Admin Assistant
Yebo is looking to recruit an Admin Assistant.
We are looking for individuals interesting in working for Yebo.
Chimpanzee Eden with the children
Today we went to Chimpanzee Eden with some of the older children from Letaba school. Chimpanzee Eden is a Jane Goodall institute. It is the first and only chimpanzee sanctuary in South Africa and takes in chimpanzees that have been misplaced from their natural habitats, abused and used in circus’s etc.
Phillip, the director of the sanctuary helped us to make the visit possible for some of the children who were very keen on having the experience of meeting the chimpanzees, Phillip and hearing about the sanctuary and some of the things that they did there.
We were also very keen to visit with the children because of the link to the children’s book, ‘My sanctuary, a place called 
home’ written by Doreen Ingram, who has visited the sanctuary on many occasions. She wanted to write a book that explained in detail some of the chimpanzees stories that could be understood by children, and at the same time, educating people about chimpanzee conservation.
This book has been used by Yebo and the children that we work with, and has been a great help to some of our activities. We have been in touch with Doreen a lot who has also been very supportive of our work with book donations and encouragement. We are very thankful to Doreen for writing such a great book and for the support and help.
The children that we chose to go to the sanctuary were more, able bodied older children, who we picked due 
to their understanding, but also their commitment to helping us as volunteers with the younger children that we have been working with over the past 2 weeks. They have also been a great support to us in our work, and are very resposible young people, despite their disabilities. They are learners at Letaba school, very good friends and supportive of eachother, and very accepting of their disabilities. One of the learners that we took had very poor eye site but could still see the chimpanzees when closer to the enclosures. He also said he liked listening to the sound of their different calls, panthoots etc! He was taking pictures of them on his mobile phone and was very responsive to watching them, despite his eyesite problems. The other learners also enjoyed the visit and had a lot of questions for Phillip.
They also compared some of the differnt personalities of the chimpanzees to some of the children that they know at the school, and found this very funny. They were also interested to hear that the chimpanzees were all orphans and were being looked after in this sanctuary. We also compared some of the cheekiness and fighting of the chimps to their school sometimes.
We thank Phillip, Doreen and all those who made it possible for us to bring the children and our volunteers to the sanctuary for the day. We are now looking into sponsorship for the school to bring more of the learners here on a regular basis, and to help them with their education and self esteem.
Observations of the children by Yebo volunteers
Today we were lucky enough to again work with 2 groups of children from Letaba school. Although this turned in to 2 groups of children with added extras!
We are gradually trying to focus our activities more on feelings and animals as we go along which also helps with our observations. These are now being written up for Susan, the deputy head teacher, so that she will be able to use these and share them with the teachers.
A lot of the work today was around using sock puppets and 
drama/stories. Some great work was being done in the 2 groups.
Our observations have interested us over the past 2 weeks. Each day we debrief on the work we have been doing. We have managed to identify the children that have needed one to one care and attention which we have made our best efforts to give.
Some of the children are very able and very confident, always wanting to get involved in the activities, others are less confident and need help to join in. Below are just a few copies of some of our observations from the past 2 weeks, all names have been changed for confidentiality. All 
of the photos on this page are not linked in anyway with the 
notes/observations of children.
Greg
Has a lot of confidence and likes to join in with activities. Always appears to share with his friends and is very independant. Does not like you to help him.
Thomas
Very withdrawn, does not speak. Needs help to do painting and gets involved. Doesn’t like to sing but smiles when others do. Has head 
turned away at the start of every session but will begin to move it round by he end of each one. Appears to not like being around 
or near the other children but likes one to one in the corner of the room where he responds better.
Sarah
Very sad eyes, takes a while for her to smile. Is happy when given a lot of attention and needs help with building confidence. Appears quite shy and needs help to interact with activities although is very able bodied. Loves making ‘girly’ activities such as necklaces. Was very shy around the animals and swimming but appeared to enjoy it alot.
Clark
Very challenging behaviour. Bites hand, can hit other children, very hyperactive, has a very short attention span. Gets 
very frustrated when attention not given to him. Needs one to one. Likes to do activities when prompted and very proud to show others his work. Very kind at times and will help others. Does understand when spoken to, liked animals, very gentle and loved swimming. Lots of energy. Very challenging to work with. Likes singing and will join in with songs. Cries when frustrated and gets angry very quickly.
Susie
Very quiet. Can speak well. When in large groups becomes very shy, and comes out of herself more when working closely with a volunteer. 
Looks worried and doesn’t like to have eye contact. Makes very creative pictures and activities. Gets upset and very shy if you try to make/encourage her do something. Likes to be given options but struggles when around other children.
Vincent
Very independent and has a good sense of humour. Although gets annoyed when given too much attention. Likes to be around his friends and those who understand his disability. Likes to be helped by his friends, and laughs when volunteers approach him with caution. Very bright, has learned to adapt well to his physical disabilities and thinks it is funny when people presume he cannot do things for himself. Smiles alot. Does like to join in, but on his terms only. Likes to watch others doing activities.
Sulley
Appears to be very attention seeking and never wants to leave your side, always wants to steal everything you have on you such as a phone or a camera and loves you telling him he is cheeky but will always give things back. Very happy when able to express himself though dancing, likes a large space to do activities. Was very outgoing and not so attention seeking when out of his school at other activity environments. When in this situation, his personality and behaviours appear to be completely different and alot more positive. Appears very caring and enjoys singing. Very good at dancing!
Mary
Likes to be on own and doesn’t like any physical contact with volunteers or children. Won’t join in activities if asked or encouraged to do so. If left on own, will do an activity when you are not giving her any attention. As soon as you look at her she will stop and sit in the corner. Can say yes or no but very quietly and goes in and out of the classroom at her own accord. Likes to watch and observe others. Doesn’t interact with the other children.
Creative
Very shy, does not give eye contact, was very scared of animals and of volunteers. Would stay with one of the teachers but did not want to interact with any activities or be around anyone.
Our volunteers reflect
Although sometimes our work can be frustrating, it has been very beneficial to the children, teachers, carers and to the volunteers in this challenging environment. The volunteers on this trip have worked very hard in all of the activities and days spent on this trip. This had been a great experience to learn, and give at the same time.
Looking at feelings of animals and the challenges we face
Today we worked again at Letaba school. Today in our 2 groups we were looking at feelings and animals and trying to adapt our aims to children with different spectrums of disabilities. This has proved a challenging task and one that we are continuing to develop as we go along.
This has proved a challenging project due to the disabilities and also the language barrier and understandings of the children’s needs. Many of the children have disabilities that have not been diagnosed and whom have very challenging behaviour. Nevertheless our volunteers are doing a fantastic job helping to bring the activities together with the children.
Both groups worked very well with the children, touching on feelings which was a difficult subject and challenge for us to focus on with the 
different needs of each child. The sensory group made monkey paper plate puppets, and they all drew happy faces on one side and a sad face on the otherside. Lucy and Ruth put on some masks and did some monkey acting and impressions in the circle with different noises and scenarios. Mia then helped the children to turn their plates around to tell us if they thought the monkeys looked ‘happy’ or ‘sad’. The aim of this was not to find out how the children were feeling, but to look at recognizing feelings. This was important as we did not want to stir up or uncover any feelings that the children have inside them, due to the 
nature of their traumas, as we are aware that this could cause more harm than good to them if not supported 
consistently by the right professionals who work in therapy.
They also included a lot of singing and music in their sessions which the children appear to respond very positively towards.
The other group looked at making friends, making hands on a board of each of the children, and looking at feeling happy when animals are with their friends, allowing the more able bodied children to use their own ideas in. Some of the extra children in this group that join us regularly even when they are not scheduled to come into the group also partake in the activities, but have very different needs to the other children, which is another challenge for the team.Their work looked beautiful as they also used colours to express different feelings.
When working with the children in groups of around 10-15 children, with 6 volunteers in each group, we begin to get a feel of the frustration that the teachers have when they are teaching the children. As we recognise throughout our time, the very different needs of all of the children, we try to combine different activities for different levels of ages and abilities focusing on difficult subjects such as feelings of animals. Those volunteers whom have worked in the UK in their own jobs with children with disabilities, are used to working one to one with a child, also knowing beforehand their abilities and emotional needs. A big part of our work is observations of the children which we have been asked to do for the teachers who are trying hard to understand some of the children that they do not get to spend a lot of time with. The children we work with have been selected as those that have higher emotional and/or physical needs. This also helps us realise that our previous work experience can hopefully be beneficial for the teachers as well as the children.
Children have their own minds and when making and planning activities, you have to have many different ones, which the volunteers have to pre-plan , but improvise at the same time.
We were all pleased about how the day went, and were happy about the activities that we did with the children. We will now look forward to developing them further.
The Yebo South African world cup 2010!
Today the South African Yebo team were lucky enough to be able to visit a school based in Tzaneen teaching children from preschool age and upwards.
The school were very welcoming and it was great to be able to have the opportunity to visit a local school. We were able to have a look around some of the classes and were given a tour by the headmaster who was very approachable and appeared very passionate about his work at the school.
After we had a look around and were able to observe we then were 
lucky enough to have a football match with several of the classes which was great fun.
With Tammy in goal, Mia battled it out 
with the ball, while Jane and Gillian helped with defense. Lucy, Helen, Rebecca and Ruth played well as they had hold of the ball. Judy took photos while Charlotte rested her ankle. The children from the school were playing very well, and we even managed to score a goal! We had a great day and the school were very interested in the work we were doing with Letaba school. They may be getting involved with helping Letaba once a month by sending some of their students to do some art and crafts with the children which we hope will be a positive benefit to Letaba.
Some of the children from the school were teaching some of our team a great football song and dance which they seemed to be learning well at the side of the pitch. We all had a great day and got in some good exercise at the same time!