Xmas cheer

The Xmas season brought us some good spirit and more happiness. First up we had staff from Build It come to the home to host a party with the children and hand out presents. 

Hands on Africa kindly donated some colourful t-shirts to all the children.

The children danced and enjoyed the holidays.

Hendrico made us all proud by winning the Junior Model of the Year in KZN at Summer Heat.

The children enjoying a nice break away, cooling off in KZN.

Our Talents

A photo of the Young Little Stars with Nate Butler from the US at the ARTS Johannesburg. Hendrico and Cecil have been invited as models to go to Florida in July 2017 as part of an International Talent showcase! 

The gumboot team put on a great performance and with some more time to develop their show they'll have a good chance of being invited too in 2018. They had very positive feedback from international judge Kim Myers and we are extremely proud of them. 

We are also looking for sponsors for Hendrico and Cecil as it will come to a large amount of R73,000 each to cover all their costs to attend the showcase. This is a huge opportunity for children from a children's home, boosting their self worth and confidence. It also inspires the others to do better and to be disciplined in what they can achieve. If anyone could find it in their hearts to help with sponsorship this could make dreams come true for these hard-working and ambitious children. Please can get in contact.

And here's the welcoming committee back at the home ready to celebrate the Little Stars return with some home made cakes.

Here's an example of the certificate each boy got for their involvement. Well done - a great achievement!

Capitec Birthday Party

The staff members of Capitec bank held a party for the children at Emmanuel on Saturday 13th August. It was the birthday of Ronaldo (one of the bank's employee's) so they decided to celebrate by sharing the occasion; setting up a jumping castle for the small ones and some lovely gift bags for all Emmanuel children. It was a team effort from all staff at Capitec Bank Middelburg. A heartwarming occasion - happy birthday Ronaldo!

Celebrating Women's Day on 9th August

The girls and care workers (Abigail and Bulelani) had great fun dressing up!

Ashley visits Cape Town

Some photos of Ashley enjoying his visit to Cape Town where he stayed with his host family, Marius and Marthe. He had a great experience which he'll remember for a long time.

Recent Photos

First off, some exciting news - a number of our children have been invited to dance on stage at the Summer Heat Gala Awards event. Eight of the Emmanuel gumboot dancers "Young Little Stars" will perform on the 13th of December at the Summer Heat Awards, Wild Coast Sun! They are so excited to take this trip to the South Coast of Kwa-Zulu Natal, which will give them the chance to see the sea as well.

We also have some new photos to share - from the top to the bottom:

1. Volunteer Jonathan leads our building project - a excellent pair of helping hands!

2. Volunteer Nick and some of the boys all putting in some hard work.

3. Hendrico enjoying the chance to use his painting skills.

4. Everyone doing their bit of teamwork.

5. New Apostolic Church visit the home to donate tinned foods and sing Xmas carols.

August News & Photos

It's been a busy few months at ECYCC with lots of work going on behind the scenes with the Department of Social Development and also our building works (getting closer to finish extra bedrooms and bathrooms in the new wing of the house).

Here are a few bits of news and accompanying photos. First off, our new social worker Xolani has settled in well - he has a great relationship with the children and he's very efficient and capable. Here he is helping Ashley and Hendrico fix some broken shelves:

We've had some new arrivals at the home, so a big Emmanuel welcome to Zander, Hilda and Blondy. Here they are with Ronaldo, just before heading off to school:

ECYCC manager Carol and the care workers went through training on FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder) in order to learn to handle behavioural problems that can create. With a number of other NPO's from Middelburg attending too, the training course took place for 3 days in July at Agape church and was kindly sponsored by Hands on Africa. ECYCC sponsored the food for the sessions, Agape sponsored the venue and HoA sponsored the accommodation so a great team effort and social spirit. Here is everyone proudly displaying their certificates:

Other snippets of news:

• The building works continue on at a good pace with tiling and plastering of inside and outside walls. We still need to raise an estimated R60,000 in donations to complete all the works and be able to start using all the new rooms.
• We are getting assistance from Hands on Africa for items like beds, wash basins etc which they will being from Cape Town to furnish the new building - another reason to thank them.
• Mr Donald Smiles, retired teacher and Emmanuel board member, is giving extra tutoring lessons to the children on a weekly basis, including Maths.

Hands on Africa Holiday Club

We recently had the Hands on Africa group visit us and they provided some lovely activities for the children during the school holidays. At the local Agape centre, which had been beautifully decorated for the occasion, there was music, dancing, singing and blessing which they were involved in. We thank Hands on Africa for putting this on, and also for helping with renovation of the garden, where new vegetables were planted and a worm farm set up with the help of Francois and Karen.

Here are a few photos to remind us of some happy days...

Charl du Plessis from Hands on Africa wrote us a nice letter afterwards which included:

"We would like to thank you for the opportunity and privilege to minister to the children during the last week. It was a great blessing for the whole team. Given the enthusiasm displayed by the children we can see that this could become an annual event... 

During our last semester at the Middelburg (Eastern Cape) Bible School in May 2014, the hearts of some of the team members were touched by what God is doing through you at the Emmanuel Child & Youth Care Centre. We realise that you have the thankless task of looking after the many orphans under your care and as is often the case, you hardly get a chance to rest. God laid on our hearts spend a few days with the children during the July holidays with a view to share a little bit of His love to the children, but also to give you a much needed break.We trust that the children enjoyed the holiday club events in the mornings. In the afternoons the team members helped some of the older children with schoolwork. We trust that this will also reap fruits – even though it was very basic and very little."

ECYCC in May

We have 23 children currently residing at Emmanuel (up from 13 in first months in year). Our most important needs on a daily basis: food, fresh produce, electricity costs and of course the completing of the building. We urge anyone who can help with donations to get in touch - we really need some good samaritans soon to help us deal with the rising costs for running the centre. However, still lots of people for us to be grateful for in recent months:

The Hands on Africa group ladies ran an arts & crafts workshop with the kids on 14 May, arts and craft workshop. Their time and efforts which are much appreciated. The ladies also visited the home in order to help out with study periods at the centre.

Rhett Newton (the chairperson on the board of ECYCC), for his time and effort organising the Karoo Mighty Men Conference drinks stall where Emmanuel donations in return for supplying cool drinks to the attendees. Rhett has gone out of his way to help the centre and truly has a kind heart to do this. We also thank Bertie, Ronel and Joanelle, Mellissa and friends for their hard work selling the drinks. 15,000 people came to Middelburg for the Easter weekend to attend the conference!

Inspirational singer Dewald Gouws, for the recent press release that he has done in order to promote the home and the need of funds for building. Everyone greatly enjoyed his visit to the home to meet the children over the KMMC weekend.

Our Occupational Therapist, Rowena, for her commitment towards the centre and the children. Rowena's commitment is far beyond her work as a therapist - she commits to host movie nights with the kids once a week, and make the kids part of her project at the old age home, Huis Silverjare, in order to present and accommodate crafts and games for the elderly. All our bigger children will join in.

Last but not least. Some neighbours of Emmanuel home, who were very kind to give the children some basic horse-riding lessons and a unique experience to pass on afternoon. It was a lovely time and made for some good photos: 

New Volunteers

Some more things we are grateful in recent weeks...
Firstly, we're very grateful for big donation we received: R23,200 from the company Goldee Trading 174 CC2. The contact person for the company was Hester (a local born and bred in Middelburg) and she suggested that they should donate to ECYCC this time around. Thank you so much! The funds help us to pay for important day-to-day costs essential to the running of the home: electricity, care-worker salaries, food etc.

Secondly, we would like to welcome new volunteers to the home: Petra and Maria from Germany. They have settled in really quickly and are making a great difference to the children's lives with their kindness and enthusiasm. We've very glad to have them with us! Here's some of their recent photos... 

Xmas Memories

One of our highlights from the festive period was a Xmas play that our children put on at the old age home in Midros. With our care workers, Martha and Dollie, helping organise them and prepare the play, the children put all their effort into putting on the entertainment for residents of the home. It was so nice to watch and well appreciated! Here are some photos... 

Photo Album

Some nice memories of the children in the last few months...

 

New News

We have a mystery donor, named Kevin who supports us with a donation each month, but we're not sure from where or how, it just appears in the ECYCC bank account. We would like to say thank you to this kind man, whoever he maybe. A good samaritan it seems.

It was recently a national initiative on 18th July for people to celebrate Nelson Mandela's birthday by giving 67 minutes of community service to symbolically mark 1 minute for every year of his public service. We had these nice contributions:

• Our local Grootfontein College sent a large group to cleanup the yard, the home and repair the swings on the 18th July.
• Quintin Vlooh of Eastern Cape Security, also helped with repairs at the home.
• Middelburg Begrafnisdienste, Rhett Newton's office, delivered gift parcels to our children.
• Methodist Church ladies in Midros, also sent parcels to the children.
• Vionolia, Auxiliary Worker at ECYCC, painted their puppet house.
• ECYCC's own contribution towards the 67 minutes was to provide the sound and truck towards a substance abuse and drug abuse event held in Middelburg, which featured a local choir organized by the local DOSD Middelburg.

Thanks to everyone that took part and supported us. A really great way for people to come together and help one another.

And finally, some nice photos from our TransKaroo friends which they shared with us. Their efforts look epic! This is fundraising in the extreme.

New Profiles - Part 2

Here's some more profiles of our children, using some recently taken photos. First up is Ashley - he's now one of the oldest children in the home and we've been lucky to see him grow up over many years. He's a boy with a smiling eyes and a big determination to contribute to everything in the home's life. With his brother Hendrico they form the warm energetic heart of ECYCC.

Chrissie never fails to endear himself to anyone he meets. He's very inquisitive and it's been happy times watching him grow up from a toddler into a proper little 'man'. Chrissie loves play-time and his energy never drops - he's often leading the other small boys in games and trying to follow in the footsteps of the older ones.

Calvin is quite new to ECYCC but has quickly settled in. Sometimes quite shy on first impressions, with a little encouragement he gets involved and charms you with affection. He's really starting to find his feet and his new big 'family' at ECYCC seem to have had a positive effect on his development and confidence.

New Arrivals

In the last month we have been blessed with 3 new children coming to live with us in the home. It's so nice to have all these extra smiles...

Kelvin, standing between Chrissie and Sinakwe:

14 year-old Renier:

Baby Olwani:

Snow

It's been snowing in Middelburg, everyone is wrapped up warm...

Profile: Sinakwe

Every month we'll post some profiles of our children. Starting here with the youngest...

Sinakwe is just over 1 year old and joined the home back in October. He is a very loving and inquisitive little boy, who likes to be stimulated all the time and has a very expressive face. He’s already taking his first steps and toddling around on his feet independently will mean he can start to follow the other children and explore.

Our Supporters

We were very happy to receive a visit from Francke Ferreira, winner of Eastern Cape's Miss Summer Heat pageant. Francke came bearing gifts for the children and donations which she tirelessly collected through fundraising activities. She brought her us her warmth to the house and the children were so pleased to meet here as you can see below. We cannot thank you enough Francke...

We are also grateful to our friends over in the UK. Recent volunteers Mark and Marlin, plus friends and family (Rob, Paul and Brian), undertook a big sponsored challenge to climb the three highest mountains in the UK (Ben Nevis in Scotland, Scafell Pike in England and Snowdon in Wales), all in the space of 24 hours. Their hard work paid off, completing it in 23 hours and 38 minutes, and as a result raising over £3000 for the Emmanuel home. We thank everyone who showed kindness in sponsoring the boys, there are too many good names to mention but recognise their contribution. Well done and thank you for giving more hope to our children!