| | on thursday, one of the projects was in need of a photographer
so i had the unique opportunnity to tag along with the uniform distribution team
i paired up with a 3 masoyi volunteers, and we drove to 6 different elementary schools in the masoyi community
this program provides school uniforms to girls who are in the most need for assistance
from left, vivian, bricks, and noomsa talk with a teacher at the first school we visited
here vivian, the team lead, passes out supplies to the girls
one of the girls tries on her new t-shirt
bricks and noomsa, at the second school we visited, siyafundza primary (elementary)
everywhere we went, kids were attracted to us visitors
looking much different, and toting a large camera around my neck, i especially attracted alot of looks and attention
although only 5 students at this school are receiving uniforms as part of this program, all the kids crowd around to see what's going on
noomsa had to clear them out and make some space
bricks gets out supplies at the 3rd school we visited, zamani primary
noomsa and vivian review the list of zamani students who will be receiving their uniforms
colin, one of the teachers at zamani spoke with me as the uniforms were being distributed
he gave me some insight and background on the school structure in south africa
colin, on the right, talks with the principal
colin explained how when nelson mandela was elected, he mandated that all schools be self sufficient to a certain extent
this meant schools were to plant their own gardens to grow their own food
also, each school would have local volunteers in the community help the day to day needs for the school
the 2 ladies on the right are local community volunteers for this school, helping with the cooking, cleaning, gardening
vivian (upper left) poses with the girls in the program at zamani
the 4th school we visited, mdzimba primary (elementary)
many of the schools we visited, used old tires for the playground
vivian (on right) goes through the list of students with one of the teachers at the 5th school we visited, bambanani primary
the local community volunteers at bambanani school
noomsa hands out uniforms
the girls at bambanani
at the 6th school, tsembanani primary
bricks passes out shoes
the garden at tsembanani, where they grow much of the food they cook and serve to the students
boys getting a drink
distributions are done, noomsa poses with the girls at tsembanani
it's been a long day, noomsa, bricks, and vivian have done a great job
i had them sit on the steps of the school for a team photo
because of their tireless efforts, over 40 girls, in 6 different schools, now have new school uniforms
unlike many of the other masoyi staff i met, vivian didn't speak much to me so i did not know a whole lot about her other than she was the team lead for this project
we later learned from george, that vivian cares for 3 orhpan siblings and was an orphan herself, she's only 22
before we left tsembanani, vivian had one request for a photo with this student
apparently, this girl was deathly ill some time ago, and not expected to live
as you can see, she is healthy and doing well now, and vivian was overjoyed to have a photo of her to show some others who were familiar with this girl
meeting up with the rest of the team at the end of the day
carly came to talk to us about the vision and direction of the footprints organization
calvin and lauren take a stroll before dinner
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| | Posted 8/14/2007 3:45 PM - 30 Views - 6 eProps - 3 comments
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