Thursday was a day of contrasts but a day of feeling quite blessed.  

          We went in the morning to see the newest work in which iThemba is involved.  Our newest initiative involves 4 creches (preschool/daycare centers) in the Embo community. The Embo community has some very poor areas which we drove through to get to the schools.  Not easy to see the broken down conditions that some people live in.  The community has had problems for years with alcohol and drugs and the newest drug (mentioned in the prior post) is particularly damaging.  Generally, the creches have few toys and untrained workers.  The kids may have nothing more than what they can find around them- dirt, sticks, etc.- to play with.  Since iThemba has the ability to reach into the community, we have partnered with other organizations to develop a support for these schools in the form of lunches, educational toys, and training for the teachers.  The program has been enthusiastically embraced.  We were able to see all 4 sites today.  The creches vary in size and structure but we were warmly greeted in all.  We heard singing in English in all of the schools- a great early introduction to the English language.  They sang songs about washing their faces and brushing their teeth, teaching proper hygiene.  Since early childhood experiences are so important to children's educational growth, and some of these children have no one seeing to this aspect of their life, it was a blessing to watch these teachers in action.   If proper early schooling can help any one of these kids achieve more, it is worth the effort.

Valley of 1000 Hills- Embo Community 

 The first creche

The older class- 3's and 4's

the younger class- 2's and 3's













          In the evening, we were invited to have dinner with the Anna House.  It is the newest of the 4 foster homes.  Mark and Samantha are the parents of Ezra and Harley along with Casey, Jessica, Noks, and Marcus.  We had an absolute blast with this family!  We heard stories of extended family vacation times, the challenges of sleepwalkers or sleep-talkers all in one house, and of creepy crawly things in the garden when the family was gardening.  We loved the open discussions that included teasing because of one cultural belief vs. another.  Paul and I were so blessed to see the warm communication  and the affection amongst them all.  This is a real family.  Blended.  Black and white.  Biological children and foster children.  And a solid mom and dad who love each other.  This is what iThemba has always been about- making families for hurting, vulnerable children.  The kind of families that God makes, full of adopted children.

Our morning contrasted with our evening.  The poverty of the valley with the safe family home in the evening.  But we felt blessed in both situations.  iThemba can effect not only our foster children with having all of their needs met, but we can have an impact in the valley with giving a better start to many more children.  And as God allows, we will find more children to impact for Him.  Soli Deo Gloria.