German teenager bring smiles to Bulamahlo kids

It could not have been easier on the day to tell who was more excited, the German teenager or the 177 kids at Bulamahlo Thusong Service Centre.

The teenager, Tjerk Wehland visited the centre last week, much to the delight of the kids who all ran to the gate shouting "legowa" - which is a pedi word for white person.

Tjerk, 19, was brought up in a small rural village called Schweringen in the north of Germany, about 200 kilometres from capital Berlin. He is doing volunteer work for Children of the Dawn, which supports and strengthen rural community initiatives that focus on caring for HIV/Aids orphans and vulnerable children.
He was sent to the country by the organization called American Field Service, which is one of the world's largest organizations in terms of cultural youth exchange programme.

"I do not receive any payment for my work, but my orientation, flight and insurance are sponsored by the German government's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development through a programme called "weltwaerts."

Tjerk says after completing matric, an equivalent of Grade 12 in Germany last year June, he decided to explore the world. "I felt I had seen too little of the world to decide my path in life. I wanted to discover another way of life, new tasks and challenges. Furthermore I want to lend a helping hand to the children here, as I was lucky to be raised within a happy and encouraging environment- a gift not all children share. I just wanted to give something back," he says.

He had to decide whether to go to the Philippines in Asia, Kenya or South Africa. "It was an easy decision to make, I have read a lot about South Africa, and when the opportunity came, I took it. I will be going back home in June next year "he added.

Tjerk is staying with a local family at Moime village about 20km from Bulamahlo Thusong Service Centre. Part of his work for Children of the Dawn is to offer art lessons, games, soccer, movie afternoons (Tom and Jerry Cartoons), water-battles, "treasure hunts', and life skills lessons at day-care centres in Moime, Marumofase, and Rita villages.

Children visit the centres after school on week days where they are fed, helped with their homework, educated in life skills, hygiene and health issues, and given moral and emotional support. "Children of the Dawn also provide them with monthly food packs. As time goes on, I hope to implement a gardening project and a small library at Moime Creche,"he says.

Magali Malherbe, National Project Manager for Children of the Dawn says "aside from the aftercare centres, network support teams have been created around each child. These informal support entities comprise of extended families, neighbours, teachers, social workers, small businesses and are meant to integrate and keep the orphans or vulnerable children within their community.

We also run a successful programme for teenagers called "My Future, My Responsibility" offering career guidance and life skills development through camps, workshops, training periods."

Joyce Komana, the principal for Bulamahlo Creche says that they hope to work with Tjerk who will bring exciting life skill lessons to the kids at the centre.