Better Futures

My first arrival week in the Cape Town orphanage has been an incredibly humbling and unforgettable experience. Being the first time that I have ever flown alone or participated in a project such as this, my feelings before catching the plane were a mixture of complete nerves and apprehension, mixed with high excitement for my next four weeks volunteering.

From the second that I touched down in Cape Town, I knew this would be the best experience. The driver, Patrick, was waiting as promised and escorted me to the apartments where I was greeted by the other new volunteers and some of the project coordinators. Everyone was very welcoming and after a jam-packed training day, learning basic Xhosa language and finding out about life on the project, I couldn’t wait to get stuck into teaching my assigned class - the special needs class.

Meeting this class has been amazing. All the children are so happy and it’s infectious, I feel as if my cheeks are aching for smiling and laughing too much during the day!! My best moment shared by another volunteer and the project coordinator Beth, was helping one of the children, Leah, on her way to reaching the goal of being employed by Mama Lumka and helping the carers. After showing Lea to a bowl of water and some rags, Lea needed little encouragement to begin hand-washing the rags and ringing them out to dry. Without the help from GVI, moments like this wouldn’t be possible and I feel so privileged to be a part of this project, creating better futures for these beautiful children.

Emma West – Ikhayalethemba Volunteer

Better Futures