Richard, my husband and I did the books again today. To date we have spent roughly R2300 per family and as there are seven families this totals to about R18 000 spent on mattresses, uniforms, clothing, toiletries, underwear,medication, towels, food, airtime, temporary accommodation and contingency cash. I say roughly because we are still waiting for one or two slips to be handed in. I am going to give the books to the Shine Trust's CA to give it a once over and once this is done you will all be sent a copy of the financials.
Donations of clothing have been wonderful as this has meant that everyone has received a number of outfits. Thank you so much! We are also starting to collect household goods as well. Many, many thanks to everyone who has helped. Please forgive me if you have not received a personal thank you yet.
I have no idea how these families would have coped without your support. Although we have eleven children who attend Observatory Junior we have had to help everyone in their family which brings up the total of people supported to thirty.
Two of our volunteers are parents at the International School in Wynberg and Ndzele and I went and did a short talk to the seniors who are going to assist us by doing a fundraiser. Ndzele has spent 6 months in a refugee camp in Tanzania and 18months in a refugee camp in Malawi. Have I mentioned that? I can't wait to meet her father one day because he is a remarkable man who has managed to do so much for his family with so little. I believe that he escaped death for the 4th time in Congo because one of the soldiers recognised him as the man who had fixed his radio. Apparently that was his job. Repairing televisions, radios, stoves etc. He is now a security guard. Still in the firing line.
The parent of one of our overseas volunteers last year has given us a very generous financial donation and this is the money that will be used to give each family a chance of building their lives up again. It is important that this information is confidential because there are many children in our school who could do with financial support and we want this initiative to remain between us and each family. What a gift this is. I still can't believe that someone so far away can be so caring. It leaves me speechless.
Some of the volunteers have approached me with a plan of funding a 3 day week position in the Shine Centre and library with a view to opening the position to the mother of Maria and Zacharius. If twenty five people were prepared to set up a monthly debit order of R100 we could raise the funds for this quite easily. We already have three volunteers and one teacher prepared to commit to this. Please contact me if you are interested. This is something that both the Shine Centre and the library would benefit from as there is a huge amount of admin work that is being covered by very overworked volunteers.
Soetwater refugee camp this weekend has had some awful things happening and Tessa went to fetch Ndzele and her cousin earlier then arranged as they have been very scared and unable to eat all weekend due to Somalians declaring a hunger strike for everyone. Tessa can only take care of the girls until the holidays and so we hope that by then something positive has come up for the family. The girls are the only teenagers there. Everyone else are adults or children. I still can't get over how poorly managed Soetwater has been right from the beginning.
I want to end this email on a positive note. The children we have helped are doing well. They are coping at school and walking proudly in their new uniforms. They know that if they are having a bad day they can come to the Shine Centre for support or a quiet moment. Their parents are feeling supported and although the one Dad confessed that he finds it very embarrassing when I ask him to let me know if he needs something, I can see that he is managing much better to discuss plans for the future then the week before when he seemed shell-shocked. Gloria and Brenda are settling into their home-schooling environment and who knows; this may be just what they have needed. School has not been easy for them. Their leaving has meant that the Shindano's two little girls can take their place at school as they were schooled in Mitchells Plein before.
Let's hope that the government is able to make the right decisions, that volunteers will find the strength to carry on doing their best for each shelter, that people will continue to work together to support those who are unable to fend for themselves.
With warm regards
Maurita Weissenberg
Shine Trust
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