Photos from our second week in SA

 Sarah met with Julie, Claire and Candace from Hillcrest AIDS Centre. Julie will be heading to the UK in May and will be in Stratford visiting us at GAGA. She'll be running the Stratford marathon, then later speaking at the Holy Trinity Church and Stratford Rotary -we're so excited.
GAGA UK have supported HACT's work for a few years now and are proud that this year we could sponsor a bed in their Respite Unit.

We all popped to 1000 Hills Community Helpers for a look around (and a shop!)
It's lovely to see that their school bus (purchased with help from GAGA a few  years ago), is still in great working order and is helping many children attend the 1000 Hills pre-school. 

 There was fun and games at First Step Right all week. 

 We visited the Drakondale Girls Choir school to hear the girls in practice. Wow, what voices! They were incredible. We then headed to the Nelson Mandela capture site in time for a view of the wonderful sculpture with the sunset as the backdrop. 

 A new swing set was purchased for First Step Right School. Some of Hana's donations went towards this.
The picture below shows some of the goodies Doreen bought for the school.

 New curtains for most of the classrooms at First Step Right really brightened up the place and made everything a little cleaner and fresher.

Sarah headed to HOLAH to brainstorm with Kim, Leanne and Mike. They chatted fundraising and future projects.
Below shows some of the items purchased by Hana and Alison for HOLAH including nappies and formula (caring for more than 6 babies is expensive and HOLAH really appreciate all donations). 

Hana and Alison both spent a lot of time this week and last reading with a couple of students at First Step Right, one on one.

 New benches and tables for the homework room at Ithembalihle, thanks to Karen Morrison and her fundraising. 

Hana and Kyle spent a huge amount of time painting in the bathrooms at First Step Right this week. The rooms look so much fresher and cleaner now, the difference is incredible! Their hard work has paid off! 

 More donations were purchased for 1000 Hills Community Helpers, by Hana and Alison - they were overwhelmed!

This photo shows local donations of cabbages which help the kitchen at 1000 Hills Community helpers produce hundreds of meals a day. Some are also donated to local individuals and families. 

 Kyle played both football and rugby, and Alison continued with some yoga classes this week at First Step Right. The children loved all these new experiences and the new football posts (purchased by Karen and put up by Kyle). 

More painting for Hana, Kyle and Alison as they spent a few hours painting the chapel at Hillcrest AIDS Centre.

Before (above) and after (below). 

On Friday this week, our last day at First Step Right School, we were treated to a 'Heritage Day' (which is usually in September in South Africa). Many of the children came in traditional dress and after a morning of lessons there was singing, dancing and cake!

Sarah met with Pretty and Hlengiwe, two of the six students currently supported by the Sangobeg/GAGA sponsorship programme. 

 

Dawn at 1000 Hills Community Helpers was thrilled by the huge amount of donations of blankets and other knitted items. They'll be so loved over the upcoming winter months. 

 

Team shot! We had a few minutes at the beach before taking Kyle back to the airport this Saturday. 

 

Doreen's art work, painted by Doreen, Hana and Alison this week, looks absolutely wonderful. The final touches to the new pre-school building which we were able to complete last year. 

What a fab week!! We've been busy busy busy!