Day 8!! - The long trip home...

Today is the day the MK Australia team makes our long journey back home. Before we left we had a lot of work to do including writing letters, writing reports and putting powerpoint presentations together.

It is very sad for us to leave this glorious country, but we are so proud of all of the hard work that has been done in the Millennium Kids' search for water. We interviewed locals, photographed existing infrastructure, met with local government and made plans for further work.

This of course could not have been possible with out the help and support of MKGP Adult team Yvonne, Steve, Lerato, Christine, Tebogo and Abbey.

We would like to congratulate the MKGP Youth Board for all of the progress made with the 2010 Conference plans. We cannot wait to join you in January and work side-by-side with you to acomplish your long awaited goal of an Internation Youth Environmental Conference.

Eagerly looking forward to January 2010!!!!

Day 7!!

We have been in South Africa for a week and we have had the most fabulous time so far! Today we were introduced to a fun game called Dibeke! Dibeke is an Indigenous African game that is a bit like a cross between soccer and the Aussie game of British bulldogs. We hope to introduce this game at the MKGP Conference in January 2010!

This evening a MKGP Youth Board meeting was held at Lerato and Christina's house. All of the members attended dressed very smartly, ready for an evening of planning, preparation and celebration. The board members showcased all of the work that has been done over the past week during our visit, and the plans for the January Conference. The MKGP Team committed to meeting regularly and working hard to bring the conference dream to fruition.

We celebrated with a Braai and lots of fun was had by all!

Day 6! Going Safari MKGP Style

Yesterday we were invited to attend an AGM of a local NGO. We were involved in their Committee elections and group discussions about potential projects and events and constitutional changes. This was a fantastic experience for us as we were able to learn about how other organisations run, and how we want to shape MKGP.

In the afternoon we visited Pilensburg National Park to see some of South Africa’s Indigenous Animals. National Parks in South Africa are fabulous conservation areas where the people work to protect animals such as “The Big Five” - Elephants, Lions, Leopards, Rhinos and Buffalos. We were lucky enough to see a Rhino, a Giraffe, Warthogs and Zebras!!

The students we visited at Ramatu High School this week said that Indigenous animals are one of the things they most love about their community.

Day 5! - Water Investigation

Today we went to Modimola Village to investigate the water pumps Cllr Bettrand had told us about the day before. We were curious to find out the reasons behind why the play pump was not working.

When we arrived we met with a neighbouring woman and her children who told us that the pump had previously worked, but it doesn’t anymore.

We went to check out another play pump in the village, which was working fine. To find out more information we visited the house of Cllr Bettrand. Unfortunately she was not home, however two of her family members were. We asked them what they thought about the play pump. They said that they are a great idea, but they are best built in schools – not in the village because they are meant to be used by children. They said this is because the children are too tired to pump the water when they come home from school, so the older women have to pump the water. They also said that there was a generator that supplied the village with water.

Other things we noticed in the village:
The river was dry, as it had been dammed further up stream
Some of the water taps were dry
Pumps were situated where there was water underground. This did not make it easy for people to access water because their houses were too far away from the bore. The South African Government has mandated that water should be no further than 200m away.

DAY 4! The Search Continues

Today was a packed day, filled with meetings about MKGPs search for water and the upcoming January Conference. First off we had a meeting with the Executive Mayor of Ngaka Modiri Molema, Themba Gwabeni. This was a really important meeting as we were able to tell him all about our 2010 Conference, our partnership with Ntshidi Middle School, our plans to clean up the Molopo River and the issues brought up at Ramatu High School the previous day. The Executive Mayor was really supportive of our projects.

At the meeting we met an inspiring woman, Cllr Bettrand who had been exiled from South Africa for over 30 years during the Apartheid. She was able to give us an insight into the history of the Molopo River and a play pump which is situated in her village that was not working.

Following that we met with the Deputy Chief and Chief of Ratshidi – the place of the Molopo River. At the meeting, an elder took us down to the river and gave us a brief history of the Molopo, telling us how he used to swim and play. We told the Chief about our plans to clean up the river banks. He was really supportive and suggested that we should also include a story telling workshop where the elders can tell the children about how the river used to be.

We feel that it is really important to make the river clean up sustainable. To do this we are going to educate the young people of the area about the reasons why we are cleaning it up. To support this, we are suggesting to the Chiefs that there needs to be rubbish bins and fences put up that protect the river.

Memorable Photos so far :-)

DAY 3!

Day three started from us travelling 61 km from Mafikeng to Zeerust to meet the Ramatu High School Millennium Kids Team. We ran a workshop with them and the students got to have a say on what they like about their community, what they don’t like about their community and what they want to change.

The students brought up a whole range of issues both good and bad. They said they really liked their Indigenous Animals, families and culture. However they didn’t like pollution in the rivers, teenage pregnancy and poaching. The kids were optimistic and keen to make positive change in partnership with the MKGP South Africa Team.

Day three taught us that water is more important than we already thought. As we were travelling into Ramatu High School we found that the village near by were on strike to raise awareness about their limited access to water.

Ramatu High School had many problems that we are keen to help the students solve. In particular, the toilets were the main issue as there were three different facilities with only one of them working. The original toilets were pit latrines which were attempted to be replaced as were not healthy. The replacement was toilets that use water to flush. These were never used as water is scarce in the area and consequentially knocked down. The last toilets constructed were environmentally friendly and they were built to replace both the water toilets and the pit latrines. Again, these have never been used because the school was never provided with chemical to break down the faeces. The students are still using the original pit latrine toilets.

After visiting Ramatu High School we reported our findings to Cllr S S Sereki, who is working with the Mayor of the Zeerust. He praised the MKGP South Africa efforts and endorsed our project.

Day 2! Back to Ntshidi

Today we woke up to a beautiful morning and we went to visit a Play Pump in Magogoe. We think the Play Pump is a great idea for Ntshidi so we took some photos to show them later on in the day.

We then took off to Ntshidi Middle School – 121kms from Mafikeng. Millennium Kids has been meeting with Ntshidi 5 years now and we are keen to empower them to make their school a better place.

When we arrived we met the Principal and the School Governing Body for a meeting. They told us that since our last visit they now provide food for their students and they have a new water system. However it isn’t energy efficient, costs a lot of money and is 3km from the school.

After visiting Ntshidi we went to see other primary schools in the area which were way better than Ntshidi in terms of infrastructure because they were built by the government only 10 years ago. Whereas Ntshidi was built by the community in the 1950s.

We met with the local Chiefs and committed to the school that we would continue to work with them to get water and a food garden in their school within the next 6 months.

Day 1!

The MK Australia Team landed safely at 6am on Monday morning excited to begin out journey in South Africa.

At the airport we met the MKGP South Africa Team - Steve, Lerato, Sly, Tshego, Sampi and Tumo.

We travelled to Petoria to see the Union Building (Parliment and where the President lives). Then we continued on to Hartebeestpoort to visit the gorgeous crafts at the markets.

On our way through to Mafikeng we went through Rustenburg and had a little bit of an adventure!

All in all in a was a fabulous way to begin out South African adventure.

The Journey Begins!!

We have two hours until we board the plane to South Africa and we have the feeling of excitement rushing through us! It has been at least two years since our last visit and cannot wait to see our MKGP South African Friends :-)

Introducing the MK Australia Team: (l-r)
Tonia Ranford (St Hilda's)
Kate Laurendi (22, MK Youth Board Member)
Catrina-Luz Aniere (MK Program Director)

Everyday we will be posting our South African adventures here on this blog. Be sure to check it out and comment on our progress!!

Wish us luck !!!

xxxx