Volunteering, Eastern Cape, South Africa - half way through

We've just come to the end of our second week at the A V Bukani Primary School near Addo in the Sundays River Valley of the Eastern Cape, about 70 km from Port Elizabeth. We were lucky enough to have a couple of days break by the sea in Port Elizabeth (PE), then on the Monday morning, after a briefing, we were driven to the township. Arriving at the school we were greeted by the reception classes, and their teachers, singing and dancing and waving banners they had made to welcome us. (The children here all love to sing). The school has a computer lab with 22 computers, and they make regular use of it. However, the head felt that the teachers could use some help with getting more from them, which is where we come in.

There are 900+ children in the school, aged from 5 to 13 (because if they don't pass their exams at the end of the year they have to repeat the year). One of my (Jane) favourite times is when they do a whole-school assembly as they all sing with enthusiasm and the teachers harmonize, what a sound! The Xhosa language has 3 click sounds (for the letters c, x and q) and I love to hear the mass click sounds from 900+ children together!

The staff have all been very friendly and welcoming. On Tuesday they held a formal welcome to which 3 local councillors also came, and there was a very formal agenda with speeches (including from each of us!) But in between items the teachers got up and did a song, often with actions/dancing! The children also performed some tradtional dancing, accompanied by a large drum.

We have been staying during the week with one of the teachers, Ace, and his wife (I can't spell her name!), they have made us very welcome and we have been comfortable (apart from the lack of running water for 10 days which was awkward for everyone. The school closes at 2pm normally, so it has been a bit frustrating not being able to do do much in the afternoons. However Ace does have a TV with Sky sport, so Robin has been happy!

We have been very busy getting to grips with the software that the children use to practise english and maths, and trying to sort out the database so the teachers can get meaningful reports to aid them in the assessment of the children. Also we taught the teachers to use MS Word to create resources to use in the classroom, this week it will be Excel. Robin had also been teaching some technology classes to Grade 4 (9/10 year olds) with their usual teacher. We spent much of yesterday morning cutting out cardboard wheels - the children are going to make cardboard buggies and race them. Teaching methods in SA still seem to be largely chalk and talk, so the children really enjoyed Robin's interactive classes which for example taught them about levers by using a plank balanced on a brick, one child could lift two children one one end of the plank with one foot on the other end.

We've been spending weekends here in PE, lovely to have a shower and wash my hair! On Friday we were taken to a bar in a local township for an evening with a youth choir and a marimba band, and a delicious meal. (Pic of youth band left, plus US tourists). Next weekend we will visit the elephant park at Addo.

We are halfway through our time here - there is still lots to do! Hope to update this the weekend after next.

last few days in New Zealand

We left you when we'd failed to make it up the Milford Road due to the weather. The next day the weather was better and the road open, so we set off along one of the best drives in the world (allegedly!) The journey went well until  we got to the entrance to the Homer Tunnel, where we left the avalanche safe zone and in this area to our left the wind got up (around us and in us) and threw a load of snow all over the van and the road (I like to think of it as a tiny avalanche), whiting out the van completely and bringing us to an abrupt stop. Once our vision cleared, the road was covered in snow again, and we had to roll back out the way so that a gritter could get by and clear the road so we could move on. A small moment of excitement - it only took a few minutes to get my heart rate back under control.

 Once there however the Sound itself is a beautiful place, we took a boat trip round the Sound, and got to see some fiordland penguins (very rare and shy, apparently). We also saw a beautiful sunset whilst we were there. Luckily the return trip to Te Anau was uneventful, and from there we drove up to Queenstown. This is the adventure capital of New Zealand, and they had taken the brunt of the storms of the previous week. So the temperature was -5 degrees at night and hovering around 0 degrees during the day. Still the electric heater did a very good job of keeping us warm inside Eddy the van.

 So being in the adventure capital we decided to do something adventurous - so we set off up to Bob's Peak, the nearest mountain, using the local gondola lift. Once up there, we then  had a  go on the luge and started off on the beginners track before moving onto the advanced track which was a little steeper and a lot faster - although Jane did have a little go at holding one or two others up as you can see from the picture opposite.

 From Queenstown we made our way across to Mt Cook and spent some time walking through the snow to view the glaciers, including the Hooker and Tasman glaciers. From there we travelled onto Fairlie, the highlight of which was it was the only campsite which had free wi-fi, so we made use of that to check emails and Fulham scores (not good, sadly). From there we made our way to Christchurch, where the local populace are still very much recovering from the effects of the earthquake, and thus there is very little open and to see. Quite a sobering visit really, and makes you realise that whilst the scenery isnt so dramatic, England does have other advantages.

 Leaving Christchurch we made our way to up to Hanmer Springs, where we cheered ourselves up by having a dip in the wonderful thermal springs there, together with some aqua therapy - all in pools ranging in temperature from 30 to 40 degrees centrigrade, sat in the warm bubbles with the snow-capped mountains in the background.

Then it was on to Kaikoura, where we braved the windy weather and choppy seas to go and see some whales - however the deep channel just off the coast where sperm whales feed was obviously low on squid to eat as there weren't many about - and those that were,  spent their time on the bottom eating as opposed to popping up for air. When they did, the boat would chase over to see them, by which time they would disappear back down below. We did eventually get to see one close up, by which time we were quite a long way out and the sea was very lumpy -evidenced by the number of people looking into one of those funny white paper bags, as opposed to at the sperm whale! Anyway apologies for the blurred pic, but the boat was wobbling about a bit when I took it. Still, we returned to shore relieved to have held onto the contents of our stomachs.

 That same day we made our way our back to North Island via the ferry, which was delayed for an hour as a train was derailed in the harbour - not my excuse, and certainly the strangest I've heard for a boat delay! Once back into Wellington we camped on the harbour front motorhome park once again, and were somewhat surprised when someone decided to call into the van at 3.15am in the morning! whether he was lost, a burglar, or just a muppet. From there we made our way up the coast to Whanganui, then onto Ohakune where we met up with some wet weather for the first time really. It was so cloudy we couldn't see the mountains we had come to see.

 As a result we travelled along the Forgotten World Highway out to the west of the North Island to New Plymouth, where we had a wonderful walk along their coastal footpath. The Forgotten World Highway passed through the so-called independent state of Whangamomona - population 25 - they have a biennial festival where they elect a new president (usually an animal) attended by 6000. They will also stamp your passport if you wish.

 On leaving New Plymouh, however it was on to Waitomo, where there are huge quantity of caves in the area and here is a pic of Jane in one of them. The stalagmites (ground) and stalactites (ceiling) were amazing and in one cave you float out of the cave in a little boat in complete darkness, the only light being provided by 50000 glowworms, each emitting 470nanowatts of light (just for the technically minded)

From there it was onto Auckland to meet up with Steve and Julie who had very kindly agreed to put up with us (or put us up I should say). Went out for dinner with them and Olivia and had a lovely meal out. Next day it was out to visit Auckland, parking Steve's car on the 13th floor of the narrowest car park in the city centre! Then, it was a bus tour of the City, and lunch on the waterfront, where we caught a glimpse of the England Rugby Squad, about to go out for a sail on the Americas Cup Yachts - lets hope they are not all at sea in the next few weeks! Meanwhile take a look closely and you will see that someone has very kindly inflated Lewis Moodys life jacket for him! Anyway tomorrow it is off to South Africa where the work starts - so we will update you from there once we've settled in!