Clayton Prepares for a Big 2012

ECYCC has a had a good success story in December. Funds have been raised for the first quarter of his planned Gap Year with the FCE (Foundation for Cross-Cultural Education). This chance for study and travel cannot be valued highly enough - Clayton will get to see life outside of Middelburg properly for the first time and even outside South Africa. We now look for sponsors to help fund the remainder of the Gap Year.

We owe some a lot of gratitude to friends of ECYCC who have helped secure sponsorship for Clayton and given him this life changing opportunity. Heartfelt thanks go out to Candice Nash and her company Servier Laboratories in the UK who have kindly donated funds to help set Clayton on his way and purchase the basic items needed for the start of the trip. Also we are very grateful to Tian and Karen Erasmus who have been instrumental in making this all happen.

We are proud of Clayton's desire to make the most of this opportunity and cannot wait to see how he develops in this big year ahead.

Renovations

The home continues to be improved as resources allow us: some of the most recent projects have seen the TV room walls replastered and given a lovely light paint job to make it a nice environment to relax in. Thanks to everyone that helped make it happen, and to Clayton's extra efforts to finish it off with Carol. Now that spring has come we're also starting again in the vegetable garden in the yard, and we've had Ashley, Hendrico and Ronaldo helping prepare the ground and take an interest in planting. Well done boys...

Skills Training

Well done to all the children who have been busy in recent months, helping around the house and garden where they can and learning valuable life and professional skills along the way. We are very proud of their efforts, and all the older children in the home (Ronaldo, Veronica, Hendrico, Ashley and Clayton) have been awarded certificates for them to keep as evidence of their achievements.

September Newsletter

Dear all, we are coming to the end of a very cold period for all Middelburg folk, all the kids are doing well, are healthy and very happy to get into their summer gear after all this time.

The good news is that Poppie (Khazimla Haas), a 6 year old girl, arrived at the home very ill and weak one month ago, has made so much of progress that she was placed into foster care which is also a good home for her to be at. This little girl was placed here at the Centre for safe keeping under the watchful eye of Hospice, to receive some TLC in order to get better. Poppie will still be monitored by Hospice from time to time, we miss this bright little girl a lot though. Angel, Christiaan and Sinakwe are doing well - the small boys are fully potty trained by now and just wear nappies at night time. This was a very joyful breakthrough for us all.

Ashley, Hendrico and Veronica studied hard this term and we are expecting good results from them. Veronica just gave word to the social workers that she is very happy here at the Emmanuel Centre and would like to remain here, she feels safe and protected and as she put it herself, she even welcomes the rules and discipline. The social worker found that this gives her balance, stability and a sense of belonging.

Clayton is currently busy with his record exam at MHS, we pray for a successful outcome as Clayton would like to attend a Christian Finishing School in Cape Town for a period of one year. We are still looking for a sponsor concerning this.

Like always we are in need of fresh produce,etc, although we received a wonderful gift in the form of a donation from Starke Ayres in Port Elizabeth. We can now sow seeds of fresh veggies and looking forward in the next couple of months to reap our hard work and dedication. All of the bigger children will take part in this project.

Daniel Jordan, a German volunteer, spend a period of 6 weeks with us, which gave me the opportunity to have a well deserved break and to visit my family in Kwazulu Natal, Daniel "kept the fort" here at the Centre. He will be leaving for Germany tonight. We are looking forward to have Mark Nash, from England, here for a week as from 30th September. Mark is also an "old hand" and was the volunteer started out with me in May 2009. Mark
visits almost every year, please feel free to come and meet him.

I would like to wish all a very happy spring and may God bless.
Warm regards
Carol Deysel

Snow

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

Profile: Angel

Angel is definitely one of the biggest characters of the home. Despite not always having the words to express herself, she shares her emotions in warm and touching ways and her laughter and energy fills the home. Everyone who meets Angel is charmed by her. She has been with ECYCC for nearly a year now and we hope to watch her grow up in a fine young lady who is a credit to the home.

June & July Updates

A lot has changed at the Emmanuel Child & Youth Care Centre, first of all, the home's name has changed as you may have noticed. This recognises the modern conventions with naming social institutions and it is a small but important step towards our registration with the Dept of Social Development.

We also welcomed 3 new board members in the past week, Alfred James as our new Chairman, Rhett Newton as Vice Chairman and Mr James Daniels as an Advisory board member. Welcome to these wonderful people and may this be a very exciting and successful year all round.

On behalf of everyone involved in ECYCC, we would like to thank Marna de Vos (Occupational Therapist) for organizing and making the necessary arrangements in order for training to take place at the Centre later this year, at which other NGO's will also attend. We are excited and looking forward to this. Thank you to Karen McEwan for making this contact, we appreciate and value both you guys.

Welcome to Martha Matthews ("old hand") who is joining our staff. Martha is a certified care worker with excellent training skills,we are happy having her back and wish her success in the future. As Martha knows most of the children, she's been settling in already with smiles all round. Most volunteers will know Martha as a quiet but friendly person with a passion for these children. Martha worked for many years at, and was trained by the Dianne Lang Care Home, before it closed down.

Warmest of greetings, from the management team.

Well Done Runners

We want to thank Rima, Rob and Mark and say we are very proud of them. They ran sponsored runs in the UK (Derby Kilomathon 26.2 km and Brighton Marathon 26.2 miles) and raised money for the home, through their families, friends and colleagues. We are so grateful for the hard work they put into the challenges and are thankful to everyone that sponsored them. The funds will make a big difference to the ongoing care of the children.

Thank you, no words to describe how much this means to us!

Profile: Clayton

Congratulations to Clayton....he recently won the "Mr Middelburg High" title at his school as well as a number of other categories. We are extremely proud of him and he deserves these accolades. He has also become a youth leader at church recently and he is starring in his school's rugby team this year, playing in the 1st team which just won 3 matches on a recent tour to Bloemfontein and he's training for the next rugby tour to George in 3 weeks time. We now need him to be positive in his final year at school and wish him all the best. Please friends of ECH, we need a sponsor for this bright young man in order to take him to new heights. Contact Carol on 049 8424414 or email us at emm.childrenshome@gmail.com. Clayton has grown into a very decent young man and he can achieve so much.

Thanking Our Patrons

We would like to thank Dianne Lang who continues to support the home through her fundraisers. The funds have helped contribute to the running of home, as well as a day-trip for the children to the nearby Zebra Park which was thoroughly enjoyed. She has remained a good friend of ECH and our thoughts are with her.

Also kind regards to our Emmanuel Kumi who has kindly donated to the home - we thank him for his monthly support.

Profile: Christiaan

Christiaan is just over three years old and despite his small size he shows us he's going to be a delightful little boy with a bright future. He uses few words but his eyes say a lot and he's always following what the other children are doing, chasing after them into the yard. He is so well behaved and we think when he has the chance to go to pre-school he's going to blossom.

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.

Xmas Memories

A lovely time was had at the home over Xmas with the children having fun and lots of kind visitors coming by to share in this. Here's some memories of this...