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.

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.....

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.

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.

Fotoupdate