AAF News

• Tim Pickles South African Diary

  15/10/2009

  Local Business Owner (Tim's Garden Centre), Tim Pickles, tells a story of his experience as a volunteer in Africa, seeing first hand how the African Aids Foundation is helping people in Africa.
  
  Download Tim's Diary (2.8MB)
  
  Download Tim's Diary (1.1MB)
  
  
  

  Take a look at the photo gallery from Tim's trip
  
  
  

  Extracts from Tim's Diary

  Sunday 7th June

  What has been interesting is seeing the africans waiting on the side
  of the road for a lift. These Toyota vans pick them up and they are full
  of black faces. I've been warned to watch out for these vans because
  their drivers don't obey road rules and they are often not roadworthy.
  We did see one go through a red light.
  
  It's also amazing how far the africans walk. Today was Sunday so
  most would be going to church. They are all well dressed. We often
  saw older men wearing suits as they walked along the highway. The
  africans live in villages in tiny houses no bigger than a single garage.
  We would often see these beautifully dressed people walking across
  the paddocks.
  
  

  Monday 8th June

  Its pouring rain but we see school children walking along the road
  getting soaking wet. They are all beautifully dressed. The high school
  students are all tall and athletic looking, most have the bodies of
  models. As we drive you can see the small houses they live in
  scattered across the country side. They are neat and tidy with
  corrugated iron roofs. They put big rocks on the roof to stop the iron
  blowing away.
  
  

  Tuesday 9th June

  They are as quiet as mice when the teacher talks. Then they burst
  into voice as the teacher points at letters of the alphabet on the
  blackboard. They do English first, then Zulu. They are all looking at
  the board and chanting out the answers.
  
  About 10 kids got the job of pointing at the letters with a stick. When
  the teacher asked for volunteers around 20 kids raced to the front.
  Later it was time to do maths so she asked the children to take out
  their counters.
  
  Hands rummaged through pockets and bags to find rocks, bottle tops
  and soft drink bottle lids. Kids who didn't have enough borrowed off
  others. One child was like the bottle top king and at least 10 children
  sought him out for counters. The teacher got the children to count
  these out on the table until they had 10, in English first, and then in Zulu.
  Bailey loved hearing the children do this and he even learnt some Zulu.
  
  

  To read the full version of Tim's South African Diary, click on the pdf link above