You may remember my post when I went to the Zamokuhle ELC in Pata with Auntie Barbs.
Well today Auntie Barbs spent the day there again and came back in my office today to tell me that the young kids there remember me. The first thing she said is "Your friends in Pata really miss you!" Ha, like kids under the age of 4 who I have only seen every once in a while would miss me. "Really?" I said, "How do you know" She explained to me the role-play they were doing as she was sitting there talking to Lindiwe, the teacher.

Tags: ELC | pata | Zamokuhle

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Yesterday I went with Auntie Barbs to the grocery store, where we loaded up two shopping carts with food for some of the Early Learning Centers. When we got to the ELCs the children were very excited to see us with so much food and very eager to help us take the food out of the jeep. We started at the Zamuphila ELC in Willowfontein and paid a short visit to the Zamokuhle ELC in Pata, where I had made good friends with the children a couple weeks ago.

Tags: groceries | sunfield home | pata | willowfontein | ELC

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Today I was with Auntie Babs again to go to the ELC in Pata [where I did home visits with Agnes last Thursday], called Zambuhle. This ELC had a small esthini [brick] building, but the consulate for the region said he needed the building back to use as an office [that was in May, and they have yet to use the building]. So instead they have been in what they are hoping is a temporary structure, a small room made almost entirely out of sheet metal. The walls were adorned with homemade alphabet, number, weather, and colors chart, including a crayon picture that broke my heart: "HIV/AIDS: Please hug me, I won't make you sick."

Tags: pata | ELC

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Today I went with Barbara [affectionally called "Auntie Barbs" by everyone] to the Early Learning Center [ELC] in Slangspruit, where I did my first round of home visits exactly a week ago with Jilleth. ELCs are like pre-schools in townships, serving children around the ages of 3 months to about 6 years. Many of the children are OVCs, even in households that are under Thandanani's care, and do not need to pay to go the ELC-- other children only pay R50 a month... that is around $7.50. That's amazing.

Tags: slangspruit | ELC

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