Cotlands Nov-Dec 2007 Aussie Trip

Farewell

2007-12-14T05:50:00.000+11:00

After two weeks playing, wiping snotty noses, singing, dancing, bathing, reading, shopping, being climbed over, sorting cupboards and coming to love the kids of Cotlands, it was time for most of us to say goodbye (for now).

Bonnie, Jeannine, Stella and Rochelle organised and joined us for a lovely farewell morning tea and told us stories of kids, snakes, lizards and local delicacies. They also left us with some little goodies to remind us of our time at Cotlands, although there is little chance that we could ever forget the warmth, generosity, love and humour we have found here...

Last Night

2007-12-11T05:33:00.000+11:00

7 girls, 1 shower, 1 minivan, 2x 7 hour drives, 42 meals, 65 kids, 14 days... the odds were stacked against us and yet we managed to pull through with only minor scratches (lions and kids), mild headaches (concert and pub) and no bruises!

What an incredible two weeks with such an awesome group of people to share it with. Jess, Gabby, Clare, Mary, Clare, Nes and Bec will definitely be catching up again once back on home turf (sorry Jess, looks like a drive up to the big smoke will be in order!).

To celebrate the end of an era we treated ourselves to an exotic African meal (on pillows with mood lighting and delicious food (thanks chefs) and then a night out for obligatory cocktains and to see "insert name here". It was a great show with samples of South African music and dance throughout many different periods and the dancers where hot!
(PS: the editor was tempted to add some illegal photos taken during the performance by certain members of our group, but will leave it to you imagination instead!)

More Gals and Kids...

2007-12-10T19:25:00.000+11:00

Sanctuary

2007-12-09T19:15:00.000+11:00

Sanctuary is an area within the orphanage where the children ‘live’– it is where they, bath, eat and play. Every afternoon before dinner all the children have free time in Sanctuary, it is a great opportunity for all of us to interact with the children and get to know them on a one to one basis. We have been taking turns to visit the children in the morning to assist them with bathing and getting dressed. Everyone has felt that this is a good time to converse with the children and build a strong relationship with them.

The girls and boys rooms in Sanctuary are kept separate and each child has their own shelf space where their clothes are kept. The kids are always excited to show you where their shelf is and the clothes they have on it. Today the children each did a painting, which was hung on the Sanctuary walls – the children were very eager to point out their paintings to us. The children’s enthusiasm while is Sanctuary never ceases to amaze us.

Hospice

2007-12-08T19:05:00.000+11:00

Hospice at Cotlands is a place of mixed emotions. It’s the first place babies go when they arrive at Cotlands and it’s the place where babies and children go when they are sick. When it originally opened unfortunatly Cotlands lost many children to AIDS in the hospice department, however with access to new medications and ARVs, Cotlands now rarely loses any children.

Currently Hospice looks after 11 children who are aged 2 weeks to three years. In Hospice there is a place for children to sleep, eat and play. All of us enjoyed our time in hospice, holding the babies and giving out lots of cuddles. It is bitter sweet though because as you are holding the babies its hard to think that they might be HIV positive and what kind of an impact this will have on their life. What’s good about being in Hospice is that we know that the babies are going to get the care that they need. Here they have access to the Antiretroviral Drugs that can save their life, they will get the nutrients they need to stay healthy and they will get the love and affection from their carers that every child deserves.

A highlight of mine from Hospice was of one little girl who is quite sick, she is three years old but cannot crawl, walk or talk. Yet I got to see her smile and got to hear her laugh, which was really fantastic. To think that this little girl can still laugh and smile even though she is so unwell, is something really special.

Christmas Shopping

2007-12-08T19:00:00.000+11:00

Christmas was coming... but what will the children wear? This year, lets let them choose! And so, in 2 adventures to the local shopping mall, we each took 1 child and hit the shops for his/her own outfit, choosen and paid for by the Cotland Kids. and what an adventure it was- there were moving stairs to investigate, and the toilets had strange machines that loudly blew out hot air.

Some of the braver and more experienced were not so concerned, but for others the moving staircase was a whole new experience in itself. "Big jump at the end where it stops', Id say in preparation for stepping off. The jump itself was a little to big, and the lady infront didnt seem so appreciative of our adventure. Sunglasses, headbands, shoes, jeans, and one favoured red shirt with a photo of a restling man in his underwear, not to mention the 20R worth of yummies at the end. While there where some obsticles to overcome, it was all smiles at the end.

Kruger 2

2007-12-06T19:08:00.000+11:00

Still high from our amazing first day at Kruger, we headed out for day two, despite the blistering cold. We came across a pride of lions in the morning, snoozing in the grass. It was so exciting to simply watch them. Glee and bouts of excitement followed every minuscule movement of a lion, followed by shushing, and then instructions to our guide Nelly to move a little forward, or slightly back so we could get the perfect shot, or to do his famous baby buffalo call to get the lions attention.

Next find was a white rhino with her baby, only 15 metres away. This was huge, as most rhinos are only spotted in the distance. The remainder of the day was spend on the hunt for the notoriously aloof leopard. We failed, but the mood was maintained by the Viva safari choir, headed by Mary, singing anything from Frere Jacques to Madonnas holiday.

Kruger 1

2007-12-03T18:56:00.000+11:00

We woke up early in our “rustic” African safari huts, showered outside with centipedes and beetles and enjoyed a three course breakfast before setting off on Safari. Our guide Nelly, alias Nellyphant, explained every bird, tree and blade of grass along the way but it was the Big Five we were keen to see. After the initial sighting of an Impala, nicknamed “Mc Donalds”, there was much excitement and photo taking, however after the 3824th sighting of Impala, Kudu and Nyala we no longer stopped. As we moved further into the park the sightings became more varied - Warthogs – grumpy little characters, graceful giraffes and a rare sighting of two cheetahs by the waterhole, elephants, sleeping lions, zebras, baboons, monekys, ostrich, water buffalos, the tip of a hippo and the tail of a croc. Bec took over the wheels of the safari truck and surprised us all with her professional driving and spotting skills. It was an extremely successful day and we were all on a high by the time we left the park at 5.30pm. Driver Bec shouted us all a round of drinks for the ride home and we left satisfied and happy.

Not far from the park we found a group of men dancing in the streets and all jumped out to join them – everyone gave the traditional “ bum dance” a bit of a go and we laughed and sang together. Another car pulled up and we were told that there was a pride of lions just down the road – thinking it was just a ploy from our driver to get us to go home – we piled into the car without any expectations. Literally a 2 minute drive away we came within 2 metres of two lions and two lionesses. It was amazing to be so close to these amazing creatures! A little further down the road 2 huge elephants were waiting for us and so naturally this deserved another street party as the sun set over Kruger on our first day.

Soweto 3

2007-12-03T18:30:00.000+11:00

Bec, Gabby and Clare O where fortunate enough to tag along with Loratta for an afternoon in Soweto. Firstly we headed to the new Cotlands Soweto house to deliver food for the Christmas party. The ladies where busy, elbow deep in food prep, chatting happily in Zulu and singing along to the radio. Loratta then lead us on a shopping expedition to buy groceries for a mother who is part of the outreach program and in particular need of a little extra help. 200 rand enabled us to get some cleaning products, a bag of frozen chicken and a few cooking products. Delivering the groceries was a new experience. We arrived at a house in a neighbourly part of Soweto. the “young mum” was living in a hut out the back of this house, with her child and 7 younger siblings she has to care for after her own mother lost her battle with AIDS. The small hut was immaculate and held a large bed and couch, tv, stereo and one chest of draws. This was the living space for 9 people. A young girl ran and hugged Bec as we carried with the groceries. The woman was shy but grateful.

World AIDS Day Concert

2007-12-02T18:35:00.000+11:00

Prime, front row seats to 46664.

The man himself!
Soweto Gospel Choir... amazing!
Groovin' Gals

46664- Nelson Mandela’s Prison Number and the name of the concert we were about to enter. Not only would we be seeing world artists such as ‘Live’and ‘GooGooDolls’ we would also see local performers, dancers, and the Soweto Choir. But it was Nelson Mandela’s appearance that would silence 35000 people around me. Standing in awe as he left the stage, in one movement we all raised our left hand, “its in our hands” we chanted together. This was not just the Concert ‘motto’, it had become the one line that ended each act, a reminder that we weren’t just there to enjoy good music. The 4triple664 concert was about raising money for HIV prevention, education and awareness. And as the concert proceeded we were constantly reminder of the need to raise these issues. However, we all managed to shake some Booty and the concert was enjoyed by all.

Baby Unit

2007-12-02T03:26:00.000+11:00

About 15 newborns/toddlers share this room. Children whose health is not critical or in a stable condition are situated in this room. The first feeling you get when you walk into the room is overwhelming. Before you even get the chance to look around the room, you have 3 or 4 toddlers at your feet reaching their arms up to you. It’s a feeling of sadness, helplessness and joy. Each child is adorable and gorgeous. But once you have 1minute with the children, you begin to realise their tremendous efforts applied to get your affection and attention, makes you teary to think that the personal motherly nurture is all they want. And you feel that you just want to adopt them all and take them home so they won’t be deprived of this.

Soweto Museums

2007-12-01T18:10:00.000+11:00

Hector Pieterson Memorial
Sign at Aparteid Museum
Apartied Museum Pillars

Front of Nelson Mandela's House

With Zulu Dancers

We got our tourist fix today when we headed into Soweto to visit two museums. Our first stop was at the Apartheid Museum. Outside the museum there were columns with respect, equality, freedom, democracy, responsibility and integrity displayed which created the mood for our visit. We were all given tickets with white or non-white written on them and entered the building through separate doors. We journeyed through the powerful and moving displays of the different periods of South African modern history particularly from 1910 when white South Africans gained control of the country under the Union of South Africa. Some of the highlights were the temporary exhibition on Steve Biko, a political activist who was murdered in 1976, the footage of the student riots with the waves of thousands of young people moving through the streets in protest and the release of Nelson Mandela and his rise to power. The anger and pain, strength and resilience of the South African people were clearly portrayed and felt by us all.

On the other side of Soweto is the Hector Peiterson Museum dedicated to the students’ struggle on June 16, 1976 against the compulsory use of Afrikaans in schools. Thousands of students were injured and many killed. The protest sparked further international recognition of the issues under apartheid leading to trade and aid sanctions. Under this international and domestic pressure the apartheid began to be challenged and addressed…..

We were greeted by a troupe of Zulu dancers outside Nelson Mandela’s former house in Soweto. After the obligatory group photos we took a tour of the simple house filled with Mandela paraphernalia. We drove by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Winnie Mandela’s houses where they still live.

To top the day of we found the traditional South African Chicken shop “ Nandos” and feasted on chicken burgers!

Aussies and Kids

2007-11-30T19:45:00.000+11:00

Smiln' Vanessa
Twinnies Bec
Cuddles Clare O

Cheesy Clare T

Party'n Gabby

Choo-Train Mary

Groovn' Jess

Group Shots

2007-11-30T19:40:00.000+11:00

Yes, we found an Irish pub in suburban Joburg...hooray!
With one of our Cotlands people-movers

Cotlands House

2007-11-30T19:37:00.000+11:00

When arriving at Cotlands House we were first confronted with tall walls, electrical fence, and gates that surround Casa Mia but these do not reflect the warmth and love which can be found as soon as you walk inside the front. Casa Mia is a home for Primary School aged children who are HIV positive and thanks to the staff and facilities at Cotlands House they are able to live a safe and happy life. The children that stay at Cotlands House are all on Anti-retro-viral drugs (ARVs), which help keeps the HIV suppressed.

Downstairs at Cotlands house is home to 9 children, who attend the local school. They are cared for by a dedicated team of staff who ensure the house remains a home and not an institution. Upstairs there are two apartments one for long term volunteers who spend a year at Cotlands and the second apartment for shorter stays like ours.

Living upstairs at Cotlands means that you will never be alone as there are always kids around giggling and jumping on the trampoline. There energy and happiness is contagious and definitely brightened our time at Cotlands House.

Doulton...

2007-11-29T20:38:00.000+11:00

After eagerly awaiting the taxi to arrive so he take us to the nearest shopping mall called the ‘Glen’, he finally arrived 15min late. We knew his name was Doulton and was recommended by the Cotlands volunteers, so we felt safe to get in the car. Having felt this way, we did not hesitate to begin our conversation with him on a sarcastic note, “Where have you been we have been waiting a long time… 10 years”. He laughed and responded “I have been waiting 5 and a half years”.

The trip was short but filled with much laughter from the sarcastic comments going back and forth. Infact, the laughter was getting dangerous. Literally. As he would laugh out loud, he would let go of the steering wheel , close his eyes, and tilt his head back and laugh with a deep voice. After dropping us of we organised for him to pick us up 2 hours later. The second trip he managed to be exactly on time and once again the journey back was very funny.

We learned that he had a 10 year old son.. which Gabby asked within the conversation of cute boys and getting numbers. And then upon further questioning from Gabby, we also learned that he had an 18 year old daughter. Gabby then said “Wow, such a big age gap” and Doutlon said seriously in his African accent “ but aah, I was very busy inbetween”. Then we all laughed.
From now on, Doutlon will be our taxi driver.

Kinder Graduation

2007-11-29T19:58:00.000+11:00

We had the Graduation for the Cotlands in-house kinder class, who next year will make the move to big school during the day!

It was a gorgeous morning, with the younger kids doing a 'rugby-inspired' dance for us and then the 5 graduating kids each recieving a certificate, a photo albumn, a book of thier paintings and class work from the year (nice work Clare O and Gab) and an awesome wall hanging with photos and paintings.

Afterwards was a sticky morning tea of ice blocks, lollies and chips... very popular with kids and staff!

Afrikaans Festival

2007-11-29T03:10:00.000+11:00

One of the staff members from Cotlands, Jeannine, took us to her home town to check out a local annual Afrikaans festival. Expecting a small street party, we instead joined 40,000 Afrikaaners for live music, marque beer halls and street vendors selling delicious pancakes, local hot dogs, ‘chips on a stick’ and some interesting bacon wrapped sausage things. When the heavens opened we were rather pleased to be standing at the bar under the marquee! It was a great night, resembling an Aussie country town shindig… we even spotted a few mullets!

The highlight though was spending time with Jeannine’s lovely family. Pre-festival “E-news” gossip catch up and biltong and post-festival icecream, singstar karaoke and Mary’s vitual boxing rounded up a great night out!

Cotlands House Kids

2007-11-29T01:23:00.000+11:00

Soweto Outreach 2

2007-11-29T01:15:00.000+11:00

Today we (Mary and Jess) ventured out to Soweto to see some of the project that Cotlands is involved in other than the orphanage. Our first stop was at the Old rehabilitation centre for ex convicts, to pick up some carpet, 2 wheelchairs, 2 big buckets a bag of sand and a large suitcase, all of which we piled into the back of the sml hatchback Voltswagon, along with Jess. And into the front piled Mary, Larretta and a social worker.

We uncomfortably set of for the household of the Kunene Family, where we delivered a carpet for the floor, the suitcase and a wheelchair for their 95yearold grandmother who asked “why don’t you bring me more white people” and giggled and clapped as we showed her the photos we’d taken of her. Next stop was at a sml shack community where we met Grandma Sofia and her grandchildren. Although it’s a small house, it is impeccably clean- so much so that Grandma Sofia didn’t see that the glass door was closed as she tried to exit. After a loud thump and some hidden giggles we said goodbye and made our way to stop 3.

The new Cotland Community Centre is not quiet finished, though we were able to speed up the process in the form of a lock, a door and a screwdriver. After an hour and half of tedious screwing, we manage to lock the key in the door. Oops I mean successfully lock the door- Albeit, the key is hesitant to leave the lock once in, though nothing a little jiggle wont fix. All in all, an enjoyable experience to see how cotland works in the community.

Soweto Outreach 1

2007-11-27T20:23:00.000+11:00

Images of Soweto...

Gardening with the Gogos

Clare, Clare and Vanessa were fortunate to have the opportunity to head on an Outreach trip today into Soweto with Tandy, Jeannie and Jeanette. Squeezed into a well-loved and worn 4WD we headed off to Soweto House, a new house donated to Cotlands by sponsers including De Beers (diamonds) and the National Basketball Association. The house is currently being renovated and on completion will have a nursery, craft workshop rooms and a shop. We were greeted at the house by 8 gogos (grandmas) working hard on sewing gorgeous bright yellow and green oven mits and aprons. The mits, aprons and other goods will be sold in the shop in the house to tourists who come to visit Soweto.

We then headed off again and after a bit of four wheel driving we arrived at the outreach centre. We were taken into a room to find 48 gogos in the middle of a lively meeting. With only a few words translated into English we were unable to follow all the intricate details of the meeting but it was interesting to attempt to understand. At one stage packs of what we thought were tissues were being talked about and handed out but seemed to be reluctantly received. It wasn’t until we looked a little closer at the diagrams on the packets that it was very evident that they were not instructions on how to use tissues!

We then followed the ladies outside to the garden where they had planted spring onions, tomatoes and cabbages. A few months earlier some pigs had made it into the garden and destroyed all their crops. Some had been replanted and the spring onions in particular were thriving. We assisted with pulling them all up, washing and cutting off the ends – and in the process ended up a bit muddy and wet! Before heading back home we were treated to a hearty meal of fragrant mince and samp (potato/corn/rice/pure carbs) which we ate in about 1 minute flat with a teaspoon.

Arrival in Joburg

2007-11-25T01:01:00.000+11:00

First drive through Joburg! (no, we didn't get shot!)

Waiting for the mob to get through customs...

Our time of departure was 10:30am local time on Sunday 25 November 2007. Vanessa, Mary, Clare and Gabby were all scheduled to leave on the same flight, however they did not all see each other until 2 hours into the flight.

There was a mad rush to get on the plane on time, this process was made even more strenuous because Mary was determined to have one last skim cappuccino before she left the land of OZ. Finally, after hours of waiting on lines Mary and Vanessa finally boarded the plane, excited about the adventurous trip ahead.

Flying with Qantas was a fantastic experience, the food, service and entertainment were all top quality. Vanessa and Mary were able to strike up conversation with the head airhostesses who then made sure they were well looked after for the remainder of the trip. From special headphones to extra marshmallows and chocolates even a glass of expensive champagne, nothing was too much for the airhostesses’ new best friends.

An interesting experience that occurred on the plane was Mary’s over eagerness to eat a very cold ice cream, which led to her, getting frost bit on her top lip. After unwrapping the tropical flavoured Splice ice cream Mary took her first lick and noticed that it was a bit too chilled for comfort. Thinking that the ice cream will melt quicker Mary stuck the whole ice cream in her mouth only to find that the ice cream was still too cold, consequently Mary’s top lip got stuck to the ice cream. As painful as it was she had to rip away the ice cream from her lip, in doing so she removed one layer of skin and that was when the blood started streaming down her mouth. Ah the irony… on the way to South Africa…a hot country… Mary gets frostbite.

Nevertheless after all the commotion from boarding the plane to trying to stop a mouthful of blood from dripping all over the plane, all the girls landed safely in South Africa, greeted by Bec’s warm and friendly smile.