GEORGE NEWS - An Irish welfare project, Belfast 2 Blanco (B2B), gave a group of Blanco children a festive Valentine's Day. The B2B project, founded in 2013 by Irish youth workers Alan Waite and Thomas Turley, in conjunction with Aperture, also saw to it that 60 young children from the area are kept in school by sponsoring their full school fees for the year.
Every Tuesday and Thursday, the children can also look forward to a warm cup of soup prepared by "Antie Roos", a B2B volunteer, at her home where the B2B soup kitchen is located. Each year a group of approximately 20 young people aged between 15 and 25 travel across the globe from Belfast, Northern Ireland under leadership of Waite and Turley to make a difference in the lives of the less fortunate in Golden Valley, Blanco.
The B2B team's annual outreaches entail renovating homes, cleaning backyards, making and handing out food, doing fun activities with the children, taking the girls to treat the elderly women in Rosemoor Home for the Aged and taking the boys to learn from the experience of those at Huis Outeniqua Adult Learning Centre.
Extra special
This year the team wanted to do a little more. In collaboration with a few volunteers from Blanco, the B2B team hosted three special occasions for the youngsters, including a Valentine's Disco Night, a talent show and a fun day for the whole community.
The disco night saw big and small dancing to some cool jams under the disco lights in the Blanco Community Hall, in celebration of the day of love. The following day, the youth showcased their talents at the Blanco Talent Show, which was a massive success. Each contestant impressed with their talent, but it was the "Unexpected" dance crew that walked away with the winning prize of R2 500 cash.
In second and third place respectively were the Migos and Kretzenshoop Primary School dance groups that each won a cash prize.
The highlight of the B2B group's outreach was the fun day held on Saturday 15 February, which had the little ones up very early, hoping to be the first to get to the jumping castle, while some joined the long queue for face-painting and others were eager to get as many temporary tattoos as possible.
At the end of a fun-filled day with glorious weather, approximately 800 fun-day goers went home happy. According to one of the project founders, Waite indicated that another group of volunteers from Belfast will visit George soon to continue reaching out to the less fortunate and bring about positive change in the community of Blanco.
For information about the B2B 2018 outreach, visit their Facebook page, Belfast2Blanco, or visit their website.
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