Donnerstag, 17. September 2009

Update from Lulama 17th September

Today I called Lulama in order to discuss with her the handling of an account for Bonintwentle which still exists in Hillcrest.
She was extremely happy as we spoke, as she had begun to use the new building for a group of older children that she was looking after. The plaster work is finished, the windows have been glazed and only the door is still missing. That should be in in the next days.
But what pleased her most of all was that she had a visit from the local social workers engaged by the Department of social development. They looked at the school, assessed the information and files on each of the children, inspected the classrooms and toilets and pronounced the Preschool as being on Level 5 (which appears to be very high) as a rating for a local pre-school They have promised to help her in the future, and this hopefully means that some money will be made available to pay towards teacher's salaries.
So the prospects for quickly completing the painting of the new building, as well as buying some furniture and equipment for the newly-divided classes seems good. There is some money available and the Department has acknowledged the value of her work and their willingness to help with its further existence.

Montag, 7. September 2009

The beginning of the journey...


... framework of the house loaded onto the small 1-ton van hired for us by Ryan Pickford from Outsource.

Last Fotos before leaving Bonintwentle.....



Mittwoch, 2. September 2009

Enjoying Mount Frere

The last bags go in...


The Workcamp Bonintwentle has come to an end. Leticia, Jara and Josefien are still in Mount Frere, doing some final cleaning up and supervising, and hoping also to get some rest after the rather stressful last two weeks of trying to get the building finished.

The plastering is being done by a local plasterer, who will also pour the concrete floor. Ceiling and final finishes will have to wait for the next workcamp, and so will the kitchen. But Lulama will be able to use the Kindergarten room some time next week and it will be quite adequate as a classroom throughout the next months until the cold weather starts again around June 2010.

Other jobs, such as the final installation of the plumbing and shower, another water tank, some playground equipment to replace what we took down, as it was rotten and becoming a danger to the children, will have to wait until this time as well.

But the team worked with real devotion for two weeks running through weekends and long days. Tom, Sophia, Sara and Lorenz left yesterday, and I left a short time later. Saskia, Xenia, David and Jelena left the day before and Achim and Kilian last week. Some have returned to Switzerland and others are traveling through South Africa.

Leticia, Jara, Josefien and I are now starting our Connectivity 2011 work, networking through projects in Johannesburg and Cape Town. We will keep you posted through the special blogs you will find on the homepage under IDEM BLOG.

A tremendous word of thanks to all those who participated in getting this work done, and particularly to all who supported it financially. Without you all, none of this would have been possible.

Donnerstag, 27. August 2009

Photoupdate again

Some pictures showing some highlights of this last week and days here.







View from the backside on the house. Actually the better view, some work on the other side still need to be done.

Lulama busy with a dance as a reaction as she saw what you see on the photo before. She started to sing something about Jesus and Fishes...

Big circle in Sonkes Houses with a meal prepared from us as a thank you to the both families which host us.

Some children joining spontaneously our stretching in the morning.

We are still here all together until Sunday.

Dienstag, 25. August 2009

Fotoupdate




























Mittwoch, 19. August 2009

Progress on the building

The day we got back, David Masuch and Jelena Büdel arrived from Germany and will spend the remainder of the workcamp with us. The basic wooden structure is up and we are busy putting on the roof. Tomorrow the bags of sand start going in, which constitute the bulk of the building. They have been filled with 4 truckloads of sand so far. A couple more will be needed.
The weather is rather cold at the moment, it has rained a bit, and further rain in predicted for the weekend. A couple of people are not that well, Sophia with a burnt foot and Kilian with Sinusitis.
Lulama is beginning to use the sewing machine we bought for her from some of the money donated for the educational and art work that Saskia and others are doing with the children. Also this work is going well and continuing every morning.

Weekend in Port St Johns

Our weekend excursion was to Port St Johns, a coastal resort that is still relatively free of tourists, with a large number of backpackers lodges. There is quite a bit of big-game fishing taking place from here, and the place is frequented mainly by South Africans.
There is a large multicultural community here, the town itself small and stocking the most necessary items for eating and living. But the beaches are wonderful and the long walks along the hillsides spectacular.
Many hippie types live in the place – a kind of Hippieville, but, as is the case these days, the bulk of them are at pension point, still partying and living close to their natural surroundings, with little by way of ambition to change the world. Theirs is, after all, quite ideal.

Sonntag, 9. August 2009

The First Week

At the end of the first week we have settled in and begun work on levelling and setting out the site for the new building.
Living
We have a round traditional hut at the home of Zonke and a house with three rooms that we use as kitchen and dining area with the other neighbours. It took some time to get everything ready, but now everything looks civilized and clean.
The people
There are 13 of us here over the weekend, as we have two visitors with us from the Roseway Waldorf School, Colin Hurner and Nomfundo Mthimkulu. Those of us here from Europe are Tom Dembinski, Leticia Rheingantz (actually from Brazil, but working in the Idem office in Basel), Saskia Beck, Achim Glatz, Xenia Obratov, Kilian Beck and Benjamin Stern from Switzerland, and Sarah Kottmann, Sophia Grossmann, Lorenz Hartmann from Germany.
The Work
Leticia and I drove the building framework up from Cape Town before the workcamp, sand and cement are lying ready and work on the foundations should start at the beginning of the week.
The toilets and water system from last year needs some overhauling and repair, but basically everything is in place and works after a fashion. The water tank has been of great help to the Kindergarten in the times when water was cut off - once for a full 3 weeks. The septic tank and soakaway work well. The toilets are basically sound but there are a number of leaks in the joints and basin drains that are being repaired.
Activities with the children
Saskia, Leticia and others have prepared a number of activities to do with the children - painting, drawing, circus exercises, juggling balls, balancing and a lot of games. These they are gradually introducing together with the teachers. It is no easy task with the group of more than 64 children ranging in age from a few months to 6 years.

So the needs we are to meet with our work here are once again more than we can fully manage, but whatever we do will be gratefully received and will prove a real help to the project. That, in any event, is nice to know.

Donnerstag, 6. August 2009

05.08.09

Erste unvorhergesehe Panne beim Graben!
Wir stossen auf ein Wasserschlauch und es spritzt!!!

05.08.09

Erste Zeichnungslektion mit 29 Kids.

06.08.09

auch ganz kleine kinder gehören schon zum kindergarten!
die brauchen noch viel schlaf... und natürlich auch zuneigung uf eine ganz andere art und weise!
ich staune wie lulama all die kinder mit einbeziehen kann...

kommentar geschrieben von saskia von eric's acount aus

Mittwoch, 5. August 2009

Die Kinder am frühstücken... Porridge gibt es immer am Morgen.
Da es nicht genug Stühle und Tische hat, muss mindestens die Hälfte der 60 Kinder auf dem Boden essen.
Der Teppich wird für alles benutzt: spielen, schlafen, essen,...
Es ist unglaublich wieviele Kinder in einem kleinen Raum miteinander auskommen können!

Mittwoch, 05.08.09

Lulama...
Die Kindergärtnerin und "Chefin" des ganzen Projektes Bonintwentle.
Sie ist eine bewundernswerte, äusserst temperamentvolle Frau mit sehr viel Charakter. Wir sind alle ihre Kinder, die von Gott zu ihr gesandt wurden... Die 60 Kinder in ihrem Kindergarten sind ihre Grosskinder. Dies sagt sie nicht nur, nein, sie behandelt uns wirklich wie ihr Kinder...
Hier auf dem Foto isst sie ihr Frühstück...

YES, it starts again!

Workcamp Bonintwentle 2009!
Eine neue Gruppe ist seit dem Wochenende in Mount Frere!
Vom 3. August bis zum 30.August 2009 wird diesmal geschuftet, gelacht, erlebt!
Der zweite Klassenraum für Bonintwentle Educare ist dieses Jahr das bauliche Ziel, dafür wurde ein großes Baugerüst von Kapstadt bis nach Mount Frere transportiert.

Aus Mount Frere höre ich Informationsstücke wie:

"...Alle sind glücklich und wohlbehalten angekommen!"

"...Die Vorbereitungen laufen, die Arbeit beginnt!"

"...unerwarteter Weise mietete die Firma Outsource aus Südafrika einen Lieferwagen für uns, der den ganzen Monat lang umsonst genutzt werden kann - das macht Transporte so viel einfacher!"

"...Die Internetverbindung funktioniert noch nicht gut, aber bald wird auch von hier gebloggt und es gibt Bilder.."

Für Kontakt hier die Nummern der Workcamporganisatoren

Leticia: 0027 (0) 73 1316351
Tom: 0027 (0) 71 419 6567
Eric: 0027 (0) 78 465 2514

a Visit!

A few weeks before the Workcamp takes place again, Bonintwentle was visited by Pieter Ploeg and Nathan Heller during their project-research and networking trip for Connectivity in july.
Nearly a year has past, here a quick glance on how everything looks like now...







it makes me wish to go back there - NOW!