship between GVI and Nceduluntu Educare Centre.

In the meantime over at the orphanage, Class B and their teachers Kate and Catalina spent the week learning about pirates and preparing props for a treasure hunt on Friday based around their story of the week. The children really enjoyed themselves and were a wonderful sight to see running around with their eye patches, flags, maps, bandanas and telescopes in search of buried treasure!

Going green!

This week saw the first seeds sown in the Ikhayalethemba Village School garden! Over the last few weeks Class C have been learning about the seasons. During their focus on Spring Aoife and Emma taught them about how plants grow and they planted their own runner bean seeds in cotton wool in the classroom. They watered them carefully and watched eagerly as they began to grow. This week they had grown so much they needed to be transferred to the ground and so the school garden was born. A very happy Mama gave us our own plot and was very excited to hear about our plans to teach the children how to look after plants and see how they grow with love and care. Watch this space for future additions to the garden and hopefully one day a meal for the children from produce they have grown themselves!

Touch, taste and smell!

This week at ACJ Primary, GVI have been asked to help with the after school sports sessions as they don’t have a dedicated sports teacher and the teachers who normally run the sessions are very busy at this time of year with their main subjects as it nearly exam time. Our volunteers have really enjoyed helping out and the kids are so enthusiastic that we have decided to create a dedicated sports project so keep an eye on our website as it will be coming very soon!

Over at the orphanage Class B enjoyed their first teddy bears picnics while Class C spent the week learning about the senses. The highlights for both the children and their teachers Emma and Aoife were definitely the smell and taste sessions where they smelt and tasted a number of different things. The best reactions were obviously from the salt, pepper and onions!

Heritage Day in South Africa!

ACJ Primary kicked off the festivities with a whole day dedicated to celebrating the mixed cultures represented at the school through dance, song, drama and poetry. Sarah was lucky enough to spend the whole day there and was asked to be the official photographer once she started snapping away. We all joined later and were invited to a special (and rather interesting) lunch with the teachers.

The celebrations started at the orphanage on Wednesday when a local school gave a lively and entertaining presentation on respecting different culture. On Thursday the kids had their own turn. In class they prepared pieces to perform. Class B made shakers and masks for their dance. Class C made masks and acted out this weeks story Little Red Ridding Hood. Lastly the older kids, who weren’t at school, performed a lively dance number and an entertaining short play. All of which were watched by a delighted Mama, Bongi and all the carers.

At the weekend, some of the volunteers made the most of the beautiful sunshine and heritage festivities and headed to a well-known winery for some wine and cheese tasting. As you can see from the pictures, it was an enjoyable day all round!

Atenkosi completes his first book!

This week Catalina taught Class C about sound and they enjoyed a noisy lesson making their own instruments. They then rehearsed and performed a lively version of our ‘morning song’ to the rest of the children and an overjoyed Mama Lumka. Erin and Chris took Class B on an exciting trip on the orphanages makeshift bus where they really enjoyed learning ‘the wheels on the bus’ song and its actions.

Meanwhile at the school, we had a very good week. The highlight was Atenkosi finishing his first book. When he started our classes he couldn’t read at all, now thanks to his own and Sarah’s hard work he has read a book from cover to cover and can’t wait to start the next on.

Party time at Ikhayalethemba village!

This week saw our first volunteer birthday. Teacher Erin turned 22 on Tuesday and celebrated in style with Mama and the kids at the orphanage. Class C made her cards and Class B made a banner to hold while they all sang a raucous version of Happy Birthday to a surprised Erin. She then gave everybody a piece of delicious cake that her fellow volunteers had secretly made to celebrate.

During class time Teacher Louisa took Class C on an exciting adventure to the orphanage’s vegetable garden to learn about how plants grow and to see if they could find a beanstalk as they are reading Jack and the Beanstalk in story time this week.