Coughing babies and malnourished children

The last two days we have spent a large amount of time at the refugee camp in Durban. Most of the people there are families from the Deomocratic Republic of Congo. They have been so pleased to see us each time. We have given out plastic bowls for washing, shampoo and washing powder. They all bring their children to see us, mostly young babies with a cough or children who have bloated tummies and itching skin. These problems all seem to be related to the fact that they don't have access to much food or clean water. It has been the first time during my stay in which I have seen many children with obvious signs of malnutrition and even starvation, the skinny legs and arms and bloated tummies and drawn faces. They are so loving though and love to be cuddled and carried around - I had one little 2 year old at my feet or on my lap all morning! There was also a 4 month old baby who was vomitting after every feed, I then discovered he was being fed porridge because they had run out of milk and now the porridge had practically run out. It breaks my heart sometimes and I just wish I could go out and buy them all enough food and water.

When we were at the camp yesterday the press turned up and this morning on the second page, was the story about the camp and how Umthombo were helping out. It is great promotion for the organisation and brilliant that the peoples' stories are being heard.

After going to the camp today we went back to the drop-in centre and did a beaded jewellery workshop with the kids there. So many of them really got into it, including a surprisingly large number of boys. They made bracelets and earrings. We bought loads of fruit and juice for them all to have whilst they were making the jewellery - it vanished within seconds! I really hope this is something they will continue after we have left.

I can't believe my work with Umthombo finishes on Friday, I really don't want to leave. I have built up a good relationship with some of the kids and I can't bear to say goodbye. One of the girls is an amazing singer and has a session in a recording studio to start recording an album, I hope I will be able to hear it at some point.

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