Books Blankies and Cuddly toys !!

From the wonderful "other" Tynans !

This week we delivered the wonderful pile of books from the "other" Tynans and some from the Harrison's.. all from Australia via The Book Depository ..( WOW !! those guys from DownUnder are amazing !!)  HUGE excitement all round as you can see from the pics . It is so heart warming to see the joy that a new book brings..even though they can't read the words yet they so love looking at the pictures . They have a story time everyday and the teachers read the books and explain the story in Xhosa . Jeanne also does a pretty good job at reading to them but both her and I have a long way to go learning some basic Xhosa for "Shhhhhhhh !! " '' Sit down " " Don't climb up the book shelf" "Don't sit on your friend's head" etc HAHAHA !!

♥ Love from the Harrisons ! ♥

Another lovely treat for them on Wednesday  were 5 lovely cuddly polar fleece blankies made by Lynne Cordell and her sister Claire as well as a pile of soft toys . Thank-you so much you guys..your support and love is so fabulous !! My PayPal button is working very well and I have been getting some very unexpected love from all over the world !! Yesterday I bought more fleece fabric for another 18 blankies with donations from Jill in Bournemouth and JenniLynn in America ..how fabulous is THAT ???

SUCH joy and excitement !!

Enkosi  !!

We have a "Birthday club"  here where everyone having birthdays in that month have a combined party. August heralded  Debbie Lees and Dave Tapson's special days and they so generously made Siphucule their beneficiaries instead of receiving personal gifts !! THANK-YOU BirthdayPeople !!! Debbie is away at the moment but as soon as she gets back we look forward to delivering the pile of goodies they received !

LOVING the new blankies !!

 We also had a "Hobby-Horse" workshop last week and 5 of us made 10 wonderful , funny looking stick horses !! WAY TO GO Lauren, Jeanne, Marion and lovely Lynne ..We are all very proud of our combined efforts and will be delivering them tomorrow ..should be a great 'photo op !! (Only trouble is the little one's get SO excited I can't get them to pose and most of my pics a blurred !!! ) The "Talk of the Town " (our weekly newspaper) will most likely be there for pics ..great way to get some coverage !! Woo-Hoo !! Watch this space for pics !!

Thank-you Charlotte !

Absorbed in the lovely books !

On a not so happy note the school is really battling this month .. their grant was much less because of the July holidays (they only get funding for when the kids are present) . The Port Alfred Soup kitchen is now donating 5 loaves of bread and some soup powder 3 times week for which they are very grateful ...we are looking at ways of stretching the food budget without compromising the little one's nutrition .
 Any ideas would be most welcome !  The veggie garden is slowly looking much healthier now although only a bit of spinach is ready to eat at the moment..wish we could hurry it along !! My lovely Grand daughter Emily turned 5 last week and part of her gift were big tins of cabbage, onion and beetroot seeds ..Thank-you Em ..I hope your very special seeds grow quickly XXX The staff are fund raising like crazy because obviously feeding the kids comes first and their salaries will only be what ever is left over ..looks like they will be getting less than a R1000.00 each this month ! Rejoice has acknowledged that there are too many adults and 3 of them are past retirement age now..the committee is holding a meeting tomorrow to explain to these 3 that the school can no longer sustain them   ..all a bit depressing :(
Anyway..the little one's are a joy and we are all collectively making a difference..THANK-YOU !! Keep checking in so you can keep up to date with the latest developments !! You can follow by email now :)

..and the duck goes QUACK !! Jeanne doing a stirling job !!

Lots of Love..Kay

Balls from Bendi !

Such fun at play time today !!!

We now have 22 members !! How awesome is that ? Thank-you all so much for joining up ..it is wonderful to know you are all out there supporting and caring !!  I managed to set up a PayPal button and have received some very generous and unexpected love from USA !! I am waiting for a whole PILE of books and puzzles ordered from the Cornelius family's wonderful donation and Brenda (Bendi) Howell's donation has been used for 15 lovely bright balls ! I delivered these today..SUCH excitement !! The kids were so thrilled they even had their outside playtime extended for a while !! The squeals of delight must have been heard way across the sea to Bendi's ears !!  You guys are amazing ..you squeezed my heart and your contribution to uplifting the lives of these little cherubs is immeasurable ♥♥ A big  Thank-you also to Sandy for paying to have the book plates printed on sticky labels ..this will make life so much easier !! You are a star XX. Local boy 2 year old Noah Stowe donated 10 of his books and some of his toys and crayons ..THANK-YOU Noah..you are the man !!! The kids LOVED them !! Howard donated a gas cylinder !! Thank-you Howard..the kitchen Mama will be so excited ..you have made her life a lot easier !

A face-lift !

I am NOT letting go !!

The book corner is filling up slowly and it gives me such a thrill to see this happening ..I was overwhelmed today to receive a HUGE parcel from the Book Depository with  an unexpected wonderful gift of 15 brand new beautiful books from Adrian , Melissa Charlotte & Sophie Tynan from Brisbane !! I was blown away by this and the kids are going to be over the moon !! THANK-YOU wonderful "other" Tynans ♥..(your huge hearts must be a Tynan thing !!) That tatty old white book-case was given a gorgeous red face-lift and is now looking very spiffy..those new books are going to look wonderful in it !!

Enkosi Bendi !!

Thank-you so much to Kevin for his fabulous support ♥..he has organized a monthly stop-order which will swell our seed fund ! Your contribution towards filling all those tummies everyday will be priceless..Enkosi Kev !!

Thank-you Bendi ~ you made us so happy !!

Sooo happy !!!

WOW !! All these for US ???

The continued support from Marianne at 43 Air school of paper and craft stuff is so appreciated ..thank-you !!! We are slowly but surely making a difference ! Thank-you each and everyone of you for caring.
Love Kay xxx

New Books & Chocolate chip cookies !

Enkosi !!

15 new members !! This is so heart warming !! Thank-you all of you so so much for your support ! Thanks for all the comments too.. A Paypal button is a great idea Hoozie ..I need to go into that ! Aww Dixie..what a sweet offer ..the postage may be prohibitive though..you will have to check first ! Sarah you are an angel ..you have now been put in charge of the music corner !! Cara..you make my heart sing and it is YOU who are an inspiration always XXX Biggest thanks Sandy
for designing the little label to stick in front of the donated books..it is perfect and the same colours as our flag!

Thanks so much to Tom & Alison Barret who came to visit the school with me yesterday. We had such a lovely morning , Tom did the serious stuff going through the finances with Rejoice while Alison and I played with the kids ~I went earlier to be there for "snack-time" armed with a boxful of very oddly shaped home-made choc-chip cookies and Boy..were they popular !! But the BIGGEST treat was 20 brand new beautiful books donated by my lovely Aussie family ! The little one's were thrilled and you can see from the pics the joy that they brought ! There was also a box of Farmyard nursery books for the babies from Megan (my cute granddaughter) as part of her 2nd birthday present ..thank-you Meggie XXXX I am determined to fill those shelves and this is such a great start. I was thinking if any of our lovely overseas supporters would like to donate books they could do so through  www.bookdepository.co.uk where the postage to us is FREE !! Or www.abebooks.com have very cheap second hand books which counter balances the expensive postage . My postal address is P.O.Box 9 Bathurst 6166 South Africa  .

THANK-YOU Tynan Family  !

Next week we will have a meeting with Tom to discuss the finances and what can be done. I was happy to see that they have a valid fund raising number so we won't run into any trouble there . He looked at the roof and the leaking in the back class room and will be getting someone to give us a quote on repairing that . At the moment the cook is really battling as only one stove is in working ~ they have a big gas burner but the  cylinder was stolen during a break in last year ( they have since had Sky alarms instal an alarm system) so we need to be on the look out for a large gas cylinder and some-one who can look at the stove ? PLEASE keep collecting magazines, cardboard cartons , anything the kids can use during craft time like wool, glue, fabric scraps, beads etc etc . The Fantasy corner is pretty bare so any thing there would be wonderful !

Playing games outside

20 lovely new books !

LOVING the new books !

Window art !

Lunch time !

Bookplates designed by Sands !

Happiness is a lovely new book !

Ooooh..loving these cookies !!

YUMMO !!

Enjoy the pics and a HUGE thank-you again for all your support . Love Kay XX

Lookeeeee !! I have created a Blog !!!  (and am feeling ever so smart and savvy and pleased with myself !)
The whole idea of the blog was born after a visit to a very special little school !
A little while ago my friend Jeanne and I visited the Siphucule Educare Centre ( Siphucule is a Xhosa word meaning "To Uplift") a rural nursery school located in the Nolukhanyo township just outside Bathurst .We went just to see whether there was a "need"  and discovered that there very definitely IS !The centre currently cares for 80 little ones between the ages of 1 and 5 including feeding them 2 full meals a day! We were welcomed with open arms by Rejoice Krala and shown around the little school with pride . They have 80 little ones from a year old until school going age and they provide them with a cooked breakfast and lunch every day . They are subsidized by the Social Development Services in Grahamstown for R15.00 per child..but this is only for 60 kids..and only for the days that they are present ! This means during school holidays..rainy days or any other reason the child isn't there they don't get any funding ! The parents are supposed to pay R50.00 a month for school fees as well but very often can't even afford this. Out of this money they feed the kids, pay 8 salaries ( 5 teachers a cook a cleaner and a gardener) plus still have to pay for the day to day running of the school ..buy all the equipment , stationery etc and pay for telephones electricity and auditing of their books ! I asked Rejoice to send me a list of wants and needs ..she  did this the very same day but had to walk to the Corner shop fax it as their telephone has been cut off  by Telkom due to non-payment . ( they are a month in arrears).
 Jeanne and I were very impressed with the garden where they try and grow as much as they can..it was looking a bit sad the day we went because the recent rain kind of washed it away !! Rejoice buys seeds from Pick n Pay depending on whether there is any change left after buying their staples for the week..
Okay..not so smart any more..I tried to insert Rejoice's fax here but didn't succeed !! (I hope to get better at this LOL)This is her list ( I added the stuff in brackets) :
Food (mealiemeal, oats, Morevite, milk, brown sugar,soup,Soyamince, pilchards )
Fruit and veggies (esp peas, beans, onions,carrots, cabbage, spinach )
Seeds and plants
Educational toys
Dolls,cars
Story books ( they have about 7 for 80 kids  )
Blankets
Pots
Floor tiles/ Mat (the flooring at the moment is ancient peeling lino ..)
Outdoor equipment (swings, see-saws, new sand for the sand-pit etc)
Stipend for 8 staff members
Computer ( the only thing in working order is a photocopier ..the computer and printer are broken ?)
Renovation to the building (The roof is leaking in the back class room and roof sheets were blown off in last weeks winds)
Waste material (egg boxes, yoghurt cups, cardboard cartons etc)
Paper for drawing ( HUGE thanks to Marianne at 43 Air school for saving this for us !!)
Crayons

..........and the list could just go on and on !!!

I am hoping through this blog to keep everyone interested in helping updated and really really need your very valuable input and support !PLEASE leave comments and join up !! If you are keen to help in any way ..be it collecting your waste materials/magazines etc  , sharing contacts, coming up with more concrete fund raising ideas ( I have never done this before and feel a bit overwhelmed by how much help they could do with !!) ..sorting out your jumble ..WHATEVER ..apart from loving you forever .. I will be more than happy to collect and store stuff !
 MY mission to fill those forlorn little book shelves and have decided that from now on no more birthday presents for my nearest and dearest (don't know how happy they are about that HAHAHAHA !!! ) but will be donating  books or seeds on their behalf to the school instead ! My lovely girls Kirsty and Fran in CapeTown have both had birthdays recently and forfeited gifts for carrot and beans seeds ! Thank-you girls..there will be lots of happy tummies saying Happy Birthday to you !!
 I have a surplus of lettuce in my garden at the moment  and am very pleased to announce that we sold some at the Farmers Market this morning and our "Seed Fund " now has it's first R60.00 !! Woo-hoo !!!!
PLEASE forward this link to anyone you know who you think would like to join our group
Big hugs ..Kay