This week I went back to the Kwa-Ford Primary school, this was the first time that I could see a real school day at the Kwa-Ford Primary school and it was an experience. It was so busy, we arrived during break time and therefore we were greeted by a large group of children. Who all wanted to high five you, touch you or shake your hand. The children really want your attention. It was very nice to be welcomed like that. This was also the first time that Sandra and I could see the library and the culture room. The library is still in need of books, there are some books, but most selves are still empty. So if you have books that you need to get ride of, send them to Freewalker, the school can really use them !

This day we worked on the garden shade cloth, part of the Freewalker Kwa-Ford Primary School project is the creation of the garden. There is this big area on the school ground that used to be a garden, but at the moment it is just covered in weed. The garden is of importance, since most children only get one proper meal a day at school. Furthermore if the garden is up and running the school can also sell the vegetables and earn a bit of money to buy school books and other. A while ago Sandra and I worked on the shade cloth, we basically sew them together. Since that was done it was time to put it up.  The frame was already there, we only had to get some planks and hammer the cloth on the frame. The unfortunate thing was that all the planks were covered with nails. Sandra and I were on removing the nails duty, which was a real pain in the ass! But the result was worth it!

Then the children had a break and they all came and look at what we were doing. It felt like we were monkeys in a zoo! Some of them started to help us, some of the children are so cute. It is so fun to see the different personalities, some are really cheeky and others are really shy. After a morning of hard work the cloth was finally on place. The next step is getting all the parents and teachers on board. Since they need to do the labour of the gardening. It is important that the parents learn how to garden, so that they can keep the garden running. Freewalker’s philosophy is to educate the people and creating long lasting projects.

After the work at the school, Sandra and I needed to get our custom for the pirate party in Jbay! Jordie took us to this Chinees shop, which was great! We could buy our whole outfit for almost nothing. Following the shopping we went surfing ! The waves were perfect for a beginner and it was the first time I took a wave and finished it still standing Big milestone!!!

For the weekend Sandra and I again went to Jbay, there was a goodbye pirate party for the bar manager of Island Vibe. After two years of working for the bar it was time to go! The bar was changed into a real pirate bar and packed with people. It was a big reunion. People I met during my first weekend in South Africa, were there. It was so much fun to see all of them again. The weekend ended up to be a great one!

The first of May is Labour day, which means a day off for the people in South Africa. This also mean that the shops close earlier then normal, including the surf rental shop. Sandra and I wanted to go surfing, but that wasn’t possible. We didn’t know what to do now so we just walked around the boardwalk, until we received a phone call from Jessica, one of the students in Jbay. Informing us that there was this concert at the boardwalk. Sandra and I went to meet up with the students and went to the concert. Which ended up to be a great experience, three South African rap groups were performing. It was a very cool concert, even though I didn’t know any of the artists. I really enjoyed it, after the concert we went to the backpackers in Port Elizabeth and had a nice after party.

This week we also visited part of the Donkin Reserve. This area of Port Elizabeth is definitely worth visiting. There is so much to see and you have a beautiful view of the harbor of Port Elizabeth and when lucky you can see dolphins, the pyramid, which was build by sir Donkin in memory of wife, who died of the flu in India. Port Elizabeth is also named after her. In front of the pyramid there is this big mosaic floor! Furthermore their is a light house, beautiful stairs, which are decorated with mosaic art and a memorial of the apartheid time.

Again a memorable week in South Africa!

Hamba Kakuhle!

Rosalie has thoroughly constructed a survey for the voluntourist to better understand the reasons people want to volunteer their time while on vacation. If anyone has ever volnteered we would love to have your input at: http://freeonlinesurveys.com/app/rendersurvey.asp?sid=8j162wiaaubdres32479

You will also have the chance to win a free Safari with Freewalker!

Rosalie has also been busy with our new VOLUNTEER DIARY section on the website! Please check out http://www.freewalker.co.za/volunteer-diary/#es for the weekly updates!

A BIG THANKS to Roz for all of her hard work and efforts to develop Freewalker!!

This week was in sign of the animals. It all started with a night run through a game reserve. As I said before the people her are sport fanatics, so it was of no surprise that this friday they organised a run through a game reserve. Jordie and Murray decided that they wanted to participate in the run. Ty, Lauren, Longie and me decide to come along and instead of running we will just drink. When arriving at the game reserve we found out that we were 50 minutes to late, not very smart. After some talking Jordie and Murray were still aloud to run and we just started drinking.I think we were the only one who didn’t run. I went to the toilet and there were these two little children waiting to use the toilet and I got into a conversation with them about the run, this little boy said I run the 3K and his a bit older brother said I run the 5K and then they asked me how many Ks I run. It was a very awkward moment as I felt very ashamed when I had to tell them that I didn’t run. After the run we had a very nice party.After the party Longie wanted to go to the KFC, we thought ok let’s go to the KFC. This was the biggest mistake of the whole night. We were at the drive-in and we waited for an hour! Fast-food, yeah right here they can better call it slow-food.

The next morning we went to a game reserve called Hopewell conservation estate. where we were aloud to walk around. Upon arrival there was this group of Giraffes waiting for us. It was freaking amazing to see the giraffes from so close by. I saw giraffes before in the zoo, but the way I felt seeing them in the wild, was a feeling I can’t describe. Giraffes are very curious animals, they were looking at us the whole time.

It was also very funny to see what kind of movement their neck makes when they are walking/running.  After the the guy from the game reserve warned us to be careful were you walk, since there are also snakes on the reserve we were ready to go. In the beginning I was mostly focussing on were to put my feet, since I didn’t wanted to get bitten by a snake. We spotted some springbokkies, they were also very close by . It was a very nice walk and the Giraffes were the highlight of the walk.

Then we went to Jbay to have a birthday lunch for Lauren at the beach. The light was really weird at the restaurant. There was this kind of misty glow light, it looked really cool! Before I came to South Africa my uncle told me that a lot of people find the light special in South Africa and he asked me to see what I thought of it and today I had to agree with the people. It was so weird, but also so nice. The restaurant was located at the beach, which gave us a nice view of the ocean. During the lunch we ordered some champagne  to celebrate Laurens Birthday.  After the lunch we relaxed a bit, which gave me the opportunity to create something for my Grandfathers 80th Birthday! The result can be seen in the picture below, once more ‘Happy Birthday Grandpa:-)’!

Sandra and I decided to spend the night in Jbay, so that we could go surfing the next day!
Arriving at Island Vibe was very nice, everybody was very happy to see us and another very cool thing was that I run into a Peter again, someone I met during my first weekend in South Africa. Never thought I would meet up with him again. You never know who is staying at Island Vibe and that is the beauty of Island Vibe. We had another nice party and the next morning we went surfing !!! Unfortunately it was hell, it was low tide, there was a very strong current and it was also very windy, but I still enjoyed it ! After the surfing we just relaxed at Island Vibe and then we went back to Port Elizabeth, where a movie, popcorn, cheese and apple were already waiting for us, because don’t forget every Sunday is movie night!

South African Pingu!
One of Freewalkers projects is at SAMREC (South African Marine Rehabilitation and Educational Centre.) Which is a small centre located at the edge of Port Elizabeth. SAMREC is an organisation who is doing a create job. They rescue sea animals and rehabilitate the rescued African penguins. SAMREC also has a hotline, people can call when an animals is in danger. SAMREC will go out to catch the injured/sick animal and either bring it back to SAMREC or to another centre. Today I helped SAMREC with taking care of the penguins. It was an unique experience, there are two types of penguins, the penguins who are almost cured and the IC penguins, which are basically the penguins who just arrived and who are very weak. The IC penguins are mostly more aggressive, since they are really scared. I helped with feeding the IC penguins, which was actually a pretty sad thing, the penguins are really ill.

Today was the day that they needed to weigh the penguins. Every week they weigh the penguins so that they can monitor their progress. We had to gather all the penguins and then we had to pick them up one by one. Before coming to SAMREC I had this idea about penguins, I always thought they were very friendly and not aggressive at all. I probably thought this because of movies like Madagascar, Happy Feet and Pingu!, Ok maybe not from Madagascar as in this movie they are badass! Anyway this isn’t true they can really bite you and if you aren’t wearing protection they you will get all these scares and your arms look like you are cutting yourself. In order to weigh the penguins you need to pick them up and picking up these penguins is a tasks on its own. You have to hold them under their wings, then you have to make sure that you hold them next to your body, otherwise you will get penguin shit all over you and you also have to make sure that they aren’t to close to your face otherwise you will get bitten in the face. Luckily for carrying the penguins I had some kind of protection for my arms. In the beginning I was really afraid to pick up the penguins as I didn’t wanted to get bitten, not only because it may hurt, but also because I don’t know how I would react. Will I in a reflex drop the penguin? After the first penguin bit me in my arm I realized that the protection is doing her work as it felt more like a pinch then a bite and yeah I didn’t drop the penguin.

At SAMREC there was this one very cute penguin called Argo. Argo doesn’t bite, which is actually kind of sad, since the reason that he doesn’t bite is because he is brain damaged and he will never be able to go back to the sea again. He will spend his whole life in SAMREC. He also almost never moves, he just stands still. There is also this other penguin, who is very aggressive and is biting constantly, his name is Zach. It is actually good that he bites, since that means that he is getting stronger and better. The team of SAMREC consist mainly out of volunteers, who give up their spare time to help the penguins. Some of them waking up very early to prepare the food and medication for the penguins. There was this lovely old couple who volunteer every tuesday afternoon! They just wanted to do something and give something back to the earth. Which is in my opinion a very good thing to do!

Hamba Kakuhle!

There is a nice park located in Port Elizabeth, but it isn’t like the parks in Holland. You really have to hike through this park. It is a beautiful park and when walking through this park you don’t have the feeling you are in a city. We spotted this animal called a Rock Hyrax a.k.a. Dassie. The park has this nice trees, flowers and even a small waterfall. In the park there was this funny tree with weird blue sticky flowers in it! You can take these flowers from the tree and use them as stickers. These flowers are called umabophe in Xhosa and Blousyselbos in Afrikaans.

The next day we went to the beach to walk down the promenade it was fun, since you can see people running back and forward and some people really run funny. When I see people running funny I always have to think of the television show Friends, with Phoebe running so freaking weird, just because it is more fun. The people in Port Elizabeth are obsessed with sport everywhere you look you see people exercising. People get up really early in morning to exercise. It actually kind of sucks you in, because I also started to exercise and getting up early in the morning to do so (people who know me know that I am not a morning person). The people at the gym are morning persons, because they talk and talk and talk. I am like how can you be so talkative so early in the morning! It is however a good thing to exercise so early in the morning, since after the exercise I am really awake and ready to take on the day.

Anyway at the beach there where two guys making these amazing sand sculptures, I think they worked on these sculptures the whole day. In the evening it was shopping time. People who don’t know it isn’t normal that the shops are open at night. It is not like in Holland that the shops are open every Thursday night or Friday night. No here it is special and they make it special, because here you get champagne while shopping…Wohoo!

Let’s get away for the weekend

Easter weekend, the weekend you are obliged to spend it with family, but not me! This Easter I celebrated it with a family, but not my family. It  was Murray’s family and it was awesome! We left in a hurry Thursday afternoon and it all the hectic we forgot Swazi the Freewalker dog! The most stupid part is that we were already far on our way to Graaff Reinet, when realising Swazi wasn’t in the car, but luckily Murray’s mom was still in Port Elizabeth so she picked up Swazi.  We also gave Katie a lift to Graaff Reinet, a woman who worked in Port Elizabeth for a couple of weeks and well apparently they do not have any grocery stores in Graaff Reinet since she took a whole grocery store back with her to Graaff Reinet.

On our way to Graaff Reinet Murray and Katie told as the story of the Tokoloshe!The Tokoloshe is an evil spirit, which will haunt the people and curse the people with an illness or even death. Wizards are the one who call up the Tokoloshe to haunt people who mistreated them. The Tokoloshe is a small hairy creature who will bite of the toes of the people sleeping, that’s why most people have their beds on bricks, this way the Tokoloshe can’t reach.The Tokoloshe also doesn’t have thumbs, so that is why some Xhosa people look at you hands while shacking it, just to be sure you are not a Tokoloshe. There is only one way to get rid of the Tokoloshe and that is with the help of a n’anga (witch doctor), who has the power to banish him from the area. It was an entertaining story, but I don’t believe one word of it.

It was very cloudy in Port Elizabeth, when driving to Graaff Reinet it was getting really dark. Then we passed the mountains and the sky changed from dark and cloudy to light and bright. The clouds got stuck at the mountain tops, it was really cool to see the clouds trying to get pass the mountains, it was a strange spooky view. I wanted to take a picture, but the loser I am, I accidently left my camera in the trunk of the car. The next time I will definitely take a picture. Uxolo!

After a very long drive we finally arrived in Graaff Reinet. The family was very friendly towards Sandra and me, which was very nice! We had a nice room to stay in and the surrounding was beautiful. The Friday was finally a relaxing day, a day of doing nothing, besides babysitting Murrays nieces, which was actually not that bad. There were a lot of dogs present in Graaff Reinet two of them reminded me of a dog I used to have. They also had a little monkey, this monkey was very small and very cute. I however did do some kind of work, I made a chair for Miemies!

In the evening I had my first braai, which is actually a kind of BBQ, but you shouldn’t say that out loud because they will get angry. I don’t know why, because it is almost the same thing, since you basically wait for a very long time for your food and while waiting you drink and talk. Same thing right!

The next day they tried to transport the biggest table ever.  When seeing the table and then looking at the car they wanted to use, I was like how can you ever be able to transport it, but they managed.  After the struggle of transporting the table it was time for a hike.  We went to the ‘Eerste Fontein trial’ yes it is a Dutch name. The reason for this is that the VOC (Dutch East India Company) were the first who reached Graaff Reinet and start building the city Graaff Reinet. The trial is located within to mountains and it is beautiful space. The walk was very nice we spotted kudu’s and you could see traces of the animals. After a while we got to a place where you could look over a space of nothing, really nothing just nature, it was so peaceful.

In the evening we went to Miemies a cultural exchange dinner in a township and it was special. Miemies used to be the nanny of Murray, who mostly cooked for the family. After the children were grown up, there was no reason for Miemie to stay and work for the family. As a result she didn’t have an income anymore. That is when Freewalker came up with the idea to use her cooking as a way to generate income for Miemie and her family. After raising money to get the project started, Miemies was created, people can come and join a lovely meal at Miemies. Miemie is a special woman she lives in a small house with her husband Richard, youngest child, three grand children and a dog called Lady Gaga, why would you ever call your dog Lady Gaga. The pleasant thing of Miemie and her family is that they are so friendly, even though they don’t have much they are ver generous. I helped Miemie making Rooster Brood, burned my fingers a little bit while doing that, but it was worth it.

While making the rooster brood I talked to Miemie and Richard in Zuid Afrikaans. What is really a weird language, they have these different words that mean something completely different in Dutch. For example Aftrekplek it is a parking space, I am not going to say what it means in Dutch, but well let’s just say it something completely different. They also say almost after every sentence nie. When reading something in Zuid Afrikaans, you just think wow everything is written wrong, where did they learn to write. After the making the rooster brood, there was this private dance show of the Luscombe family, it was actually some kind of line-dancing. Then it was finally dinner time and the food was amazing. In the end we received a little card saying “Thank you for you support. We hope u have enjoy it and hope to see u soon”, which made this evening complete.

After Miemies we went to a local bar in Graaff Reinet called Jay Jays and well what can I say about it, I am happy that I saw it, but I will never go there again. The bar is filled with these humongous farmer people, who looked actually a bit intimidating and the sign saying that you have to pay a deposit for your glass didn’t really help. It reminded me a bit of my first party night in Fijnaart, but then times 10 worse.

The next morning we went to drive through a game reserve, which was called Camdeboo National Park. While driving through we saw monkeys, springbok, ostrich, mountain Zebra. It was very nice to see the animals in nature. Then it was time for the Valley of Desolation on top of the mountain you have the most amazing view, it is so quiet and peaceful. I could have stayed there the whole day and just do nothing, just sit and think! Unfortunately we had to leave, as we had an easter lunch to go to.

The next day we drove back to Port Elizabeth! It was a very nice weekend!

Hamba kakuhle!!!

People help the People

By Rosalie Van De Coevering

My first day in Port Elizabeth started with a drive to the Kwa-Ford Primary School. The drive towards the school was an experience on it’s own. You really look your eyes out, especially when you come closer to New Brighton where the Kwa-Ford Primary school is located, which is one of the poorest areas of Port Elizabeth, with an unemployment rate of 80%. The roads are dirty as everybody just throws everything alongside the road. New Brighton is an entirely different world, in this part of South Africa they speak Xhosa. This is one of the 11 official languages in South Africa. It is actually a hard language to learn, since you have to make tongue clicking sounds when pronouncing the c, x and q!

When driving into new brighton you see ship containers converted into little shops. This way the people try to earn some money. When turning into the street the school is located, two little boys spotted ‘Big Red’ (the red Freewalker van) and run towards the school, they were happy to see the van. These two boys named Anele and Boubou helped us with the work during the day.

 

The school didn’t really feel like a school, mainly because there were almost no children. Since at the moment the children are on spring break, which was a good thing as it gave us the opportunity to renovate some classrooms. The classrooms are in a desperate need of an upgrade.  The school has around 8 classrooms and these classrooms are really messy, dirty and the windows are broken. Today we worked on the classroom of miss D. Miss D is a very nice lady, who introduced herself as Magogo, which means old lady, since she is already 60. However you wouldn’t say she jumps around and dances around just to proof that she isn’t old. She really likes the colour red and therefore we painted all the walls in her classroom red. While painting miss D was constantly saying beautiful and I love you, she was really happy we where painting her room. In just one morning the whole room changed from depressing to warm and cosy.  It is very cool to see what a difference a bit of paint can do.

 

 

After a morning of painting it was lunchtime. The lunch consisted out of a type of bread called Rooster brood or Rostili, which is actually bread baked on a self-made campfire. The trick of making good rooster brood is the turning, you have to turn the bread while it is baking. The rooster brood was really nice especially because it was still a bit warm. We spread the bread with jam and cheese at the same time. I never eat that before, but it was actually pretty nice.

 

 

The next morning we visited the red location museum. This museum gives you an insight in the struggles of the people living in New Brighton during the apartheid. This museum is very striking and after reading and seeing photos about these times you can’t believe why people did and still do these horrible things to each other. There was one specific room that left his specific mark. This room showed how many people where killed during that period without anybody reliable.  There was also a replica of a shack, which gave you the idea what it feels like to live in a shack.

 

 

After the museum we again went to the Kwa-Ford Primary school, this time more children where present at the school and they loved it that we were there. The children really love the attention they get from the volunteers. Sandra (another Volunteer) and I worked together on a net for the garden. The Kwa-Ford Primary School has her own garden in which they grow vegetables. This way the students have at least one good meal a day.

While working on this net a shy boy called Anele asked me if I could read the Lion King to him. I told him that we should read it together, at first he didn’t want this, he wanted me to read. Finally he agreed on reading together, which made me to find out that he couldn’t read that well, even though he is in grade three.  After talking to Miss D I found out that some teachers leave before school is over, leaving the children on their own.

In the afternoon it was time for a football match the Freewalker’s against the Kwa-Ford Primary School children. We thought we shouldn’t play that well as this are little children, but what were we wrong. They were really fast and good football players, but thankfully the game ended in a tight. After the football match we went back to the Freewalker house to rest a bit and get ready for the goodbye dinner of one of the volunteers Leo.

 

 

Cheers to the freaking weekend!!!

After a week of working at the school it was time for my first weekend in South Africa and it became one to remember. Together with Sandra and Leo we took a taxi to Jeffreys Bay. Jeffreys bay is one of the most famous surfing spot in the world and it was for many years the host of the Billabong Pro ASP World tour. When enter the city you enter the surf world.  Everywhere you look you see a surf shop. We stayed at ‘Island Vibe’ a nice backpackers located at the beach.  The cool thing of staying at a ‘backpackers’ is that it provides you with the opportunity to meet people from all over the world. It is so easy to talk to each other. Sandra and Leo wanted to go Jeffreys bay to party. There was a goodbye party for one of the students of Jeffreys bay language school.

Jeffreys Bay is known for the super tubes, which are big waves, so if you are going to Jeffreys Bay you should at least once visit this place. A dorm mate woke me up at 7 in the morning to ask if I wanted to join them to see the super tubes.  the decision was made quickly, of course I wanted to see the super tubes.  The super tubes are like a surfing movie, you don’t know where to look you first you see professional surfers surfing these massive waves and then you see the real surfers of nature, the dolphins surfing the same waves. Seeing these dolphins, was really breath taking, I tried to take photos, unfortunately without much success.

 

 

Afterwards it was finally time for my first surfing lesson and it was freaking awesome. The first time you are gliding with the waves is an extraordinary feeling. After a lot of wipe-outs I am proud to say that I stood up, even though it was only for a second. It is a really amazing experience, you are pedalling and waiting on the wave to come and then you are suddenly going extremely fast. It was high tide so we were really lucky since the waves were perfect and there was enough water. The second day I wasn’t that lucky since it was low tide and there wasn’t enough water. Even though it was low tide I still managed to stand up for 3 seconds. It was really fun but also really exhausting and after taken down by the waves a couple of time you are done.

After the surfing I was relaxing in the bar when all of the sudden a group traditional African children dancers dressed up in African outfits started dancing. These dancers had a lot of energy and it was very enjoyable to watch them dancing. The children from this dancing group are from townships and dancing is their passion. With the dancing they raise money to buy food, dancing clothes and they are saving for a car to go to dancing contests. All the money collected will go into a special fund, since if it is given to the children, the parents will take the money and spend it on alcohol.

Saturday night we had our last party in the Mexican place and then it was time to go back to Port Elizabeth. The first week as a Freewalker was one to remember and there are still many to come.

Salani Kakuhle!!

By Corrine Elis

St. Francis Bay… we were picked up for what I think will be my last trip with the Fabulous Freewalkers. We drove out to St. Francis bay in trusty Big Red for a weekend away on the beach. We arrived into the town and headed straight to get food to Braai out…im gonna miss braai-ing every week when I leave this place!! One thing you should know about St. Francis bay is that it is is picturesque. All of the buildings are white with brown or thatched roofs. Even the grocery stores and restaurants are like this! It is so charming. Our beach house fit the description and was awesome as usual. Brittany, Andrea and I bunked together and our room had an awesome beach view because we had a balcony. We got settled in and were just hanging out with the crew which included the usual suspects: 7 american teachers, 1 american/south African, 1 full fledged south African, 1 british dude, 2 swiss and 1 girl from Israel. I’m loving all of the international experiences I’m getting here. We all chilled and braai-ed and then attempted to walk down to a pub that was closed at 9:00. St. Francis is old. We came home and did something WAY more fun…played a board game! It was a lot like Catch-Phrase and the American team was awesome…we even got named the cocaine team because we talked to fast to one another to get the right answer. No don’t worry, I don’t do cocaine.

 

The view from our house!

On Saturday we woke up and had a light breakfast because we were planning on going to a fine food tasting. We were told it was at this golf course….but we got there and asked around and literally everyone looked at us with blank looks on their faces…that was awkward…but the cool thing was the course was a top ten south African golf course and was designed by none other than the golden bear himself: Jack Nickalaus! I took a bunch of pictures and got really excited about him being from CBUS. Also, there was a wedding getting set up there for later that night and it looked SO AWESOME…definitely considering a destination wedding…holla!!

there he isssss

Once we were directed to the correct food tasting spot, in another part of St. Francis Bay….we loved our lives. We gorged ourselves on fine cheeses, and meats, and spread, and some people even ate Ox tongue, which I avoided at all costs. Don’t really like the idea of my tongue tasting another animals tongue…just a personal preference I guess.

After the tasting we got ready to sand dune board! Its like snow boarding, but on sand dunes. I guess that is what you do when you don’t get snow. It was a really crazy thing….boarding down sand. It basically turned
into a play fest on the hills where we completely tired ourselves out and then proceeded to head to a beach to play and pass out in the sun. It was awesome…the pictures say it all.

Attempting to sand board

classic jumping pic

We hurried home to shower and get ready for this “Surprise” that Murray had been warning us about all week to get us pumped. We all were guessing they brought us Shakira, invited Whitney Houston back from the dead, got us midget clowns to fold balloon animals, and even got Nelson Mandela to speak…but alas all of our guesses were wrong. But our surprise was so much better than that! They organized a group of Traditional African Dancers to come and perform for us. They sang and danced and then did some audience participation where we came up with them and grooved. It was a moment in time for sure.

Awesome dancers, awesome show

Later that evening we went to eat at a place called Christy’s Catch and I got some fish. We hung out the rest of the night and even met up with some guys who knew Murray and Jordie and for some reason the guy gave us
his shirt. I took it…FREE SOUVENIER! Haha it was fun!

The next day we woke up to AMAZING weather. The sky was clear and the sun was scorching, so we went to go snorkel at Seal Cove. The rocks were amazing. Seriously, we just climbed around the rocks for an hour
before even attempting to snorkel. The ocean is a pretty incredible thing my friends. We then snorkeled which was pretty fun. I saw some fish and explored parts of the rocks that you cant see while standing up. Then we laid out to perfect our bronzing.

Getting ready to snorkel…then me in action!

After our day out in the sun, we had some lunch and drove home to PE thankful and happy about all of our other cool experiences that weekend!

by Corrine Elise

So this weekend I went on yet another weekend adventure with Freewalker!! As you can tell by my cheesy cultural title (ode to olivia newton-john)…we were cultured this weekend! On Friday I left school a little early to finish packing before we left for the weekend to go to Graff-Reinet. Murray picked myself, Andrea, and Emma up in Big Red so we could begin our adventure. We stopped by their house to pick up some other FreeWalkers from Switzerland (always fun having so many international people involved!) before heading out. The drive took about 3 hours but was beautiful. It feels as if we are out West in the States, but then you see some crazy animal like a kudu that you don’t normally see in America and then you are reminded that you are in South Africa.

Me, Emma, Andrea and Swazi!

We arrived to Graff-Reinet and the amazing bed and breakfast we were staying at: The Kingfisher Lodge. Murray’s sister Andree was there to greet us and show us our rooms. (She takes care of the whole B&B and is the sweetest) Our room was so nice and the three of us even had our own bathroom. We explored the house and just reveled at how lucky we were to be on this trip! Once we were settled we all changed to go and experience the Graff-Reinet Gentlemen’s club!!

Behind the Bar at the Gentlemen’s Club…notice the nice spread of guns in the background.

Do not be confused, this is not like a strip club…it is like a VFW or a veterans place in the states…but better and more historical. Old farmer men would come here to have a drink and socialize with one another while their wives waited for them out in the car! It wasn’t until the 80′s that they voted to let women into the club! Crazy. When we walked into the club all of the men perked up. It’s not every day that a group of international tourists enters their haven of guns, dead animals and booze. They were a hoot. They were talking to us, offering to buy drinks, and just being dirty old men. This one guy, Vic, kissed the three of us on the lips (a peck) before leaving! Its like old men think they have a liscense to do whatever they want! We were dying laughing the whole time.

Our Room at the Kingfisher! We loved it.

After leaving the club, we met up with one of my teachers, Pippa, and her husband Chad. They had arrived to partake in our weekend because they are best friends with Jordie and Maury who own and run Freewalker. Side note: it was so fun to have Pippa there!! She is a blast and we loved hanging out with her outside of school hours! We got home and we hung out and socialized some more…and then we ate the most delicious dinner ever!! Andree made it for us and we all were in food heaven. It was seriously like a thanksgiving feast!! I was feeling exhausted because of school and travel and such so I went to bed shortly after entering my first food coma of the weekend!

On Saturday we woke up and had a light breakfast because we were informed our lunch was going to be delicious. We packed up big red again and headed out to Nieu-Bethesda…a tiny little out of the way town which had some serious culture. First, we went to the Owl House. Which is one of the creepier/interesting places I’ve ever been. It is this lady, Helen Martin’s old house. She legit spent her whole life making strange sculptures out of concrete and glass, as well as covering her entire house in crushed glass. SHE IS NUTSO. I literally cannot explain the point of this place, nor what it was like…its one of those once in a lifetime experiences that you have to see to believe.

Just a taste of the insanity of this place…

After that we walked around Nieu-Bethesda, along the dirt roads, looking at the shops, seeing a cool church, just experiencing small town life (67 people) in South Africa. We made it over to eat at the Two Goats Brewery (i think thats the right name). AND IT WAS A SPREAD! Seriously my italian family would have been in heaven…cheeses galore, spread over bread, meats, etc. We pounded food and then went comatose afterwards. We laid around in the yard, soaking up the sun, watching some backyard cricket, and then decided to head out to go to the VALLEY OF DESOLATION LATION LATION LATION…

It is in the Camdeboo National Park and is this seriously amazing cliff-like view. Dave told me all about it because he is smart and knows a lot about science. So ask him if you want to know more. HAHA I just have good pictures of me being a goon with all the beautiful views on this hike like trip we took. It was awesome, beautiful, breathtaking. Im always game to see God’s beautiful creation all over the world!! We have an amazing planet!

Ok I will get out of my tree hugger mode and share about our evening…this post is getting sooo wordy and soooo long. We got home to change and hang out before heading into one of the townships to have a cultural dinner experience at Miemies!

The Freewalkers adopted Miemie’s into a business  because the namesake (miemie) was Murray’s nanny,cook, caretaker, whatever you want to call it when he was growing up. They set her up with the tools necessary to run a small business and they are hoping that people within the township will actually start going. Until then, they bring groups in to support the business. It was amazing!! We hung out, ate an amazing dinner where i had Springbok! for the first time! Then after dinner the good times dancing got started. We asked the neighbors to put on music and we danced to some popular dance music in the township. The girls on the other side of the fence were showing us moves and then they actually came over and danced with us. It was really an experience I will never forget. Being there was really cool, Miemie and her family were so welcoming, and I really got to see a different life in South Africa. There’s a ton of poverty in this townships and the way that people live there is very sad. It blows our poverty level out of the water I think.

Miemie’s Eating area:

Ok seriously if you have made it this far in my blog, I commend you. There’s just some pics left from Sunday so stay with me people.

On Sunday we had a chill day, visited some museums in Graff-Reinet, experiencing more culture, had a surprise birthday lunch for Emma, hung around the pool at the B&B and then headed home. But before we got home we stopped at a Cheetah Breeding Farm! It was very cool, I got to pet a full size cheetah female and then play with a baby lion cub who was only four weeks old! I am loving all of the Animal Experiences that I am getting to have here.

Our wildlife conservation students have been busy this month, not only working with the animals but also designing a new volunteer boma under a coral tree and a camp site for bush sleep outs. Both constructions can now be used by all volunteers to come and enjoy sitting out in the bush amongst wild animals and be exposed to the peacefulness of nature and the sounds of the African night. We were even assisted by a friendly ostrich named Peanut and curious giraffe peaking over at times. Both projects were great fun and tried and tested by the group. The wildlife project keeps getting better and better and we look forward to having more volunteers join us and seeing the rewards of hard conservation efforts. The rhino protection plans are underway and hopefully going to build a lookout point for volunteers to always keep an eye on these highly vulnerable rhinos. Poaching rhino for their horn has become an epidemic in South Africa and we are doing what we can to protect these rhinos!

Come join the Team and be a part of these conservation efforts!

We have been fortunate enough to have met one of the most humble, selfless people we know. In the bustling Township of Kwanobuhle on the outskirts of Uitenhage, one man has taken it upon himself to change the future of the children around him. In Aron Jacobs’s garage, he has created hope, inspired many, fuelled determination, created discipline, and instilled a sense of pride in his students and community, all through the means of Boxing.  Eighteen South African Title holders have emerged from this tin shack of corrugated iron and through a dedicated trainer.

Mr. Jacobs has taken it a step further by introducing Tae Bo for the ladies, which is receiving a lot of interest.  He works extra jobs to keep the gym alive and to support the students,  and also personally transports them to events with his old car, on occasion breaking down before competitions. After 25 years of solely providing for all of his boxers, Freewalker and Brian Corrigan of Hopewell Conservancy have taken it upon themselves to raise funds to build a Training Center/Youth Support Center to assist Mr. Jacobs in his fight to keep children off the streets and to equip them with life skills that will help them strive for a better future. Mr. Jacobs told us that: “He has been waiting for 26 years for someone like us to meet him, and in the meantime he has simple just pushed on through”.

Together with your support, we can build a safe haven for many kids, woman and men, and give Mr. Jacobs a platform he needs to caring on his admirable work. We believe there will be one great success story to come…so if you are reading this, please pass this on to your friends and get them to subscribe to our news.

Before and after photos might show a remarkable improvement in a classroom that was not fit for babies, but the hard work and tedious hours spent painting and creating it must be praised!

Leo Kaufmann, Jessica Saudan and Carmel Or spent two weeks cleaning, painting and thinking up new educational ideas to paint on the walls of the Grade R classroom at the Kwa-Ford Primary School. Volunteers have the opportunity to be part of the development projects and to leave something behind that will remain for years to come. We spent days on the finer details of the classroom design, and on the last day, we had our first birthday party for one of the kids. Leo (the school hero) taught the babies some interesting new dance moves, very funny. Miss Tinta, The Principal, bought the volunteers each a photo frame and certificates in acknowledgement of their incredible work.

There are so many different development projects still to be done, we just need the volunteers to join us and to be part of something special. The Classroom has given the School, Parents, Teachers and Children new hope and a brighter future…the volunteers have no idea how much this does for education in a dark and gloomy period in South African education.