Visit to the Ubomi Obutsha Centre

Every now and then, the Ubomi Obutsha Centre is visited by old friends. Frank Oude Veldhuis is one of these friends. Before SUON was founded, he did volunteer work at the Ubomi Obutsha Centre. Last summer, he visited the centre again, this time together with his family. Below, he tells us more about it.

Back in the days

Frank shares: ‘In 2010, I worked as a volunteer at Ubomi for four weeks through Be More. Beforehand, they asked about any special talents, and since I am very involved in music and taught piano in the Netherlands, I raised money to buy a piano. Mark and I had it delivered to the centre during my first week.’

‘I was a bit nervous about the huge number of registrations for the lessons and the limited time I had, but fortunately I soon realised that keeping appointments is taken a little less seriously in Kwazakhele than in the Netherlands, for example. In the end, I was able to teach the entire staff and about five children who were very interested. I also helped out in the childcare centre and the soup kitchen. It was an incredibly special experience, partly because the World Cup was being held in South Africa that year.

Back again

‘At the time, I was dating my current wife, and I always said that I wanted to show her where I had been,’ Frank continues. ‘After our son was born, those plans were put on hold for a while, but now that he’s a teenager, we’ve picked up where we left off — and this summer holiday was the perfect time.’

‘We took a road trip from Cape Town, through the interior to Port Elizabeth, and back along the coast. I contacted Mark and he took us back to Ubomi. It was amazing to be back there — and now with my family. Nondo, Tango and Mabhele were all there and even recognised me as “the piano man”. Mark brought us up to date on the family programme and the many other improvements that have taken place over the past 15 years. In the evening, we had dinner with Mark and his wife, and the next day we went to the annual fundraising dinner “Christmas in July”. That was also a very impressive experience for us.’

Frank concludes: ‘Mark and Alma are truly remarkable people, with a big heart for the residents of Kwazakhele. Of course, we also thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful country and its friendly inhabitants. There is a chance that this was not our last visit to South Africa.’