NPO 076 518
CHRISTMAS 2011
Christmas preparations started early this year when Thandanani finalised their list of children who needed to be spoilt at Christmas. Our list grows every year and we now have 120 children that need on-going assistance throughout the year. We believe in the long term intervention approach and therefore cannot consider increasing our numbers in the near future. We are involved in many aspects of these children’s lives and believe that by being consistent and reliable on a daily basis, we show them that some people can be trusted and are in for the long haul. As I have known a lot of the children since their birth, we continue to grow together and many of these kids have managed to achieve beyond their capabilities in the past year.
In the last week of the Western Cape 4th school term, we started off our Christmas 2011 project by handing out presents anonymously via schools and churches to children whose families are struggling. We also handed out pressies, sweets and clothing to all our toddlers in Richwood bush and De Grendel farm.
We were very fortunate this year that both the staff at Nu Metro and Operation Shoebox offered to collect toys for our children. Even though there was no guarantee as to whether either organisation would be able to provide each child on our list with a present, both organisations did just that and Nu Metro even included a few extra gifts, money to pay for our entertainer and a box of clothing. Nu Metro also arranged with Exclusive Books to present each child with a wonderful handpicked book from their range of children’s books. We later decided to give a book as a prize to all the children who achieved in some area of their schooling, extra mural activities, or their behaviour and donated the rest to the schools that the children attend so that many more children can benefit from these books. All in all, Nu Metro shipped 13 boxes of goodies to us in Cape Town!
Operation Shoebox also ticked off every name on our list and I realised that our children were going to be very overwhelmed. Operation Shoebox is an amazing organisation – highly professional with dedicated members and volunteers.
Little Zandre Peterse from Richwood bush with her Operation Shoebox present.
Our main Christmas party was held on Saturday 10th December 2011 at my home. 85 excited children from Richwood, De Grendel farm and Du Noon attended. We decorated the house and garden, called for extra bathing costumes, towels and water wings from everybody we knew and prayed that the rain which was predicted would stay away!
Our wonderful neighbour who spends most of his life at sea made sure that he caught fresh fish the day before our party – then got up at six in the morning to fillet the fish and fried bite size pieces for our kids to start the day with. We all agreed that this fish was the best any of us had ever eaten. This kind man and his wife also supplied additional cold drinks and party packs for the kids.
The DJ got going and Faldien, our resident MC, got all the children riled up and ready to party!! Some children broke into groups to practice for the Thandanani Idols and Talent Show, some played on the jumping castle while others completed Sand Art Xmas cards. Games of bingo were held with great prizes. The swimming pool remained packed with kids for most of the day.
Fun on the jumping castle!
The ‘Young Standers’ at the top doing their hip hop thing while others join in and some watch from the other side of the pool!
Even though it was his son’s birthday, Albert Fritz, MEC of Social Development, popped in to spend some time with the youngsters. Pictured below is Albert with the Thandanani kids.
The children feasted on every kind of sweet conceivable during the morning and drank copious quantities of juice. At lunch time, boxes of Romans Pizza arrived and the feasting continued…
During lunch time, the children were entertained by Jade – the famous unicyclist, fire juggler, fire breather and balloon maker! They were totally enthralled!
And the fun continued…
Sermon trying out the unicycle while Byron waits his turn!
After hours of fun in the sun, it was time to get down to the serious stuff – the handing out of prizes to those children that had achieved well this year. Sixteen children received prizes for achievements ranging from high Grade placements, becoming a prefect, improvement in general school work and good behaviour. Two boys received certificates of achievement for having completed Level 3 of 4 of their IRO kite surfing qualifications. We are terribly proud of these children.
Melvina received the prize for coming 2nd out of all the Grade 8’s at De Grendel High. She also received two subject 1st places.
And finally, it was time for Father Christmas to arrive and hand out all wonderful presents, party packs, Magazines and even more sweets....
The stage was set!
Santa’s corner overflowing with presents!
Santa’s sledge that carried all the party packs from the North Pole!
Father Christmas with sisters Keysha and Nicoleen Braaf
Children eagerly waiting for Santa to call them!
More happy moments…
None of this would have been at all possible without the help of my marvellous sponsors. If I have left anybody out, please forgive me but I am also very overwhelmed by the outpouring of kindness and the generosity of so many people. Bless you all for allowing these kids to have such a magnificent day and take home so many memories.
Nu Metro, Operation Shoebox, Chinook Spur, Shoprite,
P ‘n P Plattekloof, Bright’s Home and Hardware, Herd Buoys,
MacDonalds Plattekloof, Nandos Plattekloof, Salem Full Gospel Church,
MFC Holdings, Exclusive Books, Romans Pizza, Supercakes Northern Suburbs, Peninsula Beverage, Janine Stoffberg, Margi Daly, Pumeza Mphuthi,
Lisa Leetch – Blue Alpha Funds, RMI and SAMRA, Funky Finds & Things
A special thank you to Freeworld Automative Coatings who donated a trampoline to the Thandanani children for Christmas.
Hugs to our wonderful Volunteers that helped on the day, especially the Starfish Friends that support Thandanani year after year!
NPO 076 518
CHRISTMAS 2011
Christmas preparations started early this year when Thandanani finalised their list of children who needed to be spoilt at Christmas. Our list grows every year and we now have 120 children that need on-going assistance throughout the year. We believe in the long term intervention approach and therefore cannot consider increasing our numbers in the near future. We are involved in many aspects of these children’s lives and believe that by being consistent and reliable on a daily basis, we show them that some people can be trusted and are in for the long haul. As I have known a lot of the children since their birth, we continue to grow together and many of these kids have managed to achieve beyond their capabilities in the past year.
In the last week of the Western Cape 4th school term, we started off our Christmas 2011 project by handing out presents anonymously via schools and churches to children whose families are struggling. We also handed out pressies, sweets and clothing to all our toddlers in Richwood bush and De Grendel farm.
We were very fortunate this year that both the staff at Nu Metro and Operation Shoebox offered to collect toys for our children. Even though there was no guarantee as to whether either organisation would be able to provide each child on our list with a present, both organisations did just that and Nu Metro even included a few extra gifts, money to pay for our entertainer and a box of clothing. Nu Metro also arranged with Exclusive Books to present each child with a wonderful handpicked book from their range of children’s books. We later decided to give a book as a prize to all the children who achieved in some area of their schooling, extra mural activities, or their behaviour and donated the rest to the schools that the children attend so that many more children can benefit from these books. All in all, Nu Metro shipped 13 boxes of goodies to us in Cape Town!
Operation Shoebox also ticked off every name on our list and I realised that our children were going to be very overwhelmed. Operation Shoebox is an amazing organisation – highly professional with dedicated members and volunteers.
Little Zandre Peterse from Richwood bush with her Operation Shoebox present.
Our main Christmas party was held on Saturday 10th December 2011 at my home. 85 excited children from Richwood, De Grendel farm and Du Noon attended. We decorated the house and garden, called for extra bathing costumes, towels and water wings from everybody we knew and prayed that the rain which was predicted would stay away!
Our wonderful neighbour who spends most of his life at sea made sure that he caught fresh fish the day before our party – then got up at six in the morning to fillet the fish and fried bite size pieces for our kids to start the day with. We all agreed that this fish was the best any of us had ever eaten. This kind man and his wife also supplied additional cold drinks and party packs for the kids.
The DJ got going and Faldien, our resident MC, got all the children riled up and ready to party!! Some children broke into groups to practice for the Thandanani Idols and Talent Show, some played on the jumping castle while others completed Sand Art Xmas cards. Games of bingo were held with great prizes. The swimming pool remained packed with kids for most of the day.
Fun on the jumping castle!
The ‘Young Standers’ at the top doing their hip hop thing while others join in and some watch from the other side of the pool!
Even though it was his son’s birthday, Albert Fritz, MEC of Social Development, popped in to spend some time with the youngsters. Pictured below is Albert with the Thandanani kids.
The children feasted on every kind of sweet conceivable during the morning and drank copious quantities of juice. At lunch time, boxes of Romans Pizza arrived and the feasting continued…
During lunch time, the children were entertained by Jade – the famous unicyclist, fire juggler, fire breather and balloon maker! They were totally enthralled!
And the fun continued…
Sermon trying out the unicycle while Byron waits his turn!
After hours of fun in the sun, it was time to get down to the serious stuff – the handing out of prizes to those children that had achieved well this year. Sixteen children received prizes for achievements ranging from high Grade placements, becoming a prefect, improvement in general school work and good behaviour. Two boys received certificates of achievement for having completed Level 3 of 4 of their IRO kite surfing qualifications. We are terribly proud of these children.
Melvina received the prize for coming 2nd out of all the Grade 8’s at De Grendel High. She also received two subject 1st places.
And finally, it was time for Father Christmas to arrive and hand out all wonderful presents, party packs, Magazines and even more sweets....
The stage was set!
Santa’s corner overflowing with presents!
Santa’s sledge that carried all the party packs from the North Pole!
Father Christmas with sisters Keysha and Nicoleen Braaf
Children eagerly waiting for Santa to call them!
More happy moments…
None of this would have been at all possible without the help of my marvellous sponsors. If I have left anybody out, please forgive me but I am also very overwhelmed by the outpouring of kindness and the generosity of so many people. Bless you all for allowing these kids to have such a magnificent day and take home so many memories.
Nu Metro, Operation Shoebox, Chinook Spur, Shoprite,
P ‘n P Plattekloof, Bright’s Home and Hardware, Herd Buoys,
MacDonalds Plattekloof, Nandos Plattekloof, Salem Full Gospel Church,
MFC Holdings, Exclusive Books, Romans Pizza, Supercakes Northern Suburbs, Peninsula Beverage, Janine Stoffberg, Margi Daly, Pumeza Mphuthi,
Lisa Leetch – Blue Alpha Funds, RMI and SAMRA, Funky Finds & Things
A special thank you to Freeworld Automative Coatings who donated a trampoline to the Thandanani children for Christmas.
Hugs to our wonderful Volunteers that helped on the day, especially the Starfish Friends that support Thandanani year after year!
NPO 076 518
CHRISTMAS 2011
Christmas preparations started early this year when Thandanani finalised their list of children who needed to be spoilt at Christmas. Our list grows every year and we now have 120 children that need on-going assistance throughout the year. We believe in the long term intervention approach and therefore cannot consider increasing our numbers in the near future. We are involved in many aspects of these children’s lives and believe that by being consistent and reliable on a daily basis, we show them that some people can be trusted and are in for the long haul. As I have known a lot of the children since their birth, we continue to grow together and many of these kids have managed to achieve beyond their capabilities in the past year.
In the last week of the Western Cape 4th school term, we started off our Christmas 2011 project by handing out presents anonymously via schools and churches to children whose families are struggling. We also handed out pressies, sweets and clothing to all our toddlers in Richwood bush and De Grendel farm.
We were very fortunate this year that both the staff at Nu Metro and Operation Shoebox offered to collect toys for our children. Even though there was no guarantee as to whether either organisation would be able to provide each child on our list with a present, both organisations did just that and Nu Metro even included a few extra gifts, money to pay for our entertainer and a box of clothing. Nu Metro also arranged with Exclusive Books to present each child with a wonderful handpicked book from their range of children’s books. We later decided to give a book as a prize to all the children who achieved in some area of their schooling, extra mural activities, or their behaviour and donated the rest to the schools that the children attend so that many more children can benefit from these books. All in all, Nu Metro shipped 13 boxes of goodies to us in Cape Town!
Operation Shoebox also ticked off every name on our list and I realised that our children were going to be very overwhelmed. Operation Shoebox is an amazing organisation – highly professional with dedicated members and volunteers.
Little Zandre Peterse from Richwood bush with her Operation Shoebox present.
Our main Christmas party was held on Saturday 10th December 2011 at my home. 85 excited children from Richwood, De Grendel farm and Du Noon attended. We decorated the house and garden, called for extra bathing costumes, towels and water wings from everybody we knew and prayed that the rain which was predicted would stay away!
Our wonderful neighbour who spends most of his life at sea made sure that he caught fresh fish the day before our party – then got up at six in the morning to fillet the fish and fried bite size pieces for our kids to start the day with. We all agreed that this fish was the best any of us had ever eaten. This kind man and his wife also supplied additional cold drinks and party packs for the kids.
The DJ got going and Faldien, our resident MC, got all the children riled up and ready to party!! Some children broke into groups to practice for the Thandanani Idols and Talent Show, some played on the jumping castle while others completed Sand Art Xmas cards. Games of bingo were held with great prizes. The swimming pool remained packed with kids for most of the day.
Fun on the jumping castle!
The ‘Young Standers’ at the top doing their hip hop thing while others join in and some watch from the other side of the pool!
Even though it was his son’s birthday, Albert Fritz, MEC of Social Development, popped in to spend some time with the youngsters. Pictured below is Albert with the Thandanani kids.
The children feasted on every kind of sweet conceivable during the morning and drank copious quantities of juice. At lunch time, boxes of Romans Pizza arrived and the feasting continued…
During lunch time, the children were entertained by Jade – the famous unicyclist, fire juggler, fire breather and balloon maker! They were totally enthralled!
And the fun continued…
Sermon trying out the unicycle while Byron waits his turn!
After hours of fun in the sun, it was time to get down to the serious stuff – the handing out of prizes to those children that had achieved well this year. Sixteen children received prizes for achievements ranging from high Grade placements, becoming a prefect, improvement in general school work and good behaviour. Two boys received certificates of achievement for having completed Level 3 of 4 of their IRO kite surfing qualifications. We are terribly proud of these children.
Melvina received the prize for coming 2nd out of all the Grade 8’s at De Grendel High. She also received two subject 1st places.
And finally, it was time for Father Christmas to arrive and hand out all wonderful presents, party packs, Magazines and even more sweets....
The stage was set!
Santa’s corner overflowing with presents!
Santa’s sledge that carried all the party packs from the North Pole!
Father Christmas with sisters Keysha and Nicoleen Braaf
Children eagerly waiting for Santa to call them!
More happy moments…
None of this would have been at all possible without the help of my marvellous sponsors. If I have left anybody out, please forgive me but I am also very overwhelmed by the outpouring of kindness and the generosity of so many people. Bless you all for allowing these kids to have such a magnificent day and take home so many memories.
Nu Metro, Operation Shoebox, Chinook Spur, Shoprite,
P ‘n P Plattekloof, Bright’s Home and Hardware, Herd Buoys,
MacDonalds Plattekloof, Nandos Plattekloof, Salem Full Gospel Church,
MFC Holdings, Exclusive Books, Romans Pizza, Supercakes Northern Suburbs, Peninsula Beverage, Janine Stoffberg, Margi Daly, Pumeza Mphuthi,
Lisa Leetch – Blue Alpha Funds, RMI and SAMRA, Funky Finds & Things
A special thank you to Freeworld Automative Coatings who donated a trampoline to the Thandanani children for Christmas.
Hugs to our wonderful Volunteers that helped on the day, especially the Starfish Friends that support Thandanani year after year!
NPO 076 518
CHRISTMAS 2011
Christmas preparations started early this year when Thandanani finalised their list of children who needed to be spoilt at Christmas. Our list grows every year and we now have 120 children that need on-going assistance throughout the year. We believe in the long term intervention approach and therefore cannot consider increasing our numbers in the near future. We are involved in many aspects of these children’s lives and believe that by being consistent and reliable on a daily basis, we show them that some people can be trusted and are in for the long haul. As I have known a lot of the children since their birth, we continue to grow together and many of these kids have managed to achieve beyond their capabilities in the past year.
In the last week of the Western Cape 4th school term, we started off our Christmas 2011 project by handing out presents anonymously via schools and churches to children whose families are struggling. We also handed out pressies, sweets and clothing to all our toddlers in Richwood bush and De Grendel farm.
We were very fortunate this year that both the staff at Nu Metro and Operation Shoebox offered to collect toys for our children. Even though there was no guarantee as to whether either organisation would be able to provide each child on our list with a present, both organisations did just that and Nu Metro even included a few extra gifts, money to pay for our entertainer and a box of clothing. Nu Metro also arranged with Exclusive Books to present each child with a wonderful handpicked book from their range of children’s books. We later decided to give a book as a prize to all the children who achieved in some area of their schooling, extra mural activities, or their behaviour and donated the rest to the schools that the children attend so that many more children can benefit from these books. All in all, Nu Metro shipped 13 boxes of goodies to us in Cape Town!
Operation Shoebox also ticked off every name on our list and I realised that our children were going to be very overwhelmed. Operation Shoebox is an amazing organisation – highly professional with dedicated members and volunteers.
Little Zandre Peterse from Richwood bush with her Operation Shoebox present.
Our main Christmas party was held on Saturday 10th December 2011 at my home. 85 excited children from Richwood, De Grendel farm and Du Noon attended. We decorated the house and garden, called for extra bathing costumes, towels and water wings from everybody we knew and prayed that the rain which was predicted would stay away!
Our wonderful neighbour who spends most of his life at sea made sure that he caught fresh fish the day before our party – then got up at six in the morning to fillet the fish and fried bite size pieces for our kids to start the day with. We all agreed that this fish was the best any of us had ever eaten. This kind man and his wife also supplied additional cold drinks and party packs for the kids.
The DJ got going and Faldien, our resident MC, got all the children riled up and ready to party!! Some children broke into groups to practice for the Thandanani Idols and Talent Show, some played on the jumping castle while others completed Sand Art Xmas cards. Games of bingo were held with great prizes. The swimming pool remained packed with kids for most of the day.
Fun on the jumping castle!
The ‘Young Standers’ at the top doing their hip hop thing while others join in and some watch from the other side of the pool!
Even though it was his son’s birthday, Albert Fritz, MEC of Social Development, popped in to spend some time with the youngsters. Pictured below is Albert with the Thandanani kids.
The children feasted on every kind of sweet conceivable during the morning and drank copious quantities of juice. At lunch time, boxes of Romans Pizza arrived and the feasting continued…
During lunch time, the children were entertained by Jade – the famous unicyclist, fire juggler, fire breather and balloon maker! They were totally enthralled!
And the fun continued…
Sermon trying out the unicycle while Byron waits his turn!
After hours of fun in the sun, it was time to get down to the serious stuff – the handing out of prizes to those children that had achieved well this year. Sixteen children received prizes for achievements ranging from high Grade placements, becoming a prefect, improvement in general school work and good behaviour. Two boys received certificates of achievement for having completed Level 3 of 4 of their IRO kite surfing qualifications. We are terribly proud of these children.
Melvina received the prize for coming 2nd out of all the Grade 8’s at De Grendel High. She also received two subject 1st places.
And finally, it was time for Father Christmas to arrive and hand out all wonderful presents, party packs, Magazines and even more sweets....
The stage was set!
Santa’s corner overflowing with presents!
Santa’s sledge that carried all the party packs from the North Pole!
Father Christmas with sisters Keysha and Nicoleen Braaf
Children eagerly waiting for Santa to call them!
More happy moments…
None of this would have been at all possible without the help of my marvellous sponsors. If I have left anybody out, please forgive me but I am also very overwhelmed by the outpouring of kindness and the generosity of so many people. Bless you all for allowing these kids to have such a magnificent day and take home so many memories.
Nu Metro, Operation Shoebox, Chinook Spur, Shoprite,
P ‘n P Plattekloof, Bright’s Home and Hardware, Herd Buoys,
MacDonalds Plattekloof, Nandos Plattekloof, Salem Full Gospel Church,
MFC Holdings, Exclusive Books, Romans Pizza, Supercakes Northern Suburbs, Peninsula Beverage, Janine Stoffberg, Margi Daly, Pumeza Mphuthi,
Lisa Leetch – Blue Alpha Funds, RMI and SAMRA, Funky Finds & Things
A special thank you to Freeworld Automative Coatings who donated a trampoline to the Thandanani children for Christmas.
Hugs to our wonderful Volunteers that helped on the day, especially the Starfish Friends that support Thandanani year after year!
NPO 076 518
CHRISTMAS 2011
Christmas preparations started early this year when Thandanani finalised their list of children who needed to be spoilt at Christmas. Our list grows every year and we now have 120 children that need on-going assistance throughout the year. We believe in the long term intervention approach and therefore cannot consider increasing our numbers in the near future. We are involved in many aspects of these children’s lives and believe that by being consistent and reliable on a daily basis, we show them that some people can be trusted and are in for the long haul. As I have known a lot of the children since their birth, we continue to grow together and many of these kids have managed to achieve beyond their capabilities in the past year.
In the last week of the Western Cape 4th school term, we started off our Christmas 2011 project by handing out presents anonymously via schools and churches to children whose families are struggling. We also handed out pressies, sweets and clothing to all our toddlers in Richwood bush and De Grendel farm.
We were very fortunate this year that both the staff at Nu Metro and Operation Shoebox offered to collect toys for our children. Even though there was no guarantee as to whether either organisation would be able to provide each child on our list with a present, both organisations did just that and Nu Metro even included a few extra gifts, money to pay for our entertainer and a box of clothing. Nu Metro also arranged with Exclusive Books to present each child with a wonderful handpicked book from their range of children’s books. We later decided to give a book as a prize to all the children who achieved in some area of their schooling, extra mural activities, or their behaviour and donated the rest to the schools that the children attend so that many more children can benefit from these books. All in all, Nu Metro shipped 13 boxes of goodies to us in Cape Town!
Operation Shoebox also ticked off every name on our list and I realised that our children were going to be very overwhelmed. Operation Shoebox is an amazing organisation – highly professional with dedicated members and volunteers.
Little Zandre Peterse from Richwood bush with her Operation Shoebox present.
Our main Christmas party was held on Saturday 10th December 2011 at my home. 85 excited children from Richwood, De Grendel farm and Du Noon attended. We decorated the house and garden, called for extra bathing costumes, towels and water wings from everybody we knew and prayed that the rain which was predicted would stay away!
Our wonderful neighbour who spends most of his life at sea made sure that he caught fresh fish the day before our party – then got up at six in the morning to fillet the fish and fried bite size pieces for our kids to start the day with. We all agreed that this fish was the best any of us had ever eaten. This kind man and his wife also supplied additional cold drinks and party packs for the kids.
The DJ got going and Faldien, our resident MC, got all the children riled up and ready to party!! Some children broke into groups to practice for the Thandanani Idols and Talent Show, some played on the jumping castle while others completed Sand Art Xmas cards. Games of bingo were held with great prizes. The swimming pool remained packed with kids for most of the day.
Fun on the jumping castle!
The ‘Young Standers’ at the top doing their hip hop thing while others join in and some watch from the other side of the pool!
Even though it was his son’s birthday, Albert Fritz, MEC of Social Development, popped in to spend some time with the youngsters. Pictured below is Albert with the Thandanani kids.
The children feasted on every kind of sweet conceivable during the morning and drank copious quantities of juice. At lunch time, boxes of Romans Pizza arrived and the feasting continued…
During lunch time, the children were entertained by Jade – the famous unicyclist, fire juggler, fire breather and balloon maker! They were totally enthralled!
And the fun continued…
Sermon trying out the unicycle while Byron waits his turn!
After hours of fun in the sun, it was time to get down to the serious stuff – the handing out of prizes to those children that had achieved well this year. Sixteen children received prizes for achievements ranging from high Grade placements, becoming a prefect, improvement in general school work and good behaviour. Two boys received certificates of achievement for having completed Level 3 of 4 of their IRO kite surfing qualifications. We are terribly proud of these children.
Melvina received the prize for coming 2nd out of all the Grade 8’s at De Grendel High. She also received two subject 1st places.
And finally, it was time for Father Christmas to arrive and hand out all wonderful presents, party packs, Magazines and even more sweets....
The stage was set!
Santa’s corner overflowing with presents!
Santa’s sledge that carried all the party packs from the North Pole!
Father Christmas with sisters Keysha and Nicoleen Braaf
Children eagerly waiting for Santa to call them!
More happy moments…
None of this would have been at all possible without the help of my marvellous sponsors. If I have left anybody out, please forgive me but I am also very overwhelmed by the outpouring of kindness and the generosity of so many people. Bless you all for allowing these kids to have such a magnificent day and take home so many memories.
Nu Metro, Operation Shoebox, Chinook Spur, Shoprite,
P ‘n P Plattekloof, Bright’s Home and Hardware, Herd Buoys,
MacDonalds Plattekloof, Nandos Plattekloof, Salem Full Gospel Church,
MFC Holdings, Exclusive Books, Romans Pizza, Supercakes Northern Suburbs, Peninsula Beverage, Janine Stoffberg, Margi Daly, Pumeza Mphuthi,
Lisa Leetch – Blue Alpha Funds, RMI and SAMRA, Funky Finds & Things
A special thank you to Freeworld Automative Coatings who donated a trampoline to the Thandanani children for Christmas.
Hugs to our wonderful Volunteers that helped on the day, especially the Starfish Friends that support Thandanani year after year!
NPO 076 518
CHRISTMAS 2011
Christmas preparations started early this year when Thandanani finalised their list of children who needed to be spoilt at Christmas. Our list grows every year and we now have 120 children that need on-going assistance throughout the year. We believe in the long term intervention approach and therefore cannot consider increasing our numbers in the near future. We are involved in many aspects of these children’s lives and believe that by being consistent and reliable on a daily basis, we show them that some people can be trusted and are in for the long haul. As I have known a lot of the children since their birth, we continue to grow together and many of these kids have managed to achieve beyond their capabilities in the past year.
In the last week of the Western Cape 4th school term, we started off our Christmas 2011 project by handing out presents anonymously via schools and churches to children whose families are struggling. We also handed out pressies, sweets and clothing to all our toddlers in Richwood bush and De Grendel farm.
We were very fortunate this year that both the staff at Nu Metro and Operation Shoebox offered to collect toys for our children. Even though there was no guarantee as to whether either organisation would be able to provide each child on our list with a present, both organisations did just that and Nu Metro even included a few extra gifts, money to pay for our entertainer and a box of clothing. Nu Metro also arranged with Exclusive Books to present each child with a wonderful handpicked book from their range of children’s books. We later decided to give a book as a prize to all the children who achieved in some area of their schooling, extra mural activities, or their behaviour and donated the rest to the schools that the children attend so that many more children can benefit from these books. All in all, Nu Metro shipped 13 boxes of goodies to us in Cape Town!
Operation Shoebox also ticked off every name on our list and I realised that our children were going to be very overwhelmed. Operation Shoebox is an amazing organisation – highly professional with dedicated members and volunteers.
Little Zandre Peterse from Richwood bush with her Operation Shoebox present.
Our main Christmas party was held on Saturday 10th December 2011 at my home. 85 excited children from Richwood, De Grendel farm and Du Noon attended. We decorated the house and garden, called for extra bathing costumes, towels and water wings from everybody we knew and prayed that the rain which was predicted would stay away!
Our wonderful neighbour who spends most of his life at sea made sure that he caught fresh fish the day before our party – then got up at six in the morning to fillet the fish and fried bite size pieces for our kids to start the day with. We all agreed that this fish was the best any of us had ever eaten. This kind man and his wife also supplied additional cold drinks and party packs for the kids.
The DJ got going and Faldien, our resident MC, got all the children riled up and ready to party!! Some children broke into groups to practice for the Thandanani Idols and Talent Show, some played on the jumping castle while others completed Sand Art Xmas cards. Games of bingo were held with great prizes. The swimming pool remained packed with kids for most of the day.
Fun on the jumping castle!
The ‘Young Standers’ at the top doing their hip hop thing while others join in and some watch from the other side of the pool!
Even though it was his son’s birthday, Albert Fritz, MEC of Social Development, popped in to spend some time with the youngsters. Pictured below is Albert with the Thandanani kids.
The children feasted on every kind of sweet conceivable during the morning and drank copious quantities of juice. At lunch time, boxes of Romans Pizza arrived and the feasting continued…
During lunch time, the children were entertained by Jade – the famous unicyclist, fire juggler, fire breather and balloon maker! They were totally enthralled!
And the fun continued…
Sermon trying out the unicycle while Byron waits his turn!
After hours of fun in the sun, it was time to get down to the serious stuff – the handing out of prizes to those children that had achieved well this year. Sixteen children received prizes for achievements ranging from high Grade placements, becoming a prefect, improvement in general school work and good behaviour. Two boys received certificates of achievement for having completed Level 3 of 4 of their IRO kite surfing qualifications. We are terribly proud of these children.
Melvina received the prize for coming 2nd out of all the Grade 8’s at De Grendel High. She also received two subject 1st places.
And finally, it was time for Father Christmas to arrive and hand out all wonderful presents, party packs, Magazines and even more sweets....
The stage was set!
Santa’s corner overflowing with presents!
Santa’s sledge that carried all the party packs from the North Pole!
Father Christmas with sisters Keysha and Nicoleen Braaf
Children eagerly waiting for Santa to call them!
More happy moments…
None of this would have been at all possible without the help of my marvellous sponsors. If I have left anybody out, please forgive me but I am also very overwhelmed by the outpouring of kindness and the generosity of so many people. Bless you all for allowing these kids to have such a magnificent day and take home so many memories.
Nu Metro, Operation Shoebox, Chinook Spur, Shoprite,
P ‘n P Plattekloof, Bright’s Home and Hardware, Herd
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