James & Matt in Cape Town, South Africa: Our first days

We arrived in Cape Town on Sunday morning for three weeks volunteer work with the Pearson Foundation. It was raining, cold and we’d had no sleep during our eleven hour flight, but what better way to cheer you up than our driver for the next three weeks, Sieraaj. He showed us the sites quickly and then took us to our accommodation. In the afternoon we met the wonderful and very helpful Ronél who introduced us to more of the city.

Matt

James

On our second day we got to visit the Ikaya Labuntu Shelter and Creche. It was an absolute pleasure to meet Mama Nobunto, who runs the shelter and has been doing since it begun. Mama Nobunto is a wonderful lady with a big heart and her story of how the shelter came to be how it is today was both enchanting and awe-inspiring; it is amazing to see what she has achieved. We helped out at the computer teaching classes that are running three times a day, three times a week. The teacher, Nolwazi, is another incredible person to be in the company of; Nolwazi has no experience, but her teaching and enthusiasm came naturally and it was easily clear to see that her presence will greatly improve the skills of those taking part in the computer programme with her calmness, contagious laughter, yet controlled attitude!

So far we could not have asked for a better welcome to South Africa, and we could not be more thankful for such an opportunity to meet so many incredible people!

We can’t wait for the next few weeks and we hope to help the Foundation as much as we can! By James Freestone & Matt Johnson.