TRIP UPDATE TO LILY OF THE VALLEY IN APRIL 2012

Images of the April 2012 trip can be found on our Facebook page.

April heralded the first trip of 2012 for TWOWEEKS to Lily of the Valley in South Africa. Our team comprised of Jennifer Tomlins, Mimi Hou, Davinia Powell and myself Karen Patten. Ying Teo was to join the team a week later due to work commitments.

We arrived on the Sunday and by Monday the team was getting stuck in to their planned activities. As ever, it is always a pleasure going back to Lily of the Valley and seeing the children there. However, on this trip I was struck how some of our ‘sweet Lily babies’ have now grown into young adults. This was especially noticeable when I showed some pictures to some of the volunteers and we saw how small the children had looked when I first went to Lily in 2005. Back then our focus had been wholly on reviewing the health of the children and ensuring that all medical complaints were identified and that those with HIV/AIDS were on the correct medication. Well, with the hard work and dedication of many volunteers, staff at Lily and also in the associated hospitals and health centres in South Africa, the children at Lily are now much healthier and living longer. In fact, hearing that a child has died at Lily is now a rarity and we all rejoice in this change. However, with this development comes a new challenge in that Lily and the extended Lily family need to prepare these children and young adults for the time that they will leave. We not only want our Lily children to survive, we want them to flourish.

This is not an easy thing. 130 children need food and clothes and a solid education to equip them with skills to earn a wage and pay those bills. However, they also need other training and skills like learning how to cook, how to buy a pair of shoes, how to open a bank account. When you live in an orphanage you do not ‘pop to the shops’ or bank with your mother or father, things are brought to you, given to you and there is little insight into how the process of acquiring and working for these things has occurred.

So with this in mind, Lily has now developed their school and extended the classes and age groups they teach. Lilyvale School http://www.lov.org.za/our-work/lilyvale-school/ now teaches Grades 1, 2, 3, 4, and 10. They have a dedicated headmaster and teachers who originate from the UK, South Africa and Zimbabwe and it is truly wonderful to see the great work that this dedicated team do.

Davinia, who works in marketing, has skills in mentoring and doing workshops and her focus on this trip was to work with the older children at Lily, preparing then for life after Lily. She worked primarily with Grade 10 youngsters who are between the ages of 14 to 21 (yes, 21 years is the oldest ‘child’ at Lily now – an amazing achievement!). She held classes and workshops for the children and I was privileged enough to sit in on a couple of her sessions. For one of them, she asked the class to draw and develop ‘vision boards’. A vision board is where you put all your hopes and dreams on a poster. It’s your vision of what you would like to be, do and acquire in your life and the focus on how you will achieve them then follows. I will always remember the speech that Davinia gave before she talked about doing the vision boards as she spoke about her father and where he came from in Jamaica. How he worked hard to save and travel to England and start with very little to get a job, a home and provide for his family. She explained that whilst he may not have acquired all he had hoped for regarding his life, his vision was not just about himself, but he was thinking of the future for his children and one day grandchildren and now as his daughter, Davinia had received a good education, has a good job and achieved many things in her life all because of his hard work and ambition in taking this initial step. It reminded me of the sacrifices that my parents had made as well and I think it showed the children that success does not begin and end with them, but is an ongoing process for generations to come.

The children then set about drawing and developing their vision boards and as I walked around the class, I cannot lie, tears came to my eyes. Some of our children drew fast cars and fancy jewellery and similar luxury items. Others stated that they wanted to become lawyers, businessmen, teachers and one was most specific regarding their future chosen profession and wanted to become a cardiothoracic surgeon! But many of them drew simple houses, with a family outside, their family. Wherever we come from, we seem to all have the same dream – a family a home, a place and people to call our own.

I am not sure how it happened but I also got roped into doing some teaching with the older children at Lily. I was asked to do some classes on childbirth and pregnancy and other health-related issues including diet and hygiene. One of my favourite classes was when I taught on the different parts of the body and asked the children to draw where they thought they were but on a live subject called Pete who is a long-term volunteer at Lily. The session on childbirth was also great fun and trying to show the children how women give birth was a particular highlight as I could not show any gory films so used a very willing male assistant from the class. He loved stuffing a jumper under his t-shirt to mimic being pregnant and the actual delivery was an event in itself! It caused a lot of laughter and we all had a lot of fun that day.

But not all of the sessions were as joyful. I decided to make the last class with the older children a Q&A session as there were often so many questions asked during the other classes. So I thought that it would be a good idea to let them talk about things that they wanted to know. At the beginning of the session Davinia and I handed out blank pieces of paper and let them write their questions anonymously and we then picked them out of a box, reading each one and addressing the question posed. But the first question that I picked up was, ‘I have a disease that cannot be cured, what will happen to me? Will I live?’. The question just stopped me in my tracks and I was left speechless and stayed silent for a while as I tried to compose myself and then took a deep breath and answered the question as best as I could. I was reminded that teenagers have very different things to worry about and with all of the laughter and joking aside, this is what many of them have to live with every day. A sobering thought and a very difficult reality that needs to be addressed as well. Other questions asked were about cancer, contraception and ‘why is life so hard?’. These children have had to grow up a lot faster than others and this session highlighted and reminded us how much they have been through.

The medical side of the team comprised of Jennifer and Mimi, and we were later joined by Ying. They primarily assisted in the clinic at Lily seeing walk-in patients in the mornings and also assisted with the circumcision program that is being rolled out in South Africa. Research has shown that the spread of HIV & AIDS is reduced when men are circumcised so there is a big program to perform as many procedures as possible in male populations in the townships and the take-up has been very good. The team assisted the surgical team that visited from McCords hospital and also did pre-assessment and post-assessment reviews of the patients.

They also went out into the community and did ‘head to toe’ reviews of children in local township crèches and picked up a number of newly diagnosed complaints, recorded heights and weights and treated many fungal scalp infections. We also did community visits in the township and reviewed the equipment that had been donated to the clinic and sorted through this checking what would be useful and what had expired. So in short, they were very busy during their time there!

Luckily it was not all work and our team were blessed with particularly good weather during their stay and so many an evening was spent sat around the fire pit outside our accommodation sharing life stories and listening to the sounds of Africa all around us as we were staying on the borders of the Tala game reserve.

Before we knew it, our two weeks were coming to an end. We had many good times, a few challenges and even more memorable moments that we would carry home with us and keep for years to come.

However, as is always our vision and hope, the work with Lily and TWOWEEKS does not always need to stop when volunteers return home. After working with the Lilyvale school and seeing their needs, Davinia returned to the UK and contacted the Pearsons office in South Africa and a consignment of very valuable school books were sent to the school which were much appreciated. This is testimony to the vision that even though a volunteer may work for two weeks at a partner organisation like Lily, things do not have to end there. It can actually be the beginning of another initiative or development of a program to help. The possibilities to help are endless and so we continue on.

Once again, thank you all for your help and support and please join us on our mission to raise money for our TWOWEEKS Lily home and for us to continue doing our trips to help the many disadvantaged and needy people in South Africa.

Karen Patten

TWOWEEKS Volunteer Profile: John Baylis

John Baylis supported TWOWEEKS by fundraising and making a 2-week trip out to Lily of the Valley in March 2011 and he’s continued supporting TWOWEEKS ever since. John has a background in both hospital and community pharmacy and currently works as a clinical pharmacist in the mental health setting. The work his team undertook at Lily last year made an enormous difference to the ongoing healthcare support that TWOWEEKS provides to the local communities in Mophela, South Africa. We asked John a few questions about what motivates him and how he found his TWOWEEKS volunteering experience.

What do you enjoy about the work you do?

No matter which area of pharmacy I find myself working in, I like to focus on providing the best healthcare outcomes to patients. Working as a clinical pharmacist requires good problem-solving skills and the ability to communicate sometimes complex information to other staff, patients or carers. Of course such skills were needed in South Africa where the differences in healthcare provision and available resources meant we had to think on our feet everyday.

Tell us about your TWOWEEKS experience.

My experience of TWOWEEKS is focused around the two weeks I spent at Lily of the Valley Orphanage and the surrounding community in March of 2011. The important point I took from my experience was to keep in mind (throughout all our work) the underlying principle and philosophy of TWOWEEKS, which is, not to try and change everything in such a short period of time but to leave behind training, education and structure which can help future workers and volunteers build upon the work long term. Two weeks to leave a legacy so to speak.

But initially the idea started when a colleague mentioned doing some volunteer work in South Africa. I first went to an introductory meeting with two members of the TWOWEEKS team. The meeting was friendly and informal and put me at ease. I got the impression this was a charity that did not want anything from me other than the skills I could provide for the benefit of others.

After discussing some general points and further planning we met again prior to our trip. This was to discuss specifics such as timetables, safety, people, places etc and was a great primer offered by the TWOWEEKS team to make sure we knew who to ask, where to go and how to stay safe in South Africa. I felt confident at this point that under the guidance of the TWOWEEKS team we could start to concentrate our efforts away from such ‘logistics’ and focus on the role-specific task at hand.

With this in mind, we were somewhat heading down an unknown path. Up until this point TWOWEEKS had never used pharmacists to provide healthcare services at any of its sites or projects, so we didn’t know of how much use we could be. However, in the back of my mind I was confident we could aid Lily of the Valley and the local community by utilising our specific skill-set as pharmacists.

When we got to Lily of the Valley, we were shown to our on-site home for two weeks. It was great being situated on the edge of a game park as we shared our ‘back garden’ with many African species. Very early on we were introduced to some of the key members of the Lily of the Valley team; from managerial to healthcare staff and the House Mothers who live in with the children as surrogate mothers or in some cases fathers. The whole team were very friendly and so glad to have us there. Of course we also met the kids. In this we were not given a choice, as on getting out of the 4×4 within the children’s complex, we were immediately mobbed and pressed into playing football, trampolining and generally running around making strange noises and all sorts of things we had not participated in since our own childhood.

Our work was largely split three ways. The first area we worked in was the Lily of the Valley Orphanage itself. Here we looked at the children’s clinic and the provision of ARV (antiretroviral) medications to the children. We quickly identified some problems, pharmaceutical in nature and set about planning to rectify what we could with limited time. Some of the simpler measures included basic dispensary formularies, storage, disposal and stock rotation. Whilst some of the more advanced interventions surrounded the education of non-healthcare professionals, who were responsible for administration of the ARV medication. It was important to impart the messages of dose timing and adherence to get the best out of the children’s medication and improve clinical outcomes.

Our second main area of work was the community clinic. Here we also looked at basic dispensary process and stock issues. We also looked at the potential of the clinic for further expanded use and indeed have recently continued to do so from the UK.

The third area was working in the community. Here we were guided around the two local townships by a member of that community and a local nurse based out of the community clinic. We undertook medicines use assessments and clinical medicine checks, for example checking doses, indications, interactions and any problems patients may have had when taking their medications. We found many issues and when appropriate wrote referral letters to local doctors to make interventions in patients’ medicine regimens. One example that sticks in my mind was a young man who had started to experience seizures, despite taking his medication, around twice a week. His mother described the seizures as increasing in severity (increasing the risk of brain damage). The simple intervention, given his current dose, was to make a small stepwise increase until he was rendered seizure-free. So many times it was addressing the basics to make a huge difference.

What makes you tick outside of your work and volunteering?

I really enjoy mountain biking and am lucky enough to have the South Downs on my doorstep, which provides miles of countryside trails to explore. This helps me keep fit and get fresh air. If I am not feeling active enough (some Sundays!) to get out on my bike, I like to walk in local countryside for the same reasons: sunlight and fresh air! I do find however, that the UK doesn’t hold enough adventure/wilderness for me. After travelling to Alaska in late 2010, hiking trails, using ATV’s for off-road travel and having a couple of close bear encounters whilst camping, I am keen to go back.

My second big passion is target shooting. It is a slightly misunderstood sport and when telling people I am often wary of quizzical or worried responses. This is largely due to public mis-education about firearms for sporting use. Like mountain biking, shooting lets me get outside. I shoot rain or shine; mainly at the home of British shooting, Bisley Ranges in Surrey. Shooting lets me forget the everyday trappings of life as it requires a great deal of skill, knowledge and concentration to place a bullet travelling at over twice the speed of sound into a six-inch circle at 600 yards.

I also enjoy drawing and art and play the bass guitar. These hobbies have been somewhat neglected of late!

TWOWEEKS Volunteer Profile: Kamal Patel

Kamal Patel tell us about how she got involved with TWOWEEKS and why she wanted to volunteer on her recent trip to Lily of the Valley in  November, 2011. Kamal also held a ‘housewarming fundraising night’ for us recently and her friends and family generously gave £480 that evening.

Tell us about yourself.

I have just completed an IT contract at Nomura PLC which is a Japanese bank in London.

My background is mainly IT and business skills but I have also taught English as a foreign language both here and in Taiwan over the last few years.

I love all sport but especially football and cricket – I used to have a season ticket at Arsenal and still follow their exploits avidly!

How did you hear about TWOWEEKS?

I met Karen through a friend and she inspired me with the idea of being able to help even if you only had two weeks to spare. The notion of being a cog in the wheel where you come and set up something that someone else could take over seemed make sense – i.e. that a defined realistic piece of work that could be  achieved in 2 weeks and handed over to the next person who came along.

Tell us about your fundraising night.

I thought I would let my friends know about the charity and my plans and having just moved into a new flat I thought it would be an ideal opportunity to promote TWOWEEKS and raise some funds whilst enjoying ourselves. The party would have taken place anyway and as I would have supplied the food and drinks my friends were requested to supply any donations.

Trip Update to Lily of the Valley in March 2011

Trip Update to Lily of the Valley in August 2011

We arrived on Sunday the 14th of August in a very sunny Cape Town. After a two-hour stop we boarded a plane to Durban. We had a 30-minute stop in a grey Port Elisabeth and we landed in a wet and very cold Durban. Jumpers, fleece and winter gear were needed. It was great to see old friends. The kids are older, taller and more cheeky and the new arrival baby Rhain was only one week old.

On day one Natasha, a school nurse with a past A&E background, and I were in the clinic. It was a quiet day with less than 20 people. We had meetings in the afternoon with the management of the children’s village as Natasha had the exciting task of initiating sexual health/sex education workshops in Lily. The meetings were very positive and at times challenging as Lily is a Christian orphanage.

We went into the township to see those not well enough to attend the clinic and although I have been here six times now, the poverty still strikes me – especially that in this day and age we still have no running water, no electricity and heating in a lot of the houses! But as always the people of Mophela and Sankonthse take it into their stride and are always welcoming to us.

The sex education and sexual health workshops were very positive and well received by our kids. A lot of questions were asked and we will be doing the same for the Lily Primary School staff and on Friday we were in the local Secondary School called Gabi Gabi to talk to their teenagers. HIV and AIDS and teenage pregnancies are very high here and we want to inform the teenagers to be careful, use protection and to be aware of the STDs around.

The weekends were really relaxing. One weekend we woke up early in the morning to go for a drive in the game reserve Tala, our neighbour. We managed to see all the animals; giraffes, hippos, rhinos, ostriches, zebras, wildebeest, and kuddus were all waiting for us. The beach in Durban, Umhlanga Rocks, was a lovely place to chillax in the afternoon. Afterwards some shopping in a big shopping mall in Durban and then the next day the bright and warm African sun was out and we spent time with some of the other volunteers on a hill in the gardens watching the wildlife in Bushwood Villa, on the border of Lily and Tala.

The work was varied. One day someone was unwell and for a minute I was back in my A&E years. The patient needed IV fluids (a drip) and hospitalisation. Because of illness the nurse practitioner was off and Tash and I were manning the entire clinic. We had seen 20+ patients until that point and we never knew what would be coming our way.

These trips always make me look at life differently. You appreciate what you have even more and it also makes me realise that the work of TWOWEEKS has been incredible. We have been coming to this place for 5-6 years now and people know us, welcome us and the work and look how we have grown.

Words by Patricia Rijsenburg

Trip Update to Lily of the Valley in November 2011

Our Trip to Lily of the Valley in November 2011 was full of emotion, challenges, successes, trials and appreciation. I feel renewed, refreshed and grateful. We did so much; ranging from piloting a new health program for children in the local communities surrounding Lily, working with local social workers on a suspected case of child abuse, nursing a very sick child with AIDs and conducting medical examinations on children in need. Within seeing 20 children, Samina and I had picked up two heart murmurs, two urinary infections, one likely case of diabetes and three children with HIV/AIDS. And that was just one class in one school. The possibilities to identify more cases of illness and disease is immense! We are proud that we were here at the start and that from our past efforts a bigger program will be rolled out to this district and perhaps even the whole of Durban which would be fantastic. Because of the huge need, we were told that our volunteers would always be needed with such a program.

We had a lot of meetings to establish links with old and new institutions, NGOs and people who TWOWEEKS need to work with in South Africa and who are related to the new ‘regime’ at Lily. Our trip was not free of sadness. One of the reports I completed was on a three-year-old girl who I reviewed in a school in a district adjacent to Lily as suspicions of child abuse arose due to her behaviour when examined and further medical tests undertaken. We made sure that we sought advice from social workers, psychologists and Lily before proceeding as it was a sensitive issue that meant potentially accusing innocent parents of child abuse, which we knew would not go down well with that community and news would spread also.

We discussed the situation and our suspicions with the head of the local social worker division and followed her advice to report our concerns to the headmistress of the school. She confirmed our suspicions and said that this child was always sad, withdrawn, never played and always sat alone in a corner. However, she went on to say that she would not do anything as there would be repercussions to herself, family and position at the school. “I know her stepfather”, she said, “and it would not be good for me.” Despite our protestations, the Zulu nurse attending this meeting with us explained that this is a real concern and retaliation is commonplace with situations like this. Needless to say we left that meeting very upset, confused and disappointed but in truth I do not live in this lady’s shoes and therefore cannot pass judgement. However, we could not abandon this child and so we are now handing over our concern to the social workers for them to help this little girl. We need to protect our children and sadly abuse if rife in South Africa – a bewildering and unpallatable fact that needs to be addressed.

Another sad situation arose when we tried to help a 12-year-old girl called Thobeka who had come to Lily about three months ago. She had full-blown AIDS and fell ill three weeks after arriving at Lily. She was admitted to hospital back in June and had remained there ever since. She had previously suffered with meningitis and as a result had paralysis on the right side of her body. But she made progress and picked up whilst admitted in hospital. However, South African public hospital care is very different from that in the UK and on the ward children are jampacked in together with all ailments (contagious or otherwise). So she not only had a low white cell count (i.e. AIDS) to deal with but she also caught TB and then meningitis again. Her immune system was just too weak.

Samina and I were asked to review her and find out if there was any way to improve her situation and prognosis. We went to the hospital that was a good 40 minutes drive away and spoke with the resident paediatrician in charge of her care. On our first visit he expressed hope and a determination to fight in her corner but as the days passed and she deteriorated further, it became clear that her chances of survival were fading fast and so we tried our best to get her transferred to a palliative care hospital as the care she was receiving at this particular hospital was abysmal. In South African public hospitals, parents are only allowed to stay with their children if they are being breast fed, so most of the children there stay alone. And even though Thobeka was an orphan, the Lily volunteers and staff at the village and clinic tried their very best to see her as often as they could in that small window of visiting hours, which was between 1-3pm each day. When we visited, Thobeka was often dirty, lying in soiled sheets and the nurses showed no care or attention. Her lips were cracked and sore and she often cried and moaned when we were there. Bless Thobeka. It was so hard leaving her when we visited and although we bought her cuddly toys and things to brighten her bed situated in a dimly lit area of the ward, it was not the same as a touch of a hand or a stroke of her brow which she appreciated when we were there. The Lily long-term volunteers also did what they could and two even took a guitar and sang to her. Whilst sitting with her I thought about all the people who ask, ‘What can I do in two weeks?’ Merely having a volunteer sit with this little girl each day and perhaps with the other children on the ward would have made such a big difference to her suffering.

We tried so hard to help this little girl but money was always the barrier. To move her to a semi-private hospital would have cost £100 a day and we tried to think of ways to raise the money; phonecalls, emails etc. We just needed time. With the global economic downturn, NGOs and charities such as Lily and TWOWEEKS have all felt the effects of reduced donations and cash flow and if you take £100 a day and give it to this one child, you take it away from helping the remaining 129 children who live at Lily. So we tried to think of ways to help little Thobeka and we even went to a hospice and asked for their help. A plan began to develop that if they could accept Thobeka in a side room and Lily hired a nurse to sit with her (a far cheaper option than transferring her to a private hospital), then she would be cared for and be nearer to Lily so that more people could visit. We just needed more time. But sadly on the 30th November we learned that Thobeka had died that morning. So sad. And whilst her suffering is no more, I just wish we could have made her final days with us more comfortable and surrounded by love. Lily now plan to build a small hospice facility to care for children in situations just like this and we hope to support them with this aim. Poor little Thobeka, she had such a hard struggle and who knows how her life was before she came to Lily. I pray she is now at peace.

Kamal did some stellar work at Lily and focused her time on working with the older children who will one day grow to adulthood and have to leave Lily. Most of them have lived at Lily for most of their lives and so the concept of leaving and having to fend for themselves is quite foreign to them and now being addressed in a big way. Kamal did a workshop on job interviews with the children to get them thinking about the process of looking and securing a job. She also worked a lot in the IT class which is situated near the clinic in the community projects that Lily has developed. She taught adults and children from the local community how to navigate around the net, search for things and jobs and produce a CV and covering letter. It was really touching as on the last day a couple of her students that she had taught from the community came up to her and said thank you and took pictures with her. It was smiles all round and I felt very proud of her as it was clear that she had made a difference to these two ladies who expressed their appreciation so warmly.

So that was our trip. There is still so much to be done but we are on the case.

Words by Karen Patten

TWOWEEKS March 2011 Trip Update: Lily of the Valley Orphanage in South Africa

The march trip to South Africa had four pharmacists travel, along with Richard (who also happens to be my brother) and I. The pharmacists did medication reviews in the community and also assisted with the clinic and the children at Lily. They really opened my eyes to what pharmacists can do. But they did not stop there – they also did fundraising by climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and jumped out of a plane for TWOWEEKS as well. Bless them! And after coming back from their ‘world tour of adventures’, they continued to look at ways to get cheap meds from drug companies to help supply the Lily clinic.

Richard was meant to help with food distribution, but as is often the case in South Africa, things rarely go to plan. So we arrived at Lily to be informed that they had already distributed the food that they had for the month. He was understandably really disappointed, but ended up working with the older children at Lily and playing football with the men in the township as there is a pitch at Lily that many of the township folks come to. Now, this may sound a bit frivolous, but it was in fact a very good thing. We often go out into the community and a lot of our preparation for volunteers focuses on educating them about being safe. Crime is a real problem in South Africa and all of our volunteers must be aware and prepared. But after Richard played football and also went to a football tournament in the township, we subsequently went into the township and the young men that we had often viewed with suspicion and caution were now asking after Richard and knew that I was his sister. They even went as far as to compliment him on his ability to play football. After this, our trips into the community seemed less threatening and in truth, less stressful. It was a really good thing and we felt safer for it.

Words by Karen Patten

TWOWEEKS August Trip to Lily of the Valley Orphanage in South Africa

August heralded a further trip to Lily comprising of Patricia (trustee and doctor) and Natasha (a nurse). They had aimed to assist with the clinic at Lily, but it turned out that they did more than assist as the doctor that usually runs the clinic at Lily and the nurse practitioner both became unwell just after Patricia arrived. She therefore ended up running the clinic singlehandedly, bless her. She was so busy seeing patients and from all reports, did an excellent job.

Natasha assisted in the clinic, but also did some sex education with the older children at Lily. Now in the past, Lily, being a Christian organisation, taught abstinence regarding this sensitive matter. However, we had been saying that whilst this is a good idea in some respects, it is not realistic in others and now that our children are living longer and getting older, it is important to address this situation as a number of them have HIV & AIDS. Well, it took a few years, but Lily finally agreed and 2011 was our first year with ‘Sex Ed’ and it went down a storm. In fact, news of Natasha’s work shops spread and she ended up going to a local school in the township and another orphanage linked to Lily called Makaphutu. On my return in November, people were still asking after her and whether she could come back and talk to their children or students. It nearly got to the stage that I was
taking bookings – I was so proud.

But again, that was not where her dedication and passion ended. Natasha came back to the UK and realising that a lot of the older girls were without bras (due to underwear being a luxury there), she is now in the process of setting up a charity to provide bras (and pants) to the older girls at Lily and perhaps one day, the ladies in the township as well. Again – fantastic!!! So once again, even thought someone was present at the project for only two weeks, they have gone on to do other things and continue the work they started. Natasha is hoping to return to Lily in 2012.

TWOWEEKS November Trip to Lily of The Valley in South Africa

November was our final trip of the year. Again we had a small team going out to Lily with Samina (trustee and doctor), Kamal (IT specialist and soon-to-be-teacher) and myself. Our team was small due to issues regarding accommodation that had plagued our trips in 2011 and this was the time to sort it out.

So we headed to Lily and had meeting after meeting with folks old and new, to try and sort out various issues that the TWOWEEKS team and volunteers had been experiencing. It was tiring and sometimes frustrating as we constantly had to ‘educate’ folks about the vision and work of TWOWEEKS and provide evidence of our effectiveness but little by little with each meeting, we began to win folks round and they saw what we had achieved and the potential of what we could do in the future. Our mission was accomplished and we have been given permission to build a house at Lily for our volunteers. We will also buy a vehicle of our own as well, as hiring one when we go on trips is very costly. Now all we have to do is raise the money!!!! But once we have built our TWOWEEKS home, it will be much easier to send volunteers and also leave equipment and supplies, which will save time and money and valuable space in our suitcases!

Kamal worked with the older children on their careers and future and this went well. With our children getting older and surviving, Lily never had to think about their future or things like securing jobs for them. They are truly ‘institutionalised’ and getting them to be inspired and out of the orphanage ‘everything is given to me’ mentality is not easy. Kamal also worked with the community in the IT school and provided classes on developing CVs and covering letters. She also taught students how to navigate the internet and look up things and send documents. This was a great success also. On our final day at Lily, two of her students approached Kamal and asked to take pictures with her. They thanked her for her help and it was smiles all around. It was a good moment and illustrated how much she had achieved as they talked about the jobs they hoped to get now that they had a CV and covering letter. It made me realise that whilst we have been gathering statistics to present to sponsors and supporters (to prove effectiveness), at the end of the day it is all about the individual and the impact our help can make for even one person, their family and their future. Again, I was really proud of what Kamal achieved.

I should also add that Kamal held a fundraising house warming party before our trip and her friends and family generously donated £480 to TWOWEEKS.

Samina and I not only met with what seemed like every hospital and NGO official in the district, but we also attended to children and staff at Lily, worked in the clinic and piloted a new scheme to roll out health checks to children in local schools in surrounding townships. This was really exciting as within seeing our first few children in a kindergarten class, we picked up heart murmurs, suspected urinary tract infections, cases of HIV & AIDS and a suspected case of diabetes. And that was just one class! We went on to discover even more with each class and school we visited and it really illustrated the need for such a service. Getting check ups are not really done in the poorer communities of South Africa and as a result many things get missed which invariably affects education, development and indeed survival. We presented our findings to Lily and also with local institutions and one hospital director and they were really interested in what we had done and asked for our report as they would like to extend this scheme.

This is really exciting for us and indeed the communities it will help and we hope to continue assisting with this program in the future with not only medical volunteers, but other specialists as the scope for developing this program with dentists, special needs teachers, social workers and so on, is huge.