Sabelo from Andulela Tours visited Blomvlei Library last week with a group of visitors from the UK. The group meet with the school headmistress, Dawn Petersen, who explained to the guests some of the problems which the children face growing up in Hanover Park and that keeping them away from drugs and gangs is an on-going headache for the parents and the teachers. She said that the library has already changed the lives of the children at the school and that the library periods were a highlight of their week, the children love reading new books and each week they give book reviews to their classmates about the books they have read.

We were all amazed to realise how lovely and cool it was inside the library although temperatures outside were in the mid 30c, this is thanks to the eco design of the library which is naturally cool in the summer months with windows strategically placed to allow the cool southeaster wind to blow through the library and then in winter the much larger north facing windows allow for maximum sunlight ensuring no high electricity accounts for heating or cooling inside the library.

After the visit to the wonderful library the guests visited various classrooms where they meet the children and read to them introducing the children to the new books which they had brought with them and had donated to the library.

The purpose of the library was to create a place of safety, inspiration and education for the learners and it seems that it is already a great success. We would like to see more of our Friends of the TCD Trust visiting our projects in 2012. It is wonderful to come out and meet the people and experience for yourself the great work the TCD Trust has done with your support.

Let’s hope that 2012 will be best year ahead for the TCD Trust and hopefully many more members of the tourism and hospitality industry will join us as Friends of the Trust and our longstanding friends will continue to support us. The TCD Trust is providing real, meaningful and long lasting change to desperate communities around us, it is wonderful to be a part of it and it’s going to be great for your business too in 2012, so join us now and enjoy the rewards of being a Friend of the TCD Trust for you and your business.

Dear TCD Trust,

My name is Carlijn Smeets, I have been an intern at TCD Trust since October. I worked very close with Bronwen Wetton, the manager of TCD Trust. My tasks at TCD Trust were;  writing blogs, sending newsletters, updating the Facebook page, updating the website and arrange meetings with companies from the tourism industry to inform them about TCD Trust and try to attract them to cooperate with us. I have also been involved with several projects which are supported by TCD Trust.

During my first weeks in Cape Town, I have mainly experienced  Cape Town as;  beautiful beaches, stunning landscape and friendly people. However, after a while I noticed the other side of this mysteries city , and it was shocking for me; there are still a lot of people who are left behind. Besides my internship at Ashanti Lodge (a backpackers hotel), I also decided to do something more then only work in the tourism industry. My boss, Lisa Kröhn, gave me the opportunity to work two days a week for TCD Trust. During my first week with Bronwen, she showed me the RGG crèche and the Library at the Blomvlei Primary School; the two latest projects of the TCD Trust. I knew what I could expect, but to see the conditions of the different townships was still shocking for me. But by speaking to the people from the communities, I have really created respect for them. Most of them are trying to improve the situation where they live in, especially for the children. But these communities have nothing and depend on the support from others. I have visited the projects for several times and I always tried to make good contact with the children and the people who are involved with every project. During my whole internship I learned a lot from Bronwen; how she deals with problems and the daily activities. She presents TCD Trust very good and is always correct in the way she communicates with the people around her, even when she gets a bit disappointed. But most of all I learned from her that you must not give up if something does not work out well, but always try to be motivated and make the best of every situation. Every step we make is one step forward!

I am very glad that I have seen everything in Cape Town, the sunny side and the sad side. Some people may shut their eyes down and don’t want to see this other side of South-Africa, but these communities really need support! The TCD Trust is really doing a great job and I hope that there will be more people who will notice the demand for the communities who have been left behind during the ‘apartheid’.

I would like to thank Bronwen for everything that she has done for me and for giving me this wonderful experience.

Kind regards,

Carlijn

‘Christmas Cheer at Baphumelele Children’s Home’

While people all over the world celebrate Christmas for different reasons and in various ways, the main theme behind this day is families being together, a bit of extravagance  (sometimes more) and a sense of enjoyment of the year that passed.  At Baphumelele Children’s Home the anticipation was exactly the same!  And some miracle workers made it possible for the 65 children that were spending their holidays here to have exactly that!  All dressed up and almost squeaky clean, the anticipation in the air was feverish as the smell of the braai filled our nostrils!  Promise was in the air!  The girls were singing and dancing, expressing their excitement and joy, the boys were helping with the fire, and the little ones, for them time was just passing too slowly!

Dedicated helpers dished up plate upon plate of delicious food, with more than enough for second helpings!  Then more treats followed, cup cakes, ice cream and even a present for each child.  One little boy remarked that he is so happy he could just fall asleep another said he doesn’t think he’d ever be able to eat again!

Sometimes in life it is hard to make a difference, but sometimes we probably don’t realise how big a difference the little contribution we make can go.  Some of us, like Mama Rosie, (I forgot the name of that lovely social worker now) and their team of volunteers dedicated their Christmas to these children, their reward the happy, contended faces of the children.  Others make days and moments like these possible with their contributions.  Like the saying goes, it takes all kinds of people to make the world a happier place.

Thank you Charmaine Beukes, for spending your Christmas day with these children!

This morning we visited the RGG Creche in Philippi to see how far the builders of Center Core were with the Wendy House. They started last week with the construction. We were very surprised when we arrived, because the builders were already busy with the roof of the new Wendy House. If everything goes well and the weather will be on our side for the next days, the Wendy House will be finished by the end of the week!

At the crèche we had a meeting with Tinesh about the possibilities of placing a little bathroom in the Wendy House. We would like to have one toilet for the boys and one for the girls. We discussed some things and hopefully the bathroom will be there before the end of the year! It was a very meaningful meeting.

We spoke with the teachers of the crèche and some of the children, everyone is so happy with the building and wish it was there house. The whole community is very proud!

A very big thank you for the Center Core, the Wendy House looks already awesome!!

Blomvlei Primary School in Hanover Park held a thanksgiving service at a church close to the school. As the Southeaster wind howled outside, the school celebrated and gave thanks with dance, music and words of grattitude. The TCD Trust was also present at this special service. Enver Mally, one of the four trustees of TCD Trust, was one of the guest speakers. He said some nice words about the school and he officially handed over the two laptop computers which had been donated to Blomvlei Library from Increadible Connection. In the picture below you see Enver Mally in the middle, with remarkable Headmistress, Dawn Petersen and Deputy Principal Yvonne Adonis.

We salute you Blomvlei Primary School, teachers, learners, parents, you make us humble that you have achieved so much in the past 40 years under such hard and difficult circumstances in your community. May you go forward and continue to be the shining light that you are for the community of Hanover Park.

A special message from Blomvlei Primary School during the service:

”Life is a continuous journey. It is given to us in stages. Do not look back and grieve about the past, for it is gone forever. Do not be troubled by the future, as God will provide. Live in the present and make it beautiful, that it will be worth remembering.”

We recently visited the RGG Creche in Phillippi to see who our latest project is doing. When we arrived we saw that a community member was clearing the ground for the new classroom area! Also the teachers had already started clearing the ground for the new classroom. Everyone was so excited and were hoping that the new classroom will be build before Christmas.

The teachers were extreamly excited because we had just given Centercore the ‘go ahead’ for the contruction of the Wendy House and Abloution block for their Creche. Centercore will start with building the Wendy House classroom this monday! So that means that the building will definitely be ready before Christmas!! Ofcourse everyone was so happy to hear this great news!

I love it when a plan comes together, thanks again to everyone who has supported us to make this project possible. In particular thanks again to the Mount Nelson Hotel, without your generouscity this would not be possible.

Thanks so much to Incredible Connection for their donation of two laptop computers for Blomvlei Library. This month four computers has been donated to the library!!!

After the two computers from Andulela Experience, the Library can now work with four computers! This is really great, because we can now set up the resource centre inside the library which will be used by the learners at the school. We also hope to open it up to the broader community in the future and start to give computer training worskshops for adults.

A very BIG THANK YOU to Incredible Connection for their support!

Monique from Andulela Experience was asked by one of her overseas clients to find a suitable project to donate some computers. After a lot of paper work to clear customs etc Monique managed to obtain two computers which were delivered to Blomvlei Library in Hanover Park on Monday morning. Renshia, our librarian, was waiting at the gate to meet us with such excitment to receive the first computers for the new library !

Now the Library can start to give computer lessons after school hours to the children who have problems with using the computer. But also students who like to work on a project after school hours, now have the opportunity to use the computers in the Library. Thank you so much Monique, your support is greatly appreciated.

Sorry to say it AGAIN, but working together makes sense, with these sort of partnerships we can continue to bring Real, Meaningful and Long lasting change to people’s lives. We encourage everyone in the tourism and hospitality industry to come on board and join us as a Friend of the TCD Trust.

On Wednesday morning 02 November I meet with Claus and Christine from City Sightseeing Cape Town outside the aquarium at the V & A Waterfront. As the City Sightseeing buses pulled off to show visitors all the sights of Cape Town we took off in the opposite direction to visit the TCD Trust projects in various disadvantaged areas of Cape Town. City Sightseeing Cape Town is one of our longest standing Friends of the Trust who have continued generously to support the work the TCD Trust does throughout the years. It was a great pleasure and honour to meet Peter and Jill Newman from the UK, Peter is the founder of City Sightseeing franchise.

Our first stop was at Baphumelele in Khayalitcha where we visited abandoned babies who are cared for at the center.Claus was amazed to see how bright and beautiful the nursery is for these children, colourful paintings on the walls of Elephants and animals and each cot equipped with clean and warm blankets. We also visited one of the house mothers who look after a small home which accommodates eight children of different ages. A delicious and warm meal was being prepared in the kitchen by the house mother and a volunteer from Canada read a story to some of the children in their lounge area.A much more noisy greeting meet our visitors at the Educare across the road, screams of delight and laughter rang out from the children who were enjoying a mid-morning snack. The Educare cares for approximately 300 children; this includes children from Baphumelele orphanage as well as children who come from the local community. The TCD Trust continues to support Baphumelele with maintaining the Educare building which was completely renovated by the TCD Trust in 2005.

Rosie’s Soup Kitchen was our second stop on our visit. We received a warm greeting from Rosie who for the past 20 years has provided a bowl of porridge to 200 children on their way to school in the morning. Rosie told us that the children preferred a slice of bread and jam or peanut butter but she knows they need the porridge to keep them strong and healthy. She tells them they can have a slice of bread and jam but they must first eat their porridge. She is a real angel on this earth. Our City Sightseeing guests visited the fully equipped and fitted kitchen which was built for Rosie by the TCD Trust in 2006.

Our final stop was at the new and magnificent library on the grounds of Blomvlei Primary School in Hanover Park. The Headmistress, Dawn Petersen, welcomed our guests with great pride and showed them around the library. Dawn explained that there had been another gang shoot out in the area and an innocent woman bystander was shot and killed. The woman’s body was in full vision on a field across the road from the school, many of the children saw what had happened, and although it was nothing new to them, the level of violence and fighting in the classrooms had escalated dramatically with Dawn having to take two girls from the classroom to hospital. We explained to our visitors how our dream for the library was to give the children a place of safety, learning and inspiration and provide them with the necessary life skills to go beyond their immediate circumstances and find options in life away from drugs and gangs.

Once again we thank City Sightseeing Cape Town from the bottom of our hearts, without your support these projects could not be done or supported by the TCD Trust. You are helping us to bring real, meaningful and long term change to people’s lives, Thank you.

Here you can see the place where the Wendy House soon will be build. At that moment they were discussing the construction plans

Here you can see the play ground area at the creche. It will be nice to clean this place after the Wendy House is build.

Last but not least, the community church and garden with vegetables like patotoes, tomatoes and spinach. It is great that they have this garden, it gives the people some motivation and energy to develop their community.