Cordwalles Painting Day

On Tuesday 13 September 2011, about 25 boys from the Grade 5 class of Cordwalles Preparatory School came to eSimphiwe with their art teacher Kerry Peckham to begin paiting 3 bedrooms in House No. 2 .

It was fun and games as the group brought along groceries for the children, painted the 3 rooms and still had lots of time to play with the little ones. We always appreciate this group of boys as they are dedicated, and such responsible young men. A credit to their school. It's wonderful to think the future is in the hands of young people so willing to give of themselves and their time. The next group from the school will be coming on Wednesday 21 September to complete the painting with borders along the walls.

German Volunteers Scrapbooking

 Jessica, one of our German volunteers, relates the following conversation she had with a Gogo (Grandmother), who told her about her grandaughter who was adopted into their family from an orphanage:
  

Grandaughter: “I was never a baby." 

Gogo: “But of course you were once a baby, everyone’s a baby at the beginning of  their life!”

Grandaughter: “No, I certainly was not. Because I cannot remember how I looked. So I was never a baby,” 

Jessica then  realised that there are many people who don't know who they are or where they come from, as they have no childhood photo memories. The Gogo said to Jessica "My  grandchild who was adpoted into our family told me 'I was never a baby..because I don't know what I looked like"

Jessica took this to heart and started a scrapbook project for the children in the care of eSimphiwe. Under her guidance some of the other volunteers became involved and assist her diligently working late into the night.

This is a work of "love" as hours have been spent searching through photographs to select the best for telling each child's picture story during their time at eSimphiwe.

Click here!  to see some photo's of them hard at work.

Nedbank Staff - Room Painting Day

The Nedbank Investment Division of Pietermaritzburg and Durban headed by Joanne and Allison came as a team building day with staff from their offices with a project to start painting the inside of the houses. They have adopted eSimphiwe as their Social Responsibility. What a diligent and hard working team, the painted rooms look fantastic. The painting of the first 4 rooms marks the beginning of what we hope to be a long standing relationship. Have a look at the photos. Click here!

Mandela Birthday Celebration

On Tuesday 19 July we celebrated Mandela's 93rd birthday. This was made possible by the support of Ricmond Spar, Boxer and a group of young Ambassadors from the Premier's Office. The children were regally entertained by our vistors who spent time playing with them. The highlight of the celebration were the amazing cakes they all enjoyed. One from Spar, Boxer and the  Premiers Office. The young Ambassadors brought a tree to plant to commemorate the occasion.


Have a look at all the photos. Click here!

Bluecoat School - UK : Mural painting day

Students from the Blue Coat School in England visited us again on Wednesday 19 July 2011. A group from the school last visited us in 2009. A new group from the school returned this year to continue painting murals on the outside walls of the houses. What a lovely and talented art group they are. We have been blessed to have them with us as they also spent time entertaining and playing with the children who were delighted with all the fun games they played together.

Click here to see all their hard work!

Durban Baby House - Grace Family Church

Saturday 4th of June marked a wonderful blessing for the Durban Baby House! The Grace Family "graced" our garden with a gift of love and commitment as they all literally "climbed in" and cleaned up our "jungle." After a complaint by a friendly neighbour we were asked to clean up the lower part of the garden which runs for about 50 meters into a natural forest. It took our 40 gracious volunteers 4 hours to complete "operation clean-up."


There was a festive feeling in the air as these men, women and children chopped and cut the bush, cleaned out the pool and played with "our" babies. When I arrived they were all sitting spread around the premises eating away on "briani" and drinking well deserved juice, all supplied by Grace Family Church. Smiles greeted me and I could not help but feel overwhelmed by so much love and warmth.


It is wonderful to witness the commitment of the community and know that eSimphiwe is truly a Gift from God. It enriches the lives of the children in our care, but also those he called to serve. Thank you Grace Family for your love (spelt T I M E) and for sponsoring the equipment, bin for the garden refuse, as well as the food and drinks. Your involvement and commitment with Dave and Arlene spearheading the project is so much appreciated.

Have a look at the Grace Family Volunteers photo's and comments on their one day mission.Click here!

Transport challenges

Our daily transport needs require us to pick up children from our satellite homes in Richmond in the morning and transport them to the crèche on our premises and return them home in the afternoon. We have to make 2 trips each time as there are 12 children to be transported. The school going children in the eSimphiwe Care Centre also have to be taken to school and collected in the afternoon. During the day we have to transport children to the local clinic and hospitals for their appointments, and also find time for regular food shopping and collection of food donations from local farmers. We also need to distribute food to our local satellite homes. Weekly we transport relief staff to our satellite home in Durban together with their food, cleaning materials and nappy requirements.
On Sundays we need to take 13 of our children (those who are old enough) to church and Sunday school.

Having only a small 5 seater Tazz motor vehicle brings us daily challenges to meet all these transport needs.

Ideally, in addition to our small vehicle, we would love to have a 12 seater mini-bus and support for maintenance and fuel costs.