In May 2014 I went to South-Africa as a foreign internship for my bilingual education.

I went with together Anneke and Thijmen, co-owners of project Thamsanqa and Eva, a lovely friend of mine. I was very nervous at the start, I didn’t know what to expect of the project and of where I would be staying. Well, I can tell you that it was a very, very special experience.

Thamsanqa is a project consisting of 5 houses with the children in each home being taken care of by one house mother. The kids were lovely and I had the best times working at the Thamsanqa crèche. Other than the lovely children who were there to make me feel welcome, the experience was as great as it was because of Peter and Daphne. They literally became an auntie and uncle to me! I remember the evening of arrival at the airport in Port Elisabeth, crystal clear.

We were standing in the luggage hall and we immediately saw a happy Peter, Daphne and Tia waving at us as enthusiastically as can be! At that moment I said to Eva: this is going to be so much fun! Surely, my prediction was right, it was the best stay I have EVER had! Daphne is such a great cook! Her food is delicious and especially her home-made cookies. I may have eaten a lot of them… sorry Daphne!
The house has a great atmosphere, if you wanted a moment for yourself, you just took some time for your own in a peaceful room. If there was dinner with everyone, we would have lots of fun discussing all sorts of topics! Also, Peter would have a great inspiring and funny story to tell every night.

Peter and Daphne are both very wise and great to get some advice from! They are so hospitable, it’s not even imaginable. Like I said, they became like an auntie and uncle to me. I still think about my experiences in South-Africa every day.
I miss the happy kids with their lovely smiles and I miss Peter and Daphne.

As you can read, I had a great time there volunteering. I’m sure I’ll be heading back to South-Africa again in summer 2015.