2010 Virgin Unite Staff Connection Trip

Day six - We can't believe it's the end but what an amazing week...

2010-05-10T10:10:00.000-07:00

We couldn’t believe that today was our last day together as a team. We packed our bags, gathered our mattresses and bed linen (all of which is being donated to the local community) and said our final goodbyes to the team at Pride n’ Purpose.

We made the journey to Johannesburg and headed off to meet Gaming Zone, a small business in Soweto supported by the Branson School of Entrepreneurship. The Branson School of Entrepreneurship founded with the support of Virgin Unite amongst others, provides training, mentoring and seed funding to young entrepreneurs, helping them launch successful businesses which will in turn create jobs and help boost South Africa’s economy.

Gaming Zone, which was co-founded by Musa Maphongwane and Amos Mtsolongo, is a video arcade franchise housed in repurposed shipping containers – a brilliant concept that offers a safe, fun place for kids to spend time after school. We had a great Q&A session with Musa and Amos, and there was even time for some of the more brave in the group to play against the kids - needless to say the kids had the edge.

Leaving Gaming Zone behind we all headed off to the Apartheid Museum. The Apartheid Museum shares the story of the triumph of the human spirit over adversity. The museum was the first of its kind, illustrating the rise and fall of apartheid. After our fantastic week working in Ulusaba visiting the Apartheid Museum was a good way to see the contrast between old and new South Africa and how far this great country has come.

A huge thank you to all those involved in the trip that has made it what it was – a truly fantastic experience. We are incredibly grateful to everyone at Pride 'n Purpose especially Joni, Lindsay and David for all their time and energy over the last week and for making us feel part of the family. To Gaming Zone for making us feel so welcome. We’re also incredibly grateful for Clare Thomas who has volunteered her time to capture such wonderful photos of our journey.

Lastly thanks to all those who have donated to us, we managed to raise over £12k so far, which will make a long and lasting difference to the lives of many in the community.

To get involved please visit Virgin Unite to learn more.

Well done Virgin Unite Staff Connection Trip Team 2010!

Day five - All good things in the bush must come to an end...

2010-05-07T14:13:00.000-07:00

Today was our last full day working with Pride ‘n Purpose at Mahluhluvana Primary School in Dumphries. The race was on to finish all our projects.

We started by putting up the volleyball net and netball posts, which immediately delighted the kids. They got straight in there and started playing. We then put the final touches to the vibrant World Cup mural. Each of us, plus the schools’ art club took turns placing our yellow and red handprints on the painted tree. It was a great knowing that what had started as a tired wall with chipped grey and green paint had been transformed during the week into an eye-catching mural for the entire community to enjoy.

Our art work did not end there. Armed with face paint Natalie had brought over from Australia, we each embraced our inner child and painted as many of the kids faces we could. The kids were delighted with their painted faces which consisted of tigers, hearts and stars amongst many more random patterns! Several of us even got our own cheeks and arms covered in colourful paint! How could we resist!

Our last project to be completed was ‘pimp my soccer pitch’. We all worked hard to complete the soccer pitch as there was a derby taking place later in the day between Mahluhluvana Primary school and another local primary school. While some of the students measured and marked out the chalk lines on the pitch, we raked key sections to help flatten the pitch out.

And with that, our volunteer work with Pride ‘n Purpose was finished. Lots of laughter, sweat and happy tears were shed during our days here and it is incredible how much we were actually able to get done for the school and the Crèche.

To thank us for the work we did throughout the week, Nelson, the Assistant Principal, who had given us a warm welcome at the start of the week, assembled the entire school in the courtyard. We were treated to some traditional dances and songs put on by the students. We used this gathering as an opportunity to share a special gift we had for the school and their local rivals, who had arrived to play a match later in the afternoon. The gift was a football ‘dream bag’ for each team consisting of team shirts, shorts, socks and football boots. We learned that this was the first time both teams had ever had their own football kits. It was a special moment for us all to see the teams dressed in their new uniforms. We could tell that our positive emotions were shared by all of the students as well because they erupted in applause when their teams stepped out onto the field in their new uniforms.

From the assembly in the main courtyard we were led to the volleyball court by a group of students singing and playing drums. Some of us took the teachers up on the challenge of playing a volleyball game against them. Surrounded by cheering students, the two teams entered into a comical competition. It had clearly been a long time since any of us had played volleyball!

All the fun and games eventually had to come to an end and it was a sad moment when we had to say our goodbyes to all the new friends that we made over the last four days. It has truly been an honour to volunteer with such a great school. While each of us in the group worked together on the same activities, it is certain that we are walking away with unique memories that will stay with us for life.

We would like to thank everyone on at Mahluhluvana Primary School, Deyani Crèche, and Joni, David and Lyndsay from Pride ‘n Purpose for helping to make our four days such a memorable time.

When we returned to our place at the staff village, we were pleasantly surprised by a 3 hour game drive. While we had been driving through the game reserve everyday, we had never driven during prime animal watching times or with the main rangers. We packed up some drinks and snacks and headed out in anticipation of what animals we would encounter. Our rangers and trackers blew us away with the number of animals spotted and how close we could get to them. We spotted mating lions, a pack of six female lions and three cubs, several giraffe, monkeys, and warthogs. Absolutely incredible! What a way to end our stay in the bush!

Tomorrow we will say our final goodbyes to the Pride ‘n Purpose team and head to Johannesburg to learn about other ways that Virgin Unite works in South Africa. We are ending our last night in the bush with yet another yummy braii and chats around the fire.

I can hear the laughter from where I am sitting, so must get back to the group. Thanks for reading our blog!!! Keep watch for stories from Johannesburg.

Day four - All hands on deck...

2010-05-06T11:33:00.000-07:00

Day four began with a trip to the Bhubezi Community Healthcare Centre. Bhubezi is a rural ‘one stop shop healthcare clinic’ established in 2007 by USAID, the South African government, Anglo Coal, Virgin Unite and the Dutch social entrepreneur, Dr Hugo Templeman. Joni from Pride ‘n Purpose briefed us all during the ride over to the clinic on what to expect.

Upon arrival, the general manager, Kgmotso, greeted us with open arms. It was inspiring to see the dedication that the staff of the clinic have despite the enormous task of treating all of the patients. The three main diseases that they treat on a regular basis are HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

The visit to Bhubezi brought to life the challenges of providing medical care to rural communities in South Africa. We learned that the big challenges the clinic is working to overcome are the cultural and religious beliefs rural people hold. Their beliefs often mean that they seek medical attention at late stages in their diseases. Once treatment is sought out, the clinic works hard to diagnose and treat each and every patient and to ensure that they receive the psychological preparation for the results that they may receive. It was an eye-opening visit for all of us.

After the visit to Bhubezi we headed back to all the excited children at Mahluhluvana Primary School. The group divided and conquered to make sure that all the jobs would be finished before we leave on Friday.

- The mural team made the final touches making sure the mural was ready for project hand print tomorrow. (We should add – the mural is an incredible sight to see from both the football pitch and the road!)
- The school’s Assistant Principal, Nelson, and the environmental team supervised as the gardening team planted more seeds including onions and tomatoes. We were also taught by the students how to plant shade trees. We took part in this at the front of their school. The students were brilliant at showing us what to do. We can’t wait to hear all about the progress the trees make in the next few years – Nelson told us they grow two meters a year!
- After successfully assembling the swing set yesterday the team noticed there were some spare tyres and resourcefully dug the tyres into the ground and painted them making them an extra play area for the kids. From the looks of the kids leap frogging across the tyres, the extra play area got the thumbs up.
- Project pimp my football pitch began today when the lovely Armando welded the football posts together. Under the mid-day sun, the football pitch team got to work and set the posts into the ground. The schools new sports field has really started to take shape. Tomorrow a nearby school is coming to play football against our school’s team – make sure you tune in tomorrow to get the result.

After a long day’s work we all headed back to our house in Ulusaba’s staff village for a well-deserved braii! And back to the braii we must go…signing out for what was a memorable day four.

Day three – Rise and shine it’s a beautiful day

2010-05-05T10:16:00.000-07:00

We were treated to another beautiful day in South Africa where there was not a cloud in the sky. We spent the day at Mahluhluvana Primary School where we were involved in a number of activities including building the jungle gym and swing set, painting the mural and being taught by the environment after school club how to sew veggies.

We split into groups. Team jungle gym worked with the help of Abraham and his team, not to mention the ever growing curious crowd of kids, to finish the jungle gym before the end of the school day. The race was on but we managed to satisfy the crowd when the jungle gym was officially opened and the kids showed their approval by racing to try out their new playground!

Team mural were busy painting the fantastically designed World Cup themed outside school wall. The painting was a real group effort which we’re all looking forward to putting the finishing touches to in the next couple of days where the plan is to get the pupils of Mahluhluvana Primary School to put their hand prints on the tree – make sure you check out the photos in a few days.

We were lucky to receive a lesson in seed planting from the environment after school club, consisting of students ranging from 12-14 years of age. During last year’s Virgin Unite Staff Connection Trip, Food and Trees for Africa visited the school and taught the pupils how to sustainably plant vegetables and trees, this year it was the turn of the students to teach us. We learnt how to build a veggie patch and we helped them plant seeds of beetroot, cabbage and spice. The newly installed play pump will mean that the garden can be watered daily and when the vegetables grow they can be used in school lunches. We had such an amazing day and learnt so much from everyone at Mahluhluvana Primary School, we can’t wait to return tomorrow.

We had another treat installed for us when we returned, Joni and Lindsay from Pride ‘n Purpose taught us to cook a Potjie – which is a traditional way of preparing food in South Africa in a round cast iron, three legged pot. We cooked on an open fire and it couldn’t have been a better way to end what was a really inspiring day.

Day two – Turns out B is for Bricks (and lots of them)

2010-05-05T07:17:00.000-07:00

We were up bright and early this morning to make our way to the Mahluhluvana Primary School which is located in Dumphries. Nelson the assistant Principal showed us around – we witnessed first hand the play pump which Virgin Atlantic had previously donated and which was recently installed. Nelson also showed us where the new school library was going to be built thanks to the fundraising from V Australia.

Mahluhluvana Primary School had requested some assistance from Pride ‘n Purpose to build the school a Jungle Gym, so the kids have a playground, pimp up their soccer pitch and help them paint a mural and plant some veggie seeds – after some initial preparations project pimp my jungle gym, football pitch, mural painting and veggie plants begins tomorrow.

The rest of the morning and afternoon was spent at Deyani Crèche where we were met by so many smiling faces. We learnt how to make bricks from the lovely Gilbert who we could tell was rather impressed with our brick making ability and speed (we made 130 bricks!). The bricks will be used for the crèches kitchen which is currently situated out doors. We also helped retouch a mural painted by a previous Staff Connection Trip after a temporary pipe was installed and then removed; we were thrilled when the kids gave us the thumbs up for our efforts.

After all that hard work and to stop us aching tomorrow Satesh from Virgin Active kindly helped us stretch it out with a cool down so we will be all fit and ready to begin work again tomorrow.

We celebrated our first full day with a relaxing evening around the fire excited about what tomorrow will bring.

Day one – The wheels on the bus go round and round….all the way to Ulusaba.

2010-05-03T12:38:00.002-07:00

After our 12 hour flight, Christine (Virgin Management), Ben (Virgin America), Nancy (Virgin Mobile Canada), Lakshmi (Virgin Mobile India), Jon (Virgin Money), Nick (Virgin Media), Satesh (Virgin Active), Wes (Virgin Atlantic), Heidi and Roisin (Virgin Unite) were excited to meet with the remaining participants, Natalie and Donne who were already in JNB - we weren’t afraid to admit they looked slightly fresher than the rest of us having spent the night in a bed.

We began our seven hour bus journey, keeping ourselves occupied by getting to know each other, catching up on some sleep and playing some games (we learnt that ‘I spy’ in South Africa is slightly more interesting to the ones we all remembered playing as a child…’I spy’ something beginning with E – Elephant – correct – we also managed to spot a R for Rhino and a W for Wilder beast). We finally reached Ulusaba, our home for the next week and were excitedly greeted by all the Pride ‘n Purpose staff, who were surprised by our excessive baggage. To their relief we didn’t pack the kitchen sink but rather brought along nine bags filled with soccer kits, balls, books and other goodies. A huge thanks to Carol Skinner from Virgin Atlantic and her husband for the soccer donations.

After a delicious Braai (the South African equivalent to a bbq) we took in our surroundings and couldn’t quite believe we were here. We’re off to get some sleep to dream about what our second day in South Africa has in store for us. Over and out.

2010-05-03T12:38:00.001-07:00

2010-05-03T12:38:00.000-07:00

All our bags are packed and we’re leaving on a jet plane!

2010-05-02T07:05:00.000-07:00

It’s time to make our way to London Heathrow for our Virgin Atlantic flight to Johannesburg.

Check in tomorrow to find out all about our exciting adventure from London to Johannesburg and onto our final destination - to work with Pride ‘n Purpose the charitable arm of Ulusaba, Sir Richard Branson’s Private Game reserve.

Nat's 'fun' raising!

2010-03-31T04:56:00.000-07:00

I am truly blown away. The genuine interest, generosity and support from my friends, relatives and Virgin Blue family has been amazing.

My excitement levels increased from the moment I was notified about the Virgin Unite Connection Trip, and it appears there are no sign of those levels decreasing. There is also an air of excitement around the office as V Australia (Virgin Blue's newest airline) launched their first flight from Melbourne to Johannesburg on 12th March. Ulusaba was also featured on one of our national television programs recently, so African fever is definitely all around!

As a passionate supporter of Virgin Unite, my fundraising was officially kicked off around ‘Virgin Village’ (Virgin Blue head office) last week when 'Fun' Raising Crew t-shirts arrived. They were kindly donated (by QLD t-shirt Co.) to help promote the cause. The first event served up an amazing array of sweets for morning tea. Almost AU$1500 was raised as hungry villagers filled their tummies and raised their sugar levels.

Stay tuned for updates on further fundraising activities.

Nat
Virgin Blue, Brisbane, Australia

To donate to the Virgin Unite Staff Connection Trip click here.

Satesh...

2010-03-23T11:41:00.000-07:00

Well, herein begins a most wonderful journey, actually, the journey began so many months ago on a Saturday evening when I began to complete the application form. Therein lies the secret of success...taking the time out of your busy day, stay later before going out on the town to give some time, for the chance to help another.

The application sent of, a few prayers said and here I am, preparing, meeting, greeting, gently nudging those nearest and dearest, those that appreciate the news and those that can learn from the work to be carried out on this very special adventure.

It's the awareness that needs to be raised first, then the approach and finally the realisation of the outcome.

More to follow on the day to day, keep the heart racing the mind fixed on the goal...Satesh

To donate to the Virgin Unite Staff Connection Trip click here.

Let the fundraising begin

2010-03-07T11:17:00.000-08:00

The Virgin Unite Staff Connection Trip 2010 Team are leaving for South Africa on 2nd-7th May and between now and then we are planning to fundraise up a storm for Pride ‘n Purpose!

Pride ‘n Purpose work on a non-profit basis and are committed to the upliftment of disadvantaged communities living adjacent to the reserve. They assist with basic needs such as food, water, and health services, while also helping people to help themselves through education, social and economic empowerment.

To donate and help us meet our target please visit virginunite.com

Thanks everyone!

Virgin Unite Staff Connection Trip 2010 Winners Announced

2010-03-01T10:01:00.000-08:00

We are excited to annouce that the Virgin Unite Staff Connection Trip 2010 winners have been announced. To find out who has been selected visit virginunite.com.

Thank you to everyone who applied and good luck to the winners!