the time has gone! Last time we updated you, the school year had just
begun and we had 80 children coming to the centre to learn and play
and to generally just be children. The sound that emanates from our
little patch of land in Caledonia always fills me with joy as I close
my eyes and think about all these little souls having the freedom to
grow and develop and to know that they are safe.
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| The last round of shoe distribution this year saw these little people all with a pair of new shoes!! |
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| We love to hear the laughter and joy that emanates from our site as children run and climb and play |
There are so many children in Caledonia and we have noticed that there
are more and more queuing up at the gate with the hope of being let
in. Our capacity has sadly reached its limit at school but we have
been able to increase the number of children that we feed to 300
children per day. This is 100 children more than we were feeding this
time last year and there are many, many more who we would love to be
able to welcome to our table. One of our aspirations is to be able to
expand the feeding programme, possibly running it from various venues
throughout Caledonia, allowing children right through the area to
receive at least one meal per day. We hope to be able to find
premises for this over the next few months and will keep you updated!
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| We love to come to the Caledonia Rose table to share a meal with our friends. Sometimes we are very hungry when we get here and our food helps us to grow and concentrate at school |
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| Thank you so much to Nikki and Jason de Wet for the delicious biscuits and maheu you sent us - they were a big treat for us! |
In the meantime, we aim to offer the best service that we can to the
children that we look after. One of our teachers has, out of her own
initiative and pocket, been taking part in training during the
holidays. She has brought her newly acquired skills back to the
classroom and to the other teachers and we are loving watching as the
children respond to her and to all that she has to offer them. It is
so encouraging to see that our teachers are also growing and
developing, as well as the little ones they serve. Well done Felistas
– we are so proud of you and so pleased to have you on our team!
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| Felistas when she was a parent at our first graduation. Now she is a wonderful member of our team who adds so much to our centre and who is always smiling and willing to go the extra mile |
Our biggest sadness this year has been following up on those children
that have left our care to go into Grade 1 at primary schools in the
area. The reports that come back after home visits to our graduates
is that many of them are not going to school, are going to school
periodically or are attending shift schools where they go to school
for 2 hours a day and then are replaced with the next group of
students. The climate in Zimbabwe sees many of the parents of our
graduates out of work and this perpetuates the cycle of a poor
education leading to a further life of poverty for the next
generation. The Foundations Project is struggling to ensure that we
keep our current programmes going but we would love to, as mentioned
before, expand our work to ensure that we can offer more to the
children as they leave our care and go out into the big wide world.
We do, however, recognise the benefit that our children are receiving
and we would once again like to thank all of those who have been
involved and have assisted us in continuing our work. The need may be
great and we may not be filling it completely but we are making a
difference to those that we can. We are so thrilled that we can do
this and we are so very grateful to all of you for allowing this to be
possible!!! Here’s to a wonderful rest of 2017 and I look forward to
updating you soon as we watch our children build the foundations for
their futures.
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| Thank you for the chance that you have given us to bring our wonderful smiles into the world and to learn and grow with our friends! |
