Emyezweni Pre-School

One of the joys of my work is that I get to spend time with a wide variety of people in a wide variety of contexts. One of the best contexts is Emyezweni Pre-School which is run by Debs & Rach as part of HCC's outreach into Lwandle. This morning I took my laptop and projector and played Cars for the kids. Needless to say the film was a huge hit.

The boy in the foreground in the check shirt was riveted

Paddling Pool

We had a fairly lazy weekend and spent quite a bit of time around the paddling pool particularly on Sunday. The weather was great with the temperature in the high 20's rather than low 30's so it was quite comfortable. On Saturday we went to the Nature Reserve (sadly the camera battery died) and had a lovely morning feeding the ducks and trying to coax Spikey the porcupine out of his house, with no success.

Cluster Maps

We've just added the 'Cluster Map' feature lower down on the blog (just above the hit counter) for a bit of fun. We were impressed with the results within the first 24 hours of the map being on the Blog. As you can see from the dots we attracted a fairly broad array of worldwide hits. We figure the dot in Argentina is our dear friends Hazel & Martin but beyond that we can only wonder at the global reach of a simple tool like this Blog.

Hadeda Ibis

The Hadeda Ibis (Bostrychia hagedash) is a regular over our house and can usually be heard long before they're seen as they make a right racket. However, they are spectacular birds and it's a real privilege to have one stop on your house like this.

To see more visit our PhotoBlog

 

Home Based Care

We are constantly amazed by God's goodness and faithfulness regarding Chris Nissen Park. Just when things are getting difficult again in many respects, God sends along a little angel and we can start to dream and plan again for the future! As you know Paula has been dreaming of officially launching a small home based care team this year. Around 20 women from the community have received some training and Paula has done quite a bit of work drawing up requirements, budgets, characteristics of carers etc. However, apart from so far lacking any sort of finance to be able to start the scheme, she also felt quite out of her depth in terms of the more medical side of home based care.

Chris Nissen Update

We're currently melting in the heat, today the temp is supposed to drop to 27°C so that will be a welcome break from the high 30's we've been enjoying. On Wednesday Dean was in Jonkershoek where the temp' was 41° at 9 in the morning! Hopefully this evening it will be a bit cooler as Dean goes mountain biking with a friend. Dean's riding three times a week at present which is great.

Comet McNaught

C/2006 P1 (McNaught) has been hanging around over South Africa for several days and will probably be around for a little while longer. Sadly the weather was cloudy for the best part of the comet's time with us so we've only just been able to see it and get any decent photos, hence the not brilliant photo here! What a pleasure to see something in the cosmos so clearly.

Family Fun

We've had some fun this weekend just chilling with friends and at home. On Sat' we went to some friends around the corner for a lamb 'poitjie' which was delicious. The afternoon was very chilled and the kids played brilliantly. Today we've been hanging out having a braai (bbq) and messing about. The kids have had fun whilst we've melted in the heat, it's well over 30°C today and is supposed to remain hot for the rest of the week. Summer seems to have taken an age to arrive properly but it's arrived with a vengeance.

First Day At School

Our little boy is growing up! This morning he had to put his uniform on for the first time as he got ready to go to the Nursery at the International School. Needless to say we got lumps in our throats as we saw our little boy suddenly looking all grown up. Joel was really excited about going and he was really good when we left him. We can't wait to go and get him at lunchtime!

Family Fun Day

We decided to have a fun family day out on Wednesday before Joel starts nursery on Thursday, so we went to Pringle Bay just around the coast from where we are. The beach is beautiful and deserted and affords great views over the Cape Peninsula and Table Mountain. We had so much fun, Eli loves to eat the sand whilst Joel wants to explore the rock pools. This time he discovered a lobster which was being eaten by the crabs. Joel was delighted to find that the lobster had been decapitated so put it in his net an took it to show Mummy (Eli tried to eat it!).

Last Few Photos From Grandad's Visit

Here's a few last photos of Grandad's visit over Christmas, somehow they were missed in the downloading from the camera to computer.







Daddy & Joel exploring the rock pools

Saddam's Death

I had no intention whatsoever of posting about Saddam's death, mainly because the man really isn't worth commenting on. However, after enduring a week of endless 'sick' pictures of Saddam with the noose around his neck I feel obliged to say something.

Sean Got Married

Sean got married to Susan on Saturday in a really cool ceremony at the Somerset College chapel. The service was really good with many personal touches in it and everybody really enjoyed the occasion. Sean was clearly very nervous beforehand, but soon chilled and took the day in his stride.










Enjoy the photos...

Sean and his best men, Cameron & Jan

Fun With Grandad

Our last few days with Grandad & Lesley were spent chilling out and spending time with the boys, this was especially important for Joel who knows and understands who Grandad is. Joel really loves Grandad and knowing that they might not see each other for another 18 months makes it very important to spend quality time together when opportunity allows.

Tyrone Update

You may remember our previous posts about Tyrone as he waited for his much needed eye operation to correct his wonky eye. Finally at the end of last year he had the operation and he now has two eyes both looking forwards. Tyrone looks so much better for the op' and his family are delighted with the outcome.

As you can see from the photos of before and after, the op' has made a big difference to Tyrone and before you ask, no the surgeon didn't knock his teeth out!

La Petite Ferme

On Tuesday the boys were looked after for the day whilst we went to Franschhoek with Grandad & Lesley. We had a great morning mooching around the shops followed by a superb lunch at La Petite Ferme (one of the top 10 restaurants in South Africa) where the views are as god as the food! The rest of the day was spent taking the scenic route home via Villiersdorp and Grabouw, a fantastic drive through the mountains and lakes.

New Year's Eve

We had a lot of fun on New Year's Eve which was mainly about the kids and having fun with them. We did the same as last year and allowed Joel to stay up a bit later and watch a film with us. This year we watched Hook which had Joel spellbound! He started watching it in his Simba costume but had to change into his Pirate costume quite early on!

Wilderness

We’ve just had three nights in Wilderness on the Garden Route with Grandad & Lesley. Much of the time was spent on the stunning beach although we also made it to the Outeniqua Choo Tjoe museum in George. This is a great day out and Joel really enjoyed it again. Unfortunately the morning was ruined a bit by the steam train letting off his whistle. Joel and Daddy were stood right next to it and weren’t expecting it to be quite so loud! That whistle was VERY loud!!!!!

Boxing Day

Boxing day was a nice lazy day which began with a walk in the Nature Reserve where we fed the ducks and even managed to coax Spikey (the porcupine) out of his 'house' for some bread. After this we went to Paddy & Barbara’s for a lunchtime braai and a swim in their pool. They have become really good friends and their kids, Caleb & Michelle, are really good with Joel & Eli even though they’re quite a bit older. Paddy & Barbara also had some other friends there, Johann & Lara and they were good company too. Once the kids were in the pool the adults all relaxed a bit and enjoyed the sun and friendship.

Christmas Day

We stuck to what has become our family tradition by having the turkey in the evening and once again the weather was glorious so we sat outside, jealous aren’t you! The day was mainly about the boys, sadly our church doesn’t tend to have a meeting on Christmas Day, so Joel & Eli opened their small stockings first and then over the course of the morning and afternoon opened their presents. Once again Joel was keen to play with each new toy before opening the next present, but he did get the hang of it and started to demand another present. Still, he’s nowhere near as materialistic as he would be if he were in the UK and we’re grateful for that!

Sport Quotes 2006

Quotes of the Year (stolen from BBC Sport)

If sport is not your thing, just move along and don't moan!

"She shouldn't be here. I know that sounds sexist but I am sexist. This is not park football, so what are women doing here? If you start bringing in women you have big problems. It is tokenism for the politically correct idiots."
Luton manager Mike Newell blames assistant referee Amy Rayner for the 3-2 defeat by QPR.

Happy Christmas

Emmanuel, God with us!

What better reason could there be to celebrate?

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

Lots of love

Dean, Paula, Joel &Eli

XXXX

CNP & Picnic

Having Grandad and Lesley to stay is a lot of fun but especially so for Joel. He seems to be loving every minute spent with Grandad and it's a real pleasure and privilege to watch the relationship blossom!

We've been really busy since they arrived and yesterday afternoon we went into Chris Nissen to meet some of our friends. This is always an emotional time, but yesterday was especially so as Vissy was really poorly, but seeing Eli brightened her up incredibly.

Grandad

Joel has been really excited for a while now as he knew Grandad was coming to see him. Grandad finally arrived on Eli's Birthday, so his first duty was to accompany Birthday Boy with the family for a fish & chip supper at a local chippy. Today was mainly about Joel as we left Eli at home with a friend and went with Grandad and Lesley to Cape Town. We went up Table Mountain then onto Boulders Beach to see the penguins before driving home exhausted and sunburnt. Joel and Grandad had a lot of fun!

Eli's First Birthday

WOW! A whole year went by very quickly, before we knew what had happened Eli turned 1! Eli has hit most of the developmental milestones early, he crawled (of a fashion)at 4½ months, sat up unaided at 5 months, was walking at 11 months and basically never looked back.

He's been and continues to be a very special blessing to us as a family and we thank God for bringing him into our lives. Joel & Eli really do adore each other which is brilliant.

Christmas Hampers

One of the things that we've been really busy with recently was the organisation and distribution of food hampers to our church folk in Chris Nissen. The planning for the hampers was immense as we received physical donations of food and cash donations.

Family Fun

In the midst of a very hectic time we've managed to take a bit of time out just to chill as a family and spend some quality time together. Thankfully, the paddling pool makes a great focal point for fun and being silly together and the boys love being in there - making containment of Eli very easy!

Joel is very very excited as he now only has ONE sleep until Grandad arrives!

Eli & Mummy

Mission Incredible

On Sunday evening we had our invitational service at church entitled 'Mission Incredible'. As explained during the evening, we couldn't call it Mission Impossible because with God, all things are possible! However, the Nativity is incredible and actually deeply shocking (we'll not expound on that right now). The evening was great and as ever at such events we were left marvelling at the sheer array of talent we have in the congregation. Wesley gave a short, simple but punchy gospel presentation so hopefully some of the many visitors will respond to the gospel at some point.

Paddling Pool

With the eventual arrival of Summer (although it's still not very hot yet) we dug out the paddling pool only to discover it was wrecked so Paula got a nice new one for a silly price. Joel remembers well the joys of the paddling pool - pagging pool as he calls it - and once in it is very hard to get him out again! Eli took some convincing that it was a good thing but he warmed up to the idea and by the end seemed to be enjoying himself.

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Afternoon's And Coffee Spoons

Or in this case, birthday cake and Christmas trees. Saturday was a busy old day, Paula had a practice session for our evening 'event' at church on Sunday, whilst Dean was running around getting stuff ready for our Mulled Wine evening - a tradition we started at Bible College and have maintained faithfully ever since!

Nobody has ever left disappointed! During the day, Eli had a good go at demolishing a huge slab of his birthday cake and made a wonderful mess in the process. Whilst Joel helped Daddy to decorate the Christmas tree.

Eli's First Birthday Party

With Eli's birthday being so close to Christmas we had to have his party a week early to ensure that some of his friends would be able to come. Eli seemed completely oblivious to the event but was delighted to have unfettered access to a huge bowl of 'Flings' which he and Jared (his main partner in crime) set about demolishing.

Table Mountain

We are privileged to live somewhere as beautiful as we do and regularly thank God for such a blessing! This is the view of Table Mountain seen from a friends home on the Schapenberg in somerset West.

Visit Finnie's In Focus for a high resolution version




We've circled our house in the bottom right.

Nose Picking Shepherd

Joel had a ball at the Twinkle Tots Nativity yesterday. He did himself proud and we were very proud parents! As you'll see from the photos below, Joel was very happy and enjoyed the whole experience, unlike last year when he refused to participate and cried throughout. Nata had obviously given a lot of thought as to who would take which roles and Joel was one of two shepherds. The other shepherd was a smaller boy named Liam and Joel took him under his wing and helped him along.

Joel's Last Day @ Twinkle Tots

Today is Joel's last morning at Twinkle Tots, where did his 2 years there go? He has really enjoyed his time there and we've seen him develop and flourish in so many ways. We'll always be grateful to Nata, Ouma & Yolande for taking such good care of our boy! We're also looking forward to Eli starting there in June next year. Tomorrow Joel will be a shepherd in the Twinkle Tots nativity and then it really is 'farewell' as he starts at the International School in January. Wow, he's getting all grown up!

Funny Old Weekend

Nothing spectacular happened at the weekend, but we did have a few minor but amusing incidents ranging from finding a rat in the toilet bowl (dead thankfully, presumed drowned) to a pigeon flying into a window and leaving an almost perfect imprint of itself. Poor Joel was in trouble at the time and hiding in his bedroom when we heard a loud thud, so Dad went into his bedroom to tell him off. Unfortunately, Joel was reading his biggest book which is the one he usually lobs when angry, so he got a sound telling off. Later in the afternoon we went upstairs and saw the impression of the pigeon in the window, whoops! that would explain the loud thump. Joel then must have wondered what was happening as Dad apologised to him and Mummy gave him some sweets. Great recipe for a confused child.

Bible Study Social

My bible study group went for a social this morning and we were blessed with a gift which enable us to go to a steakhouse where we all had a burger, chips and coke. As a group we had not had a trip out since John (an FYP volunteer) left a year ago so fun was had by most. Unfortunately, someone said something malicious to Peter so he was in a really bad mood all morning. Also, the weather was really naff so we couldn't go for the planned stroll along the beach. However, we did have a lot of fun and agreed to make a plan for 2007 to ensure we have more trips out. Amen to that!

Monkeys & Mountains

Having just had our worst ever weekend in terms of behaviour and boundary pushing, things seem to have settled down again and life is a lot of fun once again. Joel lost the battles and after refusing to eat (and generally behave) he's rediscovered his appetite! Thankfully, Joel & Eli generally play very well, especially when they're in Joel's bedroom. Both boys adore books and Eli quite often slopes off there to rummage through Joel's collection.

Home Based Care

Our planned Home Based Care program seems to be gathering pace without our actually doing very much about it. On Friday we had a call regarding old bedding from a local hotel which is replacing theirs. So Dean went into Cape Town and was able to load the bakkie with a huge quantity of sheets, towels, flannels etc. which is an amazing blessing. We just need to find somewhere to store it all!

Strawberry Picking

On Friday Paula went with Joel on the Twinkle Tots annual strawberry picking trip, much fun was had by all as well as many strawberries! Thankfully they didn't weigh the kids or parents on arrival or departure.

World Aids Day

We know we're a few days late, but thought we'd post something anyway.

Part of the difficulty in posting on this is that here in South Africa things are far from straightforward. Firstly, we have a government which is in denial with the nations approach to HIV/AIDS treatment, & awareness raising being overseen by a health minister who is at best laughable and at worst downright objectionable! She is know as Dr. Beetroot or as the Minister of Garlic as she favours just about any treatment except ARV's. Recently, she was interviewed at the launch of a new 'traditional' medicine in a rural area, but the medicine hadn't even been licensed by the relevant authorities. This is all very frustrating and leaves one feeling very marginalised when trying to get ARV's and counseling for those who need it.

Cell Social

On Thursday Paula took her cell group to a local farm shop for coffee and cake. Paula hadn't told the group that she had planned the trip so it was a welcome surprise for them all. The morning was extra special as Yvonne was there with Asher, Yvonne and her husband Vernon have recently moved to Durban to plant a church. A great time was had by all.

Washing Machine

Paula caught Eli attempting to climb into the washing machine this morning but rather than panic she grabbed her camera and took these cute photos of our amazing boy.

A Proud Moment!

There comes a time in a Father's life when his pride in his kids knows no bounds. Today was close to one of those moments when Joel donned his first Palace shirt. This brought a tear to my eye.

We got a few looks in church as Dad was also in his Palace shirt (a birthday present from Jo) so we were resplendent in our 'red & blue'.

That's my boy!

Weekend

It's been a funny old weekend, Paula was out on Saturday morning with Eli at a birthday party and then again in the afternoon for a practice session with the choir she's in for Christmas (all a bit Anglican!), so I got to spend most of the day just with Joel which was great, although much of my time was spent mopping up poo as Joel isn't too well. I'm not sure where today went, church was great, Sean preached a class sermon about God. How we need more of this type of preaching! But this afternoon seems to have disappeared, although part of it was stolen by the telly as Joel and I watched 'Over The Hedge'. Joel wasn't too sure why Daddy was crying and laughing at the same time, but let's just say that this is a good film which is wasted on kids.

We have some good photos to show for a non-event weekend...

Running & Running!

Wow what a day! Poor Joel is suffering really badly with diarrhoea. We think it might have to do with some dodgy swimming pool water he drank, but it could be any number of reasons. Suffice it to say, we have got through several pairs of pants and almost a bottle of bleach today! The day started with a crash when we caught him literally falling off of the kitchen work top as he was caught in his efforts to self-medicate by climbing up to the medicine cabinet. One hour later, the kitchen was clean but still a bit sticky underfoot - boys!!

Emyezweni Christmas Party

We were invited to attend the Emyezweni Christmas Party today, mainly so that Dean could entertain the kids again, but also because we try and support the work as much as possible, although in truth we don't do anywhere near as much as we'd like to for them.

As usual the Christmas party was a lot of fun, Debs, Rach' and the staff really do put a huge amount of work into it and the whole event is brilliant.

The photos tell their own story, so we hope you enjoy them..

Mountain Biking

I generally manage to go twice a week and sometimes manage three rides. On a Tuesday and Thursday I go with some friends up Sir Lowry's Pass, following the railway servitude road. The ride is great and there is a fantastic stretch of downhill on which we once clocked 75kph!

Joel & Eli

Joel has wanted a helmet for his bike for a long time, so yesterday we got him one which he now refuses to take off! In the evening he wandered into the bathroom still wearing it and said in a hippy type voice: "Wow, it's all green" Oh dear!

Kids And Crane

As I was driving into Chris Nissen the kids were enthralled by the crane, but as soon as they saw my camera they began posing for me. Once again you can see how beautiful the backdrop to the community is.

Chris Nissen - Making Progress?

For our entire time here we've been striving to network with other agencies and organisations (role players) to ensure a cohesive strategy in Chris Nissen. Part of our desire is too also wipe out any duplication of service into the community so as to strengthen the planned outreaches of the various groups involved. Frustratingly our efforts at building a network have been fairly fruitless and there are a couple of fairly obvious reasons for this. Firstly, besides ourselves as Helderberg Christian Church, there is no other agency or organisation which is in the community on a regular and committed basis.

Home Based Care Training

Saturday morning was the start of the realisation of a dream Paula has been carrying for Chris Nissen Park over the past 2 years. In the last 6 months the ladies in her cell group have received 2 sessions of HIV/AIDS awareness training and this was capped on Saturday by a whole morning of Home Based Care training. Over her months of visiting people in CNP it has become all too evident that many of the ladies are in fact doing the job of a home based carer with very little (or no) training, few resources and less than ideal environments.

Eli At 11 Months

Eli is 11 months old today. Wow, where did the time go?

We can't really express what a sheer bundle of joy he is and what a blessing he is to our family. Joel simply adores Eli and that is clearly reciprocal! 

We look forward to Eli being able to walk and keep up with Joel, as it looks like they'll have a lot of fun together (as long as Eli leaves Joel's train set alone).