"It takes a village . . . "

We have all heard the saying "It takes a village to raise a child." We have been so blessed by volunteers from around our international global village helping to raise the children of Maitland Garden Village. As a result these children have been able to experience cultures from around the world without having the expense of actually going there! We have been particularly blessed by Brad, from Atlanta, USA who has been with us for 3 months. Brad has served these kids with all his heart, even when I am sure he would rather have been sightseeing or doing other things - let's face it, this job is rewarding and challenging in about equal parts! As this is Brad's last week working with the after school care kids he decided to treat them . . . yesterday and today we took groups of kids to a local park for a DELICIOUS picnic! We ate gatsby's - a traditional Cape Town food - a long thick French loaf like thing filled with fries, tomatoes, lettuce, some kind of meat and sauce. The kids absolutely loved them! There was juice and chips to complete the feast. We are certainly going to miss having Brad around, male volunteers are like gold dust and are really what we need most as many times it is the males of the households who are letting families down or are absent, so for our boys seeing positive male role models is just awesome!

We are fortunate that as Brad leaves, Nana has arrived! Nana is from Ghana, but has been studying in Atlanta, USA. We know that she is going to bring a wealth of knowledge and service to our holiday club, which begins next week.

We were fortunate and grateful to have some of our government funding reinstated (it had been completely withdrawn toward the end of last year for no reason and no explanation given). However, when I received the 21 page document stipulating how it had to be spent, it seems as though it may cost us more to implement what they require from us, which makes it far less exciting to receive, and may ultimately have to be turned down. We will see . . . I guess governments the world over are all the same ultimately - can't live with them, can't live without them!

We have an exciting and incredibly fun holiday club planned for our extended winter break. South Africa is an exciting place to be right now as the world comes to visit. You can certainly feel the excitement as flags are raised, cars are decorated and everyone has an opinion about who will win the Soccer World Cup - the first ever to be held on the African continent. During this time we will try to capture some of the excitement and celebrate this historic event.

I wish you and your teams all the best in the upcoming weeks. Please pray for safety and peace in South Africa during this time.