...and there was singing and dancing!

The Creche Wetting Party

It's early in the morning on Wednesday 20 August 2008 and there is great excitement at Langelihle Creche. Mavis greets 2 of the little ones as they are dropped off by the local 'Kiddie Taxi' and soon they are all laughing and playing in the new classroom while they wait for the 'guests' to arrive!






Miss Roberts opened the morning, followed by a blessing for the Creche by Greg Brooks. Gina Wright, Nanele Nlambo, Sarah Cluver and Danielle Andews each shared a few words.





Then it was the turn of the Langelihle kids who proudly performed a show of dancing and singing in both Zulu and English!
















Next up was Party Time! Each of the little children was given a lunch box filled with party food and juice, and bundled together with a soft toy donated by the St Mary's Grade 6 families. The girls had brought along their own picnic lunches and an enjoyable hour was spent together.
































After a great morning together, it was time to say Goodbye and leave the Langelihle kids to enjoy their new toys, books, puzzles, stationery and outdoor equipment and to finish off an exciting day with a nap on their new mattresses and blankets - all donated by the girls' families.

Symbol Tiles

30 symbol tiles were painted by the girls at one of their CC days last term. They were then sent for firing and the result is a wonderful set of pictures to identify each of the children's bags and face cloths. Handyman Steven helped install the wooden tile plaques the day before the Creche Wetting Party so that the girls could see their handiwork in use!

Finishing Touches

Today Shelley Cluver and Susan Wright spent the morning at Langelihle Creche putting in new flooring...and it looks great! The children had to spend the morning outside and every now and then a little face would appear at the door to check the progress, looking all excited!













Also installed was a wonderful black/greenboard kindly donated by Highbury Preparatory School. It provides the perfect surface for the kids to try out their artistic skills, especially as stationery is at a premium from a cost point of view.






Merv Davies appeared during the morning with a truck load of tyres donated by Supa Quik. The Creche teachers will be hard at work this weekend, positioning them in the small playground for the children to climb and jump on - that should help develop those gross motor skills!










The front door is now complete as a door handle and lock were installed by a Carpenter, paid for with money the girls' have collected so far.


















A first delivery of a little Winnie the Pooh chair, plastic see-saw, height chart, blankets and warm jackets were delightfully received by Mavis.

Storage cupboard installed

Derek Wright and Roy Gooden (the unofficial Toolmen of Langelihle Creche) installed a cupboard donated by Saskia Williams' family today and sprayed silicone onto the curtain rails to ensure they run smoothly. We're almost there with all the 'structural' bits and pieces!

This view from further down the road shows how we have helped make Langelihle Creche shine out in the community and created something they are proud of. It is sure to be associated with many happy memories!

Anyone need to go to the toilet?

Maxwell (0738702585) has sorted out the toilet's leaking problem and the kids, for the first time ever, are able to go to the 'bathroom' at school! Up to now, they have had to make do with a bucket - a huge leap in standards all round.

Saskia William's family donated a new wooden toilet seat to replace the old broken plastic one - what a difference!

Trellidor to the Resuce!

What a wonderful day! The Trellidor installation team went out to the creche and installed a brand new safety gate, donated by Trellidor! Thanks to Charlene Botha and Rob Chivers who went out of their way to find a suitable gate for the creche.



















As an added bonus the great installation team of Thabani Zuma, Sthembiso Makhanya (Jeffrey) and Braveman Msomi agreed to tackle the removal of the old metal door - not an easy task and something we were struggling to find someone to do! Then they offered to install the wooden door that was donated by Rupert Swart of McCurrach and Swart Builders. Needless to say this saved the money that had been set aside to hire a carpenter - which will pay for the toilet to be fixed!

Langelihle Creche now has a front entrance that not only looks great but is totally secure as well. Thanks to Trellidor once again!

...and now it has a name!

Graham Harrison of Gatehouse Design digitized the new logo, which Claire van Zyl's Dad, owner of Media Digest, used to print a wonderful sign for the creche. Vic van Zyl and helper Nicholas then did a very professional job of installing it above the front door! In addition, he printed a roll of logo stickers which can be used to identify the books and puzzles as belonging to Langelihle Creche.




and a fence...

Money that the girls have raised through their Baker Days and Market Days was used to buy the poles, fencing (at a discounted price from Apex Fencing) and concrete mix and to pay a local Businessman to do the installation. Sarah Cluver's family donated the gate.

and curtains...
Charlotte Koning's Mom organised for Frame to donate fabric and Katherine Gooden's Mom did an amazing sewing job to put together a full set of curtains for the creche.

The 'Outside' classroom is underway!

Tayla Davies' Dad, a few ready, willing and able Kearsney boys - Warren and Dean Seals and Jason Morkel, and handyman Simon attacked the task of paving the 'outside' classroom with great enthusiasm today. A task that, quite clearly, lesser men would not have managed!














Heavy concrete pavers donated by a local Hammarsdale businessman, through Merv and Candice Davies, were carried up to the Creche. The ground was then loosened with picks and spades. Umgeni sand funded by the Girls' Collections to date was used to level the paving area and the pavers laid out... only to discover that each paver was a slightly different thickness and required a change to the levels each time!

After a total of 10 hours of hard work, the classroom has begun to take shape and another huge difference is being made. Well done to all involved!
















Helen, the monitor from Phakamisa, having watched Merv and the boys at work and obviously picking up a few tips, took the initiative and has finished off the paving herself! Well done Helen! Needless to say, the kids love their new 'Picnic' area.

The Fencing and The Classroom

'Move-in' date gets closer as basic necessities near completion.

A number one priority for the teachers is to fence off the property - to keep the kids safe and to block off an existing thoroughfare next to the Creche premises. Thanks to the girls having raised sufficient money from their Baker Day and Market Day initiatives, the project has been made possible. After an exhaustive search for the use of a bakkie from the Grade 6 parents, the teachers' families and township contacts, Rob and Elaine Green from Phakamisa offered to drive the Phakamisa bakkie to collect the necessary materials and deliver them to Hammarsdale. Fencing and poles at a great price, and a crash course on putting in a fence from Tim Short at Apex Fencing and Saturday saw the fencing project some alive. Thanks to the Cluver family for sponsoring the 2 new gates - one for the front and one for the back. The community will begin installing the fence on Sunday under the guidance of the local 'fencing expert'!

Roy Gooden and Derek Wright once again brought home the goods as items were ticked off the DIY list (asif the one at home isn't long enough!):

A tap lock was put onto the outside tap, which we had previously installed.

The toilet leak was fixed.

Curtain rails, donated by the Gooden family, were installed on all windows.

1. The Bag and Face Cloth hook racks, hooks donated by the Charlton family and wood donated by the Wright family, were securely attached to the wall.

Shelving donated by the Wilson family was installed.

A few holes in the roof were patched, McGyver style, with what was available in the toolbox.

The Winning Logo

The girls were invited to design a logo for Langelihle Creche. They put a lot of thought into their designs and lots of wonderful entries were received. The logos were shortlisted by the teachers to the top 5. They were:

1. Danielle Andrews of Grade 6R
2. Tori Coppin of Grade 6A
3. Sarah Heron of Grade 6A
4. Tarryn Powell of Grade 6R
5. Kylie Kuhl of Grade 6A

Danielle's winning logo has the Sun for the meaning of Langelihle, which is Beautiful Sun, and the Flowers to symbolise the happy children.

Well done to everyone!

The Mural is Complete!

Wow! The mural looks unbelievable! It is truly incredible what our girls can do and by all accounts they had a great time painting.

The Creche kids also had the time of their lives as they sang songs, danced, ate cake, chewed on Fizzers and played with balloons!

To see more pics just double click on the slideshow and the web album will come up full screen - enjoy.

Filling in the Canvas!

What excitement! Today we began the painting of the mural. Small groups of girls are going out this week to add their own personal touch and contribution to the front wall of Langelihle Creche. Before our very eyes the 'wall' began to some alive with wonderful creatures and bright colours.

The little kids who are still using the old building while we sort out the new one, popped in for a visit, to meet the girls who are helping to transform their school.

Language barriers were broken down with a few lively songs - first in Zulu from the little ones and then in English from the big girls.

Soon there was lots of dancing going on and all sorts of action songs!

The Painting Party!

Well, what a day! Not your usual party - no sweets, very little playtime and lots of hard work but gifts of time and goodwill, plenty of friends, lots of laughter and memories for life.

It all started very early (for a Saturday) with everyone rushing for their paint rollers and trays. The first coat of PVA was started, inside and out. The girls handled the outside with amazing enthusiasm and demonstrated unbelievable commitment and painting skills!

The Moms tackled the inside with equal fervour and quickly discovered that painting on bare concrete blocks was something they never wanted to do again, as paint got sucked in and holes had to be painstakingly filled with small paintbrushes (the girls came in handy here).

And then...we discovered that the second lot of donated paint was actually enamel paint (this became obvious when water wouldn't wash the paint off the girls and kids, who were pretty much spattered from head to toe by now). A well timed call from the teachers, who were en route, had them popping in at the hardware to buy another 15l of enamel paint and 5l of turps! As it turns out, enamel paint is probably more suitable for a creche as little hand prints can easily be cleaned off - so the pain of painting with enamel paint (harder to get on, doesn't wash off anything, instant light headedness from the fumes) was not all in vain! In the midst of the Enamel Paint Crisis, 2 Phakamisa guests from America arrived, were promptly handed a paintbrush and paint tray and had an initiation to South Africa by fire.

Whilst the painting was being sorted out by the Moms, the Dads were hard at work doing Woodwork and Plumbing! Hook racks for little bags and facecloths were assembled, a wash trough was installed and inside taps secured. Not to mention creating a rock reinforcement for the house foundations!

Around lunchtime, the girls were 'let out' for playtime and much fun was had with all the neighbourhood kids!

A few more hours of paint fumes and then it was all over, bar the shouting ...

CC Day!

What a fun day preparing for the first visit to Langelihle Creche! Lots of exciting things to be done. Educational posters for the walls - Shapes, Colours, Numbers and lots more - pictures with English and Zulu words!

All sorts of kiddies' reading books to cover - soon to be read to the little children. Almost a library!

So many puzzles to put together, check, mark the backs and repair.

30 Symbol Tiles painted to make sure that each child knows exactly where to hang his or her bag and which face cloth to use after washing their hands in their new bathroom!




Everything is ready for next week to hand over the gifts and cover the outside walls with a colourful mural.

Painting Party!

Langelihle Creche Painting Party!

Date: Saturday 21st June 2008
Time: 9h to 15h
Who: Anyone
Place: Hammersdale – central meeting point
Needed: You, with a paint tray and roller
RSVP: Susan Wright 0822 930 284

New home for Langelihle Creche!

Exciting news! As a result of the effort we are putting behind helping this crèche, the Council has agreed to provide a better property for the housing of the Langelihle Crèche. The new building is a huge improvement on the old premises. It is in a better condition and the position and layout are much nicer. All of the items that we have so far ‘collected’ will be able to be used for the new building. In addition, this building has a toilet so instead of having to fund a whole new structure we just need to adjust the existing plumbing to install the basin, sink and outside wash trough! An added bonus is that the kids will only move across once the new building is ready so we can work on it whenever it fits in with our timings.