June 2021: Shortly before his 80th birthday on 8th June 2021, the leader of our village project, Karel De Nysschen, has announced his well-deserved retirement from the project work. For more than 15 years, Karel had been doing home visits and distributed survival kits to needy families in the arid countryside around the villages of Muden and Keate's Drift, always with a lot of heart and soul.
During the Corona pandemic, he visited and provided food to three times more families than usual, even during the lockdown. He especially cared about the children, so it was not unusual to see one of them overjoyed on his lap with an apple or candy in hand. The children of the preschools always came running when they spotted Karel's fully loaded car from a distance. At the three preschools, Karel carried out many renovations himself right up to the end. It was always important to him to ask about the needs and worries of the people and to give them comfort and hope in their predicament through conversations and prayers.
We would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Karel for his wonderful work over so many years, for his extraordinary commitment to the poorest of the poor, his loving nature and generous hospitality during our visits!
Karel has made the lives of so many hopeless families worth living again. Baie dankie - Siyabonga kakulo - thank you!
Karel and we are very happy and grateful that 33 year old Paul Moolman and some friends from Karel's church community have agreed to continue the project.
Paul speaks fluently Zulu and is also a very talented craftsman. He has already demonstrated this during his first visits to the preschools and dedicated himself to the safety aspect of the buildings. In the past, there have been several break-ins and theft of furniture, including the gas stoves for cooking. Before the installation of a new cooker, Paul has installed security doors, new locks and fixed barbed wire. During the year Paul plans to do some renovation work on the preschools.
Furthermore, we again want to give two women the opportunity for a training as a preschool teacher and financially support it. Paul will also continue to provide food for the needy families.
We are looking forward to a great cooperation with Paul and his small team of volunteers.
