AN EAST London-based adventure tour operator and volunteers from its charity division assisted with housing, feeding and transporting personnel involved in setting up infrastructure at Nelson Mandela’s funeral.
Based in Chintsa East, African Heartland Journeys (AHJ), and Volunteer Africa 32° South (VA32) supported personnel employed by Gearhouse, an equipment supply company involved in setting up the late statesman’s funeral.
“The company involved in organising the funeral is Joburgbased, so they needed a reputable company that knows the Wild Coast and the Transkei area well,” said Karen Wannenburg, VA32’s operations manager, adding that they were chosen because “we do a lot of tours in those particular areas”.
“It was a powerful and humbling experience,” she said.
In 2006 the Daily Dispatch reported on a number of British volunteers who quit their day jobs to teach English at Bulugha Primary farm school in Chintsa, on behalf of VA32 which had been established the year before.
“AHJ was started in 2001 by Michael Denison and Sean Price, and by 2005 they saw a gap and need in our area for education, which gave birth to VA32,” said Wannenburg, adding that the volunteer arm of the organisation now has three individual volunteer programmes running – the Fair Trade-accredited Wild Coast schools project, a preschool community service project and pre-vet project.
“Our schools project focuses on teaching computer literacy to children in grades R to 7 in the mornings, with the afternoons spent on different activities.
“On Mondays we have a community gardening club, where we involve the children in planting fruit and vegetables and teach them how to look after them.
“On Tuesdays and Thursdays we have community sports with the children, playing everything from soccer, to netball and volleyball.
“Then on Wednesdays we visit a local orphanage where volunteers play with the children there and help them with their homework,” she said.
Wannenburg said: “We have developed a 4x4, solar-powered, mobile computer lab, fitted with 11 laptops – the Big Green Emachine – which we take to rural areas to teach computers.”
She said that through their group community service projects they had built a few essential community structures.
“We have built a health post, a playground, a crèche and a stateof-the-art sports centre, which comprises a regulation size soccer field, netball court and volleyball court, as well as a club house,” she said.
“We have completed a classroom and rain water harvesting system at a school in Silatcha.
“We are working in a small community called Mzwini, where we are building a crèche.
“We have discovered they are a very grateful, lovely community and we are planning to help with many future projects here,” said Wannenburg. —
Madiba funeral workers supported
Based in Chintsa East, African Heartland Journeys (AHJ), and Volunteer Africa 32° South (VA32) supported personnel employed by Gearhouse, an equipment supply company involved in setting up the late statesman’s funeral.
“The company involved in organising the funeral is Joburgbased, so they needed a reputable company that knows the Wild Coast and the Transkei area well,” said Karen Wannenburg, VA32’s operations manager, adding that they were chosen because “we do a lot of tours in those particular areas”.
“It was a powerful and humbling experience,” she said.
In 2006 the Daily Dispatch reported on a number of British volunteers who quit their day jobs to teach English at Bulugha Primary farm school in Chintsa, on behalf of VA32 which had been established the year before.
“AHJ was started in 2001 by Michael Denison and Sean Price, and by 2005 they saw a gap and need in our area for education, which gave birth to VA32,” said Wannenburg, adding that the volunteer arm of the organisation now has three individual volunteer programmes running – the Fair Trade-accredited Wild Coast schools project, a preschool community service project and pre-vet project.
“Our schools project focuses on teaching computer literacy to children in grades R to 7 in the mornings, with the afternoons spent on different activities.
“On Mondays we have a community gardening club, where we involve the children in planting fruit and vegetables and teach them how to look after them.
“On Tuesdays and Thursdays we have community sports with the children, playing everything from soccer, to netball and volleyball.
“Then on Wednesdays we visit a local orphanage where volunteers play with the children there and help them with their homework,” she said.
Wannenburg said: “We have developed a 4x4, solar-powered, mobile computer lab, fitted with 11 laptops – the Big Green Emachine – which we take to rural areas to teach computers.”
She said that through their group community service projects they had built a few essential community structures.
“We have built a health post, a playground, a crèche and a stateof-the-art sports centre, which comprises a regulation size soccer field, netball court and volleyball court, as well as a club house,” she said.
“We have completed a classroom and rain water harvesting system at a school in Silatcha.
“We are working in a small community called Mzwini, where we are building a crèche.
“We have discovered they are a very grateful, lovely community and we are planning to help with many future projects here,” said Wannenburg. —
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