Day 4 Tuesday

I want to know what happened to last week? How did it get to be the weekend again so fast? I'm finding that writing these posts is rather like writing letters, which I'm not very good at, so my apologises for the lapses in between them.
I forgot to say in my Day 3 post about handing out candy at the end of the day at the school and the mob scene we had! We were trying to give out one piece to each child, but found that certain ones kept sneaking back in line and other older ones were pushing in front of the younger ones, so we eventually had to say "NO MORE". I felt really bad. We had also gave out soccer balls and Frisbee's which where a great hit.











Now, on to day 4. We were scheduled to leave the lodge at 9am and punctually departed at 9:40.
We were already running on African time. This was the day that we went to the KMP ADP Office and had the chance to meet all the wonderful people there. Every morning they would have 'Devotionals' and on most occasions that we were there I think a lot of us were almost in tears at the beauty and passion of their singing. Nobuhle gave us a presentation on what they have accomplished in the KMP ADP since the inception in 1998. First of all let me explain how sponsorship works by quoting out of one of the manuals, it best explains it.
Child sponsorship donations support Area Development Programs (ADPs) that address the needs of children and their families within the entire community. A typical ADP connects a number of villages in a given geographic area, with a potential reach of 10,000 to 80,000 people.
In the beginning, World Vision staff will consult with both adults and children in the community and, by asking them questions and listening to their stories, they work together to develop a plan for projects and activities to address their needs. As World Vision earns trust and builds
credibility within the community, the relationship deepens. Children and their families sponsorship program. Children are selected for sponsorship by community members
who identify girls and boys in need of support. These children are representatives of the needs of the community. As the development work unfolds, all the children in the community—whether they are sponsored or not—will benefit.
constructed, 250 families supported with chickens, renovation of a soup kitchen for 35 people living with Aids, 555 orphans supported with shoes and school supplies, Optometry screening etc. There is so much more, community work with gardens and animals, Christian commitments, Leadership development, the list goes on. Needless to say this was all a very eye opening I hope that helps everyone to understand a bit about how sponsorship works. The program in the KMP area has only a few more years to run. So far they have accomplished in the education arena, things like, construction of 12 classroom blocks, 9 schools supported with computers, furniture for 79 classrooms and 15 creches (kindergartens), textbooks to 50 schools, books to 3 libraries, play centres at 15 creches 20 high schools supported with Science kits and soccer kits given to 16 teams. HIV?AIDS & Health, 12 orphaned and vulnerable children's shelters presentation.
We then moved on to visit a Support Group for people living with HIV/AIDS. Along with support from World Vision they support their group by selling crafts. They had commented on how they were not able to sell much, so their excitement was understandable when our group came in and basically bought them out! There was much laughing, singing,and clapping. We then moved over to the Clinic next door to see how it was run and were told that it saw approx. 2000 people a month. No pictures were allowed, so I can't show it, but it was quite small, only 2 exam, rooms, 2 birthing rooms and 2 recovery rooms, along with a couple of offices, kitchen and such. Then it was on to a Community garden project, not far away. This project was something that Ian had been helping with, explaining what to grow for good nutrition and for re-sale and such. The ADP had also contributed by helping to get water to the garden for irrigation. We learned that the man living there had AIDS along with at least 6 of his 12 children. His 2 wives had already passed away from AIDS. This came about because, as the old Zulu custom dictates, the man married his brothers wife and took in their children when the brother died of AIDS. Of course the 2nd wife already had AIDS and passed it on to the man and the first wife. The grandmother was also living with family, as is quite common in the area, due to the AIDS pandemic. That was the end of day 4 at the KMP ADP.
There are many things that break our hearts, but because of the work of World Vision and the generosity of Canadians, many hearts are being healed and many futures are brighter as a result.
- Dave Toycen President World Vison Canada