Hospice

Nicole and I had an eye-opening experience today. We met up with Kokstad's branch of Hospice, which gave us a township tour. We spent the day in Kokstad's poverty-stricken neighborhoods - "the locations" as the government calls them. The government provides housing for the people in these neighborhoods (see the picture below). Hospice brings medical treatment to the sick people living in these neighborhoods.

1 in 3 people in South Africa has HIV or AIDS. The majority of the people we saw today had HIV or AIDS (including the children). Because of their compromised immune systems, these people tend to get sick very easily. TB is a huge problem here, especially considering the small houses they share. Once one family member contracts TB, the rest of the family is likely to develop TB. Those with TB receive daily injections of medicine. Hospice also makes sure that patients on ARVs (for HIV/AIDS) have been taking their medicine twice a day, every day. If they miss even one dose, the virus is likely to grow stronger within their system.

We saw several examples of the good that Hospice is doing in the community. Several people that we ran into, who are fine now, would have been dead a few months ago if not for Hospice's medical treatment. It was very heart-wrenching to see the devastation caused by AIDS, though. So many children have been orphaned by this disease, left to be cared for by grandparents or aunts. It was even harder to see children with HIV or AIDS. It's so hard to look at them and know that they will never lead a normal life: they will always be smaller than other children and underdeveloped, and they won't live nearly as long. It's so easy to feel completely helpless - after all, there is nothing that you can do to cure them of AIDS. But so many of them have smiles on their faces and joy in their hearts. I think they understand better than any of us that this world is not our home.

The two ladies in the back are Hospice caregivers. They live in these neighborhoods, and their job is to figure out who is sick so that the nurses can come and give them treatment. The little girl in this picture was abandoned by her mother. She almost died when she was a little girl, but Hospice brought her to the hospital and nursed her back to health. She is 3 years old now and is living with her grandparents.

This is a school for children with disabilities. The schools in South Africa don't have special education like they do in America, so the woman on the left decided to use her home to educate these kids.

The woman in this picture is the Hospice nurse that showed us around.

Each of these little shacks is a home built by the government. The shacks are literally no bigger than my living room back home, but they house anywhere from a single couple to a dozen family members. Most have electricity, but they do not have running water or indoor plumbing.

A Day on the Dam

Today was a very relaxing day! We did laundry this morning, had quiet time and just wound down. For lunch, we decided to take a picnic up at Crystal Springs Dam (aka lake). Halfway through the afternoon, Leann and Dion (two teachers from Rivermead) and their kids met up with us to have cake and tea. We were hoping to see zebra by the lake (apparently they meander on down to drink from the lake from time to time), but we didn't see any. There are also some monkeys that live in the trees by the lake, but we didn't see them either. We did see a buck on a yonder hillside, though.

Hanging up our laundry, yet again. Lyla, the dog that resides in that yard, decided to pull a few items off of the line today and chew them to oblivion. This is the same dog that wakes us up at o-dark-thirty (i.e. way too early). I'm practicing patience!!!

This is the biggest lake in the area. Yes, that's all of it. Apparently 3 water skiing boats are allowed out on the water at a time, but I cannot fathom how they would all fit!

The two of us by the water.

All of us girls working really hard ;)

Back to School - Finally!

After almost a week, we finally got to go back to school today! Nicole and I spent the first part of the morning in the office creating excel spreadsheets. They were very excited to have two girls with computer experience! Trouble was, they are still using versions of Microsoft Office created back when dinosaurs roamed the earth...so it took a while to adjust :)

After first break, we moved on over to Allen's classroom. We only got to pull a couple of girls out to talk today, as the students had a short work day. It's been really neat to start the process of building relationships with these girls. A lot of them asked where we had been this whole week! It's hard, though, when you can't get around to talk with all of them in one day.

After lunch, we sat in on a choir rehearsal. The students are practicing a song for the church service at the school on Sunday. They are singing "God of this City," by Chris Tomlin. It's kind of funny that most of the songs you hear here in South Africa are from American artists. You even hear American hip-hop walking through the aisles of the grocery stores! In any case, the children at Rivermead Christian Academy don't have regular music classes, so it was rather humorous to see this choir rehearsal (it definetely didn't work like it would have in America).

It looks as if we are going to have the rest of the afternoon to take a nap, read, relax, whatever. But hey, this is Africa - you never know!

The two of us working in the office today.

This is Sophiso, who is the cause of all misbehavior in Allen's class (well, most of it). We caught him in the act of boredom today - notice the clothespin attached to his nose :)

Rather Boring Day

So I have to confess that I don't have a single picture to post from today. Sorry everyone! Today was a rather laid back day. We yelled at the dogs this morning, made lemon bars, went to Bible study and then went grocery shopping. That was about it (boring, I know). Nicole and I actually led the women's Bible Study today, so I suppose that was our interesting highlight of the day. We went through some of the lies and the truths/scriptures to counteract them from the Women's Retreat this past year (this is also the same study we are doing with Gloria). All of the women loved it and wanted the whole study to do! So I suppose Becky and Jayne are going to be famous Bible study authors in no time :)

Sunday Outings

Considering today was Sunday, we had the opportunity to sleep in a little. Ha. At 5 this morning, Lila and Horlex (our lovely 4-legged neighbors) woke up and started playing. At 6, the Catholic church bells started ringing (the dogs, of course, howled in response). Let's just say that by 7:45 (the time for which our alarm was set), I had already spent a large chunk of time in the Bible, finished the section of Bible study I needed to do for tonight and read a few chapters of my book. So much for sleeping in.

At 8:30 we headed off for church service at First Baptist Church. Nicole and I made the front page of the bulletin - apparently they are excited about visitors :) Here is a picture of their worship team. Several of the girls in front go to Rivermead Christian Academy (the school we have been helping at).

The First Baptist Worship Team

After church, we came home and had some down time. Nicole decided that she was in the mood for some of Gloria's lemon bars. Trouble was, we had already picked all of the lemons off of the bottom half of the lemon tree! So, stubborn that she is, Nicole decided to grab out the old, rickety, wooden ladder and grab the lemons up on top! Not only did I think the ladder was going to collapse on top of me, but I also got pegged with lemons as Nicole knocked them off the tree!

Nicole's brilliant idea. I, of course, was not so keen.

Later in the afternoon, Nerina took us to a prayer garden out by the school. It was a nice little stroll through a foresty area. Periodically, they had sections of the Lord's prayer tacked onto trees. It was a really nice place to take a break and meditate on God's word.

Nicole, Gloria, Nerina and me at a river next to the prayer garden.

A section of the Lord's prayer tacked to a tree. Notice it is in both English and Afrikaans.

After we finished at the prayer garden, we went to have tea at Oma Drinie's house. Her husband, Opa Marie, just got back from Malawi. They drove up through Zimbabwe to get there, and he was telling us how corrupt the country has become. They were stopped every 100 km or so and forced to pay the officials each time, just so that they could continue! Some other friends were telling us that 1 US cent is equal to about 60 Zimbabwe dollars. Zimbabwe has the worst economy in the world right now! We also got to meet some other South African friends who had just been to Botswana. Tea time is definetely more than just a time to drink tea - it's a social event that can last hours and hours! It's going to take some more getting used to, that's for sure.

Yesterday

First, I have to apologize for not updating the blog yesterday. Yesterday was a late night (well, relatively speaking), and neither of us had the energy to jump on the computer.

Yesterday was a very busy day! We started the day off at school once again. The teacher in the 4th/5th/6th grade class was gone for the day, so I was asked to lead the morning devotions - 3 minutes before school started! Needless to say, I panicked for a minute. But God was good, and he immediately directed my thoughts to an appropriate scripture. After first break, Nicole and I headed over to Allen's classroom to have some one-on-one time with the older girls. We spent over an hour talking to one 15 year-old girl, Nozi. She had a lot of questions for us about our lives in America, and she wanted us to say hi to Beyonce for her ;) Nozi had a lot of questions for us. Please pray for Nozi - she is so close to giving her life to Christ. But she kept saying she just wasn't ready. We also had a chance to talk to a 14 year-old named Zenande. She was very excited to tell us that she loves that she can talk openly about God at the school. She showed us her favorite Bible verse (Psalm 50), and said she loves that she can ask the teachers whenever she has any questions the Bible or her walk with God.

When we got home from school, we started preparing for a school fundraiser that we attended last night. The original plan was that we were going to the country club to enjoy a nice steak dinner. Well, when we got there, we found out that we were helping to cook the nice steak dinner! Flexibility has definitely become the key word of this trip! Nicole and I helped dish salad, chips (aka french fries) and steak for the customers. Yes, South Africans eat french fries with their steak. We were both very disappointed there were no mashed potatoes. Even their KFC serves chips rather than mashed potatoes. They also cover their steak with sauce - bleh. Anyways, we didn't get home until about 9, which is probably the latest we have gone to bed since we have been here (hence the lack of post).

The two of us talking with Nozi.

The two of us talking with Zenande.

There is a funny story behind this one...On the way home from school, the boys in the back got too loud. So the driver pulled over and told them to get out of the car. They did, and they started running back to school to try and find another ride. 5 minutes later (when we had turned around to get them), they were still running! :)

We started a kind of "secret sisters" exchange at the school this week. The teacher who has the two of us gave us this South African treat - drivoors (I think that is spelt right...). It tastes like jerkied pepperoni. I'm not a fan, but Gloria really likes it.

The two of us dishing up salad at the fundraiser.

Slowly getting used to it...

So before I start on today's adventure, I will clue you in on my experience that occured last night. Nicole and I went to the grocery store with Allen and Gloria. I had just purchased my items when I realized that the clerk didn't give me all the change I was due - she only gave me 50 Rand and I should have gotten 50.05 Rand. So, of course, I asked her for the extra 5 cent Rand that I was due. Well, let's just say I got the weirdest look from the rest of the people in line. Then I got mean-mugged (which, if you don't speak Shannon, means I got a nasty look) by the store clerk. Since my mind wasn't on math at that moment, I didn't realize at the time that 5 cents (Rand) is worth less than a penny. Apparently most people throw them on the ground because they are so worthless. Even beggars won't bother to pick them up off the ground. So, I managed to announce to the grocery store that I was a very ignorant American. Oh well, I learned my lesson.

Today, Nicole and I went back to school with Allen and Gloria. We both felt like we were more in the swing of things today, and I started to feel in my element! I loved getting to work one-on-one with the kids, especially with the ones who seem to struggle. You can definetely tell that these kids don't receive a lot of love and praise, so even something as simple as a "good job!" can make their face light up! It was really encouraging, and I definetely started to feel like I was making a positive impact. The kids are so polite here (the most polite kids I have EVER seen), and they are so easy to love!

Here are some pictures of our day. There was going to be a video, but the internet doesn't want to load it. I'll put it up when I get home.

Me signing off on a student's work.

Nicole with one of the girls she got a chance to talk with today.

Nicole decided to make fresh lemonade (with the lemons from our lemon tree!)

I have had a lot of people say they enjoyed the lingo lessons, so here are a few more terms to familiarize yourself with:

a packet = a bag (either a grocery bag or a ziploc bag)

chips = either french fries or potato chips

a jersey = either a shirt or a sports jersey

a pancake = a crepe

flapjack = a pancake

tekkies (pronounced tackies) = tennis shoes

pavement = sidewalk

tar = road (a tarred road is a paved road)

just now = soon (but really, this could be anytime)

now now = right now

braai (br-eye) = BBQ

jam = either jelly or jam

jelly = jello

biscuits = cookies

If you want to get really complicated, try Afrikaans (a Dutch-English mix that sounds a lot like German) or the local tribal language!

To School Today

We are in Kokstad! Nicole and I decided that we are each going to update our blog every other day, so that you don't read the same things over and over again and that way we don't hog Allen's computer all night :) So check out her blog (on the side) to get the scoop on yesterday. I also figured out that Allen's computer doesn't accept my memory card. So all of the pictures on my blog will be Nicole's, and then I will update with my own when I get home.

Nicole and I accompanied Allen and Gloria to school today. I spent the day helping the 4th, 5th & 6th grade teachers, and Nicole helped out in the 1st & 2nd and 9th & 10th grade classrooms. The school is very different from back in the states! Each student essentially teaches themselves through various workbooks, and the teachers are there to make sure the students do the work :) and help answer any questions. It was a CRAZY day! I was running around the classroom like a mad woman answering question after question, listening to students read, checking off their work, etc. The hours just flew by!

Both of us at the school. It was really cold this morning (like winter in Seattle), but warmed up to about Seattle summer weather by the afternoon.

This is one of the buildings that makes up the school.

Some kids during their version of P.E.

We got stuck behind a herd of cows on our way home from school. Apparently they thought the road was a nice place to roam :)

I thought I might entertain you with some South African jargon I have learned:
a robot = a traffic signal
a zebra crossing = a crosswalk (Note: zebra is pronounced zeh-bra rather than zee-bra)
a boot = the trunk of a car
a buckey = a pick-up truck
a serviette = a napkin
a nappy = a diaper
a que = the check-out line in the grocery store
bananas are pronounced bah-nawh-nas
tomatos are pronounced tow-mawh-tos (but potatos are still potatos)
ask for the toilet, not the bathroom

But no matter how much jargon you use, the kids will still laugh at you because of your American accent!

34 Hours to Go

Wow. We have less than 34 hours until we leave for South Africa - so much to do in so little time! Tomorrow night we say good-bye to Moriah (Nicole's little sister), who will be heading off to St. Lucia for 10 days. The following morning, Nicole and I will come back to the airport for our (bright and early) departure!

On Monday night, our prayer group threw us a going away party. What an incredible feeling it is to know that so many people love you and are praying for you! Nicole and I are so very thankful for our church family, who have supported us through every step of this process. There is no way we would be going to South Africa without their support.

On Tuesday, I discovered that I had developed a sinus infection. Thankfully, I was able to get in to see the doctor right away and get a prescription for antibiotics. The pain and discomfort is slowly subsiding as I continue to take the medication. Please pray for complete healing!

We would very much appreciate your prayers as the time continues to fly by!