Kuzuko Excursion #4

We were all so excited to start this next Archangels Project: S.E.E.D of Hope trip with our kids, for though we had to postpone the trip a few times due to scheduling conflicts with all the parties involved, we at last got the dates nailed down and we started the planning process. There were the usual hiccups with the whole issue, from logistical issues, and the biggest was another conflict in scheduling for the boys who were booked to go on another excursion on the same day as our departure. The choice was ultimately theirs, and thank goodness they chose to opt-out of the school trip in favour of coming with us to Kuzuko for a fun filled camping trip with a focus on the maintenance department.

On this trip it was Savannah and I, Siphe (whose incredible story we will be sharing on our next post), Kambaku, Ichelesi, Igala, and Nci Nci Quagga. It was going to be a great time!

It feels like every time we do a trip to the Eastern Cape the drive seems to go by quicker and with less speed bumps, but this time we were a little concerned about the access roads to Kuzuko because we have had a bunch of rain in the southern part of South Africa, and a portion of the trip is spent driving on dirt roads. Luckily we have experienced drivers and the roads were not beat up too badly.

We arrived on record time. Check in was the same process as always and, after dropping off Siphe at his headquarters, the rest of us drove to the store room where we collected all of the camping equipment that was graciously provided by the Kuzuko Foundation.

We drove down to the riverbed on the reserve, which was full of fresh water and flowing nicely. The trees were thick in the area, almost forest like, and covered in vibrant green leaves.

Here we would be setting up camp.

Setting up of the camp was interesting to say in the least, keep in mind that this is the very first time that any of these kids have ever gone camping, and setting up a heavy duty canvas tent is a mission even for seasoned veterans. At the start we left them to their own devices and let them try it all on their own. It was not long before we were summoned to assist with the construction of the tents. The kids take direction really well and they observed us as we showed them the idea of what needs to be done and after that they managed to set it up with little to no issue. We finished with the camp setup close to 18h30 and this is when the winds, which are quite common and famous to those who have spent some time in the Karoo, arrived in angry gusts. We were just thankful that the tents were up and pegged down solidly to the ground.

While the wind continued, we proposed to them the ‘king of the fire’ game. This is where it is the duty of the group to get all of the materials together from the surrounding area and start a fire with only one match. Everyone gets a chance to try and start it. Its not the easiest thing to do especially with the roaring winds but our boy Ichelesi stepped up to the challenge and dominated on his first attempt, and for the next 24 hours holds the crown of the Fire King.

For dinner we kept it easy and made some wors (sausage) rolls with some cola to wash it down with. We had some varied and funny conversations and many laughs were shared among the group. It was non stop chatting the whole time by the fire. And all spirits were high.

The wind died down, and as darkness descended, first time campers began to realize how far out they really were from civilisation. The stars and planets were bright, and we were able to share a nice experience teaching them about different stars, planets and constellations. During this little lesson, we were interrupted by the roaring of lions. Everyone was wide eyed and could not believe it! The reality of the wild place we were in set in. But we reassured them, as this section of the reserve is fenced in for safety. The only animals in the area are steenbok, kudu, giraffe, monkeys, baboons, and some more nocturnal species like brown hyena, caracal and aardvark.

After dinner, it was not long before the call of bed was too strong to resist, and we all retreated back to our tents.

Throughout the night we were serenaded by an orchestra of frogs, toads and various night birds like the fiery necked night jar, Scops owl, and a Verauox’s eagle owl over our heads. For Savannah and I, it was the most restful yet wakeful sleep we have had in a long time, it was magnificent.

We were concerned the kids might get scared, but they made very little noise the whole night…except some sounds of snacking on chips.

The next morning, when everyone was up and teeth brushed, we asked them if they heard the animal noises through the night, and answer was simple…. The frogs were loud. They thought maybe they heard some other strange sounds, but the most eventful thing that happened was Nci Nci Quagga apparently had had an issue with his bag of chips, and managed to spill all over the entire tent, even into Kambaku’s sleeping bag! And yet, we noted, not a chip seemed to be on Nc Nci Quagga’s side of the tent…we question how much of an accident this was…haha.

We went for a walk around the reserve, testing their practical knowledge of animal tracks. We found tons of fresh tracks, clearly lots of animals used the area during the night.

We were most excited to find brown hyena tracks close by to camp, and we joked that the hyena must have been coming for all the chips Nci Nci Quagga spilled.

After our hearty farm style breakfast, which was so kindly provided by Nikki, we drove off to the lodge to start our work day with the on site electrician and general handy man Mornè Nagastro.

Mornè started off by explaining the importance of his job and the value of having someone experienced on a property of this size, and the general isolation of the lodge means you need to be available and open minded as well as adaptable for any situation that may arise. You must be able to “Mcgyver” was the word he used.

He gave us a small tour of the maintenance office and some of the tools he uses regularly. And for some fun for the kids, he had the kids help prepare some fruits and seeds for distributing around the popular bird hide at the lodge. He showed the the strategic places that they hide the food and explained that it needs to be done in such a fashion to give the ‘illusion’ that the birds generally just want to spend time around the hide. Attracting birds attracts the guests to visit the area in some of the free time they have in between all of the activities the lodge has to offer.

While at the hide his eared perked up to a disturbance in the ponds pump and he ushered us to where the pump is located and explained that the sound we were hearing was most likely due to the level of the water in the pump.

Now there needs some clarification to the location of the lodge, it is on a hill and to have big water reservoirs close to the lodge is aesthetically ‘un pleasing’ to look at.

He took us to the second water pump and began to explain how the water gets to the lodge from a different borehole located on a “koppie” close by, and how the pressure is controlled by gravity as well the pump we were standing in front of. He went through some of the prices of the equipment that they use to build the pumps as well as the filtration system that is attached to the pump. Kuzuko is in the middle of nowhere and the water that the borehole produces is high in mineral content, safe to drink but may mess with your stomach if you are not used to it. The water texture is also quite hard, so the water on the property goes through an entire system of filtration before it is ready for use by the guests and the staff at the lodge, it was a complex discussion but Mornè is a patient and well informed and a wonderful teacher.

Mornè then took us down to one of the guest rooms to show us the inspections what the maintenance department do every day to ensure that each room is guest ready.

He explained that it is the duty of his department to do a follow up inspection after the house keeping department have finished the room, and the goal is to see that all of the lights, appliances, doors, showers etc are in working order, and if anything is found that needs amending it needs to be reported to the department in question. Its always good to have different people from different departments look over a room to ensure the highest quality of service and hospitality. The kids were given very good advice on customer service, and the proper way speaking to guests and working with them should problems ever arise in one the rooms.

We then did some role play with the kids, and they acted out a call out to the room with a faulty safe, it was very funny. They had clearly paid attention to the instructions. And this gave them a wonderful idea of the way a behind the scenes department like the maintenance should interact with the guests.

Mornè went over the ways he has found to have the guests feel comfortable and secure with an employee operating the safe where most likely the guests have all of their most important belongings in. After this he had a important discussion on fire safety, and how maintenance is expected to respond in cases on fire.

We all then broke for lunch and had a wonderful meal that the kitchen at the lodge prepared for us, as always the kitchen outdoes themselves.

Our last task we did with Mornè was a hands on project where he guided the kids and showed them how to assemble and construct a biltong drying box so they can make their own biltong at home. The process was easy enough and like I said before Mornè is a wonderful teacher. The kids got to use some electric tools like a drill and an extractor fan, and they were shown how to connect all of the elements together including the electrical wiring, and unsurprisingly with a great teacher the box worked perfectly. All the kids enjoyed this task that was given to them and the sense of completion that they got from finishing something that seemed quite intricate, gave them all a massive confidence boost, and they said it had to be one of the best parts of the trip all together. The only question at the end was where will they get the meat from to make the biltong, as well as the insistence that chicken would be a great one…. FYI, it won’t. Haha.

Earlier that day we asked the kids if later they wanted to go for a swim at the lodge and they were so exited at the idea of cooling off in the pool after a hard days work, but because the lodge has a multitude of guests we had to wait for all of them to go out on the afternoon drive. This would mean we would have the entire lodge to ourselves, so it was a waiting game from that point forward. We headed down to the communal area close to the campsite to wait for the guests departures. The kids quickly entertained themselves with what was on hand, it was some marbles and spinning tops, and it was wonderful to see them keep busy without any electrical devises.

They played very intense competitions with the marbles, even using them for a soccer tournament. But a bit later, minutes before drives were about to depart, the famous and well timed winds of the Karoo reared their ugly heads once more, and the temperature dropped drastically, and kids all voted to cancel the swim. They seemed quite happy to keep playing their games at the campsite anyway.

When we arrived at camp we wanted to prep the vehicle and the tents for our departure in the morning so we all went ahead and did some tidying and organisation. The wind was much worse this time around but we needed to see if the King of the Fire would be dethroned this day. Each in turn had a shot to try and get the fire going, as an added bonus we upped the 1 match rule to 3 just because the wind was so bad, but in the end all failed but one, the king kept this crown.

For dinner we cooked up some chicken kebabs and some garlic bread. Once more there was a lot of funny, quirky conversations had around the fire, and we were happy to see that the kids have a healthy questioning about the world around them, especially about the things they are exposed to online. These kids don’t fall for tricks on social media, that is for sure. They are very intelligent kids, and talking to them and answering their questions, is an absolute joy.

The night ended with the total annihilation of two bags of marshmallows roasted over the fire, sugar high laughter, and then…everyone’s energy dropped, and they hit the sack.

The next morning we didn’t have a lot planned, everyone was feeling exhausted, camping is fun but not everyone sleeps great. So, we got the spekboom plants we had brought with us from home, (a couple months ago the kids had to keep their spekboom cuttings alive till we plant them at Kuzuko) and planted them at the campsite. The kids decided the best place to start their little garden, and were excited by the prospect of many more plants to come. We then went on a little walk around the property to go follow up on the camera trap we set up the last time we were there, We took the opportunity to test the boys on some of the concepts we have been working on them with, one of the biggest ones for me personally is that they need to be really comfortable with using cardinal directions to orientate themselves, and I took each one by one and quizzed them on the directions and they nailed it, they all knew exactly where they were and what direction was which. We also introduced them to the difference between a thorn on a tree and a spine on a tree. Do you know the difference?

Nikki from the foundation met us back at camp, once again with our packed breakfast that the lodge put together for us, and she even brought us coffee! Oh blessed coffee!

It was a successful trip. The ride home was quiet, as the kids were all out cold. Perhaps they did not sleep quite as well camping as they swore they did…haha.

We arrived to the safe house in the afternoon, and were amazed to see the chaos of the township were these children are growing up. Everyone, men, women, teenagers, all of them completely drunk and falling in the streets. Tiny children left to their own devices, running around with no adult looking after them whatsover. Some adults and teens were clearly on drugs. In the middle of the day. The amount of alcohol and drug abuse these kids are exposed to daily is astounding. An epidemic. We asked the kids if this was a normal occurance, to which they all replied, “Yes. Its every day, but especially on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. But we don’t want to be like them.”

It is always stunning to see such abuse like this, but hear from children that this is the normal thing to do…its scary. This is why our project is so important. Helping get these kids away from the highly toxic “norm”, providing them with an opportunity to do something fulfilling with their lives, equipping them with skills so that they have confidence and hope in themselves and the ability to stand on their own two feet…THIS is why we are doing what we are doing. This is why these excursions are changing lives. This is why this project prevent human trafficking, drug and alcohol abuse, and prostitution.

This trip we did, once again, ensured the kids were provided with new experiences, new skills and abilities, more confidence, and best of all, more hope for their bright futures. THIS IS THE WAY.

We are so grateful for everyone at Kuzuko, for the continued help and time they give these kids, and for all of our donors, whose continued donations make these hands-on, skills based experiences possible for the children who need hope the most.

Stay tuned for our very exciting news about Siphe, the first young man we started working with when we started S.E.E.D of Hope.