Fancy Franschhoek

We have arrived in Franschhoek, which is our first stop for volunteering. Franschhoek is a village about 45 minutes east of Cape Town. We believe it is the capital for wine and food in South Africa. The village is surrounded by some spectacular mountains that look fake even when looking at them in person. The main street of the village looks like it may be part of the California wine country, but we love it more than that b/c we can afford things here. Franschoek is a very interesting place...you find yourself strolling pass bistros and art galleriesand then you are in the local grocery store, Pick n Pay, with residents of both the squatter towns and the well-off areas. It is all very intertwined and friendly. It is a very relaxed place, and I think that may be one of the largest culture shocks for us. Now to what we've been up to...

After arriving here yesterday evening, we enjoyed a great dinner accompanied by great local wine at Anne's home. It was a very relaxing evening because we had to be well rested for our first day of work. This morning we were picked up bright and early by Liesl, who has been our main contact with the Kusasa Project. The Kusasa Project is a NGO started by a British man, Doug, and an American, Dave. The project was founded in South Africa to encourage a brighter future for underprivileged children. Back to our day - our first stop with Liesl was back to her home to meet Doug and Sintu, a Kusasa Project Manager. Doug and Sintu took us into the squatter town where most all students from the school live. Our first stop in the town was definitely the most eye opening experience. We stopped by the nusery school which is run by a woman and her daughter. The nusery school is open 13 hrs a day and there about 50 children. I would assume that 50 2-4 year olds in the states would be a lot to handle, but imagine looking after that many children in a small shack. I don't think the children could even sit down all at once. They were so excited to see us, and we were fortunate enough to hear all that they have learned. To hear 50 children yell out happily ABC's, 123's, days, months and the Lord's Prayer is an amazing experience. Amy and I agreed that the best part of that visit was to see that all the children had smiles on their faces and were not in the least bit upset to be crammed into these shack for 13 hours. After the nursery visit we were able to see the old Dalabuhle School. The most impressive part of the this camp was that the old administration office were two mobile storage units welded together... it was definitely time for an upgrade. When we arrived at the new campus all the children were out playing in the courtyard... it was CHAOS.

Ok, it's Amy now. I'll continue... We came to find out that the brand new school had only opened last Wednesday, and the 420 kids + staff had transitioned from the welded storage containers to a brand new, gorgeous building provided by the government. Kusasa Project, however, provided everything else including the manpower to help get the school organized (including us), and brand new uniforms for the kids. Once we arrived, we were immediately introduced to the staff including Principal Lucy, who was surrounded by 6 kids in the back room stripped down to their underwear and sorting through heaps of bags trying to find the proper size uniform. Nicole and I spent the better part of the morning organizing kids' pants, polos, shoes, socks and track suits. The looks on the kids' faces when they received their new clothes was indescribable, as many of them had shoes worn down through the sole. After organizing the uniforms, we continued on to the new library where boxes and stacks of books were strewn across the floor. We started organizing these, but I'm sure it will take a few days. If any of you have suggestions on how to do this (we decided the Dewey Decimal System is out), we are open to ideas.

After the school bell rang, we were picked up by Liesl and taken to a friend of Doug's to meet our roommate, Paul. Paul is 51 and a hilarious English body-builder who houses volunteers when they come from out of town. He has shown us unbelievable generosity (including letting us use his computer now). That has been the most astounding thing to me about Franschhoek, is how people are so willing to help each other here. Liesl shuttled us around all day (including grocery shopping), Paul had 3 bedrooms waiting for us, and Anne and Nicolette have been incredible with showing us around, cooking us meals and housing us.

Ok, I know this is getting long but we've taken in so much in these first few days. Beth will be arriving on Wednesday and we have Paul's Palace waiting for her! We'll keep you all posted on the school and our adventures in Franschhoek over the next 2 weeks... including the fundraiser Karaoke at the local pizza restaurant.

Love and miss you, please write!