November 2011 Volunteer Visit

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 09:57:57 +0100

I, my wife Ann and my Mother-in-law Marjorie all visited South Africa in November. Our friends Trevor and Christine took us to Manchester airport. We stayed the night at the Premier Inn adjacent to the airport. Before we left for SA we had sent 12 large boxes of clothes that had been giving to us by lots and lots of various kind people in and around the Sheffield area. The clothes had been sent via the shipping company Simpson’s who did a fantastic job. Before we left for SA I had a txt message from Mareza at “Touch the Heart of Africa” (www.tthoa.co.za) telling me that the 12 boxes had arrived at their destination of Rustenburg. Fantastic news - It means that all the clothes will be there upon our arrival. We took the early morning Etihad flight via Abu Dhabi onto Johannesburg, arriving the next day at 4.40am – Pick up the car hire and onto the family’s house for a three night stay in Johannesburg. We then moved onto our friend’s house Albert’s for a one night stay. We then travelled onto Rustenburg for our a five night stay at the “Pine Inn Lodge” – Once in Rustenburg we met up with Mareza (www.tthoa.co.za) Francinah, Dianah and our long lost friend Julia who worked for us when we lived in SA between 1984 -1986 – It was fantastic meeting up with them all over lunch at the local Dros pub. Whilst in Rustenburg we visited all the “Bojanala Kalafi Programme Projects” we also gave lots and lots of clothes away with the help of Mareza (www.tthoa.co.za) Francinah, Dianah and Julia – We had lots of fun – One of the places we visited was a school of mixed children. We gave clothes away along with lots of bread that had been provided for by “Touch the Heart of Africa” Once we had finished at the school we moved onto a soup kitchen and gave away clothes and more bread. We had a wonderful day, and on the way back we stopped off at the dam for lunch. Friday night was spent at the family’s house in Johannesburg then the next day Saturday I and Ann moved onto Albert’s for a two night stay. On Monday morning we drove back into Rustenburg for a seven night stay at the “Pine Inn Lodge” – Rustenburg is a lovely city that meets all your daily needs. We spent the week visiting the “Bojanala Kalafi Programme Projects” and giving away the remaining clothes and other gifts. On the Wednesday we picked up Francinah and Julia from the taxi rank in Rustenburg then we drove onto Koster and picked up Dianah from the “Tsholofelo Project” – We then took a lovely drive through the wonderful scenery. We took lunch together then drove onto the “Pine Inn Lodge” – We all spent the afternoon together around the pool then we had a Braai together and lots of great fellowship. Our African friends spent the whole night with us. This visit gave us lots of opportunities to spend time with all our friends in and around Rustenburg. We had a lovely evening with Mareza, her partner Johann and other people from “Touch the Heart of Africa” (www.tthoa.co.za) – We left Rustenburg on the Monday morning. Before we left we handed out gifts for the good African people who had took care of all our needs at the “Pine Inn Lodge” – We then met up with Mareza (www.tthoa.co.za) Francinah, Dianah and Julia for a farewell breakfast/lunch together – We gave them all a Christmas gift then said our goodbyes, which is never easy because we love them all and miss them when we are back home in Sheffield – Onto Johannesburg for an evening dinner with our family – Stay over then onto the airport for our flight home with Etihad airlines – Land back at Manchester 06.00am – Take the train into Sheffield, then take a taxi home – We had a wonderful time visiting everyone of our friends and projects. Giving away the clothes was very special, and hopefully by God’s grace we will send 15 large boxes of clothes for our visit next November 2012 – Paul…

September 2010 Volunteer Visit

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 08:44:12 +0100

I, my wife Ann, Son Daniel and my mother-in-law Marjorie all visited South Africa together. It was Daniel’s and Marjorie’s first visit since 1986 with Marjorie having her 80^th birthday on the 16^th September - Ann, Daniel and Marjorie all took the train from Sheffield into Manchester airport whilst my good friend Trevor and his wife Christine took me along with the eight cases that we had along to Manchester airport. We had eight cases because two of the cases were full of clothes that we would give away once in SA - Once at the airport I met up with Ann, Daniel and Marjorie so that we could book onto our A380 Emirates flight that would stop off in Dubai – the A380 is a fantastic flying experience that we can all recommend – Emirates are a fantastic airline and their service is just the best - Once on board we all sat back and enjoyed the Emirates hospitality – it was a great flight and the next thing we touched down in Dubai – four hours at the airport – plenty of shops – then onto B777 that would take us down to Johannesburg – another great flight and once on he ground at Joburg airport we met up with our SA family – they took Marjorie onto their home and me, Ann and Daniel went onto our good friends Albert and family - We enjoyed a lovely weekend with them and then it was onto Rustenburg – met up with Mareza, Francinah and Diana for lunch together – booked into the Nguni Lodge – lovely – then visited our friends Wayne and family – over the next few days we visited some of the “Bojanala Kalafi programme Projects” – then on the Thursday Me, Ann, Daniel and Francinah visited with Marjorie and the family so that we could celebrate her 80^th birthday – a lot of fun was had – that night me, Ann, Daniel, Francinah and Mareza all spent the night in “Out of Africa” having a braai (bbq) and the next day whilst we sat drinking our morning tea together two giraffes came walking by - The weekend was spent in Joburg with the family – lots of fun and on the Saturday we had a 80^th birthday party for Marjorie - Back in Rustenburg and once again we visited the “Bojanala kalafi Programme Projects” giving away the clothes that we had brought – Wednesday and Thursday night we spent at Sun City Holiday Resort – Fantastic - what a lovely experience – on the Friday we visited My Home so that we could give clothes away and meet up with all the children who had met all the England Football Team whilst in SA for the World Cup – brilliant - Saturday morning we met up with Francinah, Diana and her daughter for breakfast together – lots of fun – that afternoon we met up with our friends Wayne, Vicky and their daughters Carla and Adele – it was the first time in over 24 years that we had all been together - Monday morning acme around – visit the “Touch the Heart of Africa” office so that we can say our goodbyes with Mareza and Francinah then onto Joburg so that we could pick up Marjorie and then onto the aiport for our flight home via Dubai – once back in the UK it was onto the train and back home to Sheffield - We all had a fantastic – fantastic – fantastic time – visiting all the projects was fun – our time with everyone at “Touch the Heart of Africa” was fun - visiting the lions and holding the four week old lions was the icing on the cake – everyone who enjoys volunteering and visiting other countries should take a look at www.tthoa.co.za - they do a great job and will put into place all your volunteer dreams – Paul…

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November 2011 Volunteer Visit

September 2010 Volunteer Visit