After handing over a Wii and Wii Fit to Durban Children’s Home, El33tonline visited Ethelbert Children’s Home to continue the spirit of giving. As mentioned in Part one detailing our Wii Fit Charity handovers, El33tonline won the 25 Day Wii Fit Media Challenge. We visited the Durban Children’s Home first and then the Ethelbert Children’s Home to hand over a Wii console and Wii Fit to each charity, kindly sponsored by Core Gaming.

Ethelbert Children’s Home is situated in Malvern and has been taking care of children in need for over 100 years. Comprised of 6 houses, the Home currently houses 65 children, ranging in age from 18 months to 18 years. They receive a 1/3 subsidy from the Government and another 1/3 from the Church, however, they have to rely on fundraising to gather the remainder.

Left to right: Wayne Trollip, Sean Ingram, Seni Padayachee

Sean Ingram is the Director of the Home and says the community can help by supporting the Heartstrings Concert on the 18th of October. The concert will feature the KZNPO and be held at Hillcrest Christian Fellowship. You can purchase tickets from SPARs in the Highway Area or from the Home directly. You can also help by taking a look at Ethelbert’s Wishlist, maybe there is something on there that you can help out with. If so you can contact Ethelbert Children’s Home on 031 464 6555.

As mentioned Ethelbert has six houses, all home to children of different ages and gender. The Wii will be moved between the houses on a rotational basis, with incentives like good behaviour and homework acting as a motivating factor. The Home decided to start the party off in one of the girls’ houses.

The girls were wide eyed when we arrived, excited that they would get an opportunity to try out the console which they have seen on TV and heard so much about from their friends at school. After setting the Wii console up and explaining how to use the interface, we got down to business. First up was Wii Sports, after demonstrating the boxing, tennis and bowling I was working up quite a sweat. Nothing that I did or said was missed by the girls, who were obviously keen to have a go themselves. Next was Wii Fit which again confirmed my reasonably feeble fitness level and the fact that I have neglected my Balance Board somewhat following the 25 day challenge.

With all the instructions out the way and confident that the housemother and Sean knew how to work the console and accessories, the children could finally have some fun! Initially the young girls were a bit shy, especially after missing the first few balls in their tennis match, but after a short time they had picked it up and were swinging like Wimbledon stars.

My 6 year old nephew proved how easily children can pick up how to play Wii Sports at my birthday party last year. Observing from the sidelines for a while, it was only a matter of time before he was taking on his father in a boxing bout, and holding his own I might add! It was great to see how excited the girls were, whooping when they scored a point and encouraging one another when they missed a shot.

After a fun-filled afternoon, I left knowing that we had made a difference in these children’s lives, not only for today but for many hours of happy gaming in the future. The great thing about Wii Sports and Wii Fit is that not only are these games fun but I believe they go a long way in helping to develop coordination and confidence in areas that certain children may not otherwise have ventured into.