Monday/Tuesday photos....

The welcome party at one of the schools - you can't hear them as the videos won't send but there was singing and dancing from the children and their parents, and hugs all around when the workers were walking through the tunnel, giving high fives as well.

 A little sign had been made welcoming us to Africa and our site.  We had children dancing in their bare feet on the sharpest of rubble next to the road; I was wincing inside, but they just carried on delighted to be sharing their dance with us.

Kavan, allowed time off from his 60 book shelves (each about 6 foot high) he is putting together.

 Nancy demonstrating her trowel skills to me as she cements in the blocks as prep for the plasterers.

 Cameron a dab hand at the blocking too - I'm going to be sampling it on Thursday.  There is more than enough to go around that's for sure.

Taking the cement across to the courtyard to bed in the fencing posts before blocking (see I am definitely getting the lingo, eh construction department?

Kavan in one of his 60 shelve units.  They are already painted in wonderful bright primary colours with hand prints occasionally planted for good effect.

Cameron was the first of us to get injured (a half a cm cut), but the on site medics here cover everything to ensure there are no infections.

A little fashion accessorizing for us all in order to get more sun.  We each were given 5 yellow (1st year volunteers) t-shirts.  Some people really make their t-shirts fashion statements.

 Out in the play ground one break time.  The children flock around and absolutely love having their photos taken.

Andy at the beginning stages of the many doors he is hanging.  He is the only carpenter on site hanging doors, so he is in his element, and has earned the honour of having Carpenter T-shirts made available for him come Thursday.

Stood with the Principal of the school we are developing.  He arrived in his shell suit and open-toed sandals - clearly very relaxed with it all.  His school of approximately 1350 students will benefit from seven new classrooms, a playground and a sheltered social area.

 Nancy and Cameron on a break.  The away team are all bonding, and we share many laughs together and sadly tears too when we see first-hand some of the appalling living conditions of some of these people.

My jack-hammer turn, which lasted all of about 2 minutes as I realised the vibrations were not something I needed to experience for long.  The noise is bad enough, but the juddering jolts from this machine were not pleasant at all. 

The end of a hard day, when the 12 guys and I posed for a photo to show off the completed removal of a dangerous old playground area, which is now on its way to becoming a sand based play area for the Reception age children to play away from the more senior Primary School students.

Mark Lindop (in the Green t-shirt, which is for the 4 year patrons of the charity in Africa) is our business man who generously sponsored the 3 students.  He has enabled 3 young people an opportunity of a lifetime which will undoubtedly leave them with indelible memories that will be life-changing and I would like to thank him again on their behalf.

 The local toilet facilities (with a green door) - they line the street where people go from their shacks to use them come day or night.  At the fore is one of the armed security detail who accompanied us to the shacks.  They are on site protecting us and escorting us to and from our hotel daily, just to ensure our safety.  One of the local site volunteers was shot last week when he left as he had received his wages.  They apparently shoot first and ask questions later we have been told.

 Walking along an alleyway to the shacks we were to visit.

 This is Samkelo's Mum.  She is sick and can barely move, and cannot receive the much needed medical attention.

I can't turn the picture around, but this is Samkelo.  He lives in the first shack we visited.  Samkelo's Uncle and other relatives live in the same household.  Samkelo has to wash in the living room in a small portable pot.

 A very humbling experience that Samkelo's Mother is unwell and trying, with her husband to provide for her family, having lived in that shack for 23 years and her young son is a student at the Primary School we are developing.  She was making a basic bread for their dinner.

 One of 6 family members in another household, who was just adorable.  The amount of flies in that shack was intolerable and the smell difficult, but it was their home, and that was hard to comprehend. 

Many children as young as 3-4 would be out running on the streets at different times.  Running freely without any adult supervision.  Can you imagine in the UK letting your young children run along the streets, and play next to motorways as there is a strip of grass between their shacks and the main road in which to play.  The smiles and the waves are always heart melting, because they love the interaction with outside people, especially people who were there to help them in their communities (this has been really evident).  They often feel a forgotten people, but through MellonEducate, not only have they built 25,000 homes for over 125,000 disadvantaged South Africans, they have also provided much in the way of facilities through education.  Their latest venture is to get UK teachers coming across to go into the schools for two weeks to help develop some of the local teachers.

 One of the many barber/hairdressing salon shacks.

 Inside the shack, the proud barber lets us step into his business premises.

I scaled new heights today!  The H&S Inspector came along and stopped me finishing as the wind had picked up and he didn't want me up at that height.  They are impressive in their vigilance for the safety of the volunteers.

A different view of the stunning Table Mountain, but it had a dark tablecloth draped across it this evening.

 

After a long day, we head back to our very comfortable hotel for our hotel showers and comfy beds, but not before we travel past miles and miles of township shacks that really put so much of life's perceived western hardships into perspective.  Good night all - please pass of the message for people to read, and give even a £1.  These people need outside help for sure.  These pictures don't touch on so much but at least you may get a little sense of the degree of poverty all these people live in.