What happened on the day of the SPONSORED WALK?

blue water

Who were the helpers?

They were the brilliant Hipsburn parent helpers and helpers from further afield.
They were children, friends, staff and teachers.
The headmistress stayed for the whole event.

 

What did the helpers do?

They helped to put up the tent, lay out the cones, tables and chairs.
They measured the water.
They made sign boards and flags.
They stood in the windy tent for hours.
They waited by the estuary(in the 4x4) for the water bearers.
Eunice had a crucial road watch job.

Thanks for:
Providing water containers and paddling pools.
Donating raffle prizes and cakes.
Donations.


Thoko could not be there because of work commitments. We missed her party spirit.


What did the kids do?
 

The kids turned up with all sorts of containers from bottles in barrows to empty kegs and chemical vats.

The kids were fascinated by how heavy the water was and how hard it would be to even get 20L a day, let alone the 158L per person we use on average here in the West.

The Hipsburn pupils were hot on the statistics about water usage. One chap even pointed out that it was mainly women and girls who collected water in most of the world - his job was to herd the cows - this was a quick witted response to his dad's attempts at encouraging him to go back a second time.

Many of the children did go down to the estuary several times and loved measuring the volumes when they got back to base.

People turned up throughout the day and we even had some unexpected but marvellously game South African folk who we had met just the week before.
The kids waved when the sea king flew low over the school.

 

Feedback:
Everyone agreed that it was fun, educational and that the grub was great!

'A real South African Braai'

The parental support was amazing.

Several people have already suggested making it an annual event- even some local residents who saw the cavalcade!

GOOD NEWS!

We have been offered a cookery class for two at the Intercontinental Hotel, London Park Lane, as a donation!
http://www.theorandall.com/

The highest bid by Friday, please!

please email: cerisutherland@googlemail.com



....and whilst the kids were carrying water in their own containers to and from Hipsburn school....
    somewhere near Manguzi, a woman and a child or even women and children were
                            doing the same, carrying water in their own containers...
 

and the Kosi bay mouth was as beautiful as ever.....
 

 

It was a brilliant and a successful day!

What happened?


The night before the sponsored walk:

Strimming and checking for any dog evidence on the path.
The large double (half) barrel for the BBQ was delivered at the school.
Some serious cake baking.
The flags were checked for strenth in case it was windy.
Printing of the extra sponsor - and registration forms.
Packing of the BBQ food, sauces, onions etc.

early evening strimming

flags, ready to go

On the day of the event:

 At 6 am we were awake. We were pleased because the weather forecast was looking good.
It was truely a beautiful day! Blue sky, warm and windy (perfect for the flags!).

At 06h30 we drove down to the school to drop off the tent and to position the flags(20 in total) to help the water bearers find the path.

At 08h00 the helpers arrived to drop off the cones, pitch the tent, lay out the tables, chairs for meals, set up the registration table and water measuring area . Raffle prizes were laid out and the helpers set up the drinks and cakes table. a Helper arrived with a measuring scale and there were other standard containers to measure the water with.

The headmistress arrived early and eagerly and she organised the kitchen,  the african music, the cutting of the buns, the baking of the bacon and also got on with the important task of sticking probes into sausages for health and safety monitering and documenting the sausage temperatures in an act of 'due diligence'.

More helpers arrived to make the fire, barbeque the meat, take money and make burgers and sausage rolls.
We had a young helper in the BBQ area and his mathematical skills helped him to collect the correct amount of money from customers.

By 10h00 the bacon was cooked and the smell of the bacon sandwiches was in the air. There was the sound of the first walkers appearing and also the distant sound of Brenda Fassie and Juluka ....

.... and we started to register the walkers:



meanwhile in Manguzi, South Africa:
 shops were trading....

a local cafe

and the Kosi bay mouth was probably looking like this...



the mouth at Kosi bay

 GOOD NEWS!

We have been offered a cookery class for two at the Intercontinental Hotel, London Park Lane, as a donation!
http://www.theorandall.com/

                                             The highest bid by Friday, please!

please email: cerisutherland@googlemail.com

Every drop counts:

                                                more about the sponsored walk day tomorrow....
                                                           and photographs to follow ....