Hello everybody I am finally up to date with my blog so here is an idea of what we have been getting up to these past five days, its been a busy week...enjoy!
It has been a really busy but productive week this week. I was working at Ethembeni from Monday to Thursday. On Monday I had the pleasure of meeting a number of people who were interesting in sending volunteers to Ethembeni and so it was good to take them around Mpophomnei and briefly up to KwaHaza while describing what we have been getting up to over the past two months. I was also able to update our Facebook page on Ethembeni Days of Hope. If you already don't know about this, it is a campaign that we, as a team, have started. The idea is to tell stories and share bible verses that have made an impact on us while we have been here in Mpophomeni, to bring hope and encouragement to the community here. We have been printing these out and putting them on the wall of the Family Centre but we realized that this is an opportunity to let people, outside of Mpops, what God God is doing here. This train of thought resulted in us creating a Facebook page where we will post the stories we are printing outs o that everybody, from anywhere in the world can see them. This is the link to the page, please do have a look, it is a great way to be able to see, in more detail what God has been doing in the community and for you to be able to see the stories from others in our team, not just me! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ethembeni-Days-of-Hope/503010689735139
On Wednesday we had our third English lesson which was just as successful as the others! I am so glad they are going well. We also had an amazing team time where we sat together prayed, talked about this weeks aims and also had a chance to have a brief bible study. We looked at 1 Corinthians 12:12-24, which talks of the parts of the body and how without each different part, it would not be able to function. This is so relevant to us, we are all different and have different strong points and I was reminded of how important each of us is to the team, we were all put here by God for a reason and together we make an awesome team. Ruth also really blessed us by going around and telling us what she valued in each of us and what our gifts were, it was such an encouragement.
On Thursday this blessing continued as I went out to the Home Visits with Jan to give out food to our families and got to spend time with them, praying and reading the bible.
Today it is a tad cold and miserable just like good old English weather. I am cuddled up by the computer wearing a jumper, socks and with a blanket wrapped around me. I also have a lovely lady with the name of Joanna, the youngest child of the family Ruth and I have been living with for exactly a week today, sitting next to me keeping me company while I type away! I am looking forward to doing youth work this evening. It has been a lovely relaxing day so far!
Friday, 19 April 2013
Tuesday 9th - Sunday 14th - Our last week living in Mpops
On Tuesday we had progress at Grace Chapel Pre School. We painted on the green hills over the blue background so it is starting to look more like landscape now! We also went to a bible study in the evening in a house in a local game reserve. It was good to relax and talk about the way God answers prayers and why some times he just says 'no'. Wednesday brought about our second English lesson which went really well, apart from the fact that only one of the Aunties had done her homework, I felt like I had gone back in time and was back at school when the teacher asks for homework and there is an awkward silence and nobody wants to be the first to admit they haven't done the work! We started the lesson with some exercise which was good fun, one way of starting our Wellness Campaign subtly so they don't get scared off by the word exercise!
Thursday's home visits went really well. Unfortunately Jan, the lady I usually go with, her car was broken so instead it was just myself and Nicola leading the bible studies with Zonki, the care worker who is able to translate what we say into Zulu so that the families understand what we are saying. I was slightly excited but also nervous that it was just going to be us two leading the studies but it went so well. We did Proverbs 3:5-6 - 'Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight'. It was so relevant to the people we were visiting Praise the Lord! We took food to the triplets who were so happy to see us and were as lively as ever. They are getting bigger and bigger ever time see them, Blessing is already counting to seven and they are only two! We also popped in to see the family with the amazing 101 year old lady, she was so pleased to see us and we were able to pray with her. I feel so blessed to be a part of the food parcels, the people we meet are incredible I don't think I will ever forget them! I was also blessed to be able to spend the evening with Nkosi, the lady I used to live with when I first arrived here in South Africa. I went back to her bible study group and spent the evening playing cards with her boys, 'cheat' and 'top ten' well loved card games!It was a lovely evening, just like old times.
On Friday we moved out of Mpophomeni and into Howick! It has been an amazing experience living in the township but it will be good to spend the last four weeks in the town where we will have a lot more independence and be able to walk around by ourselves and eat food we are slightly more used to that isn't chicken and rice! I spent a lovely day in the sun on Saturday, reading outside and getting to know the Twiggs, the family who are hosting us in their home - they are a really lovely family! On Sunday after church we went to lunch with a friend of ours called Sam who leads the youth at HCC. Her grandmother made us a lovely roast and finished it will a classic South African dish, the milk tart - I am definitely taking a recipe home with me! It was such a good end to the week!
Thursday's home visits went really well. Unfortunately Jan, the lady I usually go with, her car was broken so instead it was just myself and Nicola leading the bible studies with Zonki, the care worker who is able to translate what we say into Zulu so that the families understand what we are saying. I was slightly excited but also nervous that it was just going to be us two leading the studies but it went so well. We did Proverbs 3:5-6 - 'Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight'. It was so relevant to the people we were visiting Praise the Lord! We took food to the triplets who were so happy to see us and were as lively as ever. They are getting bigger and bigger ever time see them, Blessing is already counting to seven and they are only two! We also popped in to see the family with the amazing 101 year old lady, she was so pleased to see us and we were able to pray with her. I feel so blessed to be a part of the food parcels, the people we meet are incredible I don't think I will ever forget them! I was also blessed to be able to spend the evening with Nkosi, the lady I used to live with when I first arrived here in South Africa. I went back to her bible study group and spent the evening playing cards with her boys, 'cheat' and 'top ten' well loved card games!It was a lovely evening, just like old times.
On Friday we moved out of Mpophomeni and into Howick! It has been an amazing experience living in the township but it will be good to spend the last four weeks in the town where we will have a lot more independence and be able to walk around by ourselves and eat food we are slightly more used to that isn't chicken and rice! I spent a lovely day in the sun on Saturday, reading outside and getting to know the Twiggs, the family who are hosting us in their home - they are a really lovely family! On Sunday after church we went to lunch with a friend of ours called Sam who leads the youth at HCC. Her grandmother made us a lovely roast and finished it will a classic South African dish, the milk tart - I am definitely taking a recipe home with me! It was such a good end to the week!
Friday 5th April - Monday 8th - A Sharks game and the longest church service...ever
On Friday evening we were lucky enough to go to a Sharks (the Durban rugby team) game at the 'Shark Bowl' in Durban. Although the stadium wasn't full, the atmosphere was still amazing! We got our tickets when we arrived for 90 rand which is around 6 pounds! Luckily the Sharks won so there was celebration in the air when we left to get food at a food court nearby. The evening ended with a peaceful 30 mins walking along the beach. The stars were so bright it was an incredible view. Another incredible but slightly different experience we had this weekend was a Zulu church service that lasted 3 hours and 40 minutes ( and we left before it had ended!). We didn't understand a word of the service except for the regular "Hallelujah', 'Amens!". It was a gathering of a number of branches of a church, one of which, a friend of our attends. We had to go on stage to introduce ourselves and we felt so welcomed. There was so much singing, far more than talking and in true African fashion, it was due to finish at 1 pm and the speaker didn't start preaching until 12.45pm! After this we spent the afternoon at a friend's house, relaxing and having a braai, a lovely end to a great weekend.
Saturday, 13 April 2013
Tuesday 2nd April - Thursday 4th April - Holiday club...Zulu style!
Holiday club was an interesting but enjoyable experience for these three days. Tuesday I was up in KwaHaza, a township up in the hills above Mpophomeni. We were told that there would be around 20 children but when we arrived, over 100 children greeted us! Luckily we had some American volunteers with us as well as a lovely family visiting from the UK. The children played outside in the boiling heat, they definitely coped better than some of us who had to retire under a tree for a small time to recharge! Although there wasn't a clear plan, the children had a chance to relax and be kids, which for some of them is usual as they are heads of their households by the ages of 15 and some of them have very young mothers whoa er still at school. It was really good to see them have fun playing different games and eating marshmallow eggs! The evening was also interesting - we discovered, after going into Howick for dinner that everywhere here for food shut by 8.30pm, so after a long search we ended up getting food from a petrol station - I don't think a Cornish pasty from a service station has ever and will ever taste that good!
Wednesday was polar opposite weather from Tuesday - rain, rain and more rain, I felt very at home with the English weather! There were less children and the games in the school where we were went really well. It was well organised and was a lot of fun despite the surprising cold! We also experienced when we got home, hail stone the size of marbles!
Thursday's weather was perfect, not to hot but still sunny. Because of transport the whole team was down in Mpophomeni on the playing field. It was great to get more involved with the games and spend more time with the children. We spent the late afternoon and evening relaxing at Sarah's and I fell asleep for a good hour, I was definitely tired, a busy but rewarding few days.
Wednesday was polar opposite weather from Tuesday - rain, rain and more rain, I felt very at home with the English weather! There were less children and the games in the school where we were went really well. It was well organised and was a lot of fun despite the surprising cold! We also experienced when we got home, hail stone the size of marbles!
Thursday's weather was perfect, not to hot but still sunny. Because of transport the whole team was down in Mpophomeni on the playing field. It was great to get more involved with the games and spend more time with the children. We spent the late afternoon and evening relaxing at Sarah's and I fell asleep for a good hour, I was definitely tired, a busy but rewarding few days.
Friday 29th - Monday 1st April - Stargazing with hyaenas
We were lucky enough to spend the Easter weekend with a friend and his family at the game reserve called Hluhluwe Imfolozi. Its is around 4-4 and a half hours away from Howick and has the Big Five - Lion, Leopard, Rhino, Elephant and Buffalo. We stayed in a staff camp, a camp which no members of the public are usually allowed into. When we were told what the camp was like we were told that it was very basic and not to have too high expectations. However, when we arrived after driving for at least 40 mins away from the main gate, through the most stunning scenery, it was better than I could have ever expected! There were four tents that could fit up to three people inside that were raised off the ground on wooden structures. There was a 'kitchen' area which was a reasonably large hut, also raised off the ground, with a thatched roof and a veranda attached. One of our first experiences with wildlife in camp was a small green snake up in the roof of the kitchen , slightly disconcerting when you walked under it! The camp was in the middle of the the bush, with no fence around it apart from a single electric wire called an elephant fence. The shower was also interesting .. it was simply a bucket that hang from a rope over a beam , with a shower head attached to the bottom. You had to get the other bucket, fill it with water and take it to the shower and fill up the shower head bucket You then pulled the 'shower' up using a rope and secure it - it was one of the best showers I think I have ever had!
We were so lucky with the weather, it was beautifully sunny every day. We went for early morning drives, up by 5.30am and afternoon drives! We saw so many different animals - lots of zebra, impala, giraffe and rhino, one time we almost drove into a rhino, it was standing in the middle of the road, we spent a long time watching it - an amazing experience. It is incredible how close you get, you have to keep your eyes open all the time but when you do see something, it makes it all worth the wait. In the evening we made a fire and all sat around it, relaxing, chatting and star gazing. On our first night there was a stunning full moon, and the refection of it in the river that our camp overlooks was breathtaking. We also had a braai and were warned that hyaenas may pay us a visit when they smell the meat and sure enough I saw two large, round yellow eyes! It didn't seem to get much closer which was a relief!
Over the three days in the reserve we saw three of the Big Five, all but leopard and lion. It was actually on our way into the camp that we saw the backside of an elephant, that was all we saw of them close up but we spotted some further away on the hillside and next to the river. We were also lucky enough to see the very rare Wild Dogs on Easter Sunday. There aren't many of the dogs in the reserve and we practically drove into them. There was a pack at the side of the road and walking in front and behind the cars. They are oddly beautiful creatures, orange and back and white with large ears and a big fluffy white tail.
When driving home on the Monday, between the reserve and the highway, there is a stretch of road. I couldn't take my eyes off it,. It was similar to a scattered Mpophomeni. There were women walking along the side of the road carrying huge bags and buckets on their heads, stalls selling apples, children playing and houses made of breeze blocks and some of mud, scattered along the side of the road. It was shocking to see such wealth, with the people in the game reserve and houses off the highway, only meters away from his poverty at the opposite end of the spectrum. It doesn't end when you are on the highway either, there was stall after stall of apples and people hitch-hiking every 2 minutes. The sad thing is that this is their main and sometimes only form of transport, it definitely makes you think.
We were so lucky with the weather, it was beautifully sunny every day. We went for early morning drives, up by 5.30am and afternoon drives! We saw so many different animals - lots of zebra, impala, giraffe and rhino, one time we almost drove into a rhino, it was standing in the middle of the road, we spent a long time watching it - an amazing experience. It is incredible how close you get, you have to keep your eyes open all the time but when you do see something, it makes it all worth the wait. In the evening we made a fire and all sat around it, relaxing, chatting and star gazing. On our first night there was a stunning full moon, and the refection of it in the river that our camp overlooks was breathtaking. We also had a braai and were warned that hyaenas may pay us a visit when they smell the meat and sure enough I saw two large, round yellow eyes! It didn't seem to get much closer which was a relief!
Over the three days in the reserve we saw three of the Big Five, all but leopard and lion. It was actually on our way into the camp that we saw the backside of an elephant, that was all we saw of them close up but we spotted some further away on the hillside and next to the river. We were also lucky enough to see the very rare Wild Dogs on Easter Sunday. There aren't many of the dogs in the reserve and we practically drove into them. There was a pack at the side of the road and walking in front and behind the cars. They are oddly beautiful creatures, orange and back and white with large ears and a big fluffy white tail.
When driving home on the Monday, between the reserve and the highway, there is a stretch of road. I couldn't take my eyes off it,. It was similar to a scattered Mpophomeni. There were women walking along the side of the road carrying huge bags and buckets on their heads, stalls selling apples, children playing and houses made of breeze blocks and some of mud, scattered along the side of the road. It was shocking to see such wealth, with the people in the game reserve and houses off the highway, only meters away from his poverty at the opposite end of the spectrum. It doesn't end when you are on the highway either, there was stall after stall of apples and people hitch-hiking every 2 minutes. The sad thing is that this is their main and sometimes only form of transport, it definitely makes you think.
Monday 25th - Thursday 28th - A week of planning, painting and an English lesson
Although Monday's are normally our day off, because we have quite a lot of work to do and planning to do as a team, we are taking advantage of the time when we are together and planning our projects. We spent Monday morning at the library finalizing our plans for the English lessons and the pre school. It was a productive day and we headed home for a chilled out afternoon.
We managed to get started on the preschool this week, armed with sand paper and sugar soap we prepared it for an afternoon of painting the main background sky blue colour which we managed to get done in a couple of hours on wednesday.Wednesday was the day of our first English lesson with the Ethembeni staff. We had 16 members of staff and it went really well. We took the lesson under the tent outside the family center with two small children's blackboards and some chalk. We had the chance to find out a bit more about their levels of English and to see what they wanted to get out of the six week course. Many of them can speak fairly good English and can understand basic conversations but they need help with their tenses and extending their vocabulary. I am really excited for the other lessons, it will be interesting to see who does their homework!
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