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hey everyone!
im still havign a great time in africa i love it here! work is going well and im enjoying plastering, getting better by the day. life is very chilled out during the week and on weekends we have lots of fun going to the local clubs and bars... i may be in africa but am still managing to drink cider so im happy lol. on a sunday we have been going to visit an orphanage which was set up and run by an amazing woman who is an orphan herself.
she does everything off her own back, gets no money from the government of charties. they completely reply on people giving them money directly. they have to pay to go to school here and with 48 children to look after she has a very hard job to make sure they have enough money. when talking to her she said the thing they needed the most was food as they dont have enough and are always struggling to buy more. it only costs 20 pounds to send a child to school for 6 months but that to the amount they get paid here is so much money, so imagine having to find enough money to send all the childern to school. she was such a happy inspiring woman and all the children love her. last week i gave them toys that i brought over with me, which they loved getting. all the children waited to recieve something, not pushing each other or wanting more, which was so different to what they children are like at school. talking to the older girls at the orphanage it became clear that they do everything for the younger ones and are like mothers themselves even though they are only 14 to 19 themselves.
so yesterday me and another girl beth took 4 of the older girls out for the day into town for lunch and shopping. it was possibly the best day i have had here so far :D when we went to pick them up they had all dressed up and were very excited. we took them for lunch in a hotel where lots of the westerns eat which was a massive treat for them and none of them had ever been before. it was lovely to see them as girls our age rather than looking after the younger ones for once. they all knew what they wanted to do be when they were older, how many children they wanted and the names of them... which just proves they are like any of us girls. it was very funny when our food arrived, they had ordered tyipical african food whilst me and beth ordered toastes and chips.... very english!! afterwards we went shopping to spend the rest of the money i had raised from the racenight. the girls were amazing and new exactly what the whole orphanage needed and didnt ask for anything extra or anything for themselves. this again showed how amazing these girls are.
we shopped in the local markets which we had never been to before which was crazy as we were the only 2 white poeple about. everyone kept trying to rip us off and charge more but the girls knew this and didnt take advantage of us at all. we ended up managing to buy so much with the money.
we brought....
18 pairs of shoes
24 plates
2 flasks for coffee
1 dress
lots and lots of smellies
shoes
50kg of rice
50kg of beans
6kg nuts
loads of washing powder
lollies (which the children were most excitied about)
school books
pens
a new tap
pad locks
this is just the stuff i can remember off the top of my head, there was loads more.
it was such a fun day and the girls loved it. they kept telling us how this was a happy day and they will never forget it. we treated the girls to some nail vanish which they loved and kissed when they got it... so little to us yet they loved it to such!!! we also brought 6 bracelets for me beth and the girls which were all the same and said that we were always going to wear them! a little cheesey yes but it meant so much to them, they were happy that that way we could never forget them!
a girly day out in africa was just the same as any where... it was so much fun and reminded me why i came here in the first place!!! the project that im on is amazing because we get to see so many different sides of africa and im glad i have been able to. but i really want to come back already and work in an orphanage propperly for a longer time. life is so relaxed here yet you can still live normally. so one day soon im coming back :D
hope all is well at home and its not to rainy!! its getting hotter here by the day, catching a nice tan now and heading to Zanzibar in less than 2 weeks for 2 weeks of pure sun before i come home!!
xxxx
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