Just a note to let anyone still following this blog know that the feeding fund has expanded and now includes more than just Siphucule. I have therefore created a new blog with news from all the schools. I hope you will carry on following our progress !! Find us here : www.sunshinecoastfeedingfund.blogspot.com

Gogo's birthday, Connor girls visit and an Act of Kindness from class 213 LT !

Happy Birthday to you Gogo !!!

November has been a busy busy month at Siphucule all leading up to "Graduation" day and the end of the year Christmas party which all happened last Friday ! We had a wonderful day which I will write about in my next post ! In the meantime I had a birthday which I celebrated at the school with lots of cupcakes and much singing and excitement . Jean's daughter Natalie and grand daughters Tara and Erin came to visit the school and helped to celebrate too ..I think the kids thought they had been visited by angels with their beautiful long blonde hair and lovely English complexions . They are out from the UK on their way to Perth . They came armed with more music CDs which caused much fun and lusty singing and dancing..the little one's just loved all the attention and those poor girls were nearly hugged to death !!!

YAY !! Birthday cupcakes !!

Erin being mobbed !

Erin  spreading sun-shine !

Loving Natalie's music !

The kids just adored Tara's lovely hair !!

The Three Musketeers !

Tara makes playtime special !

Thanks for the push Erin !

Such special books from our friends in Australia !

I have another wonderful heart-warming story to share ! Cara's  Class in Brisbane have a "Kindness Tree" ..the children get leaves to add to the tree whenever they are kind. They heard about Siphucule and all decided to bring some money to buy the kids some books..they chose the books themselves and each wrote a beautiful letter which Cara then parcelled up and posted. What a lovely teacher she is and what special kids she has in Class 213 LT..I am sure their kindness tree has grown enormously by now  !  The kids here of course were overjoyed ..they totally adored the books and sat patiently listening to Rejoice reading and translating every single letter ...they also feel very special to have so many friends in Australia. It was a good cutural lesson for them too..most of them had NO idea what a koala bear was !!!  I think the pictures tell the story better than I do !

Class 213 LT ROCKS !!!!

Rumble in the Jungle !!

Feel the Ellie's ears !!

Big claps for Class 213 LT 

Reading all the special letters.

YAY !!! We love Australia !!!!!

The staff had a jumble sale 2 weeks ago and raised enough money to buy a few rolls of lino to patch up their very grotty floor ..it is looking much smarter now and at least the little one's are no longer tripping over the lifting bits ! Life is a bit difficult for Rejoice at the moment as the 3 ladies who were supposed to retire have finally left ( this HAD to happen for the school to be sustainable ..there were just too many adults to support ! ) Unfortunately one of the other teachers  resigned as well..so they are now down to only 2 teachers and 1 cook plus Headman the gardener . The parents have been helping out which is lovely to see..I hope things sort themselves out soon !

The garden is looking wonderful !

The E'Pap feeding fund is expanding and getting stronger every day ! I am so grateful to all the wonderful donations from all over the world ...your love and caring blow me away on a daily basis !! THANK-YOU !!! We have a birthday club in Bathurst and last night was the Scorpio's birthday bash. My E'Pap scheme was the very lucky beneficiary instead of gifts and this fabulous community collected enough money to buy over 185 packets..that will provide over 3700 meals !!! Woo-Hoo !!! How awesome is THAT ??!!
The garden is looking very good and should be providing fresh veggies for lunch very soon ..that will be such a blessing !
Thank-you everyone once again for your ongoing love and support . You are all helping to make such a difference and make the kids feel very special..which of course they are !!!
Lots of love ..Kay

Music Sand New toys & E'Pap !

Wow !! It's been a whole month since I posted ..what happened to the time ?? The kids have been on holiday for some of the time though..that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it !!

 

Happy as a sandman !

Sand in our sandpit !! What joy !!

At long last my pleas for sand for the forlorn sandpit were heard and George arrived like a knight in shining armour with a bakkie load of lovely clean beach sand !!He has since brought another load and the promise of one more next week . What a difference !! Thank-you George..you are THE MAN !!       The little one's were so excited when they arrived back from their holidays to find not only a lovely sand-pit to play in , but a whole heap of wonderful sand-pit toys as well ! This is huge thanks to the wonderful love and support from "Grandma Crys" and Karen RV from the USA !

Toys from Grandma Crys & Karen RV !

The forlorn empty sandpit BEFORE !

Outdoor playtime has just gone up to a whole new level !! You guys are the BEST !! ♥ 

Our little mini Angelina Jolie

Sandpit AFTER !!!

 

















Indoor music time is also much more fun these days ! Brian Tynan from Australia sent a lovely donation to purchase a funky little CD player..what fun to watch the kids singing their little lungs out ! They LOVE it !!

Music !!!

I don't think I have ever heard such a lively rendition of "Wheels on the Bus " . Thank-you so much Brian..your love and support is so appreciated !

..Wheels on the bus go round and round ....

Jarred putting his name on his gifts !

My two wonderful grandsons , Jack & Jarred have also both been so lovely ..Jack turned 8 and donated $20.00 of his birthday money to the kids ! What an awesome little boy ..THANK-YOU JACK..I am going to buy the little boys some soccer balls , they will remember your birthday for a very long time !! Jarred sorted out some of his toys and special books and delivered them himself ! The little ones were soo delighted to see him and he nearly got mobbed ..he showed them how to use stencils to draw with and they were so excited ! Thank-you JT ..I am so so proud of both of you !

Happiness !!!!

   More lovely donations from Sandra (Essee) in Australia and my little sister Cols in Tasmania went towards a big box of toys to start off the new term ! Wonderful hula-hoops , wooden puzzles, dupla blocks , 3 soccer balls, threading things , little cars and the CUTEST little black dollies ! What big spoils and huge excitement !!

Such spoils !

Lovely new cars..vroom vroom !!

HOW cute are these babies ???

  
The school is having a jumble sale on 4th November to generate much needed funds for their year end functions including "graduation" of the 5 year olds ! We have already collected a fair bit thanks to Lauren . A big THANK-YOU to Louwrens for his very generous bagful of wonderful clothing for them to sell plus some blankets for the little ones. You are a star Louwrens ..your support makes the world of difference ! PLEASE remember us if you are down-sizing..anything goes !

  Local sweetheart Pam knitted some little caps and made some cute bean-bags for the kids plus some lovely aprons .
The E'Pap feeding scheme is happening very slowly but never the less is still  happening !  The kids have it everyday now and the difference in their health is starting to show ! Not half as many snotty noses and little cheekbones are starting to fill out ! It is very heart-warming to see ! Rejoice told me whenever the kids come back from holidays some of them have "long" necks , meaning their scrawniness from malnutrition ! All those long necks nearly broke my heart ..we can only do our best to make sure they are well-nourished while they are at school !
I am still desperately hoping for sponsors for this scheme and would love some input from anyone with a bit of "begging" experience to give me a hand !! Bigger companies needing BEE points can get them from sponsoring us and of course it is also tax deductible !! Kevin and Sarah 's stop orders every month are so appreciated ..you two feed all those kids for a week ! THANK-YOU !!! A friend of Essee's from Australia also sent a donation enough to buy 15 packets ..Awesome friends you have Es ♥♥and big hugs to Marie ! It was Sybil's birthday as well last week and instead of a gift from us we will also buy 15 packets on her behalf  ! Happy Birthday Sybil !! I need to take more pics of the veggie garden..it is looking fabulous after the recent rains and should be starting to supplement lunch quite soon !!
WOW !! Just reading back I am over-whelmed how much has happened !! What a lot of love and support we have received ..Bless you all !!! Enjoy the pics ! Lots of love..Kay XXX

Such a busy bee !

So much fun before breakfast !

I am staying here all day !

Woo-Hoo !!!!

Birthdays , E'Pap,Hobby Horses & lots of spoils !!

ENKOSI Jill & JennyL !!!

Wow ! 2 weeks have already sped past since the last update ! We now have 27 new members and our little blog has been viewed nearly 700 times ! I think we are certainly getting the word out..good for all of us !! The veggie garden is staring to look fabulous..thank-you so much to all who donated to our seed fund. It is wonderful to see all the rows and rows of gorgeous green stuff happening ! The 18 new blankets purchased with donations from JenniLynn and Jill were very well received ..thank-you Jeanne for helping me hem them !! We have just had a very cold snap..I am sure there were some very snuggly happy little rug rats at school last week ! We also received 3 beautiful new books from Lucy & Leah Knight in Australia  (aren't those Aussies fantastic ??)Thank-you  Lucy and Leah..your books have a very special home !!  A WONDERFUL donation from the huge hearted Cornelius family in Montana USA purchased some more lovely books, puzzles , a CD and a fabulous new pot for Lorna the cook !! She was SO thrilled with her pot (her old ones leak all over the stove and cause her such trouble !!) She danced a little jig all around the kitchen and couldn't contain her glee !! THANK-YOU beautiful people..you are all just amazing !!

Love from Lucy and Leah in Australia !

Such big spoils from Montana !

New additions to the fantasy corner !

Our hobby-horses were greeted with much excitement (and a bit of trepidation at first !! The kids were'nt too sure what to make of them !! HAHAHA!!) ..once they realized what they were for there was no stopping them !! Howard made a little stand for them that Lauren very skillfully erected on the wall ..what a lovely addition to the rather sad little fantasy corner !! Lauren also taught the kids to write " I ♥U " and they were quite enthralled , running around shouting I LOOOVE YOU on top of their voices !!! 

Happy birthday to YOUUUUUU !!!

There was great excitement when birthday girl Debbie Lees arrived with all the gifts donated at her and Dave Tapson's combined birthday party ..THANK-YOU for making Siphucule your beneficiaries !! We had such a fun morning..the local rag did a little write-up , we had cupcakes and songs ..plus Debbie was treated to a lusty rendition of Happy Birthday to you in English and in Xhosa !! Sybil and Jeanne also joined in the fun..it was so great to have you all there !

LOVING Debbie's special day !

Birthdays are such fun !

 














 

Can we have more tomorrow ?

I was very very very excited to discover a fabulous porridge , E'Pap, which is used extensively in feeding schemes through out the country and across our borders. I was so humbled to discover such amazing people out there..E'pap was developed by a wonderfully caring scientist in Gauteng in his bid to alleviate starvation and malnutrition in our country. I have already introduced it to the school and am pleased to announce that Siphucule is the very first school in this area initiate it ! It has been very well received..it is so easy to prepare..just add warm water ! No cooking..no milk added..no sugar added and only 2 tablespoons of powder is enough to meet ALL the nutritional needs of a little one for the day . Best of all..it is DELICIOUS and very filling  . A packet of  E'Pap costs only R13.50 and is enough to feed 20 kids..so our school needs 4 packets a day which equates to just over R1000.00 a month ! I would LOVE sponsors for this scheme ..I already have 2 stop orders which covers a week . I am determined to get a full on feeding scheme going to provide a nourishing meal to ALL the little impoverished hungry kids in our area , not just Siphucule. It is heart breaking to discover how many go to school hungry ! A commitment of a very small amount of money each month would make the world of difference . A beautiful soul in Richards Bay..Sarah.. has very admirably given up smoking and has committed the amount that she would have spent on cigs a month to my E'Pap scheme !! Sarah ..you are FABULOUS !!! I am so proud of you !

Happy Lorna with her new pot ! ENKOSI !!!

 Sooo.all exciting lovely things happening ! We are making a difference !!! Thank-you all once again for your ongoing love and support !
Big hugs..Kay XXXX

 P.S. Don't forget to click the link on the RH side to see lots more pics in our Web album !!!

Loving our new blankies !

E'Pap trial ..think they like it ??

Veggie garden looking wonderful !

And blue for the boys !!

Lauren spreading some love !!

Spring has sprung at Siphucule !!

Admiring their spoils from Dave & Debbie's birthday !