Goodbye Durban

I have now said a very sad farewell to Durban. It was horrible, I hated leaving. It was so sad to say goodbye to all the kids and the staff. It's all very well saying I want to come back but many of the kids will not still be there. Also it's hard to leave the kids not nowing how they are going to be and cope with life and future events, it's especially hard to leave the pregnant girls. I have no idea how Nana's pregnancy, birth or baby will be, how Xolisile's scan and hospital appointment will go, whether Thanda will recover from her pneumonia, if Wendy (the girl who was raped) will stay with her grandmother, or even if Precious will succeed in recording her album. There are so many things I will probably never know. I have contact details for the staff but there is no other way to contact the kids directly. I shed a lot of tears.

My final weekend in the Durban area were spent in the Valley of 1000 Hills, which was beautiful, and then in a township called Mayville. I went to Mayville for traditional sunday lunch, as one of the staff invited me to her house. It was great food and an incredible atmosphere, you can hear people singing from all around. On our post lunch walk the atmosphere changed a little as we past a house with 16 bullet holes in the window and front door! I think this was a result of fighting taxi drivers after the strike.

Durban has given me an experience I will never forget. The children from the streets and the Umthombo staff have given me an insight that is so important and I am so grateful for. I have loved getting to know everyone. 

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