2 weeks to go at Tshepo Ya Bana!

As usual, I wrote this 2 days ago but internet went down for a couple days! Haha! But nevertheless here is my update since my return!

So Monday 6th I arrived back at the infamous Tshepo Ya Bana! It was such a warm welcome from all the kids, we all thought I'd be coming back Tuesday so they were all surprised and ran and jumped on me! It was so lovely to give them all a big kiss and welcome me back. Koki didn't want to leave my side so he had quietly followed me down to my cottage so when I opened my suitcase and then looked up to see his big eyes looking at me I got a bit of a lump in my throat. Love them all so much.

That day I quickly unpacked, Im in a different room now, sharing with Arike and Maggie which is great. We are all very easy-going and get on great and whoever is doing night shift or early shift try to keep as quiet as possible!! The next couple days I also manaed to finally skype my family which was very needed!

That thursday Arike and Maggie approached me and said they have arranged for us to go to Derek's lodge across the road for supper to celebrate my birthday! I was so touched! So after work Mark drove us there (a two second drive, yet we cant walk because of the lions which is frustrating!) we had a lovely meal, there were 6 of us there! We now have 6 girls in the cottage which is massive. We now always have someone doing night shift duty and can share the work-load!

That sunday I also managed to skype my family again, it had just been my Granny's birthday so they were having a big party and we usually celebrate mine alongside it. Was sad not to be there but great to see all of their faces and my little cousin is growing up very fast! Cant wait to see him when Im home!

I also did night shift duty Saturday, Sunday and Monday which can be very full-on. Our premature baby is having trouble with wind so giving her Colic drops in each bottle but means she is very restless and can keep you awake most of the night. And at the same time as feeding and settling her, one night, I had Thato awake screaming for a bottle, Mapule woke up for a bottle and Gomolemo refused to go back to sleep so he was crawling around the floor - bearing in mind that was at 4o'clock in the morning it was pretty hectic. But you get to sleep all morning so we aren't all zombies don't worry!!

Friday was my day off and got to go in Pretoria as that is Chris's food shop day and collecting Fetsi from his boarding school. And since Maggie has doen night she she had the chance ot come with! So we got dropped at a local mall and looked in some shops and got some bits and bobs and then went for lunch. It was lovely, in the 6/7 months we've been here it was the first chance we'd had to go anywhere together! So we enjoyed it very much, especially as we both depart South Africa soon.

That friday we also all planned to go on a night game drive and chipped in to take Mark and Chris with us so they could also enjoy it! So after supper Derek came and picked us up on his big truck and Mama Joye came over to babysit for the evening. It was a shame we didnt see any big animals i.e. giraffe or rhino but we did see plenty other animals including a huge herd of zebra running from us but incredibly close. Lots of imapala, jackals, wildabeast, blespock and more.

We got home around 11.30pm and the next morning Mark took me and Maggie to go to a farm near-by so we could do the Microlight!! I had done it previously once before in August with Saskia a past volunteer. But couldn't refuse the chance to do it again, and it was only 300Rand. I went at 6.30am nice and early and in the air the guy asked if I wanted to ride over Tshepo Ya Bana etc. and I asked if theres any chance to try and find the elephants. He warned me there was a chance we wouldn't see them, and had to be very lucky but I wanted to take the chance! So we travelled further north in the game reserve to where they have been known to stay and BOOOOYAAA!! WE SAW THEM! As far as I could make out there were 5 or 6, only managed to get a few decent pictures but we fly over and around them a couple times and went down close. It was amazing, but you can see where they are destroying the bush and trampling down so many trees! There are 11 in total but the game reserve don't want them to multiply because they are causing a bit of havoc!

Sunday we and Maggie had our turn to go to church and decided we would attend Mama Joye's church which is a great lively african church that Ive told you about before. We had a good service but got hom with just 10 minutes to grab some food then back on shift so was a bit crazy as I hadnt had a chance to stop since 6o'oclock. But was nice ot go to church together and enjoy perhaps my last service.

This week has been good so far, busy as usual. The toddlers are as funny as ever. Just to quote some of the funny things these boys come out with:

Me: "Tshepang did your cup fall in the sink?"
Tshepang: "Yes Auntie, it was sinking"

(Koki sneezes and some yummy stubstance drips down)

Tshepo David (very concerned!): "Oh. Auntie look at Koki's nose! It's falling down!"

Sat outside on a hot day Kamo comes to me and say's

"Gemma it's hot.
"Yes."

Then as Kamo tries to climb onto my lap..

"Well, if it's hot its not a good idea to cuddle me."

I take him off. He looks at me with these big beautiful eyes...

"Auntie... it's cold."

There are many more hilarious things but they stick out in my mind right now! Im pleased to report our premature baby is doing amazing, she has doubled in weight since she arrived to us at 1,6kg and drinking 100ml every 3 hours. She is gorgeous but as I said still struggling with wind. And Oarabile, our little girl, is happy as ever. She is gradually getting better, starting to move and try to do more, sitting in a chair and highchair which is great and making lots of groaning noises. She can get grumpy if she's not happy and gets very very frustrated if she can't do something, for example, we try to let her have a spoon when feeding to try also feed herself but if you ever try help her or take the spoon away she will scream the house down. You can see the pain in her face for the fact that she can no longer do any of these simple things, especially when 6 months ago she could do everything. She turns 2 years old next month! And I am growing far too attatched with our 7 month old boy Nao, dreading saying goodbye to him. I love them all to pieces but in 2 weeks time it will be goodbye!

Thanks for all your love and support, nearly the end of my journey at Tshepo Ya Bana but am planning a nice 2 weeks of holiday before returning to England on 24th March!

Love to you all back home and thinking of you in that cold, horrible rainy weather as Im enjoying my last few weeks in 35degree heat, next to a swimming pool, staring out at the bush. (We had zebra's outside the gate last night and when we drove home the other day at 6oclock it was still 30degree!!)

Not to make any of you jealous or anything.....

Peace!!

'We're all going on a Summer Holiday...'

Now we are already the middle of Febuary and it was 3 weeks ago I was packing to leave for my holiday. My plan is to just inform you all of my daily activites, that way wont ramble on for hours.

So Tuesday 24th January I was dropped at the Gautrain to go to the aiport and was off in the air by 3.40pm on my two hour flight to Cape Town. As my dad would say, it let me catch up on 40 winks! Then I was greeted by Giselle giving me a huge smile, and a well needed bottle of coke. That evening I helped her mum prepare the supper and settled into my home for the next 9 days!

Wednesday we had a family outing with Gramps, Mama Sarah, Gigi and I - we went to beautiful botanical gardens in Vergelegen, Somerset West, and also drove through some other places including Franschoek and also Stelenbosch (to pick up one of their sons). We spent the evening together.

Thursday was a day to remember - Gigi, Michael (a guy actually also staying with them from Bournemouth) and myself trekked, hiked, marched, walked and climbled (yes even climbed ladders) to get up table mountain, and even made our own way down again at the cost of twisting my ankle and having several black toes! But what a day!! Most amazing views and then in the evening we had a well deserved Braai all sat around the table! Proper south african food and all.

Friday the family had their own things to do, so I took myself off to the shops at a place called Claremont and spent some money on clothes! Which felt good to treat myself for a bit! Then when I arrived home their friend Cloe was there so we spent some time chatting together and hired out some movies from Blockbuster. Cloe then took Michael to the airport which was a rather sad goodbye for them all.

Saturday 28th I met up with a contact one of my friends had given me. It was such a beautiful day and so we stopped into Kalk Bay first and then went to Muizenburg beach and sat on the seafront watching the surfers and had a delicious meal at a restaurant and drove back through a lovely route with many vineyards! That evening I decided I should treat the family so we all went to Hout Bay and had fish'n'chips on the beach by the harbour and walked all around and even saw the seals!

Sunday we went to their church in the morning which was a lovely service and then I spent some time alone just chilling in the garden. Then Fleur had cooked a lovely meal and their other sister and hudband came over and we all had a lovely sunday lunch together. That evening I went with Gigi to her church which was full of young people from all backgrounds which was great to experience.

Monday me and Gigi had a wonderful long day out - went to the waterfront to begin with which was right in the heart of Cape Town where there are some beautiful boats, seals to sport, tourist places and we even stopped into the Aqauarium which I was recommended to go to. It was brilliant. We then travelled down the coastline to Camps Bay - which as you may know has the best view of Table Mountain and the 12 Apostles and we watched the sunset over the water. Then ate a well earned meal at a lovely Italian restaurant on the seafront. A long but great day.

Tuesday was a relaxing morning in the garden for me, listening to music and chilling. That afternoon Gigi, Cloe and myself first visited Kalk Bay with lots of hippy shops and book shops and cafes. Then we drove down through to Fish Hoek - my favourite beach of Cape Town yet also famous for its shark attacks. We had a nice ice-cream and sat on the beach. That evening I helped cook supper and relaxed - they had a piano and was so great to get back on the keys!

Wednesday I went by myself out for the day, first popped into Cape Town and wandered around some of the markets then spent the rest of the day at Fish Hoek sunning myself and relaxing on the beach! 6 months without the sea was too long for me! Then when I got home Mama Sarah and I went to a shopping mall and looked around and then brought for so I could cook them all some mexican food for my last night there! They loved it! And since it was my last evening Gigi and I got dressed up and went out for drinks and cocktails at a nice place somewhere in Cape Town ha. And we met some guys that we sokkied with!! So much fun, proper african dancing.

Thursday was the day I had to leave but first I went to the beach in the morning and then Mama Sarah and I had to put 4 loads of washing in at the lauderette and before I left I decided I just HAD to do wine tasting. So it was rather rushed, but we went to a beautiful place in Constantia area and did some wine tasting - the Port was by far my favourite! Then quickly packed my things and boarded the plane back to Jo'burg. So sad to say goodbye, such a beautiful family.

When I arrived in Jo'burg I took the guatrain to Centurion where I was met by Bri. We then went out that evening to Cam's place where all his friends were and we stayed till about 10.30 then headed into Hatfield Square where we spent the rest of the evening. They even brought little bottles of champagne that we sneaked in for when it turned midnight!! So so sweet.

My actual birthday was spent with their family most of the day, we picked Ken up from school and looked around the shopped, stopped in at Bri's boyfriends house for a bit, and helped the family as they are currently moving rooms around. That evening they made a lovely meal for us all the enjoy and even got Milk Tart and cupcakes and sang me happy birthday! Then, Briony, Levi and myself headed to Jo'burg with 2 of their friends to go to a place called Manhattans where we danced the night away till about 1.30pm then got Mcdonalds and headed home!

Saturday was a lazy morning and then Ken, Cam and I decided to bake some cookies! Then Cam's friend had a 21st braai in the afternoon which we went to and then we both dropped into Hatfield Square again as they were having live bands play in the Square most of the afternoon/evening. December Streets were the best band there and most of the band members fo to Cam's university. Then we headed back to his house with his housemates and attempted making waffles which failed miserably.

Sunday we had egg and soldiers and it started thunderstorming for hours, hailing it down! So we watched a movie and chilled out, played pool for about 2 hours then went with one of his flatmates and a couple friends to Menlyn where we did Ten Pin Bowling (which I absolutely suck at!). We then went to church in the evening which was great. Then Bri picked me up and we went back to theirs (well.. eventually after power cuts stopped us getting into their house because we couldnt open the gate!).

The next morning we WERE going to spend chilling by the pool and go for a bike ride and then were going to see a rugby game in the evening but Mark called to come pick me up as it was easier to get a lift back to the farm there and then. So I departed monday and arrived back here midday. Was great to see the children again and they gave me huge hugs!

And that pretty much rounds up my holiday! I will tell more on my last month here next time I get around to filling you all in :)

All my love and thankyou for all the birthday wishes, I had a great time away!!! x