Leaving PARTY!!!
So it's getting to that stage of preparing to go, it's all finally coming together.If you are around for my party, do pop in and say 'hi/bye'...
Also, I don't want leaving presents (where would I put them in my extremely small weight limit!?), unless people really really want to get me something... If anyone would like to donate towards a vehicle though then that would be amazing. See below...
The story goes something like this. One of the GGA 4x4s recently got trashed somehow in Africa on dodgy roads and now we haven't got enough cars to get all the kids to school in the morning. I even heard something about one of the handicapped children not being able to go to school at all at the moment due to lack of vehicles...
I've written to several car companies asking for help, but only 2 have got back to me so far with polite 'no, sorry we can't help you' letters. The other 3 - LandRover, ChryslerJeep, and Nissan have not got back to me at all...
So it's looking increasingly likely that we'll need to raise some funds to buy a second hand car out there, and in addition I won't be stranded at the weekends on site and will be able to get off to various places. It seems more sensible to me to raise enough for a good 4x4 that can be used to take kids to school, rather than me just buying a little secondhand car for myself, that way it can stay there when I leave and belong to GGA rather than me...
So if you would like to donate, get in touch. Or if you know of people who work for the above car companies, or others, or if you have a spare 4x4 lying around in a garage in KZN, get in touch too... ;)
Thanks for spreading the word and playing your part in changing these kids' lives...
posted by Caroline @ 1:42 pm
5 Comments:
At Sunday, 13 August, 2006,
Anonymous said…
If you don't mind me asking but who were the good guys in the car companies who were polite enough to acknowledge your letter and said "no thanks" rather than naming and shaming those who didn't get back to you?
Also what benefit is there in a Warwickshire based girl asking an american car company (Jeep), or a japanese company (Nissan) to support a South African society? Would it not be better to write the same letter to DaimlerChrysler South Africa or Nissan at the following address:
Nissan SA
P.O.Box 911010
Rosslyn
0200
Pretoria
South Africa.
It seems the major issue here is two-fold; the children need transportation and secondly you desire transport at the weekends.
The roads in KwaZuluNatal are not all mud tracks, potted holes or prone to landslides, the infrastructure in South Africa is not as barbarian or pimitive as many like to think yet there are roads which are hazardous but on the whole most of them are in very good shape, better than London roads in many places!
My suggestion is to review the vehicle needs and modus operandi for the GGA, rather than replace an off-road vehicle with an off-road vehicle, investigate the possibility of acquiring an old school coach or mini-bus and thereby widening your options, you can get more kids in a school coach than in a 4x4. Minibuses, or 'taxis' as they are known at there are more common and so the cost of spares and repairs would be cheaper and less of a financial burden on the charity. A minibus / coach can be used for hauling higher volumes over the higher quality roads, deposited at a stores where the 4x4s can then shuttle the load off to the more remote communities. In this manner you are utilising the charity's assets in a far more productive way.
As for your own transportation. Tough, you are a volunteer and should muck in with everyone else, a car really is a luxury trinket and not a necessity - "God will provide", yes he will, with the means to travel for it is this you pray not for a nice little hatchback to get you to go away for nice little trips to see elephants each weekend. Besides the sort of car you could afford would not be very good unless you were making an hour long trip each weekend; the sheer size of South Africa means you have to travel significant distances between towns. In the RSA you will have to travel 200 miles / 350 km between major towns, say the equivalent of Bristol to Preston with nothing in between, just shrubland and the occassional shanty town, but in the UK that distance would include Cheltenham, Gloucester, Worcester, Birmingham, Stafford, Stoke, Warrington, Manchester, Liverpool, Wigan! It would be best if you put your money towards coach excursions or flights to Cape Town or Jo'burg.
The GGA gives very clear and explicit guidelines on this issue of using the vehicles for personal use (see below).
(From the GGA website)
Transport
There is a designated volunteer shopping trip every Friday to the local supermarket in Cato Ridge and for volunteers on their weekend off there is also a trip to a large shopping mall on the way to Durban. Here there is a better supermarket, clothes shops, restaurants and a cinema. Some volunteers go from here to Durban and beyond for the weekend. Volunteers often hire a vehicle on their weekends off to go to the Drakensburg mountains, game reserves or the beaches. There is a heavy demand on the GGA vehicles, so transport off site for volunteers is usually limited to these trips, but it is sometimes possible to go with vehicles on other GGA business to sort out visa extensions and that kind of thing. Volunteers need to be aware that they cannot rely on extra transport except in emergencies and that they need to plan for their weekly needs on the designated volunteer trips.
Good luck with the fundraising but keep a common sense approach and life will be easier; remember the mindset and personal values out there are different from the one's you encounter here in the UK.
Marek.
At Sunday, 13 August, 2006,
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
At Sunday, 13 August, 2006,
Caroline said…
Thank you for all your research, Marek (when do you get time to do any work yourself ;-) )
To clarify, I'm not actually going as a standard 'Volunteer' as described on the website. I'm going as one of the management staff running the place, so my situation is slightly different to the one described on the website.
For the purposes of the visa I am getting a 'volunteer visa', as I am not working and earning a salary in South Africa, but volunteering and living off donations from the UK instead.
It has all been carefully and legally worked out in conjunction with GGA and is totally legitimate.
And the car idea for me to get off-site actually came from Heather Reynolds herself when I was talking with her, so thank you for pointing out things from how you see it and for offering advice, but always remember that what I put on my blog is not all the history behind the facts and so kindly don't judge me merely on that.
I appreciate that you have been out to South Africa before and that you want to share your experiences, but that doesn't mean my experiences will automatically be the same as yours...
At Sunday, 13 August, 2006,
Caroline said…
Oh and BMW sent me a postcard and Toyota sent me a nice but impersonal letter saying they only sponsor things close to their factories... so now you know...
;-)
At Sunday, 13 August, 2006,
Caroline said…
Sorry boys I censored some of your stuff. I'm not running a dating agency! Oh and I think we'll have a quiet few days for the moment...
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