Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Do the Woo-Woo Dance

When all else fails, do the Woo-Woo Dance! Those who are familiar with our Camp Sonshine song repertoire will know what I am talking about!

The past several days since my last post have been extremely mixed, with some awesome highs and some deep lows (challenges). As winter seems set to stake its claim on Cape Town I generally find life a little tougher to deal with as I am far more of a warmth and sunshine kind of person! And really, who enjoys getting out of a warm bed in the dark? There is definitely something to be said for hibernating!

Finances continue to be an issue as the one local organization who was helping us to pay salaries is now no longer able to do so, which means that on a daily basis I am seeking funds to pay our 1 1/2 staff member as well as finding money to support myself. As many non-profits find, this is a constant struggle and stresses me out quite a bit, though I am gently learning to rely on God more and more as he has continued to provide exactly what we need!

We had some incredibly awesome surprise donations of "stuff" recently . . . South Africa Rugby were upgrading their office supplies and donated an incredible copier/printer/fax/phone, which we desperately needed. It is awesome and will take me some time to figure out what all the buttons are for!

We also received 6 huge black bags full of brand news kids Crocs - you know, the funny looking, but incredibly comfortable shoes! These came courtesy of a student teacher who was doing her prac at Maitland Garden Village Primary school! So great! We will use these as a motivation for our children to get their forms for our holiday program back on time - "Bring your form back by XXX date and get a FREE pair of shoes!" This way it seems as though they are actually doing something to earn the shoes (however small it is) rather than just having them handed out!

Our girls and boys hockey teams continue to have fun and are getting better and better with each match. They look SUPER smart in their new uniforms!

We have been working hard at getting a holiday program together for the upcoming June / July holidays. This is tough work as we have never before had such long holidays in the middle of winter, this is all thanks to South Africa holding the soccer world cup. It does not really make sense to me at all as it seems as though all the soccer games are outside of school hours anyway, so what the point of having the kids out of school for 5 week is, is beyond my comprehension! We would desperately like to take the kids out on some field trips during this time, we have been offered some generous discounts, but are still struggling for funds. Anyone who would like to sponsor a day out for our kids please let me know! Our options include:
The World of Bird - R625 ($89)
Planet Kids (indoor play area) - R625 ($89)
Drakenstein Lion Park - R500 ($71)
This would include entry for 20 children and 5 adults to these attractions. I am working on family and friends to help with transport!

Some GREAT news is that one of our sponsored kids came home yesterday with a certificate and trophy that had been presented in assembly for "Working very hard to achieve the very best everyday" I wish you could have seen how proud she was. This obviously made my day and certainly made hers! This poor kid has been through so much in her life, going to a good school and having a wonderful Christian teacher is about the only stable thing in her life, so this was such encouraging news!

If you would like to sponsor a field trip for our children please contact me or go to our website - www.campsonshineafrica.org where you can donate through PayPal, please reference where you would like the money allocated.

Check it out . . . http://vimeo.com/11785809

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Man Marries Cat

"Man Marries Cat" was the billboard newspaper headline that caught my eye as I drove Chelsea and Sade (our 2 sponsored children) to school. I have no idea what the article was about as I did not buy the newspaper, but it certainly caught my eye. I am hoping to use the same trick to get you reading further!

The last few weeks have been tough here at Camp Sonshine Africa. We were hit with 4 break ins in 10 days at our after school care centre in Maitland Garden Village. Each time we did what we thought would secure the building, including adding additional burglar bars and welding some windows shut, but each time the perpetrator managed to get in. All in all we lost 2 computers, 2 CD players, a counter-top stove plate, some dish towels, 3 boxes of healthy snack bars, all our multi-plugs, R300 ($42) and had some letters from pen-pals torn up. Eventually we paid a guard to spend the night there and also removed everything of value! Unfortunately this means that until we are able to further secure the building the kids miss out on having computers and CD players available for learning and fun.

We were dealt another severe blow last week when we were told that Cape Youth Care (a local organization who helps us financially) are having some financial problems and are no longer able to support us. This came as a sudden and completely unexpected blow. They were paying about 1/2 the amount required to pay our 1 full-time and 1 part-time staff member. This obviously puts us in a very tough situation and desperately needing to find funding elsewhere (any suggestions are most welcome)!


On the positive side of things we were so blessed by everyone who so generously gave money toward kitting out our sports teams. Yesterday as our boys took the field to play their hockey matches they looked so smart and professional and I KNOW that they felt great in their new kit! Each kid got a new t-shirt, socks, a gum guard, shin pads and hockey sticks. They played their hearts out and had so much fun! This makes me really happy and makes me realize why we do what we do. Seeing these kids enjoying themselves while playing sport and uniting as a team is so much better than the alternative of hanging out on the streets and finding trouble! If we were not here doing what we do, hanging out on the streets would be the only alternative for many of these children.

On Saturday some of our girls got to enjoy a wonderful hike with the local SouthPoint Church youth group. The weather was perfect, the scenery spectacular and these kids were once again enjoying nature, making new friends and getting plenty of exercise. Their alternative would probably have been watching Saturday TV or movies which they are probably not old enough to be watching.

Many of our kids have also been involved in the Pinelands hockey club's development program (Friday Night Lights) where they provide hockey coaching for kids on a Friday night from 6PM - 8PM. The kids are thoroughly enjoying learning news skills and making new friends. Sadly, Friday night in Maitland Garden Village often has many adults abusing alcohol and then getting violent. Taking kids out of this situation to have fun while exercising and learning new things makes us very happy!

You can check out our latest newsletter on our website at www.campsonshineafrica.org

Many thanks for stopping to read what is going on in the life of Camp Sonshine Africa and if anyone knows why the man married a cat I would be curious to find out!