SMALL ACTS OF KIND- NESS --

SMALL ACTS OF KINDNESS ---BY CATHERINE
ROBAR
While in Thembalethu South Africa, we took the opportunity to help one of the fathers of two of our
children. These children just recently arrived at Saint
Mary's Children's home and are both very young.
Their father is dying of AIDS and lives in terrible
conditions. The children, Sunyata and I thought it
would be nice to stop in and drop off some food for
him. He is too sick to work so he eats very little. His
house is attracted to the local store, inside his home all you can smell is gas from his tiny stove.
He has no windows, just a small door at the front. The shack smells of propane all day…everyday…all night.
Oh man!
His home is the size of my living room. He has no toilet, like most houses here….his bed is made of scrap
wood.
We made sure he had blankets from our “opwarm nights”.
eration
The Store
Inside
the store, notice the bedroom at back (and kitchen)
We first went into the store which is owned by a lovely Somali man. He was quite surprised to see us! In fact
the entire community was in awe that we were in the store. I felt almost like a celebrity, you see white people
NEVER come to this community and if they do they certainly don't get out of their cars!! I stood in the doorway
admiring the landscape and everyone who walked by looked shocked by my presence. On group of older teenage girls walked by and giggled, one girl came right up to me, looked me in the eye and said hello. When I
said hello back she bursted into giggles and ran back to her friends. I felt like Angelina Jolie.
Neighborhood dog
The government does not provide garbage pickup to this community
Typical house in this area we are working in.
One of the goals of Project Colors is to create a new way of thinking in our kids. We want to open up their eyes
to the world of volunteerism so they can see first hand what it is like to give back to their communities We
bought quite a lot of food in this store, thus helping the owner. The store has no electricity and the owner sleeps
in a small room in the back.
I snuck a picture of the inside of the store just so that you could see what we are dealing with here. I have still
not figured out where they go to the toilet.
The father was very happy to see us. He was up walking around and was very proud to have us in his home.
He speaks only Xhosa so luckily we had Verna with us who also speaks this language.
She translated for us. He was a lovely man, I told him that his two children were doing very well at the children's home. He was relieved to hear it.
Pictures of Thembalethu
Community Assessment-Themberlethu
One of our major goals is to work with the struggling communities nearby and to implement a nutrition program.
Our plan includes a volunteer program for our older children here at the orphanage.
Doctors Without Borders has been using a recipe called "Plumpy Nut". It is a mixture of peanut butter, multivitamin powder and powdered milk.
It can be eaten off a spoon or made into a sandwich and it is the best possible way to nourish malnourished
children in a hurry.
We have secured the contacts to provide us with the materials and now we begin the program itself.
Many of our children would be changed in a positive way if they were exposed to the world of volunteerism.
Although they have very little they have much more then a lot of the children in this community. People of this
community live in shacks made of cardboard, scrap metals etc, when it rains they get wet, when it is cold there
is no heat.
Can you imagine living here…everyday of your life……
The care workers, who distribute the COLORS Nutty buddy aka” Plumpy’nut “
…..they are amazing ladies, who have their hands full of need, but now their hands are full of
nutty buddy to give all the hungry children coming through the door!
Two days ago we visited a nursery school in the community, we were very fortunate to be guided by pastor
Amos of the orphanage who lives and works in Thembalethu. The creche as the nursery school is called in Afrikans was a substandard building that doubles as a church at night. The roof is not attached to the walls in places
so the children spend their days in a drafty and sometimes wet environment. The two tunnies (aunties in Afrikans, or care givers) look after approximately 26 children who range from 6 months old to 4 years of age. This
creche is not supported by the government which means that the children must bring their own food with them,
many days they do not have enough for lunch, they do their best to share with each other but you can see from
the amount of sick children here that they are not eating enough.
The children are very well behaved and respect the tunnies here. We brought lunch with us consisting of peanut
butter sandwhiches, yogurt, an apple and milk. As we handed them out I noticed that everyone was holding
their food and not eating. That is when the tunnie explained to me that I did not yet have them say grace. They
sang grace then the feast began! We have had many days like this since…
As the older children arrived to fetch their siblings after school we handed out more food. A full tummy today
might be the only food until tomorrow
for many of these children, even possibly for the next day….more and more children’s homes and community
programs are now asking for assistance with starting their own plumpy’nut feeding programs…but Sunyata is
now on here own in South Africa with limited funding to do it all,,,so for now we will stick to the projects we
can handle.
From now on our “Plumpy’nut project will be called “COLORS Nutty buddy”…
……….for those of you who know Sunyata….we know you are not surprised by the
name…hahaha
Our children give back to the community
With every step, we try to incorporate the children of St.Mary’s Home to give back to the community.
Now they ask everyday when THEY get to volunteer next. It is a new concept that they have never been apart
of before!
. As you can see they are really enjoyed getting her hands dirty!! We spent the afternoon digging holes and
spreading fertilizer, Monwabise, our friend from the Red Cross treated us to some freshly picked carrots from
the garden. They were incredibly good! More trees have been planted since….and we will try to assist on a
larger scale in South Africa’s Spring..in Oct/Nov once we secure more funding for water assistance.