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University of Leeds - The Final Takeover

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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 desi...
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University of Leeds Takeover, Take 2

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Hi everyone! This is Katie and Tabitha from Leeds University, also in South Africa with GAGA UK. This week we spent some time at 1000 Hills Community Centre which is a centre dedicated to helping all the local community. It has a school, clinic, kitchen, craft room, computer suite and many other facilities for all ages and it has a feeding programme serving thousands each year. We planned and delivered several lessons to 4-5 year olds, involving tasting and drawing fruit and vegetables. We even got the class singing our own mini song about fruit and vegetables which they all seemed to love and put a smile on all our faces. On Tuesday we spent the morning at The White House, which provides a residential facility for those with physical and mental disabilities. We were lucky enough to also see their feeding programme for the elderly which happens once a week, providing lunch for the community. In true African style, despite the gas not working, over 100 meals of rice and chic...
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The Second Week

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Wednesday saw the University of Leeds students split in to two groups.  Katie, Mos, Katie and Lizzie headed to 1000 Hills Community Helpers. There, they delivered workshops to two groups of their community caregivers, talking about sugar and salt content in food and what too much of these things can do to you, as well as touching on diabetes, exercise, meal portions, and much more.  Here are the girls in between the two sessions, discussing what went well... Karen, at 1000 Hills, was really pleased with how the girls did and gave them each a bracelet to say thank you. The caregivers were asking a lot of questions and got involved in the sessions, and Karen was thrilled to see their interest.  Meanwhile, Esther and Lizzie headed to Hillcrest AIDS Centre and worked with some of the gogos they support. On Wednesday's the grannies come in for parenting classes, to improve their skills and work with children in their communities and families.  ...
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The White House

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'It's full of the most important and special people in the world'... Today we headed off to the White House. The girls helped out with breakfast and lunch and chatted to some of the residents and gogos (grannies) who were there for the lunch club. Helping out in the kitchen... Katie and Tabitha serving up breakfast... Today, there was no gas so the staff had to hunt for wood for a fire. We managed to negotiate with a neighbour to hand over some wood... Feeding more than 80 people requires a big pot!...  Lunch time for the grannies... Mos and Esther watching one of the gogos hard at work with some beading (which she then sells at Woza Moya with Hillcrest AIDS Centre)...
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A busy few days...

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It's been a busy few days... On Friday we all headed to  HOLAH  - some of us helped out at their amazing Hop Shop, and others headed in to a nearby community to take out donations to local creches. It was great to see Kim and Leanne and hear all the baby home stories and successes. We headed up to Hluhluwe for the weekend, so the Leeds group could see the sites (and some animals!) Today the Leeds group delivered healthy eating lessons in Grade R at  1000 Hills Community Helpers  and then headed to  Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust  to hear about their work (and for shopping time at  Woza Moya & Friends ) . Sarah joined them and had a chance to talk with Dawn at 1000 Hills and hear about all the goings on at the centre, and then meet Candace, the new CEO at HACT. She then headed to First Step Right for a meeting with the teachers, and then to  Rotary Club of Westville  who have recently supported the school with book donations. Busy bu...
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University of Leeds Takeover

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Today the blog post comes from Katie and Lizzie... Hi! We’re Lizzie and Katie, two of the 6 students currently in South Africa with GAGA UK. The trip was organised though the Food Science department at the University of Leeds. We each sent in an application of why we wanted to be chosen to come to South Africa and just a few months later we were all meeting at the airport with our suitcases packed! Time flew! The flight was long but was great for getting to know the rest of the group a bit better. When we finally arrived, we had an early night ready to start exploring South Africa the next day. Our first day at a project was  Tuesday , where we had our first visit to First Step Right school. The children were all so welcoming and as soon as we open the doors of the cars we were met with floods of students wanting hugs. We spent the first day getting a feel for the running of the school and chatting with the teachers, before returning home for a night of lesson pl...
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Two days of healthy eating classes and getting to know SA...

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We had an early start on Wednesday to be up and ready at the school as the Leeds volunteers had healthy eating classes first thing with Grade R, at First Step Right School. Laura, who works at the university and is leading the group, took the first class as an example for the students. She has done a lot of teaching before, and was able to give them lots of top tips on delivering nutrition classes to different aged children. (Picture to right - a quick handwashing lesson)  (Picture to left - Laura sharing various fruits and vegetables for the children to taste)  The volunteers will be posting a blog piece later in the trip and telling you more about their experiences and what they've been up to. Me and Laura headed off to 1000 Hills to see everyone there and also get some plans together for the following week.   (Dawn was recently awarded with a Living Legends award and this piece tells us a little more about her)  My day finished with a...
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