Pebbles Project - Helping Children with Special Needs

STASH SCRAPS CAN HELP TO KEEP DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN WARM

Injabulo are looking for knitters to knit up hats, gloves and scarves to help to keep children in South Africa with FASD (Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder) warm in their coming winter.
Although South Africa is in the Southern Hemisphere and traditionally considered a "hot" country; winters can be very harsh and cold, especially when your home is just a shack.

For many years Injabulo has raised funds for 'Pebbles Project' and sponsors two children through crèche and pre-school. However, they are now seeking your help to do more.The 'Pebbles Project' purpose is to enrich the lives of South African children from disadvantaged backgrounds with special educational needs, especially those whose lives are affected by alcohol. This is achieved through providing support and training to local wine farm and township créches and establishing after-school provision for older children living in the Winelands. Ages of those who benefit range from babies to 6/7 years old.

Injabulo would welcome donations of hand knitted or crocheted hats, mittens and scarves to send to the project as many of the children are inadequately dressed for the winter months. Colour is immaterial, anything will be welcome; and if you are a new convert to knitting; a little scarf (even if it is a little bit wonky and with the odd hole) would bring a big smile to a little face.

Please send all goods to Knitting for Pebbles c/o Injabulo, Home Farm Cottage, Ashton Wold, Oundle, PE8 5LZ. Closing date is 31 May 2010

Chrissie and Roger visit the Creche(s) every year - laden with clothes and toys that have been donated by friends.
Our sponsor children attend Villiera crèche - Ida is now working full time in the crèche as the crèche manager and is charge of the general crèche management. Annaline works half day in the crèche and half day in the after school club.
There is also have a social worker who is working with the children and their families on Villiera Farm. She will be addressing whatever needs they might have and any extra support that might be required.

Bellevue crèche received a makeover during a "volunteer weekend" and is now a beautiful crèche with a sleeping room for the babies and space for all the children to play. Here there is some land available that Sophia would like to be able to utilise for an after school club. If anyone wants to donate some football kit please get in touch!
The other crèche that Chrissie visited was Luthando Day Centre in Kayamandi township. At the moment this is little more than a single room and Florence cares for many children here with little resources. Pebbles are working to secure larger premises that they can convert into a proper crèche with all the resources to encourage and educate the children.
After seeing just three of the crèches that Pebbles are working with, the difference that they are making to the lives of these children is very obvious. Sophia is passionate about the project and has so many ideas for the future.
Visit update - January 2009
Our annual visit proved to be as pleasurable as ever. The children love visitors and are always happy to see us. We managed to take out lots of clothes and toys that kind people had donated (thank you BA for the extra luggage allowance going out) Nkosikhona was a delight and as it was the first time that we had met him it was great fun playing with him and getting to know him. Misande has come on in leaps and bounds. From being a little girl who was frightened to speak to anyone and could only sit in a mat on a corner we were delighted to see her running around, integrating with her little friends and singing songs. Her huge cuddle before we left said it all - Ida and the team at Villiera are working so hard to make a difference to the lives of these children and it is a real pleasure to know that we are helping even if only in a small way.
Learn more about Pebbles and our children

Misande

Misande is three years old and attends the Villiera crèche. Misande was born physically and mentally disabled and as such her father left her soon after her birth. She is looked after well by her mother, who is known to be a very loving and friendly person.
Misande lives with her mother in a nearby location called Blokkombos. They live in the garden of another lady that works on the farm. It is a single roomed informal dwelling.
When she began at the crèche, Misande was unable to walk and talk and was very afraid of new people. We are delighted with the progress she has made and she has come on in leaps and bounds. She is currently learning to walk properly and is enjoying the freedom of movement so much that is has become quite a challenge to keep her in one spot for very long. She has become a happy and confident child who is no longer scared of new people and who tries very hard to participate in all crèche activities. Singing is one of her favourite activities and although she finds it difficult to pronounce some the words, she is an extremely enthusiastic participant.
Misande has a well developed sense of understanding. She listens to and obeys instructions and works really hard in all crèche activities. However, because of her slow start in life she is developmentally behind the other children at the crèche and still struggles to communicate clearly. As such, she is receiving special support and help from an occupational therapist, as well as Jo from the Pebbles Team. We are looking forward to seeing how she progresses over the next few months.

MISANDE - November 2008 Update

Misande is really such a joy in the Villiera crèche. This year has been a time of tremendous growth for her. When Misande first came to the Villiera crèche, she walked hunched over and on her toes, she couldn’t eat solid food or drink out of a cup, she was scared of most visitors and she struggled to sit on her own.

After a visit from a volunteer occupational therapist, at the beginning of the year, a visit to a speech and language therapist, and monthly visits to the physiotherapist, Misande can now walk flat footed and upright, she is starting to eat solid foods and can drink out of a cup. She can sit and is in the process of being potty trained. Misande is now wonderfully friendly and open to visitors and is a constant ball of energy and laughter. Having found her feet often unable to stop running around!

Starting this month, an occupational therapist student from the University of Stellenbosch will be working with her on some extra strengthening exercises and will be facilitating the inclusion of Misande into the school readiness programme that the 3-6 year olds participate in.

2008 has been a year of great progress for Misande and we are all so excited to see this wonderful girl blossom and grow each and every day.

Nkosikhona

Nkosikhona is four years old and attends the crèche on Villiera farm. His mother had her first child when she was in Grade 8 and had Nkosikhona when she was in Grade 10. His father is a boy who went to school with his mother. Nkosikhonas’ mother dropped out of school and works intermittently but mostly stays at home to look after her two children. Nkosikhona’s grandmother plays a large role in his development and upbringing.
Nkosikhona lives with his mother, her three siblings, his sister, and his grandmother. His grandmother (who works on the farm) is currently the only one in the household bringing in an income. They live in a plank house on a plot in Walesdene, a location in Kraaifontein.
Nkosikhona is a happy child who doesn’t like fighting with the other children and will rather back down from a confrontational situation. He has only been in the crèche since the beginning of this year, and while it took a while for him to settle in, he now plays quite happily with the other children. Because Nkosokhona only joined the crèche this year he still struggles with the work, possibly the greatest challenge is that his Afrikaans is very limited and this is the main language spoken in the crèche. Although he finds the work difficult, he is making progress and is settling into the crèche environment well. We look forward to seeing how he progresses over the next few months.

November 2008 - update
Nkosikhona has made remarkable progress recently. He appears to understand so much more (he is Xhosa speaking) and with this breakthrough he can concentrate for longer periods and now he REALLY wants to work and complete tasks. He is so much more a part of the group.

Basic skills (cutting, glueing, sticking etc) as well as number, shapes and colour recognition are noticeably better

He is a really happy little boy and as he understands more of the language, so his social skills are improving as well.

Yonela

Yonela has done very well over the past few months and is proving to be a fast learner. She listens carefully to what is being asked of her and is always ready to help her friends. She has taken a great liking to puzzles and is often found sitting quietly in a corner putting one together.She already learnt her numbers up to 10 and basic colours and shapes. Her mother is very supportive of the crèche and what it is trying to achieve and is over the moon with the progress Yonela has made. We are also very happy with Yonela and excited to see how she progresses over the next year

Our big news has been the opening of the Pebbles after-school club on the farm. This ensures that the children will still be supported by Pebbles once they leave the crèche and start their schooling. The club offers extra curricular support as well as sport / art and other activities. It is proving to be a huge success with the children already and is running every afternoon following the end of school.

The children from Villiera crèche have been taken on a number of outings over the past few months. The last outing was at Stellenbosch Animal Zone, where the children were introduced to a number of animals that they had not seen before! It was a wonderful day and although the children were nervous of the animals at first, they soon found the courage to touch the animals and even feed them.

We have received notification that Yonela is no longer attending the crèche at Villiera. Her mother is no longer working permanently on the farm so she has looked for alternative child care for Yonela. Our sponsorship has been transferred to a wonderful little boy - Nkosikhona.