An update from our side is that we’ve been busy helping the community. This water tank was kindly sponsored to Sinavuyo Day Care Centre by the fundraising efforts of Jon Watson. Jon is a third time return-volunteer from Australia.
Sinavuyo is situated in the drought stricken town of Paterson, where the tap water is disconnected in the afternoons.Up until now the teachers have had to carry water, from the closest tap, to the kitchen every day, and from the kitchen, using smaller buckets, to the vegetable garden. Through Jon, and his friend’s generous donation, we were able to install a water tank and gutters to collect rain water for times of drought. We also purchased a hose pipe and sprinkler set for the vegetable garden. Fortunately or unfortunately for us it has rained every time we’ve gone there to paint the tank, so we’ve not finished yet but we will soon.
Throughout the year, every time we visit Sinavuyo, we noticed more and more glass shards sticking out of the ground where the kids play. At first we thought it was vandals leaving their mess behind over weekends. Then we realised that Sinavuyo is built on top of an old rubbishdump site and every time it rains,a layer of top soil is removed, exposing the old pieces of glass.Last week we organised a tipper truck load of sand to be droppedat Sinavuyo. We spread it thick and evenly around the playground so that the grass can grow through it and cover the playground once more making it safe for the kids to play.
Recently, after the ranger training graduation, we had a lot of spare food so the kitchen staff made a lovely, hearty stew and shared it with the children at Sinavuyo. In this picture Melanie and Beckie are helping the crèche staff feed the one year olds.
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