Project Report
| Jan 26, 2011
New Year facelift for Nceduluntu Nursery
By Nick Herrick | GVI Coordinator
![Willing volunteers]()
Willing volunteers
A new year sees the start of a new project. We have been working at Ncedeluntu Educare centre in Nomzamo. It is run by the same group that we work with at Ikhayalethemba Village. Mama Lumka told us that she wanted to repaint some of the walls, so we decided it was the perfect opportunity to help out, and with four willing volunteers and a few staff members we have been creating masterpieces. The highlight is the mural in the main classroom, including weather features, animals, colours, numbers and letters, and incorporating a green chalkboard as the foliage of a tree. It has been great to have such an enthusiastic group.
Their ideas and energy have transformed a few rooms into an interactive place of learning. It has also been great to see the local staff getting involved with the painting, and even the children have added their own marks! It has been a team effort that will last for a long time and inspire the people who work and learn here. Even this week we have been using the classroom whilst adding the finishing touches and the kids are loving it, from educational things like counting to learning new animals (no one had ever seen a Panda before!) they have benefited so much from this.
![New look walls]()
New look walls
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Sep 30, 2010
Expanding our Orphanage Work – Fish Hoek
By Jim Bacon | GVI Regional Coordinator
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On our Cape Town Orphanage Program, we have just started work in a third location. Just last week I paid a visit to find out how things have started off – ‘very well’ is the short answer.
The main focus of the project work in this area is in the West Lake Township. Here there are three nurseries typically trying to care for 60 to 70 children with only the smallest amount of regular help. Some of these children are orphans, while a lot are there for the day as it is a 'safe-house' for them. Their families are often destitute and extremely ‘disrupted’, for want of a better expression. Without the existence of these nurseries, the children would usually be left on their own during the day to fend for themselves. Ranging from newborn up to seven years in age, this is a very poor situation. All these children are in need of love and care, and someone to give them the attention they require and deserve. A lady by the name of Cynthia is trying to provide this for them but is in desperate need of help from volunteers.
So when I went to find out how our first group of volunteers have been finding things, it was fantastic to see so many happy, smiling faces. It is difficult to express how excited these children were that they had someone to play with them, to interact with them and to teach them. The value of GVI’s assistance there is clearly evident.
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Jul 15, 2010
New Orphanage in Paarl!
By Catalina Grillo | Paarl Project Manager
![Crocodile Farm, Paarl]()
Crocodile Farm, Paarl
This week was the launch of our new orphanage Project in Paarl which is about an hours drive from Gordon´s Bay. It is a beautiful journey through the wine lands and you can sit back and admire the landscape and rock formations changing as you travel, its breath taking!
On Tuesday we met the children who will be taking part in the holiday program we will be running during the school break. We were privileged enough to be invited to join the group on an exciting trip to a crocodile farm nearby. As we wondered through the farm with the children our guide gave us information about Nile crocodiles and the centre in general.
There are over a thousand crocodiles at the farm including two disabled crocs that were born without tails. Because a crocodile uses its tail for balance, movement and defense it is essential for these reptiles to have their tails in order to survive in the wild. We also got to see a five year old albino crocodile which is a very rare sight, as they have only had one in the past 35 years!
At the end of the tour we got to hold a baby croc, which had all the children beside themselves with excitement. We expected the scales to feel very rough but instead they felt smooth and soft! After soaking up all this new knowledge and excitement we still managed to get the whole group together for our very first group photo just before settling down to some delicious lunch!
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