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It has been a very cold winter in South Africa with many instances of snow on the high ground.

It has been very hard for the people who live in the Orlando township. Many live in tin shacks that have very little insulation so they are very hot in the summer and freezing cold in the winter.

We provided money for Marietjie to purchase warm blankets for our eight scholars. I wished that we could provide more for the children of the pre-school, unfortunately our funds won’t extend that far. But we are making sure that the kids at the pre-school are getting two good meals each day.

Our last post was just after Christmas 2021. In January we managed to return to South Africa after an absence of two years and we were excited to see how our projects were running and how life was in general in S A. It was interesting that Covid rules were starting to be relaxed although it was still the law to wear face mask in busy public places and shops. It was also interesting to note that everyone was following the rule.

The Komati Care Centre was up and running again with a full compliment of around 60 pre-school age children. Although in the past we have made many improvements to the school our main commitment at present is to help to provide money to buy food. Feeding 60 children twice a day is an expensive business. On our visits there it was wonderful to see the children enjoying all the center has to offer.

Our other project, educating six children at the Bushwillow academy in Komatipoort is producing amazing results. At the present they are all in one classroom even though they range in age from six to fourteen years old but, because none had been in education before they need to be assessed before they can be put into different classes. Their form teacher Cynthia Magwenya is super she has really connected with them and they are making excellent progress.

Dear friends, Another year gone and here we are, still in the grip of this awful pandemic. Let’s hope that 2022 will bring back some sort of normality.

For the friends of Esperado, despite the confusion and uncertainness, we have been able to continue helping the youngsters in the Orlando township, in South Africa. Orlando is a place of extreme poverty and hardship that we in our society would find difficult to accept. Many of the residents live in shacks and mostly work in agriculture or have no employment.

The komati-Care-Pre school, was set up in the township, to take children from 3 to 6 years of age off the streets and rubbish tips where some were found searching for food. The school gives some 60 children, play in safe surroundings, a little learning, but most importantly two healthy meals a day. The school exists purely on donations and we are pleased to have been able to help them improve the school and the lives of the children.

After the failure of our container classroom (see previous post, April 2021) we were still faced with the problem of unregistered children unable to access free schooling. It was at this point that Marietjie who manages and organizes our project, suggested that we enroll some of the children in a local private English school. We could only afford to school eight children. This would equate to the cost of the teacher and running costs of the container classroom. (At present the cost is 1,400 Rand per month per child. At the current exchange rate that is £70.00 per pupil.)

We are delighted with the progress the children have made, in just over a year. They are now able to speak, read and write in English. They are also learning arithmetic and other subjects. They have tremendous enthusiasm and pride in their achievements. One of our pupil’s, a girl with the lovely name of Imaculada, came to us at the age of eleven, she had never been to school before and didn’t speak any English. She can now read, write and speak English and is one of our star pupils. Imaculada is now being sponsored by a Jersey family and one other child is being sponsored by a Belgian charity.

The children are picked up each day by Jan, Marietjie’s husband, in his vehicle and taken to school he then picks them up in the afternoon and takes them back to the township of Orlando. For Christmas it was decided to give them a reward. Jan was able to borrow a game viewing vehicle and the pupil’s had a day trip into the world famous Kruger National Park. Then we funded for them and their teacher to have a meal at a local burger restaurant. Later they were taken to a local shop and given a hundred Rand each to spend. We also funded Marietjie to give each of their families a big tub full of essential items of food and essential items.

The pupils class teacher, just before terms end at Christmas, went into the township and visited each of the children’s families. She came back to Marietjie in tears. As a black South African she hadn’t known that people lived in such poverty.

We have to give tremendous and heartfelt thanks to Marietjie and Jan for all the hard work they do for us and the children..

The children and their teacher went to a local restaurant.

Shopping.

Off to Kruger National Park.

My last post turned out to be rather premature. South Africa is in lockdown once more so all the children are isolating at home.

When will this dreadful pandemic be over and let everyone get back to a normal life.

Our last post was in January when things were looking very bleak for the Komati-care Centre and our container school project.

The Komati-Care Centre is open again for a reduced number of children. The Centre is observing all the Covid rules on PPE etc. This is fantastic news and the Esperado friends are still providing funds to feed the children.

Our other project the Container school has not been so lucky. 2019 our first year was a tremendous success and we finished the year on a high. Then came the Covid pandemic and the school and the Care-Centre had to close. Because of travel restrictions it was not easy for Marietjie to visit the site. One night the container classroom was broken into, damaged and stripped of everything. A huge disappointment for Marietjie and Jan who had organised the whole project. The container has now been moved into the Care -Centre grounds. This was paid for by a local resident and money for repairs has been provided by the Komati-Care committee. The container will now become a store room.

Marietjie has located nine of our 2019 class and has enrolled them into a local English speaking primary school. It will be an expensive enterprise but we have to give these kids a chance. They are the children of illegal parents, virtually stateless and unable to access a State education. Can you imagine how that would go down in our country!

Marietjie has worked tirelessly to enable at least some of the kids to continue their education. It would be fantastic if we could get sponsorship for more children but it is costing 1,400 Rand a month ( about £70 at the present exchange rate) for each pupil. Marietjie is also approaching another charity for help in educating the children.

The nine children started at the new school this morning, 14th April and were super excited.

The Komati-Care Centre has been closed for most of 2020 although we have manged to run the Orlando English primary School. It has only a small number of learners and they can observe corona virus regulations. But, with the new wave of the virus in South Africa, we may have to close the school as well.

The wonderful people who look after the Care Centre have set up a daily feeding program for the children of the Orlando community. The Esperado Friends have sent money to buy food and pay the cooks to come each day to prepare the food in the Care Centre kitchen. The children line up outside with their own bowls and get a nutritious meal each day. We specially give thanks to Marietjie and Jan for organising and to the cooks for doing the work.

And a huge thankyou to the Esperado Friends Here in Jersey and beyond without your help the children of The Orlando community would suffer greatly.

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The school is now open again with twelve pupils. Because the Care centre is closed, Marietjie who runs the school, is using one of the classrooms to achieve social distancing and to follow government guidelines.

The Komaticare centre has now been closed for most of 2020. This has caused great hardship for the 70 children who were attending each day, enabling them to get two good meals. Unfortunately, with so many children, social distancing and the cost of PPE equipment has made it impossible to re-open the centre. Up to the present time we and another charity have been providing money to buy basic food such as Maize meal to be distributed in the community.

The Committee that operates the Care Centre has therefor decided to keep the centre closed for the rest of 2020 and review the situation in the New Year.

We have proposed that the kitchen be kept open to provide take away food for the children each day and the Esperado Charity will provide the funds for the food and to pay the cooks wages.

Due to the Corona 19 virus pandemic. The school has now been closed for four months. It is a tragedy for the pupils and at present; we do not know when the government will allow the school to open again. The Esperado charity is sending money to purchase food for distribution to families in the Orlando community that do not have access to government support.