University of Leeds - The Final Takeover

Sawubona (Hello in Zulu)! This is Esther reporting from Greytown in KwaZulu-Natal. I will be sharing with you some insights on what we have been up to in our final week and round up some reflections on the whole trip.
On Monday and Tuesday, we revisited 1000 Hill’s Community Centre, Hillcrest Aids Centre and the White House. Tabitha, Lizzie, Mos and I had the privilege of having a conversation with one of the healthcare workers working in Hillcrest Aids Centre. He is called Tzam; a physiotherapist, counsellor and administrative officer. He shared with us the diet patients are fed with and the daily struggles they face. His love and dedication to helping them is very inspiring. On Tuesday, Tabitha and Lizzie headed back to Hillcrest and did a nutritional analysis of their meals. Their diet mainly consistsof high protein foods and plenty of water. However, for patients under palliative care, food is used for comfort instead and patients had the freedom to have whatever food they desire. ARV’s (Antiretroviral) drugs for the HIV patients must be taken after food (once a day at 8pm) for it to take effect.
Singing and dancing with the local grannies on Wednesday morning in the Valley of a 1000 Hills was one of my favourite moments of the trip. Dressed in their traditional Zulu costumes, they warmly welcomed us with songs and dance. We joined in the fun as well, though we still couldn’t master the high Zulu kicks. Phindiwe is the head of the grannies and was there with us to help with translation. Most of these grannies are going through tough times; loss of their children to HIV and having to take care of their grandchildren (a.k.a hourglass community), battling with depression and physical illnesses etc. I’m glad that they are getting support from Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust, and to know that they have one another to fall onto when they need support is really comforting.
We also did an in-depth nutritional analysis of the “STOP HUNGER NOW” Meal Pack. It is an emergency meal pack which LETCEE (Little Elephant Training Centre for Early Education) uses to feed the Greytown community. We concluded that the recommended serving portion was insufficient to feed the children. We then provided suggestions to Mary on how we could improve the calorie density and nutritional quality of the meal.
On Thursday, Mary and Annika brought us into one of the villages that has benefited from their work. It is called Njenjabantu village, meaning “This is the people”. There was a toy library and a vegetable garden on site. Villagers practice giving 10% of the crop produce back to the community. There is a saying in Zulu called “Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu” which translates to “a person is a person through other persons”. We affirm our humanity when we acknowledge that of others.
On our last “working day”, we went to one of the LETCEE barracks. Tabitha, Mos and I tidied up the toy library while Katie Brown, Katie Allen and Lizzie did a nutritional analysis of the childrens' breakfast porridge. In the afternoon, some of the kids were very sweet and sang some songs- including Shakira’s Waka Waka- for us before we left. Goodbye hugs and off we went.
It has come to the time when we pack our bags and fly back home to the UK. The hours the 6 of us have spent together discussing and preparing lesson materials had bonded us together by the end of this trip. We are so grateful to Sarah and Laura for giving us this once in a lifetime opportunity to experience the beauty of South Africa, the warmth of its people, and the chance to use our nutritional knowledge to make a difference no matter how small the impact might be.
I shall end with some wise words from Mary, the founder of LETCEE: “Do not ask for what you can have; instead think of what you can leave behind”. All of us ought to learn to be conscious consumers, to be contented with whatever we have, always show kindness to everyone, and never hesitate to lend a hand to our community.
Ngyiabonga (Thank you), and may God bless you.
Signing out,
Esther


With lovely Rose (2nd from left), who came to the White House for her lunch. Some of us boght her handmade beaded craft. 

The strong and courageous ladies from Valley of a Thousand Hills

The vege garden at Njengabantu village, with a beautiful mountain backdrop 

Locals harvesting their cute little carrots! They were so kind to let us try some.  


Posing for a picture in front of LETCEE's new mobile toy library, together with Mary  (7th from left) and Annika (2nd from left). 

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