Kids and water. 

I figured that in the warmth (it hasn't been the blistering heat that I was anticipating - but still a whole lot warmer than home!) of South Africa was a no fail combination. 

No official "water play" toys. So we improvised. Old school water play. The way my mum did it. Way back when.

Two washtubs, two buckets, some sand pails that had been donated and some empty containers. 

Add children.

Lots of filling. 

                                

Pouring. 

Concentrating.

I really wanted a colander (or something like it) for the kids to play cause and effect with. No one had a colander. So I improvised. An empty yogurt container and a nail, and I had myself a free water toy. 

Two wee boys found a couple of pails, poured back and forth, acquired

More water, added grass, leaves and seeds, and kept a story/game evolving for over an hour. I so wished that I could have understood their story. Still need to work on my Zulu.

One little fellow assigned himself to help me with refilling the buckets. 

He filled; I carried. We were a good team. 

The best part of this activity;  the pre school teachers realized how simple it could be. 

I think they'll do it again.  :)

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Sandi

For the past couple of weeks my husband and I have been learning and volunteering at an orphanage in Kwazulu Natal in South Africa. 

Makaphutu Children's Village provides a home and hope to 50 children whose families are unable to care for them due to HIV and AIDS. 

                                        

Makaphutu is one of many orphanages in South Africa.

There are 3 million orphans in South Africa. Most are orphaned by AIDS. In Kwazulu Natal (the province with the highest rate of HIV/AIDS in South Africa) 60% of the adult Zulu population is HIV positive. Some children are cared for by family members (often the Gogos - grandmas), approximately 150 000 children are in home headed by 15 to 18 year olds. Some children are placed in "safe places" like Makaphutu. 

Home Now is a story of loss and grief and finding home again. That story is what happens here at Makaphutu. 

Home Now

author: Lesley Beake

illustrator: Karin Littlewood

published by: Giraffe Books (2007)

thoughtful reading for ages 5-8

printed in all 11 official languages of South  Africa

opening lines

Sieta lay in her bed looking up at the black plastic roof of her new home. "This isn't my real home," she thought. My real home is over the mountains. But this was home now. Everybody said so. 

summary

Sieta remembers a happy home far away over the mountains, but now she is living with her Aunty in a place she calls Home Now. Her new home is a busy, friendly place, but Sieta can't seem to smile.

                              

Then one day she meets an orphaned baby elephant at the elephant park, and she begins to see things in a different light. goodreads

                       

why I love this book

The story is told in gentle, simple text. With compassion and hope. 

The illustrations capture the beauty of both the children and the land - that I am fortunate enough to be in the middle of right now. They capture the healing and hope that Sieta experiences. 

                                     

making connections

That healing and hope is what Makaphutu is all about. Each child who comes here has dealt with loss - sometimes incomprehensible loss. Some have suffered neglect and abuse. One third of the children are HIV positive. 

Here they learn to be kids again. That there are grown ups that will keep them safe, make sure that they have food, that they go to school and will keep them healthy. Some of them, literally, learn to smile again. 

                         

At Makaphutu, the children live in "cottages" - 8 children and one "auntie" per cottage.  Each cottage is like a family, within the bigger family of all the children and staff. 

The big kids help take care of the littles, and the littles help take care of the wee ones. 

                         

And they all delight in singing and dancing.  Hope has brought joy.  You can hear it.  

                                         

learn more about the AIDS crisis in Africa

UNAIDS: The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS

11 Facts about AIDS in Africa

Hope for African Children Initiative

www.hopeforafeicanchildren.org

Makaphutu Children's Village

Makaphutu.org

My husband blogged about our time at Makaphutu.

            

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Sandi

An orphanage in the Thousand Hills area of South Africa. 

It's  where my husband and I are spending a couple of weeks learning and volunteering. 

It's also where the kids got new shoes yesterday. 

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Sandi

What’s big and grey and is ready to go away on holiday?

An elephant - becuse he always has his trunk ready to go.

But.  What if the elephant didn’t always have a trunk ...

How The Elephant Got his Trunk

retold by Andrea Florens

illustrated by Angela Sinclair

published by Art Publishers

African folk tale

suitable for children 4 - 7

how the story begins
Long, long ago in Africa, the elephants that roamed the veld look very much as they do today.  They were the biggest of all the animals with huge bellies and heavy legs.  the elephants had enormous ears and two white tusks.  But there was something quite different about those elephants so many years ago...

summary
A long time ago, elephants did not have lovely, long trunks. Having a short stubby nose was not convenient for the elephants.  Eating and drinking was awkward. One day, a little elephant was kneeling down, drinking from an unfamiliar river.  Snap! an crocodile bit the end of his nose.  A tug-o-war ensued.  

The elephant escaped from the crocodile, but was a bit mis-shapen as a result of his ordeal.

The story is told in an upbeat, friendly way.  Not deep literature, but friendly, "lets’ sit down together" kind of story-telling.  The pictures are the kind of cutsie anthropomorphic that I am not not drawn to - I would have preferred them to look more “African”.  But this is a book published in South Africa for South African readers.  Not for tourists to take home as an African memory

My memory is going to be the elephants we met on the road (in Hluhluwe Imfolozi National Park) a couple of days ago.

We were driving down the road in our safari jeep, rounded a corner and saw ...

The elephants kept coming out of the bush, and our safari guide kept calmly backing the jeep up.  We were in elephant territory, and it was our job to get out of the way.  

There were majestic matriarchs, young 'uns, and a baby who was so new it kept falling over its own feet, needing to be scooped up by a friendly trunk. 

Our guide figured there were 60 - 70 elephants in the herd.  An amazing experience to be so close to them.

resources - other than going to Africa and seeing elephants 

Learn about elephants. 

National Geographic Kids

Animal Fact Guide

listen to elephants

I am always a sucker for handprint creations.  This elephant is definitely cute.

source: Cheshire Mum

Walking with elephant feet looks like a lot of fun.  And a great hand-foot co-ordination activity. 

source: Green Kids Crafts: Trash to Treasure Thursdays

Enjoy this version of How the Elephant Got his Trunk, 

or any of the many other elephant trunk tales.

And please keep a look out for my next Africa book review -  you can see it also has an elephant connection.

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Sandi

It's a rare flat blue cat that does not want to visit a cookie factory.

Or as they call it here in Mauritius, a biscuit factory.

So off we walked, past the banana orchard, over the bridge and around  a couple of corners to the biscuit factory.

Family run operation.

Secret recipe.

Gluten free and fair trade.

Deliberately eco-friendly (the factory refuses to be added to the electricity grid - they use water and solar power.)

Pete was intrigued.

When we arived, we learned that the biscuits are not made with flour.  They are made with manioc (tapioca) flour.  In the field next to the factory, they grow cassava (Pete is checking out a cassava plant in a pot).

and harvest some of the roots. 

These are washed, grated, dehydrated and sieved to make the manioc.

The secret recipe is fairly straightforward.  Manioc,  a bit of sugar and the flavour du jour.

No liquid.  A bit of butter in the butter biscuits.  Pretty healthy.

The mixture is pressed into rectangular grids,

and cooked over a sugar cane leaf heated griddle.  

The ladies kept moving and turning the biscuits until they were a golden brown.

The packages were hand-wrapped (this lady's hands flew), and sold all over Mauritius.

We tried each of the 9 flavours with tea in the courtyard.

I liked cinnamon best.  Pete's mouth was always full, so I never did find out his favourite. 

            

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Sandi