Happy New Year !

I was trying to put together a review of the year 2006 but it's hard to remember much about life before Africa!



Magic memories include:

• discovering the wonders of Napoli and surroundings with Rachel at Easter
• the joys and trials of being a Headteacher and succesfully completing my time at Copsewood School
• my first (and last) experience of 'speed dating' at New wine in July (!)
• getting a great tan at afore-mentioned New wine, so much so it felt like I'd been to the South of France not sunny Somerset
• All the preparations for Africa and finally coming out here and settling at GGA. Thanks for all your support!

Since I've been here there's been some highlights too:

• the crazy little moments with the kids here at GGA, as they do what kids do best and just be themselves - they make me laugh constantly with their little games.
• feeling like royalty as I presented soccer trophies in the valley to zulu teams
• the warmth and friendliness of the Zulu people, and their gorgeous kids - everyone who waves at me as I drive my toyota throught the valley roads - there aren't many white faces there, but I feel really at home there.
• driving a combi down into the breathtaking valley of Kwa Ximba with most of the Young Zulu Warriors choir in the back singing loudly
• chameleons - it's apparently 'good luck' to see one - I've seen 4!
• my Zulu boyfriend (yes, I kept that one quiet - and continue to do so too! ;-) ) and the joys and challenges of cross-cultural relationships (something I've felt God calling me into since about 6 years ago, still don't feel prepared though!) He's an up-and-coming rap/hip-hop artist and actor, totally not 'my type' - that's all you're finding out for the moment...
• ending up in Jo'burg the same day as a good friend from the UK so we could catch up
• discovering that Jude Law is actually a really nice person (don't believe all you read in the press!)
• spending Christmas Day in the Valley with some great people.
• All singing in Zulu, worshipping and dancing - it blows me away every time
• the sheer beauty of South Africa, the Indian Ocean and the dramatic mountains (and I haven't even seen half of KZN, let alone the rest of the country)
• the knowledge that little by little I'm contributing to helping to improve the lives of some of God's precious children out here in SA.

I'm sure there's much much more...

I've opted for a quiet New Year, choosing to stay in with my cat and a tv that I've borrowed instead of heading for the valleys. The 'World Music Awards' on SABC3 are quite hilarious, although it's from London there are awards for 'Best Italian Artist' and, even more weird, 'Best Russian Pop Artist'... Since when did the Brits care about the Russian pop scene? There was only one nominee, never heard of him! But it's good to have a TV to watch, even temporarily.

Plus there are SO MANY drunk drivers around that it's safer to stay in. Driving home on Christmas Day through the valley we had to negotiate passing many many drunk people, and even more concerning, children. They were walking but there are many who drive too. The police are having a field day hauling people in for drink driving. In one stretch in Durban over a few days around Christmas over 70 drivers were found to be over the limit. So, all in all, much better idea to celebrate new year with Beyonce, Michael Jackson and Cleo the cat (who is DEFINITELY pregnant and sleeping all the time, when not miaowing for food!)

I might be quiet for a few days as it's my week off and tomorrow I'm off for some rest and relaxation in St Lucia, up North from here. Near to Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve (where the Big 5 hang out), so expect more animal pictures in the not so distant future...

Anyway, Thank you SO MUCH for all your love, support and prayers during 2006. I hope and pray that you have a safe and happy new year and that 2007 brings you all you desire. 2006 was the year of ACTION, 2007 is yet to define itself, but it will be full of fun and challenges for us all I'm sure!

A different Christmas

This Christmas day was hot and sunny, perfect.

We started the day with a visit from a Zulu Father Christmas who presented the kids with all of their presents and much fun was had ripping the wrapping off and playing with the new toys.

Christmas Lunch was early (at 11am?!) and consisted of roast ham, beef, chicken curry and rice with bean salad and green salad, followed by trifle. Nice, and a bit different from roast turkey. (The Brits had our own roast dinner a few days later so we didn’t miss out, we even got mince pies, christmas pudding and white sauce!)

The reason for early lunch was that in the afternoon all of the volunteers and kids loaded themselves into a convoy of vehicles and we set out for the valley of Swayimane. Our destination was a family that Heather knows well and who have strong links with GGA, having been involved for years. The aim was to hold a party for all the kids there and from the surrounding houses. Unfortunately, time is a bit flexible down in the valley and everyone there had thought that GGA was coming the previous Friday, so there weren’t many kids around. (but there were many, many ants, of the biting variety)

Unfortunately too, I seemed to go down with some mysterious bug the second I got out of my car, that made me feel incredibly weird and sick for the entire duration of our time on this particular property. I ventured to try the toilet in a field (but on arrival decided I wasn’t that desperate!) The strange thing was that as we drove away from the site I felt instantly better, like something was being lifted off me. I couldn’t even drive at that point, I had to let someone else do it… all very mysterious… Only as we left did I wonder if it was something spiritual, as there’s a lot of spirit activity down in the valleys and this is Africa, home of some ‘interesting’ practices.
And I’m not exactly a ‘quiet’ Christian who’s going to accept some of these practices either. If you pray, please pray protection over us as we venture to these places often.

In any case, I’d almost completely recovered by the time we’d got a few miles down the road to my friend’s house, where a small gang of us popped in to bring Christmas presents to the children there. It was great to make a difference to a family at Christmas and for kids who had no presents to receive some toys, sweets and games (being a teacher, I had to make them educational). It was very peaceful and we had a good few hours with the kids there which was fun, so although I wasn’t with my family for Christmas, at least I had a family around me here. Which was nice.

Who's the father?

Am I expecting kittens?

Find out in 4 weeks time...

or keep reading for kitten update...

Just when you give up expecting…

For the past 19 days I’ve been on constant alert that at any moment I might have to drop everything and take one of our aunties (and preschool teacher) to hospital to have her baby. Since it was due early December, EVERYONE here has been checking up on her daily. But last night, as if on cue, just as I forgot about her and was enjoying a good night’s sleep, the moment came to take her in to hospital.
Adrenalin kept me going through the midnight fog, and we reached the hospital at 1.30am. Being a relatively small maternity unit, it seemed, we weren’t allowed in any further than the entrance. She was whisked off to join a queue of about 5 women in various stages of labour, and we were told to go home.
Of course it had to be this particular morning that several people needed to get hold of keys from me, so my sleep was rather disturbed. Grr, such is life!
But the good news is that she had a little girl this morning and mother and baby are doing fine. I was privileged enough to get the first photos of her at 6 hours old and she’s as gorgeous as all babies are!

My next challenge is with my adopted cat. I am starting to suspect that she may be pregnant as she’s suddenly become very friendly and is ravenous for food, that and the recent slightly enlarged abdomen lead me to the conclusion that the pitter-patter of tiny paws may well soon be heard in my little house… I could be wrong, but I guess we’ll see in a few weeks’ time. I’ve suddenly become quite an expert on cat gestation, thanks to Google. It’s fascinating and a totally new topic for me to research… Watch this space for further feline updates!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas One and All!

Well it looks like the idea of Christmas in the sun is turning into Christmas under a monsoon as we are experiencing the joys of torrential rainstorms here at the moment. But at least it’s hot.

It’s Christmas Eve and there’s just time to squeeze in a blog entry before the volunteer Secret Santa present exchange followed by a midnight meditation gathering in the prayer room.

Have just come in from carol singing with the kids around various places on site, they accumulated biscuits, sweets and presents as they went round, thoroughly deserved as they traipsed through dark and mud to get from place to place and all were brave enough not to get scared off by the many dogs barking. Classic carol singing event in many ways, some forgot their words, one child carried on singing when everyone else stopped, chaos reigned. But each audience loved every minute, which is the important thing. Good job I forgot the candles or we’d have had even more fun!

I did an interactive story for church this morning with angels (‘Hallelujah’ chorus and leaping up from chairs), shepherds (‘Oy, sheep!’) and baby (‘aah’, rocking a child softly) as the interactive words. The kids loved it, and so did some of the volunteers. They are getting there with the carols but some can’t read so well so it’s difficult to follow the many complicated words. (have you ever noticed how complicated and unusual many carol lyrics are?!)

Tomorrow we’re expecting a visit from Father Christmas around 10am, when he’s passed by my house to pick up his suit. Then an early Christmas lunch before heading off down to the region of Swayimane, in the Valley, for a Christmas party with some children there. It should be an amazing day, and a very different Christmas Day with a lot more activity, and a lot less alcohol, than I’m used to…

So, on that note, I’m off to see what SS has brought me and wish you a very Merry Christmas however you intend to celebrate it!

sorry, I've been a bit busy...

These past few weeks have been mega hectic... and with Christmas just around the corner it looks like the craziness is set to continue for a few more days yet! I should so be in bed asleep right now and not blogging... but I just wanted to put this post up and then will put more details in at a future stage.

One of the main reasons for lack of internet activity for the past few days is that I've been looking after some special guests at GGA, who came to spend a couple of days discovering the wonders of God's Golden Acre for themselves. It's a tough job sometimes, but someone has to do it!!!! ;-)

Here's the press release that was on the front cover of today's NATAL WITNESS newspaper:

Jude Law visits God’s Golden Acre (19 December 2006)
By Bronwen Reynolds

God’s Golden Acre “Give a Child a Home” Project near Cato Ridge was abuzz with excitement on Tuesday night as the Young Zulu Warriors prepared for another performance of the Zulu play ‘Thula Sizwe’, written by founder and director Heather Reynolds. Guests of honour at the production were British actor Jude Law and actress Sadie Frost. Jude had been asked by Heather during his visit to God’s Golden Acre to take part in the drama production, including a ‘very unexpected’ gumboot dance scene. “That’s what this place is all about,” he smiles, “you’re so easily embraced, the communal atmosphere is contagious. It’s certainly not very easy to be an observer here.”

Jude’s ex-wife Sadie had first visited the project in April of this year, and had spent time helping to build a house in the Sankontshe community, where a lot of the work by God’s Golden Acre is done. Returning 8 months later with Jude and their three children, Rafferty (10), Iris (6) and Rudy (4), Jude describes the visit as “an amazing experience, as God’s Golden Acre is a place which is true to the values we are trying to introduce in our children.”

During their stay at God’s Golden Acre, Jude and Sadie with their children had participated in drama workshops with the children of God’s Golden Acre, and plan to visit the rural valleys with Heather and her team to see the work being done there.

The Young Zulu Warriors are due to tour the UK next year with the “Thula Sizwe” drama production, and Jude has committed his support by offering to host a concert in London.

“My advice to anyone thinking of helping would be to come and see God’s Golden Acre for yourself,” says Jude. “To see it with your own eyes makes you realise the effect it has had on so many, and you can tell that the heart of the project is in exactly the right place. God’s Golden Acre is run by an extraordinary woman, and when you listen to Heather Reynolds tell the story of each and every child that has been helped, it is evidence of where her heart is and where the future is taking her.”

I have to confess I was never much of a Jude Law fan before this week, having probably only ever seen one or two of his films on dvd, but now I'm a convert. I can confirm that he is just the nicest bloke one would ever hope to meet and all of the family are gorgeous. They had a wonderful time and have established an excellent, and hopefully long-standing relationship with the GGA family.

Both Jude and Sadie and the older kids got into the drama side through 'Thula Sizwe' (coming to the UK soon!), the kids were off playing with our kids from the second they arrived. We took them down the valley to take some Christmas goodie bags to a group of children, and last night we went down to another valley through the mist and rain to pray with a family where 2 of their teenage girls are dying with AIDS. It was an eye-opening experience for everyone, tragically these girls are not alone in their situation, there are many more like them who are not being reached with comforting prayers and visits. Reality check that leaves a profound effect.

It's been a bit of a whirlwind this week, all in all.

And tomorrow it's the 22nd Dec and I've not done any Christmas shopping yet!

Lion’s Christmas Party (no predators involved!)

40 of the Khayelihle kids were privileged to be invited to a party kindly organised by the LIONS Club in Durban, and we spent a fantastic few hours at the National Sea Rescue Institute today. Thanks to all those who generously helped out today!
On arrival, we were taken on a boat ride round the harbour and past some enormous cargo ships. Durban is one of the major ports in the Indian Ocean and welcomes vessels from all over the world. For some of the children it was their first time on a boat but all were brave about it. One girl even got to steer the boat!
Then it was back to the centre for some games and face-painting, snacks and a visit from Father Christmas, this time arriving on a Sea Rescue 4x4, sirens blaring. They had some great presents and hot dogs from the braai for lunch.
But the fun wasn’t over, the volunteers with us had the opportunity to go for a ride on the lifeboat round the bay. I declined, as someone needed to keep an eye on the kids, and given the speed with which the boat returned, I was glad I wasn’t on it, although it did look impressive, performing what looked like a handbrake turn in the harbour (can boats do that?) Anyway, it was the highlight of the day for the volunteers! The kids by this point were more interested in feeding the interesting looking fish in the water with left over bread rolls. None of your boring fish here, this is ‘Finding Nemo’ territory...

Soccer tournament fun

Not every girl can boast of having real Zulu warrior bodyguards, but I can! ;-)

(I think at last count there are about 14 of them ready to protect me! You never know when you'll need them - there'll be plenty of opportunity for you to meet them on the UK tour in July 07 if you are curious)

But today I only took 2 with me (spot them in the photos above) to the KwaXimba Soccer Tournament, where I was to present the trophies and give a little speech to the players on behalf of GGA. I was glad of Mdu and Sizwe's help to direct me to the soccer fields deep in Isithumba, one of the villages in the massive community of KwaXimba that I hadn't been to yet.

It was great, I felt like royalty. I had to do the whole Zulu hand-shake thing with all the players before the finals of the U13 and U15 matches began. Then I got to be a spectator and practice my Zulu on a group of small people who had gathered around me, probably wondering why I was wearing sandals in the rain (it wasn't raining when we left GGA).

After 2 exciting matches, the U13 finishing with penalties and the U15 with a clear victory from the black team 'the newcomers', I also got to give a motivational speech and present the trophies to the winning team captains. With my limited knowledge of football, and even more limited knowledge of Zulu (although maybe that should be the other way round), I encouraged the guys that they could be as good as some of those players I've seen in England, if the talent that I'd seen today was anything to go by! And that they needed to keep on playing as football is a positive thing to do with their time. It didn't seem to matter what I said, I seemed to be quite popular in any case.

The guys who organise the soccer tournaments in conjunction with GGA Sporting Academy gave a little speech in Zulu, but I could make out it was addressing some of the issues these valley guys face, such as the whole HIV/AIDS pandemic and surrounding topics. The Soccer programme has been a huge success and is going from strength to strength, it's exciting to be a part of it.

(Oh and I had to buy my 'boys' some food on the way home as they were hungry, hence the chicken in my car scenario in the photos above. Yet, there were no greasy fingerprints on the upholstery in my car afterwards, I was impressed!)

I didn't know I was going to this event until mid-morning today, but it turned out to be a really fun afternoon!

Kwa Mashu 2

Regular readers may remember me mentioning a place called Kwa Mashu a good while ago, as it was a place I kept getting in my head randomly over a few days. The general reaction was to avoid it like the plague as it’s one of the worst townships around.
However, I didn’t want to let that put me off and when we discovered that the drama competition that my good friends Smilo, Nkonzo and Vincent were in was in the middle of Kwa Mashu, I agreed to drive them there!
And it’s not that bad, obviously we were only there for a few hours on a Saturday, drove on the main roads and parked securely at the arts centre where the competition was, then left asap without stopping for anything. You do the usual things like travelling with the windows closed, doors looked, nothing visible, and be very attentive at traffic lights and stop signs.
Just like in the valleys round here, some of the places were quite nice and some were just shacks. There must be some regeneration going on as there’s quite a big shopping centre in the middle, with the first ‘POWER SPAR’ – I’ve no idea what they stock to give them ‘power’, we didn’t stop to find out.
The guys had won a competition last weekend and were through to this final stage. Out of 22 groups, they came 4th (and possibly didn’t win as they weren’t from the community, as it was a community-based event) and Smilo got ‘Best Actor’ award, which he was pleased with. Their drama included rap, singing, high emotion and guns, and yet had a very positive approach in their remit of writing a piece of theatre that dealt with the issues of ‘just say no to crime’.
It was great to see the other performances too, there are a lot of talented South Africans who produce amazing works, although most of the performances were in Zulu, it was still possible to work out what was going on in most cases and it was definitely a different way to spend a drizzly Saturday. As the only white woman there, people thought I was a director! Nice. If only I was that good, I was actually only driver and official photographer!

Still don't know if there's more the the whole Kwa Mashu thing. Am still pondering the significance, if any, of it all...

Bad day?

I don’t get ‘bad day’s very often, so they seem to have more of a profound effect on me when they do arrive. Friday, for example, was full of spectacularly annoying moments, starting early at a Breakfast meeting where I risked eating a croissant (full of the wrong things for me to eat) and the combination of soaring insulin levels with a medical talk on ARV’s and blood nearly ended in medical treatment being sought as I came that close to keeling over…
Following on from that, a simple trip to Tala along a country road ended up with me crawling along a mountain ridge in my car trying desperately to call anyone who could give me directions, and getting ‘line busy’ all the time… I did eventually find the place, I had been going completely the wrong way, but the journey should have taken me 15 minutes and actually took me over an hour.
Then (and this was the most frustrating ;-) ) I totally failed to see any rhino, giraffe or warthogs in the game park, having to content myself with zebra, nyalas, buffalo and ostriches, although I did see a hippo yawning in the lake, from a distance. For a small yet well-stocked game park, it was frustrating not to have more time to search, they are in there somewhere!
I was well ready for my weekend off and arrived to pick up my friends to set off and discovered I had a flat tyre, that couldn’t be moved even with 4 Zulu guys trying their hardest. Thankfully I have roadside assistance, which took rather a long time to arrive, as I was deep in the valley and not on marked roads. However, with the use of a big plank of wood and some brute force, they managed to get the tyre off my car and change it.
Delay to start of weekend away – 3 hours.
Then we discovered one of our bags was locked in an office and had to drive to find someone to come and open up again… it did seem at one point that we’d never leave.
We arrived in Durban at our backpackers several hours later than planned, having driven through irritating misty rain and having missed the turning for the place as well. I was so tired that I could have slept anywhere. Perhaps it was a good thing that I was so tired, as I didn’t notice the enormous cockroaches until this morning as I was packing to leave!

End of Term

Currently, the cultural adjustment which which I’m struggling the most is the fact that on Dec 1st, the summer holidays began and that Christmas will soon be upon us and it’s in the middle of 6 weeks off school! I've spent too long in the european education system and my brain hurts to contemplate changing it... and to cope with the heat.
I seem to have spent a lot of time with pre-schools recently and last week was no exception. This time the company that owns one of our pre-school buildings visited with presents and Father Christmas, giving each child sweets, toys and water pistols! Despite the heat, much fun was had by all, and yet more cake was consumed (there always seems to be a reason for a big cake!)
The next day the same children were invited to Tala Game Reserve, not far from here, for a party for World AIDS day. They enjoyed a drive through the Game reserve, and visits from a clown and Father Christmas again, they received yet more sweets, crisps, clothes and toys, and even got to record a greeting for the local radio station. A great time was had by all.
It’s now school holidays, so you won’t hear much about pre-school for a little while (although I’m not promising!)