View from Naval Hill
After Sarah's visit to the One Stop Centre/ Child Justice Centre, she was lucky enough to be taken by Alan to Lebone Land, an orphanage for children affected and/or infected by HIV/ AIDS, run by Avril and Willem, on behalf of AIDS Mission Outreach Trust. Over the last 12 years, this amazing couple have devoted their lives to providing a loving, caring environment to children left behind after the death of their parents. What started as one house catering for 15 children has grown into almost a village with its own bakery, vegetable plots, school and workshop. It was an incredible experience, one that was enhanced by the modesty of both Avril and Willem.
Wednesday 11th November
We left Lesotho and our hosts to run the gauntlet of crossing the border back into South Africa. there were no problematic encounters and everyone arrived back in SA in one piece. We were then met by Ezanne Leach and Allan Dickens at the half way point and transported in to Bloem where we were taken straight to Oliewenhuis, a beautiful estate built in 1941 by the British. It now houses an art museum and there are sculptures galore scattered around the grounds. Tash and Sarah fell in love with some of the art and it was our first purchase of the trip! The curator of the art gallery was the father of the artist and we are now proud owners of signed prints!
After a fantastic lunch at Oliewenhuis, we were taken to Naval Hill from which we had a panoramic view of the city. From there, we went into the centre of Bloem where we were met by Mr Du Preez who gave us a 2 hour input and guided tour of the 2 most historic streets in Bloem, President Brand St and St George's St - the latter was the first street in Bloem and one which is built next to the fountain which gives Bloemfontein (Flower Fountain) its name.
Day 1 in Bloem ended with dinner at our hosts' houses.
Thursday 12th November - Vocational Day - see updates from team members.
Thursday was a special day for Mike as it was his 30th birthday. Ezanne & Herman did a fantabulous job of staging a surprise birthday dinner for Mike, starting with champagne, a 3 course meal and ending with Herman's dreaded Springboks!! A night not to be forgotten!
Friday 13th November - Vocational Day - see updates from team members.
After Sarah's visit to the One Stop Centre/ Child Justice Centre, she was lucky enough to be taken by Alan to Lebone Land, an orphanage for children affected and/or infected by HIV/ AIDS, run by Avril and Willem, on behalf of AIDS Mission Outreach Trust. Over the last 12 years, this amazing couple have devoted their lives to providing a loving, caring environment to children left behind after the death of their parents. What started as one house catering for 15 children has grown into almost a village with its own bakery, vegetable plots, school and workshop. It was an incredible experience, one that was enhanced by the modesty of both Avril and Willem.
If anyone is interested in finding out more, please go to www.lebonehouse.com.
Friday evening saw another of our entertaining and legendary presentations to the newly merged clubs of Bloem and Raadzaal. Herman provided the food yet again with one of his spit braais - a whole sheep suspended above the coals. An enjoyable evening was had by all!
Saturday 14th November started at 0830 at the local Boeremark (Farmers Market) at Langenhovenpark, where we spent a couple of hours wandering around the stalls, testing the local produce and seeing some of the local crafts. Mike managed to get a lie-in after a 0430 finish with the ambulance service and met us at Bains Game Lodge where we spent the next 24 hours relaxing - our first time off in 3 weeks!
Our hosts met us on Sunday afternoon and we spent the rest of the evening with our hosts, saying goodbye and packing for on onward journey to Bethlehem on Monday.
Our wholehearted thanks go out to the Rotarians in Bloem for their superb hospitality and we will look forward to seeing David and Judy on the boat!
Monday 16th November - we left Bloem and travelled 2 hours to the town of Ficksburg where we were handed over to our final hosts, the Bethlehem Rotarians. Instead of rushing off to Bethlehem, we were pleasantly surprised to have a spur of the moment lunch with the Ficksburg Rotarians, during which we gave them an abbreviated version of our presentation and answered their questions. It will be a real pleasure to see some of them again on the boat next weekend.
Our adventure continues in Bethlehem...updates to follow!
No comments:
Post a Comment