Lynne In Africa

Hi all. I'm still here in Vilanculous, camping in a nice big tent in the garden of Jaco and Maria Rudolph. Its the largest square footage I've had to myself since I've been away - what luxury. Its not nearly as hot as it was when I was here in March, in fact its quite cold in the evenings now. I can't believe I need 3 blankets at night!

A number of you have very kindly asked about making a contribution to the projects I've been working on. I thought about it a lot, especially in relation to Livingstone, but at the moment any donations would go into the account of African Impact, which is ultimately a commercial organisation. Rather than do that, I would prefer to use any funds I can raise in different ways. Here are my thoughts:

1) You'll recall the orphanage in Livingstone, where 17 boys were living in a couple of very small leaky classrooms, while sleeping accommodation was being rebuilt. I'm still in touch (via letters and text) with one of the boys there - a boy I've referred to as P in previous blog entries. Another vol, Joyce, and I left him a phone and funds. It must be incredibly hard for these boys to make friends with the vols that pass through for a couple of months and then have them move on. I know P found it so hard for Joyce and I both to leave him in the space of a week. Being orphans, the boys clearly feel abandoned anyway, and I think for this reason some of the boys stay quite remote. I mentioned how awful it was to leave them, and I'm definitely going back later in the year.

At about 17/18 years old, the boys have to leave the orphanage and make their own way. Mostly, they have nowhere to go, no job, no prospect of further education and they struggle to make their way in the world. I would like to raise some funds to help these boys with their transition from the orphanage into adult life - to help them with rent, education fees, clothes/transport for jobs etc - the sort of thing that parents do for their children without a second thought. These boys have no-one who will do this for them and I would like to try to go some way to fill the gap.

2) I'm back in Vilanculos largely because I was inspired by Jaco and Maria themselves and the plans they have for building an orphanage. Jaco and Maria are Christian missionaries from South Africa. Irrespective of whether or what I or others believe, what stands out for me is the goodness, compassion and committment that they have to improving the lives of orphan children in this part of Mozambique.

Jaco, Maria, their children Maggie and Rudo, and the dog Lady, currently live a quite hand-to-mouth existence based on support from their church and their friends and supporters in South Africa. They currently care for 20 children at the orphanage in Pambarra (which I visited when I was last here, and 23 more at Temane, where I visited for the first time yesterday. They provide food and clothing as they can but these children desparately need more resources and better accommodation, especially the kids at Temane.

This is where the local women prepare food inTemane.

Many of the children have been sleeping on bare earth or reed mats in the open or under a tarpaulin cover. I think about this - I've been in a colder place for 2 months and I need 3 blankets. Two nights ago it was 12c, which is freezing for here. I was really feeling it so I can't imagine how the children coped. Yesterday we took as many blankets as we could find and Jaco could afford to the children at Temane. I bought them reed mats to sleep on (just over US$20 in total), which is what people usually use. We also gave them towels and some warm clothes that Jaco and Maria had collected from South Africa. Please have a look closely at the pictures. The tents were put up in March using Unicef tarpaulin. The items you can see in the tents are the mats and towels we handed out yesterday. There was nothing else there as the children don't have anything else. Until last night, the kids slept on the earth with no covers. At least now they have something, but they do need so much more. I really struggle with the fact that in the 21st century there are still children sleeping uncovered on the bare earth.

This is the children in Temane putting away their new mats and towels.

The children at Temane were gathered together quite randomly. One was found wandering by a road; others were orphaned when their parents died, or one parent died and the other abandoned them. They were living in the bush around the Temane community, which is about 265 people. Two of the kids have learning difficulties and were probably abandoned. Others didn't know why they were there and don't say anything when they are asked what happened to their parents. They are currently looked after by a man who is trying to teach them during the day, and 2 local women who all work for no reward. These people have families of their own but the women take turns to stay with the children at night, and there is also a man who keeps guard at night.

The mats and towels lined up in the girls' side of the tent.

When we arrived at Temane the children all stood together and sang a welcome song. They seemed very serious; unlike the children at Pambarra they did not run around or play. They watched us carefully, and were maybe a bit confused when they were given the mats and towels. I did manage to get a couple of smiles when I showed them the photos I took of them, but mostly they had serious faces, and didn't laugh or play. I was very moved also by the reality of their living conditions, which is beyond basic. To say these children have nothing is not right anymore, as they now have people who look after and care for them, but it is meagre in the extreme. I'm putting quite a few photos on this entry so you can see what I mean. I had tears in my eyes quite a few times while I was there, which made me feel a bit silly, but it was how I felt. They are just kids, little kids who don't really know what has happened to put them in this situation, or what is going to happen to them in the future, and it shows on their faces. Their lives are better now than they were a couple of months ago, but still relentlessly hard. The children need to walk 3km to fetch water and then back again. Small girls of about 7 or 8 years old are carrying 25kg containers on their heads for 3km. They don't know where their next meal is coming from.

All of these children and thousands of others across Mozambique are desparately in need of the basics - food and shelter. The orphanage in Livingstone looks luxurious in comparison (ha!). Jaco and Maria are aiming to meet those needs, but also to do more - to provide education, love, guidance, self-esteem and hope. They also remember that they are children and they need to have fun. On Sunday we took the 43 children from Pambarra and Temane to the beach where they played football, had fizzy drinks and sandwiches and built sandcastles - just like any other kids, except these ones had never done this before.

Jaco and Maria know they can't take on every child, but their plans are ambitious. They plan on making a significant impact by building an orphanage which will ultimately take in 350 children, housed in small homes of about 10, with house 'parents' in each one, to give them a home-like atmosphere. They already have a donation of land, and they have teams of volunteers due to come out from South Africa in June and July to start building. Any funds that I can raise will largely go towards building the orphanage itself, but will also be used to look after the children to buy essentials such as blankets, clothes and food. I know I'm tugging at the heartstrings (or trying to); this is because I believe we can actually make a difference. With funds in my account I can take it out of the cash point in town and go and buy the children food, extra blankets, or crayons and pencils as they desperately need stimulation. Food and the basics are quite expensive here, much more than I've encountered in the other places I've been so far.

If you want to know more about Jaco and Maria or the work they are doing their website is at www.mozambique-orphans.co.za. The easiest way to help is to raise funds as to ship items to here would be prohibitively expensive and would only lead to "issues" with Mozambique customs. Most items can be bought in South Africa and brought here by car if they are not available.

A debate that I've had many times with other volunteers I've met in Africa is whether to use funds to help a few people a lot, or a lot of people a little. No one has an answer; the only way I can do something is to do what feels right. Maybe we can help someone who will go on to do great things. Maybe we can start something that will go on to be much bigger. P, the Livingstone orphan I mentioned before, wants to be a doctor - maybe we can make that happen and he will go on to help hundreds of people. Maybe the children at Pambarra and Temane can feel safe and secure, get an education and grow up to have fulfilling lives. I don't know, but I can't be in Africa and remain unmoved, and I would rather try to do something and fail, than not try at all. The chance to give children and young people something like the love, care, attention and opportunities that we have, and hope for their futures, is something I can't walk away from.

Logistics

I have asked a friend to set up a charity for me so that I can start raising funds for these ideas. She is very generously researching how to do this in her non-existent spare time so if anyone knows anything that might be useful, please let me know and I'll put you in touch. I hope that this will be up and running over the summer. Those of you that want to contribute who are UK taxpayers, please hold your horses until I have this in place as any contributions will go so much further.

For any non UK tax-payers, or anyone who is simply bursting to contribute, I have set up a separate account for donations - Account number 6285 3546 Sort code 50 42 37 (Natwest Bank). Please, if you are kind enough to make a donation, can you put your name as a reference, or let me know so I can thank you. Unless of course you don't want to!!

My plan is to allocate donations 30:70% between the Livingstone and Mozambique projects unless a donor specifies a preferred project. I'll keep this under review as we go along. I also promise you totally and unequivocally that any funds put into my savings account will all go to the projects and that I will of course pay for my own expenses out of my own funds. I will also keep proper records which anyone can see (and I'll try very hard not to lose, but obviously without the wonderful Danise to organise me, that will be next to impossible). Of course when funds are going through the charity, proper records will kept as a matter of course.

Thanks for reading this - I know its another epic, and thanks to all those of you who have already started fundraising, or have offered to do so or to make a contribution, or who are about to! As soon as the charity is set up I'll let you know the details and we can really get started. I do genuinely think we can make a difference to childrens' lives. If you think anyone you know might be interested in fund-raising or contributing, please pass on a link to my blog, as every little bit will help, and if you want to know more about anything I've written about, please just ask.

And while I'm at it, thanks to everyone who is interested in my trip still, and to all those who keep in touch. Every message is valued, every thought is appreciated and every friend is precious, even, or perhaps especially, while I am so far away.