Group Project at the Blue Roof

Besides working at our own site, we wanted to do a few service projects as a group. We spent one afternoon painting at the Blue Roof Wellness Centre. The Blue Roof is a clinic funded generously by Alicia Keys and the Stephen Lewis Foundation that provides a wide range of services (from medication and home-based care to nutritional support) to those suffering from HIV/AIDs in the Wentworth community. Though, most of the building is beautifully painted, spacious and bright, one back hallway was in great need of a new coat.

We worked on three walls. The hall will be used for capacity-building. It will be set up as a mock-market and people will be able to learn the basics of starting and running a business, among other things. We hope that through our paintings we can bring encouragement and inspiration to those walking the hall.

We painted the Zulu words for "joy" and "peace" under the rainbow.


Here we are with our hand prints. Though this project took a few hours longer than expected, it was well worth our effort. It is something tangible, something that will last long after we leave. We hope that while it stands, it brings "injabulo" to others.

Wenties Slang

A quick list of some commonly heard words in the Wentworth area.

Aunty: n. term of respect for older women
Bali: n. an old man
Bra: n. friend (also, "bru")
Buckled: adj. married
Cherry: n. a girl or woman
Choon: v. to talk or tell
Crown: n. money
Dalla: v. (Zulu) to make or create
Doss: v. to sleep
Eish: int. Expresses pleasant surprise
Ek se: (Afrikaans) literally, "I say"
Fro: n. (Afrikaans) wife
Graaf: n. (Afrikaans) a job or duty
Gwara: v to tease relentlessly, unmercifully.
Gulley: n. ‘hood
Hayibo: int. Expresses disagreement, shock, disdain, unbelief
Heavies: adj. hectic; too much
Hundreds: n. Very good
Jol: n. a club; v. to date casually, or to cheat on one’s partner
Klap: v. (Afrikaans) to hit
Lekker: adj. (Afrikaans) nice; pleasant
Laaitie: n. (Afrikaans) a child; a younger person
Ma: n. mother; an attractive young lady
Marcher: n. money
Min: adj. not worried
Minerals: n. soda
Naar: adj. (Afrikaans) to express severe irritation or disgust
Nix: the person who says this has the right not to share
Ou: n. a man
Over-overing: v. to repeat oneself, to do to excess beyond a proper limit; to overindulge in
The paanies: n. rain
Posi: n. home
Raw: adj. Uncouth or uncivilized; lacking social grace
Robot: n. Traffic light
Skaapie: adj. (Afrikaans) a follower (literally ‘sheep’)
Shot: adj. an exclamation of thanks
Skraal: adj. hungry
Smaak: v. to take pleasure in; find agreeable or congenial
Stekkie: n. a girl or woman
Takkies: n. sneakers or running shoes
‘Up the pole’: pregnant
Vito: n. a white person (abbr.: vit)
Vy: v. to go
What kind?: – ‘How are you?’