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| Spring is here in Isithumba - warm, blue skies! |
Well, October has come and gone already – but what a busy month for ICDM and The Valley! The promised warm, wet weather has delivered, with floods kicking off the start of the month in Durban. You always see those pictures floating around the internet of cars being dragged along in a river, which is actually a city street, and huge amounts of damage – and you always doubt them. These things actually happened here, people were trapped in their cars on roads, buildings damages and even highways flooded with cars still on them. The Valley got it’s fair share too, lashing 70kph winds nearly ripping round-houses roofs off, and plenty of rain too – enough to make the hills and grass green in a matter of days. The sun has come back out though, with temperatures hitting the early 30s and evening storms following. But, apart from this the organisation has been very busy too – tourists, new volunteers and even big events!
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| Ndunakaz Primary School. |
Starting this month is the Isithumba-Sabadell Language Exchange Programme. This initiative has been organised and set-up by our International Volunteer from Australia, Matthew Phillis, and his good friend and fellow teacher in Sabadell, Juanjo Lazaro Moncada. Sabadell is a city just outside of Barcelona, Spain, and has a population of over 200,000, easily accessible by rail and road to the history and culture of it´s larger neighbour. Juanjo works for the Collegi Mare del Devi Pastor, a school that offers education to children from the age of 5 right through to the end of High School. Originally founded in 1885 by the Capuchin Sisters of the Mother of the Devine Shepard, the school now educated a co-ed population. Juanjo is a Primary School English teacher as well as the P.E. teacher. The programme has just started and is a language and cultural exchange between South Africa and Spain, one that ICDM truly hopes will continue and even grow in the Isithumba area, helping kids from both parts of the World learn more about each other. So far, the kids from the Ndunakaz Primary School have recorded short, self-introductions, ready to be received by their Spanish digital-penfriends, who will in turn reply. As the programme progresses, important topics such as family, culture, environmental issues and the future will be discussed. Both schools are eagerly awaiting this amazing opportunity - please check out the Blog for our new sister-school in Sabadell: http://bloc.mdpsabadell.org/
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| Tan, Matt and Wan on Isithumba Mountain. |
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| Admiring the view from Isithumba Mountain. |
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| Japanese and Zulu Rap Fusion! |
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| Thanks for visiting guys! |
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| Japan and South Africa! |
We were visited for a few days by two Japanese tourists on a tour around Africa. Wan is a dancer who performs all around the World, most recently in Kenya, and his partner Takayuki, or “Tan,” is a photographer. A perfect combination really and they are also good buddies – Tan was the photographer at Wan’s wedding! They stayed in our Home Stay accommodation, where our international volunteer from Australia was staying (who is also a photographer), and so it was meant to be – the three guys headed out for a sunrise shoot on top of Isithumba Mountain, followed by an afternoon walk along the Umngeni. At this time of year, schools are out and so lots of the ICDM kids were spending their time down by the river – when they met up with the new arrivals they were so happy to meet some Japanese people (a fairly rare sight in South Africa and even more so in The Valley), they danced and sung for our guests and Wan even returned the favour, performing some Japanese dances, as well as a little modern rap which the kids loved as well. Later, the guys enjoyed an hour of sports with the kids, really getting into Dodgeball, which happens to be a favourite of High School kids in Japan. ICDM were very happy to welcome our visitors for their time in Isithumba and hope you had a great time – come back any time and tell your friends about our little part of the World.
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| Some of the ICDM youth performing for our Japanese friends. |
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| Our volunteer from Australia, Matt, with 2 great kids from ICDM - Lungelo and Sato. |
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| Our latest volunteer from Germany, Lea, with the kids and Thando from the ICDM staff. |
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| Johannes getting down and dirty with the BMXs. |
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| The ICDM kids are amazing mechanics! |
Two new volunteers also arrived this month – Lea and Johannes. Both are from Germany, Lea is from Hamburg and will be staying with us for 2 months, whereas Johannes lives just outside Frankfurt and is staying for an impressive 12 months. Possibly our youngest volunteer, Lea is 18 and she’s taking some time to travel and do some volunteer work being going to University. Johannes is a Management and Economics student and part of the Bremen Welwerts volunteer program – we’re very happy to have you both on the team and know you’ll make a difference. Both have already made a good impression with the ICDM kids, Lea being one of the few female workers here so is a big hit with the kids and Johannes has already played a big part in getting our BMX bikes and track back up and running. Speaking of BMX, a lot of work has been put in by the rest of the staff too, clearing out the grass and weeds on the jumps and tracks, making it ready for the kids to get back on it in time for Summer. Bikes have been repaired and are nearly up and running again, the ICDM youth leading this charge and shown that they are absolute geniuses when it comes to bikes - real bike mechanics! Well done team!
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| Thank you to Puseletso and her team at Hollywoodbets for being so generous! |
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| Our very own Mazwi on television for Hollywoodbets! |
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| The ICDM team accepting donations from Hollywoodbets. |
Hollywoodbets visited us this month as well, to have a small ceremony to thank us for organising the yearly Trail Run in August. The crew from HB came down to Isithumba, donating some muchneeded sporting equipment – a table tennis table, rackets and balls, as well as tyre tubes for your BMX bikes and some netball and soccer balls too. We had music and a ceremony, attended by some of the ICDM youth, and everyone received a bag of treats too! Thank you so much to Puseletso and her teammates at Hollywoodbets – working with you guys is a real privilege and pleasure, a relationship we know will only get stronger as we organise more activities together.
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| Some of the 22km runners - including Johannes from ICDM (far left) and women's winner Puseltso (second from right). |
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| Kids and families took part in the 9km fun run, while some toughed out the 22km. |
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| The winner making it look easy! |
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| A few bumps and scratches - but 22km done! |
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| Women's 22km winner - Puseletso Dladla. |
There was also another run held at Isithumba on the 15th, the Kwa-Ximba Trail Run, this time run by the Kloof Conservancy. Although ICDM didn’t have a direct role in the organisation of this event, two of our team member chose to be a part – Johannes decided to run the race and Matt joined the small team of photographers there to help capture the action. 3 race lengths were set up – a 9km ‘fun run’ for families and kids, a serious 16km river run along the Umngeni and a gruelling and unforgiving 22km run, which included the Isithumba Mountain. The runners started out at 7am to beat the African heat, the first runner, Sphamandla Nzama, coming back in a stunning of 2:01:20, closely followed by Sizwe Mkhize (02:07:21) and Nathi Luthuli (02:10:36). The ladies event was won by Hollywoodbet’s own Puseletso Dladla with amazing time of 02:42:22, chased down by 2nd place winner Alison Misselhorn (02:45:51) and Tarry Botha (02:48:38). Johannes came through for ICDM, completing the run and surviving to tell the tale – we’re all very proud of you! Great work to everyone involved, the runners, time keepers and staff on hand for registration and of course The Kloof Conservancy.
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| The kids and teens loved the aerobics. |
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| Warm up aerobics. |
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| The soccer field. |
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| Netball selfie! |
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| Netball in action. |
Due to the success of our Heritage Day last month, the KZN Department of Sports and Recreation requested that ICDM organise a sports day for the Kwa-Ximba area. The ICDM team did this job extremely well, managing to get everything organised and running within 2 weeks – very short notice. A lot of hard work was done by the team, marketing and advertising as well as working with the DSR to make sure everything was ready for the day. We had 10 male soccer teams competing, as well as 4 ladies’ teams and 4 netball teams – 6 more male soccer teams than expected which caused some delays in the games but it was good to see a very high participation rate at the same time. The day kicked off at around 11 for some aerobics, which everyone loved and got involved with. The soccer competitions then started along with the netball, and although they went longer than anticipated due to more teams competing than expected, it all went fine thanks for good sportsmanship and good referees. Snacks and drinks were provided throughout the day and music was also provided by Tholithemba Mthembugoing to keep the vibe happy and energetic. A big thanks to everyone involved in the work leading up to the event and also on the day – no need to write names as everyone knows the work they did to make it all possible!
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| The always popular soccer competition. |
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| Go team! |
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| The team shot. |
That’s all for this month – but what a busy one! ICDM appreciated the support we receive from our stakeholders, however as we are a non-profit organisation out existence and the maintenance of our programs depends on the kindness of your sponsorship and donations. Should you like to make any donations to help out programmes, please visit our webpage for more information:
The work we do can also be followed on our Facebook page:
ICDM We are the future!!
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