Hello everyone, we’re back with another blog of our 2 months trip to South Africa. This time we just got back from Cape Town and we needed to go back to work. We got back on a Monday evening and got back to work the next morning.
The first thing that needed to be done was leveling the ground, where we want to build our fruit tree grove. A lot was already done be other volunteers while we in Cape town, so we were very grateful. Because this isn’t an easy task, most of the soil there is as hard as a rock and there are a lot of big rocks and trash in the ground as well. Ones we got that all done we started mapping the ground. So that every pole that goes into the ground is placed well. We took some rope and attached it to a wall, but not at the end, we attached it 5 meters further. Now we were sure that the rope was a straight line, because it run along the wall. After that we put anchor points at the rope, each being 3 meters apart from each other (because we want the poles 3 meters apart from each other). Then we took a measuring tape and made sure it was in a 90-degree angle with the rope, so the poles will be in a straight line. To make sure all poles were in the correct place we also used math. So we measured the crossings as well, because they are supposed to be 4.24 meters (if you know how we calculated this, props to you!).
Willemijn helped with leveling the ground at the start, but had to back to the preschool. She had to do her normal work she did before for several weeks. She is still in the same class she was in for the first couple of weeks, with the kids from the age of 2 until 3.
Friday evening we went out to the German Country Club where Russel plays padel. Russel was also there with his 3 kids and Russel his girlfriend with her kid. We had dinner and watched the Netherlands play against Ecuador (it was a group stage world cup soccer game). Unfortunately, the Netherlands played 1-1 against Ecuador. But none the less, we had an amazing time together. We also planned to padel together the following weekend, so stay tuned for that (hopefully it’ll happen).
On Sunday we went to Jacque and Russel their church again and had a braai all together afterwards. For the ones that still don’t know what a braai is, it’s a BBQ in South Africa (they don’t even consider a BBQ, because they say a braai is way superior). We all went to Jacque and Russel their house, because they share a piece of land. Jacque his wife, kids, parents, his mother-in-law, sister-in-law with her husband and kids, Russel & his kids, Russel his girlfriend & her kid, Barrie with his wife & kids and of course us 4. It was a lively happening, we all had fun and had nice conversations.
Quinn’s experience this week
I had just recovered from being ill, so I wasn’t starting the week off completely fit, but was recovering. The leveling with a rake was rough work, but it was necessary to be able to continue with our project. The rest of the week was relatively chill, we didn’t really do too much, I helped out with some donations that we received. It was in the form of beds and other furniture, so I helped out moving them to the baby home, where they will be used next year when the baby home opens up again. I also brought it to some of the hardworking people living on the village, that also worked on site. Friday was very relaxing, and it’s always been a pleasure to hang out with Russel and his family. Going to Jacque and Russel’s house was genuinely amazing, it was a beautiful, rustic place with an amazing back garden and outside catering. We had a walk around the river, and found all sorts of forms of wildlife. The food was really good, and the gathering was very pleasant, and is something I will try and do more in my personal life too!
