We arrived in Harrismith on Monday. It was extremely surreal being back here after two and a half years and I still have to pinch myself every so often!
It is the beginning of Summer here, but so far you wouldn’t think so. It has been very wet and cold, which of course has been blamed on us for bringing it!
We are still very much finding our feet and meeting up with people, but the few items of news we’ve heard, have mostly been really positive.
Tsa Lapeng, which is the arts and crafts project setup in Makgolokoeng, is going from strength to strength. Their range of products has more than quadrupled and they are now supplying to many businesses in the area. Rheola’s, where we are staying, is having an arts and crafts festival from tomorrow, where all of their items will be displayed. It’ll be very difficult not to buy lots of their pretty creations.
I think the most exciting thing that has occurred in Tshwaranang, as we mentioned a few months ago, is the newly employed social worker Vanessa. We discovered that it is through our and a few other large donations that this has been possible – so our work really is making a difference!
We’ve yet to go into Hope House as one of the children has mumps, but we are very much looking forward to hanging out with them. 10 of the children do not have families to go to for Christmas, so I imagine that they’ll be coming round to ours for films, presents and pizza!
