Caroline's South African Adventures

NEW BLOG ALERT

2007-03-10T20:15:00.000Z

It's time for a revamp on my blog so I'm setting up a new one.

From now on my blog will be posted on :

http://carolinesadventuresinsouthafrica.blogspot.com

So, check in there from now on for what's happening!

bye!

Hectic

2007-03-06T20:00:00.000Z

'Hectic' seems to be my word of the moment.

Everything seems to be hectic.
Last week was hectic with busy workshops and meetings.
I had a horrible journey back as I felt so ill, tried to sleep on the plane but sleep eluded me so I just moped around instead, thankfully only a 2 hour flight!
But a good dose of sleep and strong antibiotics, plus the most disgusting sour-tasting cough mixture I've ever experienced is slowly working to heal my long-standing cough so I hope I'll be completely fine soon (after about 6 weeks of feeling rough I'm starting to forget what that feels like)

And spiritually things are hectic as well this week. It's like a never-ending rollercoaster of great times with God and then WHAMM! Massive spiritual attack in various forms, some subtle, some not so subtle. I'm rapidly approaching, or may have even hit, the end of my strength and then it's just God coming in to sustain me... which He does, thankfully :-)

HJ & Michael and I have changed churches and now go to an Anglican church in Kloof, which happens to be the S.African base for New Wine Networks, which is really cool. Lots of young people, very vibrant and lively church with lots of Holy Spirit ministry. Have joined a Young Adults Small group too which was very powerful, deep and refreshing...

This weekend is going to be a significant one, there's a prominent Christian Songwriter - Lenny LeBlanc - leading a live worship evening on Friday, followed by a Quiet Day in the hills with church on Saturday (good for regaining perspective...), and all of that BEFORE the Sunday services! Pray that God moves powerfully in me this weekend and for some guidance as I'm trudging through a sludgy path towards being fed up and depressed at the moment and it would be good to get some renewed vision and energy for living a victorious life out here. I hope I'll have lots of amazing stuff to write up next week!

Rain needed...

2007-03-01T20:06:00.000Z

Some provinces in this country are reporting drought conditions and maize crop failures.

Not good.

It has been incredibly hot here in the vineyards this week, with no sign of rain.

It's amazing how relieved you feel when it actually does rain, some relief from the blue skies and never-ending sunshine. It's too hot to sunbathe!

Not that I have time for sunbathing... I may have been staying in a pleasant guest house with inviting swimming pool (as most places here boast) but this week I've been working really hard, from 9-5 at least EVERY DAY!

It's been a fascinating ride looking at a concept called 'Intervention Mapping' for planning Life-skills programmes. As someone who has not been through a development degree, this is all very useful stuff and practical and I'm looking forward to seeing how to implement this for projects as GGA.

I am looking forward to getting back 'home' to GGA on the weekend though, I miss the kids..

... and I've run out of cough medecine with no sign of an improvement in my cough, sore throat situation. It might have to be yet another dose of antibiotics on Monday... one thing I really dislike are these South African bugs who don't like Brits! One day my body will be acclimatised to this country (probably the day before I move back to the UK!)

A date with Pingu

2007-02-25T20:11:00.000Z

I first discovered the African Penguins on BBC before heading down this way and made a promise to myself to visit them when I came to Cape Town. So this afternoon I made the trip down on an amazing coastal route to Boulder's Beach, where the little fellows hang out in the sand.

Penguins are amazing, they were swimming next to humans without worrying, waddling round the beach. A bit further up they had their own reserved beach overlooked by a multitude of multi-cultural tourists in reverent silence and awe for such cool creatures. Fluffy baby penguins wandered around trying not to trip over the eggs on the sand. Apparently this colony just turned up on the beach one day and decided to stay. They were called 'jackass' penguins as they make the braying noise of a donkey, but this label has since been replaced with the more polite 'African Penguin'. In any case, they seem very at home on the gorgeous sandy beach in the sunshine.

The last picture was taken at the V&A Waterfront in the centre of Cape Town, in Nobel Square. There are statues of the 4 recipients of the Nobel Peach prize (Albert Luthuli, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, FW DeClerk and Nelson Mandela.) This little kid was getting in touch with his heritage.

A change of scene...

2007-02-24T20:05:00.000Z

This is the view from the guest house just outside a tiny place called Klapmuts, where I’ll be for the next week.(weekend off then Life-skills workshop and meetings) From my room I have the most amazing view down the valley between the Stellenbosch mountains range, which makes up for the fact that the room is half as wide as it is high. Weird. Think about it.
People say that Cape Town is a bit different from the rest of South Africa, but you wouldn’t know it from the shanty town surrounding the airport. I haven’t had time to check out the centre yet, but I did drive down to Stellenbosch to investigate one of the best Universities in the country.
The town of Stellenbosch is definitely a university town. It’s very leafy with lots of shops and places to hang out and has a definite vibe to it. To get there I drove through a windy and pleasant road through the vineyards in the late afternoon sunshine. The views were breathtaking and I could easily have been in Europe by the names of the vineyards ‘Le Bonheur’, ‘L’Avenir’, even ‘Warwick’… Wine Routes are, however, pointless when you can’t taste any of it due to avoiding drinking and driving...
It does seem, though, that residents of the town of Stellenbosch don’t understand 4-way stops. There’s an implicit ‘whoever gets there first, goes first’ rule about them which was overlooked by at least 2 drivers this afternoon. I have no intention of scratching the lovely silver Yaris that’s been hired for me over the next few days…
I really needed to get away for a few days, I’m still battling sore throat, cough and other yucky ‘run-down’ symptoms. I’m starting to tire of filling the doctor’s pockets with cash and I need a rest. A change is as good as a rest, apparently, so I’m putting that to the test at the moment, but there was something very mellow about listening to relaxing music whilst driving through such beautiful countryside so hopefully I’ll be feeling much better soon…
Tomorrow I’m going to attempt to go to church (if I can find it!) then I’ll be checking out the wonders of Cape Town.

more sheep-antics

2007-02-22T20:39:00.000Z

Heather Jean bought me a beautiful fern for my birthday...

It was so beautiful that Sunday (resident sheep and all round pain... ) ate most of it this morning whilst we were at prayer...

The 'birthday fiasco' continues... ;-)

(... and the sheep's days are numbered!!!)*

* for the prevention of possibly GGA litigation procedures, it must be stated that no harm has come to Sunday on GGA property. But if he puts as much as one hoof off...

Too hot for pancakes?

2007-02-20T21:04:00.000Z

Happy Pancake Day, Mardi Gras etc etc …

Not wanting to break with British tradition, I planned to make and enjoy some pancakes today. I hadn’t banked on it being the hottest day of the year so far, with temperatures around 44 degrees C, crazy weather. It was beautifully sunny though, just too hot to be outside. Severely dangerous weather warnings for the North of KZN where I guess you risk dehydration and all sorts just by existing… The heat wave’s here for a few days, which is why it’s about 25 degrees out now (at 10.30pm!) I’m glad this weather will only last for a week or so, it’s quite draining. Am off to Cape Town on Saturday so it might be a bit cooler there…

But I did manage to make some pancakes, guestimating the measurements for the ingredients. And they turned out well… I recommend cinnamon and honey, a fine combination. No-one else here bothered though, just me to hold the pancake fort for the whole of South Africa maybe?!

It must be the inspiration of going to an Anglican church on Sunday evening that reminded me about Lent and all that. Usually I don’t really bother, but I think I am going to give up chocolate this year. It’s not long really, and my family are here for Easter so I reckon a chocolate fast and general detox are in order. So my birthday chocolate is safely packed away unopened in a box in my wardrobe, to be munched at Easter (I’m sure Liz and Rob will help me, won’t you?!) and full steam ahead into Lent we go…

And as for something to take on at Lent (much better than just being in denial), I think I’ll make it a regular habit, ie daily, to put on the full armour of God (Ephesians 6), as it is actually a vital habit for all Christians and I’m fed up of being attacked on all levels…

more seasonal confusion...

2007-02-17T18:45:00.000Z

Green fingers

(above) the before photo

(after) severely pruned trees - but look there's a window behind!

even Sunday helped out!

It's nearly Autumn and yet in my brain I think it's nearly Spring (maybe it's a post-Birthday thing) . Today was the perfect day for some pruning.
Heather Jean and Michael helped me to cut back the trees that block a lot of light into my house and suddenly it's a whole new world inside! I've become quite the expert with secateurs and a saw and cutting things was fun! I could get the hang of this gardening fun...
Tubbles and Natha (the cats) just lazed and watched, but Sunday appeared to help clear up, by eating the pile of cuttings (before we stopped him, don't know if it's good for sheep - they are not too bright and eat stuff that makes them sick sometimes).
However, Sunday tried to get his revenge by proceeding to eat the newly-pruned trees and then attacking my Birthday palm tree and even having a look into my house. He received the usual treatment reserved for marauding animals on site - a 5 litre bottle of water straight over him - only discouraged him for a few minutes though!
Something about clearing my windows has started a chain of events which goes something like realising my windows need cleaning, cleaning them, then looking at cleaning the walls in my house and generally having a massive clear out in my house. It's amazing how being newly-single has opened my eyes to the opportunities I need to do, when I leave this place it will be the nicest place to stay at GGA!

the day after...

2007-02-16T21:22:00.000Z

The shops are stocking some new ranges of clothes, in autumnal colours. It's so weird, I thought I'd struggle with Christmas being hot, but in fact I think it's more disconcerting that it's almost March and there are browns and greens in the shops instead of spring-like pastel pinks and the like. Funny how culture shock hits when you least expect it. (but I did window-shop some nice stuff... ;-) )

With the exception of a 'moment' in the supermarket when I nearly burst into tears at the sight of strawberry yogurt (s's favourite), I've been doing well today and am feeling much better and positive about the future. Life goes on. I'm excited about the new opportunities and whoever God might bring into my life in the future...

In the meantime, I'm very busy sorting all sorts of reports out and communicating with funders, so there's no time to mope around. Plus this weekend it's the monthly Birthday party for the kids, and for me, and so there's lots to be prepared! Will make up for the traumatic week just past ;-) (as long as I get a little taste of cake, I'll be happy)

Happy Valentine's Birthday?

2007-02-15T17:31:00.000Z

Yesterday was Valentine's Day. And my Birthday (Thanks to those who sent me good wishes!)
It was also my first Valentine's Day with a boyfriend.
And today is the usual February 15th (without a boyfriend)

Exactly 10 years ago, I spent my Birthday in Paris with another girl who was working in Bordeaux with me. She contracted tonsilitis and spent my entire Birthday being ill in bed. It was rubbish and, at the time, my worst Birthday ever.

Yesterday pushed that incident off the top spot and firmly took it's place as 'Worst Birthday Ever'. I'm not sure I can really go into many details, most of the day was brilliant, but our romantic evening out in Durban didn't quite go to plan as it featured ex-girlfriends turning up, crowds, a waiting time of at least 90 minutes for 2 small meals (MIA in Gateway, Durban - good food, shame about the wait), preceeded by a minor bout of hypoglycaemia, televised soccer matches and scores, complete lack of any romance or valentines whatsoever... you get the picture.

It's been building up for a little while now, but today was the day when I finally and definitely broke up with Smilo. We've been together only 4 months, but there were some good times and happy memories to remember. I hope, in time, we'll be friends.

I'm not so good at breaking up with people and am dipping up and down on the rollercoaster of emotions right now. I know it's for the best, but that doesn't mean I'm any less sad. He was my best friend in Africa and now he can't be around any more. Please pray for both of us as we come to terms with this change in schedule and move on to new adventures. I know God has some great plans for him and He is working in his life to transform him, but it's time for me to duck out of the equation and leave God to work. If you've ever broken up with someone, or had someone break up with you, you'll understand what I'm going through right now.... ;-(

At least Tubbles is faithful and cuddly and good for stress...

A relaxing weekend...

2007-02-12T20:17:00.000Z

Friday and Saturday were HOT... but then it rained pretty much all day Sunday so now it's quite pleasant temperature-wise.

I managed to have a good relaxing weekend without going to stay somewhere else, entertaining at 'home' instead for a change. It was quite nice to spend a bit of quality time with the children here, even if we did round up some kids to play soccer on Saturday morning in the heat only to have them all drop out after about 10 minutes play... (just to clarify, I wasn't playing soccer, I was doing a child monitoring job, my friend Ryan was the one mad enough to run around in the heat with the kids!) Three hard-core kids continued to play when even he had given up...

I also came face-to-face with my first snake at GGA (Sorry mum, look away now... ) Although I think it was actually already dead. This is the first one I've seen nearby and not through the protective glass of a car window whilst trawling through a game reserve. Not that scary when they're dead though. I didn't see, but only heard about the green one near my house a few week's ago...

Another first was trying Biltong (a South African delicacy, apparently). It's like chewy beef sticks, REALLY hard to bite into, you kind of have to chew... I don't think my teeth are strong enough yet.. but I caused much amusement attempting to break it. Actually it was quite tasty, but I'm not sure I have the energy to eat much of it!

And another first was my first venture into 'GATEWAY-Theatre of Shopping', reputed to be the 'largest shopping centre in the Southern Hemisphere' or 'Shoppertainment' as some people like to refer to it. For a Saturday it seemed quite quiet there, a fairly pleasant shopping experience, even if we did go and see possibly the worst movie this year 'The Marine' (only bother if you are into extremely over the top explosions and unbelievable acting). So bad it was actually quite entertaining, thus Gateway lived up to it's 'Shoppertainment' label...

All this, and travelling around the valley in the car I should have got instead of my fairly low toyota, a Landrover that loved the potholes, bumps, mud and puddles. It got a full run through dust, mud, thunder, lightening and torrential rain. All good fun! I'm really annoyed now that the nice people at Landrover never got back to me when I asked them to donate one to GGA, it would have been perfect... no scrapes on the front of this vehicle when driving on extremely uneven road surfaces. My poor Toyota...

So the weather is slightly cooler (will it last though?) and I'm relaxed and feeling much much better than last week. Thanks to all who prayed. Feeling much more positive about things too. God is good and He is faithful. Exciting things are about to happen...

Habbakuk and the like...

2007-02-08T20:59:00.000Z

I've been hanging out in the lesser-known Biblical book of Habbakuk over the past few days (it's snuggled in between Nahum and Zephaniah). It's a great encouragement when one is battling a bit of depression. Well, perhaps more likely melancholi-ness (have I just invented a word?).

Although I'm back to work today, I was exhausted by lunch time and feeling quite sad, which is unusual for me, can't put my finger on why. I wonder if it could be a cross-cultural moment, which is quite normal. In any case, I hope I work it out sooner rather than later. I might run out of tissues...

But anyway, Habbakuk. I'm no theologian, but I appreciate verses like these to remind me to keep my chin up (in true British fashion):

"Though the fig-tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the field produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet will I rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in Christ my Saviour.

The Sovereign LORD is my strength, he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights." (Hab 3:17-19)

I'm hoping my weekend off will put me in a better place. At least that it will be a chance to relax and unwind and bring all anxieties before the Lord and leave them there. If you pray, please do, using this as an update. Thanks.

it's amazing what you miss (part 1)...

2007-02-08T20:56:00.000Z

It was in the upper 30's celsius today, sunny and altogether too hot. My fan is on the second setting to keep my room cool even now at 11pm.

And in ye-olde-Bidford-on-Avon, up in the Northern Hemisphere, my garden looked like this...

I really miss the snow.

Tuesday 6th Feb: 'Rested'

2007-02-05T19:28:00.000Z

When I was making my first tentative ventures into journalling, at the tender age of about 9, I kept a diary about my daily life.

My parents still roll about laughing when they recall its contents:

'Monday

Watched TV, rested. Played Thundercats with James. Rested

Tuesday

Rested'

... and so it went on...

In any case, my journal entry for the next few days will look something like a blast from the past as the lovely Dr this morning told me I must go home and R-E-S-T and do nothing else.

Thorough investigation has turned up no ticks (hurrah)

And a rather expensive (yet cleanly done) blood test revealed no malaria (double hurrah!)

But my heart rate is still alarmingly high (120bpm resting) which is not hurrah ;(

So that is why I am to do nothing until Thursday and to see if it calms down.

It's a weird thing, doing nothing.

For one thing it seems great, but is actually really very boring...

expect 'you can tell she's bored' blogs tomorrow then...

I guess the end cause will probably be put down to stress... if you pray please do so over these next few days, that I will recover quickly and define what needs to be changed to prevent problem re-occuring. I can think of a few things but they might not go down too well... maybe it will be time to suggest them after all.

Entertaining emails most gratefully received. ;)

bits and bobs..

2007-02-04T10:35:00.000Z

So, I had one and half days 'signed-off-sick', which is difficult when you live at the office practically, but I managed to 'hide' somewhat and ignore people knocking at my door at 7.30am (a common problem), went back to work on Friday cos I'm duty manager this weekend and booked to see the Dr, but as is always the case, I then felt better so cancelled appointment. And then I've felt fairly bad all weekend. I've had a headache since Tuesday which comes and goes and this morning, after a good night's sleep, the time I spent yawning was more than when not yawning... hmm, not good. Think I might have to return to Dr tomorrow...

Internet research has pointed out that you can get tick-bite fever from those little pesky ticks living in long grass in rural areas, like the waist-high undisturbed field of grass I waded through on Monday late afternoon to help Smilo move into his new abode then... I didn't know it was going to be like that so was only in my usual trusty flip-flops and long, flowing (culturally-appropriate) skirt... thinking back, I do remember wincing at something on my toe, but on inspection there is nothing there.... hmm, all very mysterious. Unfortunately I don't have any shoes to wear in that situation, will have to look into it. I did wear my walking boots with afore-mentioned skirt to run across our fields to fetch Jude for something when he was here (proof, if it was needed, that I was NOT out to impress, as the other women in the office gave me top marks for un-matching outfit that morning and have not ceased to criticise my footwear ever since!)

Anyway, time will tell. I'm just quite depressed and tired right now. To the point of wanting to burst into tears for no apparent reason... I hope the cause will be sorted and treated sooner rather than later, it's starting to get annoying and I want to break my 'addiction' to codeine asap!

In other news, the weather here continues to be roasting followed by dangerous with storms, and then changing to cold without any warning. I thought England was weird, but it's definitely rained more here than I saw in the UK for a long time...

We had yet more celebrity visitors, it's funny how they just turn up here. I gave a tour to a lovely actress not even realising who she was until she mentioned she's in Coronation St, further 'Googling' has revealed she's been in masses more comedy stuff too, I thought she looked familiar...

Also, I've finally cottoned on the the BBC TV Series 'Spooks', and being ill gave me the opportunity to see the last episode of season 1 (yes, I'm that far behind!). I thought it was about time I got into it, seeing as a friend of mine is one of the lead characters and all that... I was completely on the edge of my seat at the cliff-hanger at the end of the series and frustrated to think that I've not seen any more series for sale here so I'm going to have to wait. Hurrah for the BBC website and all the episode descriptions, so I'm not so sad any more! Ellie doesn't die, and neither does Maisie! (apologies if I've just spoilt it for anyone)... I'm not sure I'll ever catch up though, I think the UK is onto series 6 or 7...

I've distributed my latest news-letter/prayer letter - if you didn't receive it yet then let me know. Please keep praying, it means a lot and things are happening here because of your faithfulness in interceding, so a massive thank you!

I spent most of this morning's Zulu church service being dragged (albeit slowly) by our youngest child (18mths) back and forth across the playground to the clinic. She has a strange 'auto-pilot' to wander there whenever she can, she thinks it's hilarious. Hypochondriac in training maybe?
But a cute one at that! ;)

ok, enough rambling, I'm off to see what's going on on the playground...

ill :(

2007-01-31T15:04:00.000Z

I write this under the influence of several potent pain-killers... so apologies for any lack of coherence!

Not wanting to appear a hypochondriac, I was hesitant about visiting the Dr today when I've been battling a mega-headache and fever for the past couple of days. But HJ persuaded me to go... (in her role as 'substitute mum'!). Probably good job that she did.

And so I'm fighting an infection, possibly a bite gone wrong, possibly tick-bite fever... Time will tell, but I've been signed off work for a few days (interesting concept of being 'off' work when I live 2 seconds from my office) and I'm on a lovely concoction of dyclofenac (an old friend) and something called codoxol (although I've just discovered that it had caffeine in it, which I've been avoiding for the past 5 years so that's me probably not sleeping tonight!)... in any case, I'm fairly happy and fairly out of it right now so an evening sitting in my chair is looming...

Opinions vary as to whether I could have Tick-bite fever. Apparently it's very nasty and would nearly kill me (one source) or I might just get a headache and fever (another source). All the South Africans here blame it on the fact that Brits aren't used to the local bugs and so go down quicker and for longer than them. At least I'll have time to blog and catch up on emails (apologies if you've sent me one and not had a reply yet!) That's if I can stay awake!!!

hot

2007-01-29T13:10:00.000Z

It's too hot now. This is not funny anymore....

Apparently it gets even hotter in February but I'm am being totally wiped out by the heat. I don't know if it's that or just a build up of working 12 days then only having 2.5 days off, or if I'm ill or something, but I definitely am lacking in energy and enthusiasm right now... I've just had a great weekend off, but despite sleeping loads I've started this week feeling worse than I have before! not good, please pray for energy...

Update on the kitten - I decided that I'll be travelling too much this year to look after it properly, and conveniently enough a lady appeared on Friday morning who took her off to a lovely big house in Hillcrest with kids to look after her and everything, so that's one less thing to worry about... Kitten fostering is much more my style...

I will write more when I get chance...

Goodbyes and hellos

2007-01-25T19:58:00.000Z

It's been a funny week. Very busy again with lots of different projects to manage. Very quiet around site now the kids have gone back to school.

On Monday night a small group of us headed out for a final meal with Josh (pictured on the right of Matthias) before he headed back to the UK on Wed. There's an Italian restaurant chain called 'Primi Khaya' which he loved and so we went there.

In a mere 6 weeks, Josh managed to fire a passion for rugby into the boys at GGA, he brought kit and enthusiasm from Warwick School. He also levelled a whole area of land and created a tennis court, basketball, netball and volleyball courts and also got official rugby posts and soccer nets. In addition to that he designed and arranged for special posts to be built to be multi-functional for basketball, netball, tennis and volleyball nets. They are quite amazing and maybe will be the next big thing in sport! In his spare time he managed to jump off Oribi Gorge with a bungee and out of a plane to skydive over Durban, catch a zebra being eaten by 12 lions on camera and create the perfect pizza combo at Primi Khaya.

All in all, a successful time. He will be missed. He'll be back.

But a new arrival has taken up my evenings now in the form of Thembalina, a mixed race kitten (tabby and ginger). Three kittens were dumped on the wire fence outside preschool this morning and were rescued by the teachers. We managed to give one away to a parent whose own cat had recently died. One of our teachers took one and that left little Thembalina who makes up for the fact that Tubbles was merely with tapeworm rather than with child.

My original plan with the original (yet non-existent) kittens was to introduce the children at GGA to them so that they learn about how cats grow and behave and learn to respect them. Plus the kitten will grow to love children if exposed to them enough, in a safe way where they are not terrified. So Thembalina will fill this role nicely.

She's about 4 weeks old, so too young to go outside. I'm keeping her in until I can get her to a vet for a checkup. Then when she's big enough we'll venture to the playground and find those eager boys who want to look after her. Kittens are supposed to sleep 16 hours a day, I hope she doesn't decide to play in the middle of the night, she's already scratched me stupid... Hmm, some training will be required... After 2 hours of manic racing round, she's currently asleep on my lap. As she's about the length of my hand, she looks teeny next to the mighty and rotund Tubbles, who wasn't too impressed about this little upstart moving in on her territory. A lot of hissing and arching of backs has given way to a bit of growling. Give them a few days, they'll be fine. I hope. Thembalina is a mixed-race name for a mixed-race cat... Themba means 'hope' in Zulu and '-lina' is Italian for 'little'. But it also sounds a lot like Thumbelina, who was tiny too.

It's my weekend off tomorrow and I'm going to take a short break this time to somewhere nearby. That way I can make it to church on Sunday. Going to stay in a guesthouse that looks like it's been taken straight out of Stratford and placed in the Midlands Meander village of Hilton. Mock Tudor, est.1938 (authentic Tudor then?!?!) . The thing about working for nearly 2 weeks without a break is that by this point I am nearly always verging on totally exhausted and it takes me the whole weekend to recover and relax! These past 2 weeks have been long and particularly stressful, although I can't really pinpoint exactly why... I'll be writing my next newsletter this weekend too, so look out for that next week.

my door step...

2007-01-19T21:26:00.000Z

This is what I have to negotiate to get into my house...

They are best friends really.

memories of smooth roads...

2007-01-19T20:54:00.000Z

When I get back to the UK I'm going to be pleasantly surprised by the smoothness of the road surfaces. As my Dad is into building good roads (check out Warwickshire for the sheer quality!), I'm looking forward to letting him experience the African-style road systems in a few months when the great family visit occurs.
The N3 is great, smooth, fast (except when there's an accident involving some truck driver asleep at the wheel, or in common cases of fog) and efficient. There are even convenient passing places at appropriate moments. It's great.
But to get to GGA you have to come off the wonder road that is the N3 and get on a minor road.
There's not too many potholes on this road, but at one corner, EVERY SINGLE TIME, I think my tyre has burst as the car shudders terribly and shifts slightly. It's just the road. I can't explain how or why.
And then to get up to GGA itself you have to come off the tar roads and go on a dusty track which I am now used to and so I can confidently dodge the biggest pot holes, but the dust that is blown up by passing vehicles is incredible. And when it rains, it's 2.5km of mud! Lovely.
To get to meet my friends in neighbouring Sankontshe valley, I have a quick route (when it's dry) and a long route (via the tar road, with only one major hairpin bend with sharp precipice to the left) That and about 20 speed bumps. South African road authorities love their speed humps, of all shapes and sizes. On one road I regularly drive there are no less than 10 speed humps all together in one place...

Yesterday I had to visit various people in Swayimane Valley. It's only about 20 km away, but to get there you have to drive along the ridge and down through the Valley of Kwa Ximba, along the river Dusi valley and up another mountain, then turn right at Nagle Dam and round another cliff to finally reach the start of Swayimane. It takes me about 1 hour to drive.
Crazy, but beautiful. Especially when the sun is out. There are no real junctions, just the odd cow or goat sitting in the road to slow you down.
The other thing is that no-one has road names, this is a farming community. People refer to places as to where they are near. I wanted to visit our preschool in this valley, to get there involved turning off the main road onto a dusty track, negotiating a herd of cattle and driving over a field to avoid serious muddage, before eventually stopping to ask for directions as we didn't know whether we needed to go along a muddy track or down a muddy track to the left.
But we got there in the end.
I was glad I'd taken Smilo with me, as everyone I had to see couldn't communicate in English and he had to do all the talking and interpret for me. I'm progessing with my Zulu and can now discern what the topic of conversation is, but still not really enough to contribute majorly to the conversation. Anyway, Swayimane is his home valley, so he knows it like the back of his hand, which was useful as we had some fairly major tracks to drive over to get to the houses we needed to visit.
As some of the GGA were re-integrated back into their communities in December, we had to deliver a couple of things to several children. The kids themselves were at school, but it was interesting to see what is now 'home' for them.
We also visited the fifth, and final (for the moment) preschool that GGA supports. We've just built a new building for the lady who runs it. But it's still literally a little building in the middle of a field. They still need water and electricity and then a toilet. The kids weren't back yet, but the teacher was encouraged by our visit...
But my car is still holding up despite the gruelling tracks I take it on. I knew I should have got a 4x4... My next car will be a Toyota Hilux (if I stay here long enough) - 'virtually indestructable' as one of my Jaguar friends once claimed... we'll just see...

Experiences of a Zulu Wedding

2007-01-14T16:06:00.000Z

Here in Africa, 'Bantu time' means that you can turn up a couple of hours late for an event and find it's still not kicked off.

Our plan failed dismally yesterday as we hadn't planned on there being a funeral in the same church as the wedding we were going to, meaning that for once the service ran exactly to time...

Thus my impressions of the ceremony of a Zulu wedding are non-existant, as I was driving in the gate of the churchyard as the bridal party was walking out of church!

BUT, all was not lost! We headed for the reception (which usually lasts 2 days) and made that in good time.

The happy couple were friends of Smilo (my boyfriend!) and he had been invited to sing at the reception. So me, Vincent (guitarist) and Josh (English rugby captain, not 'England' rugby captain, yet!) went along for support.

I'm still not sure what to make of the reception that we get when we go to the valley. The guests and the family were overjoyed to see us and invited us into the house to sit in the best seats. Everyone wanted to come and shake our hands and we were offered whatever we wanted to drink. During the meal we were given seats near the top table and I'm sure that the video camera was pointing our direction every time I looked! It's kind of embarrassing as we don't feel any different, we're just white. However most people who talked to us were really pleased that we'd come and told us that a lot of white people don't come to talk to them but that it is good to have reconciliation. As we tried to leave we had to say goodbye to almost everyone. I now understand what Jude must feel like...

Obviously, this being a wedding, as the reception continued the conversations became slightly more difficult to follow as they became more alcohol-inspired (although not from us, I was driving!) and we left at just the right time, as the merriment was going to continue long into the night. They say that Zulu men fight majorly over women. One guy was telling me all sorts about his life, he was interupted by another who wanted to talk to me and it nearly turned nasty... But my boys were not far away so I didn't feel threatened. But it was good not to stay too late in any case!

I managed to predict correctly the meal though. The classic Zulu special meal of beef curry (do we have beef curry in the UK?) and rice, spicy bean salad, pasta salad, coleslaw, mashed butternut squash and salad followed by fruit in custard and ice-cream. It was all quite delicious. The dessert on our table was accompanied by a large bottle of smirnoff and 5 bottles of beer, but I think that's because there were a lot of men there!

Smilo and Vincent performed as the cake was being cut and got their usual response of screams from the women and cheers from the men. Watch out for them, they are going to be big one day soon. If any music industry people are reading this and want to sign the next big thing in South African soul, get in touch! ;) We have demo CDs and a full CD out soon.

The little girl with the beautiful smile in the bottom middle picture fell for Josh big-time! But I don't think his girlfriend should worry if she ever reads this!

From what we saw, it seems Zulu weddings are quite relaxed affairs, we ate in a marquee in the back garden of their house, but about twice the number of people in the tent were outside the tent eating and drinking and generally celebrating. Apparently you can just turn up at these events and you'll be made welcome (forget about wedding planners and seating plans) ...

I'm a bit sad we didn't get to see more of it really, but anyway, it was a good day and everyone looked beautiful!

comments...

2007-01-14T16:03:00.000Z

Sorry if you like to leave comments on my blog but I've had to block all comments due to some unpleasant and offensive messages from an extremely racist blogger who chose to abuse the system.

My friends know where to find me should they wish to comment on anything...

cat

2007-01-14T15:58:00.000Z

So it turns out I've been conned by a cat!

The beautiful ginger tabby that I've been refering to as Cleo for the past few weeks and feeding premium kitten food so that she'll keep healthy, and generally being very nice to, is in fact NOT Cleo (nice sophisticated name for a cat) but in fact is TUBBLES (not so sophisticated... ;( )

And she's not pregnant either, she's just fat.

ah well... she's still cute and now I don't have to worry about buying a litter tray...

Back to Work!

2007-01-11T14:39:00.000Z

After all the festive fun of Christmas and New Year, this week saw the return to work for the office staff and it was back to business! The first few days back have been an incredibly positive experience for all of us, even if we are still rushed off our feet in organizing things. A couple from the UK, Ian and Kirsty, have taken over as Volunteer Co-ordinators and are already ‘co-ordinating’ things excellently, this takes a little pressure off me and I’ve moved offices (yet again!) this time back into the office I was in when I arrived, to make room for them.

But this time I’ve got a computer! Hurrah! And a semi-decent internet connection to boot so I’m happy for the moment. From my desk I can also see who is coming into the offices and who is going down the Heather Reynolds’ house, plus I have a great view of the veranda so I can see if any marauding monkeys pay a visit, like one did yesterday! (no, I didn’t have my camera sadly)

So I’ve been genuinely very busy for the past few days, hence no blog…

Here’s a message specifically for Leamington people, Heather Reynolds will actually be at St Paul’s for the morning service this Sunday. She’s had to go to the UK for an interview and will be popping in to speak instead of a powerpoint of me being shown (although that will be shown in the evening!) If you can make it, go along to hear her and to meet her! (and if you think about it and want to send anything small out to me, here’s your chance, only mark it clearly that it’s for me!)

On Safari!

2007-01-05T15:37:00.000Z

Am feeling relaxed after a fantastic few days in near St Lucia in North KZN. It’s a great destination, taking only a few hours to get there from here up a very straight coastal motorway. It was brilliant to go somewhere a bit further away this time.

St Lucia Wetlands is a world heritage site boasting great sandy beaches, lots of wildlife, lakes and an estuary. It’s very picturesque. The town of St Lucia itself leaves a lot to be desired though, being made up primarily of backpackers, guest houses, tourist shops and restaurants all of which were full or closed on New Year’s day.

There was ONE restaurant open in the whole town and it was full with a queue of people waiting for tables. We eventually managed to find one pasty in a garage for dinner… The town has also not woken up to the fact that apartheid is over, and segregation continues there, as we drove through one area it was all whites and just 10 metres down the same road, all blacks. Crazy. I’m getting used to walking into restaurants and having people give us strange looks as I’m with a black guy, even though he could easily be American. Apparently the same segregation occurred on the beach too with a white area and a black area. The world is mad sometimes.

Anyway, we were staying at a very tranquil guest house in a little place called Monzi, just outside St. Lucia. We virtually had the place to ourselves and enjoyed lounging around in the garden hammocks under massive chestnut trees, by the swimming pool. It’s a great place to stay and very reasonably priced too, so it you are around that area check it out – it’s called Marnik Lodge and it’s a real find!

The main reason for going up that way was to see some wildlife and one day was spent at Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve. It took us a while to find the way in, having driven right up to the North Gate entrance by mistake. As soon as we were in the park we spotted a family of bushpigs and excitedly thought we’d see lots more of them… 2 hours later all we’d managed to see was an eagle, a tortoise (ufudu in Zulu – one of the first words I ever learnt!), many swallows and a lone dung beetle ( minus any dung!)

Game Reserves are funny places, we’d made the mistake of going around 1pm when it was hot and all sensible animals were hiding under the trees somewhere. The park is massive – probably bigger than a city and because it’s summer the grass was high. You drive round scanning the horizon for anything that could look like it moves and get quite disheartened by the lack of creatures. And then suddenly without any warning, a rhino in the field nearby… and the excitement of being close to these amazing, not to mention dangerous, creatures takes away all previous boredom and frustration.

We failed to find any elephant or big cats, but did see many giraffe and zebra and all sorts of deer and some buffalo, so we did do quite well in the end. And I got to use my new binoculars from the staff at Copsewood – cheers guys, they are GREAT!

Swallows are strange birds. They fly very close to the ground in front of the car and then sit in the road facing the cars, almost as if they are playing a game of ‘chicken’. Just as you can see the whites of their eyes they suddenly take off and fly directly towards the car and then over and away… crazy birds…

Highlight of the second day of game reserve – this time at St Lucia – was a black rhino right up close to the road, and also a tiny Vervet monkey beckoning me to come closer in the car park of the beach (cheeky little so-and-so). I kind of imagined that he was the cute one to attract the tourist and that the rest of his mates were hiding in the bushes ready to ambush unsuspecting visitors and steal cameras and food… but I was onto them and didn’t get too close… BEWARE – MONKEYS ARE A PROBLEM said the sign. Remember that.

Disappointing not to come face to face with any really dangerous creatures – the elephants are apparently rather aggressive and need to be approached with care. Big cats are lazy so we gave up hope of finding them, but you’d think you’d be able to spot an elephant, after all they are not so small…

Tips for travellers – Games to play in a Game Reserve
Number 1 – Bluffing
Drive along at a slow enough rate until you have a few cars behind you. Then stop and put indicators on. Look out over the bush and point excitedly, get out binoculars. Remember to put on hazards for maximum effect. Then when all the other cars have stopped to look and are craning their necks to see what you see (precisely nothing but trees), drive away quickly chucking about how gullible some people are! Award points for number of vehicles stopped. (best played in convoy)
(we didn’t try this, but how we wanted to! )
One guy did get us though, by coming towards us, motioning for us to slow down and pointing back to the way he’d come. I really hoped we were going to see something spectacular, but no, nothing at all… Of course whatever he’d seen could have meandered on by the time we got there.

Thoroughly recommend visiting a game park at least once in your life, hours of fun and so unpredictable too.…

Happy New Year !

2006-12-31T19:52:00.000Z

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

2006-12-29T21:00:00.000Z

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?

2006-12-29T20:03:00.000Z

Am I expecting kittens?

Find out in 4 weeks time...

or keep reading for kitten update...

Just when you give up expecting…

2006-12-29T20:02:00.001Z

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!

2006-12-24T19:12:00.001Z

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...

2006-12-21T20:59:00.000Z

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!)

2006-12-09T16:10:00.000Z

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

2006-12-08T19:05:00.000Z

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

2006-12-03T20:20:00.000Z

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?

2006-12-03T20:19:00.001Z

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

2006-12-03T20:16:00.000Z

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!)

Song-filled Summer Sunday

2006-11-26T18:53:00.000Z

Today has been an extremely musical day. To start, the choir guys returned from an all-night competition of Ischatamia (kind of male voice choir - very loud and impressive, with a bit of movement thrown in), in which they came FIRST out of 28 choirs. So they were pleased, and exhausted, but not too much to give us a rendition in the car park, which delighted kids and volunteers alike. We were all very pleased to hear that they'd won!

Following on from this the kids got to sing God's praises in church, and as I was leading today they chose to sing in English rather than Zulu. No need for a music group, we just sing and it's loud. Although I'm not sure whether 'If you're happy and you know it' would make it into 'mission praise'...

Lunchtime was replaced by this month's Birthday party, this month celebrating 3 children's birthdays. As you can see above, Heather R has returned from her travels and so it was wonderful for the children to have their party on her veranda in the afternoon sunshine. As we had a visitor from Holland too, the older children performed some of their songs from choir and kept everyone entertained. It was a great party and reunion for all with their Gogo and much sugar was consumed too (thank goodness for party games to burn off some of that cake-energy!)

But the fun wasn't over. The teenagers who I take to Youth group had been invited to perform again at a Church braai and concert and so Mavu and I headed off once again in the combi with them to Pietermaritzburg. The church has welcomed them in with open arms and calls us family (how many churches would accept 14 random teenagers who just wander in one day?) But PCF, all credit to them, have loved and accepted us from the start, which is FANTASTIC! Our boys taught their dance to some of the other boys there and they all performed to an enthusiastic crowd, as did the girls. It was a great evening for them and they've all made some good friends there and love going.

They were so hyped up that they sang extremely loudly all the way home (at which point Mavu and I started discussing the possibility of 'investing' in a sound-proof screen to put just behind the front seats.... ) Sometimes combis can feel a little small... these guys are not quiet singers and have no need for any artificial amplification.... Half an hour in a combi and I feel like I've been at a loud rock concert....

But all in all, a great day and much fun was had by all!

Who needs toys?

2006-11-26T18:44:00.000Z

Well obviously all kids need toys, but there are other ways to amuse oneself on a showery Saturday morning. Some of the kids set about making a small Zulu village in the sand, complete with rondavels and toy animals. They raided the bougainvillea trees around to decorate their creations. All the while they sang beautiful melodies (although I think the topic of the song was 'chewing gum') . It was a truly harmonious sight.

And then not half an hour later the game switched to 'let's see who can jump the highest' as the whole crowd of them trampled their wonderful creation to pieces. I would have cried at this rampant destruction of property, had I not been laughing so hard.

Kids eh, they are quite amusing sometimes.

Some people take graduation so seriously...

2006-11-26T18:32:00.000Z

On Friday morning I popped into Georgedale preschool to drop off some CDs and books and discovered it was their graduation day and that they'd been trying to contact us to invite us along. Good timing!

This time I took HJ with me to experience the solemnity and pageantry of the preschool graduation ceremony. We had Zulu dancing and all the rest, and this time I was even invited to give a speech, which I started in Zulu, but rapidly switched back into English...

There was such a great atmosphere, everyone takes it very seriously and dresses up super smart, but then the ceremony is very laid back, with children wandering everywhere and, in this school's case, the teacher's getting down to the funky music and even singing in between acts... the smallest children just couldn't quite keep awake and all fell asleep in the corner on a mattress... This is the preschool I recently promoted as being one that has hardly anything, and yet here is where we found the biggest smiles and laughter and the most hilarious and friendly teachers...

Preschool Graduation

2006-11-23T15:56:00.000Z

It's important to celebrate achievements and this year the Zulu teachers at our preschools wanted to see their leavers off in style as they move up to Primary in January. So 2 preschools partnered together to hold an event at KwaXimba #9 Community Hall today, deep in the Valley. You can see the amazing views above. 5 of our GGA kids are moving up and it was very special to be there for them, several Gogos, Aunties and Volunteers came down to join in the fun.
To really mark the occasion, we had mini graduation gowns made and the kids made their own hats, although the blue poster paint did leave quite a mark on one's hands afterwards! Each child was given a laminated certificate and a small gift to mark the occasion.
The event was well attended by parents and friends, with about 80-100 adults present and nearly 80 children, almost all under five! What a recipe for chaos!
I entertained the kids early on in the day by blowing up twister balloons for them, which Nici (see bottom right picture), one of our volunteers and preschool helper, cleverly made into all sorts of wonderful creations. The children performed several songs and dances, including showing off their traditional Zulu high kicks. The parents talked all the way through the performances (must be an African thing) but were appreciative of their children's efforts. I met lots of new and gorgeous children, but they nearly all mumbled their names and so I'm still none the wiser of what they are called!
Everyone enjoyed the curry and rice, salad, cake and ice-cream that was provided afterwards and it was a thoroughly enjoyable day for all, if a little exhausting!
I'm just waiting to see what will happen to our 5 children's hats when they wear them in the playground in the rain, or just where those blue handprints are going to end up...!

Miraculous clearings...

2006-11-18T07:15:00.000Z

So I've been quiet as I've been in Johannesburg all week at various meetings.

But now I'm back.

The thing about Air travel in this country is that it gets SO affected by the weather. When we arrived on Monday at Pietermaritzburg airport (the smallest yet cleanest and most chilled out airport I've been in) the news was that because of heavy rains we might not take off, the plane might not even arrive, and that Durban airport was closed due to weather... But we did eventually leave and made it with a fairly smooth flight only 5 minutes late into Jo'burg. There, it was chaos, with the 2 words no traveller wants ever to read on an information board -'INDEFINITE DELAY' - next to the majority of flights...

And thus the usual Friday afternoon chaos reigned at the domestic terminal of JHB yesterday, with delays being announced left right and centre. Our flight had no announcements, but on inspection I did see the infamous 'indefinite delay' next to it.... (but that was just before we boarded so I wasn't too worried) . Flights from all over were not arriving due to 'weather' and not leaving due to 'operational problems'. And yet at Johannesburg it was beautifully sunny. Funny how quick the weather can change.

Anyway, we eventually set off in our little tiny propeller jet that only seats 30 people (great for turbulence! not!) and the word going round was that almost definitely we'd end up landing in Durban as Pietermaritzburg was in the middle of a major storm (as happens almost daily this time of year). All was ok turbulence-wise until we started our descent through a black storm with lightening all around us, which was really quite exciting!

The pilot announced that we would make one attempt at PMB and then go to Durban if it was unsuccessful. As I was supposed to be heading to youth group in church in PMB I was not too keen to have to travel a couple of extra hours by bus to get there, so I started praying bigtime for God to do something about the weather. And by some amazing miracle we went through the storm and suddenly came out into a clear patch over Pietermaritzburg and landed without problems. Everyone was incredibly relieved and we managed to run across the runway to the terminal before the storm resumed with a vengeance!

The pilot announced that they'd had a lucky break in being able to land.

But I know otherwise ;-) Big up to God who controls even the storms!

Lily concert - Saturday afternoon out

2006-11-12T19:21:00.001Z

The valley of Sankontshe and Mophela is just down from us and therein lies another Children's home called 'Lily of the Valley'. They've just completed their new open-air theatre and invited the kids from GGA to attend the opening festival on Saturday.

So it was that a group of kids and volunteers headed over there and had a great afternoon, under ominous looking rain-clouds, which finally broke just as we were leaving. There was an American-style African beauty pageant, including most glamourous Gogo (granny) which was very popular with the crowds even though only 3 entered. Some of our boys and girls performed one of the dances they've been perfecting through recent dance lessons here at GGA, and this went down well too.

Most of the volunteers had come to support our very own Vincent, who was playing guitar (see picture above, unfortunately his head got cut off in the collage!!!) with Tim from Lily, and also with his own band, NVS, consisting of Nkonzo, Vincent and Smilo, who also went down very well with the audience, as they were so brilliant! ;-)

The little girl I'm with in the photo is from the valley, she latched on to me and seemed to be alone, and not speaking much English, I had to get our boys to help me discover who she came with, but not before I'd got her a drink, communicating with gestures and a little bit of Zulu that I could remember. 'Ufuna idrink?' 'Yebo!'

a brief entry?

2006-11-09T20:19:00.000Z

Here's one of the few pictures I have of me here with the kids, I must get more done, but the ones I do have are often taken by kids and so too many people are looking away or off centre, out of focus etc...

This was taken when Jane was visiting, in creche early in the morning, the little girl in pink is a creche child, and the one in white being carried, the others are slightly older kids who are too inquisitive to stay outside!

They all have FAR TOO MUCH energy first thing in the morning... (I suppose anyone who's been a parent will know all about that!)

I'm still working on my next newsletter to send out for Nov/Dec, hopefully will get it out soon. The days do seem to fly by here, despite getting up early. I managed to get really sunburnt on Tues at a meeting outside, I'm so used to it raining here that I completely forgot to put any suncream on and it just shows how strong the sun is, even early in the day, as my legs and feet are still bright red now!! I'll remember in future though! Think I'm so settled here now that things like that I just forgot about...

Today, Michelle and I did some preparations for the Pre-school graduation ceremony to take place in 2 weeks. It's going to be a very exciting day at 26 kids move up from pre-school to Grade R in primary school. The teachers and parents are looking forward to seeing their kids 'graduate' and we have a whole cohort of 5 yr olds who'll be moving up in January so it will be great to celebrate with them. Pictures and a report will follow, of course. The little munchkins will be too cute in their graduation gowns...

I'm still struggling on a number of levels:
1. that the school year really does end in December, it's soon Summer holidays and everyone changes year/school etc in January (the English system is still ingrained in me!) The kids are now writing important exams, in my head it feels like the first term still! I expect some of my teacher friends (hello people!) will be wishing it was nearly the end of the year already!!
2. that the weather really will get hot for Christmas, I'm still hearing plans about people organising braais and trips to the beach and thinking, but you'll be freezing!! Am looking forward to the summer though, the heat is breaking through now, we've had a couple of scorchers, but this is nothing apparently. With the heat comes the thunderstorms though. So it's not all good news!

I'll get there. I think I need to live through one year of South African life and then I'll be fine. And then my reverse culture shock in the UK will be major... if I come back?!?!

transformations in the valley...

2006-11-08T20:02:00.000Z

This bit of land, currently covered in rather large cacti, is due to be transformed very shortly into a new preschool, thanks to some generous donors. It's going to be very exciting to work alongside everyone as this process happens and to rejoice with the local preschool teachers as they get a bigger and better space to teach in, and welcome in many many more children as well.

Visiting pre-schools, dropping teachers off at home and all the rest is meaning I'm spending more and more time in the valleys, it's so amazing to see how people live and how inventive they are at building their houses. This is the real Africa, where we really can make a difference. I think people are starting to recognise my car on certain roads, I'm getting more people waving at me as I cruise past! ;-) I'm praying that our car copes with the ever increasing pot-holes we have to sometimes drive over, the suspension is ok, for the moment...

Prrrrrrrrrrrrre-school!

2006-11-06T14:32:00.000Z

One of my little friends here, Amahle, really rolls his 'r' when he talks about where he goes to school, it's too cute...

Today, we didn't go to his preschool, but Michelle (current pre-school administrator), Maureen (volunteer just arrived for 2nd trip here) and I went to visit 3 of our 5 preschools in the valleys and to take them CD players and books.

The preschools vary in stages of how developed they are. This photo is of the one which is least developed right now, there are 40 children in the one small room for school, with no lightbulb and dirty walls (as you can see). But they were overjoyed to see us and sang us everything they know in English and Zulu.

I finally got to use my Zulu too!
Thulani! = be quiet!
Ninjani? = how are you?
Nikukhuluma isiNgisi? = Do you speak English? - to which came the chorused reply 'How are you?'

It was great to be in the valleys, but this preschool was the last of the 3 we visited and it was quite overwhelming to be greeted by all the kids on one small room. Actually, there are 26 in the room next door. Even more overwhelming when you discover that there are over 100 on the books, and this morning it was bitterly cold so some will have stayed at home!

We are seeking funding to help this school in particular, so if it touches your heart and you want to do something practical to help them, please get in touch... They need resources of all sorts, paint and lots lots more!

I-Life Sunday 5th Nov

2006-11-06T14:22:00.000Z

I-Life

Psalm 138

‘I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; before the ‘gods’ I will sing your praise.
I will bow down towards your holy temple and I will praise your name for your love and faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.
When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stout-hearted.

May all the kings of the earth praise you, O LORD, when they hear the words of your mouth. May they sing of the ways of the LORD, for the glory of the LORD is great.

Though the LORD is on high, he looks upon the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar.
Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life;
You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me.
The LORD will fulfil his purpose for me;
Your love, O LORD, endures for ever – do not abandon the works of your hands.’

This was the passage preached on this evening at I-LIFE, the special Sunday evening service for Youth and Students at PCF. We took 12 teenagers with us and, as most of the regulars are mid-exams, we made up the numbers somewhat! It was a great evening, thinking about God’s purposes for our lives and how we must seek him with all our heart.

3 of our young people responded to a call to come up for prayer. Pray for their continuing obedience and walk with the Lord. It’s so exciting to be involved in the lives of these young people who are so hungry for more of God. Pray for further opportunities for them to learn more about the God who loves them so much he sent His son to die in their place to bring reconciliation and a restored relationship with Him. They’ve been invited to some exciting things, pray that if it’s God’s will that these things will come to pass, leading them into a deeper relationship with God.

Zebra Crossings

2006-11-05T12:33:00.000Z

After another busy week, it was good to get away again. This time HJ, her husband Michael and I went to Amanzimtoti, just South of Durban to stay in a Guesthouse. We weren't that enamoured of the area, it was a bit too aimed at tourists. However I was given what we think was the honeymoon suite... which was very comfortable indeed!! :-)

On Saturday, the weather didn't look promising enough for the beach, so we headed down to Vernon Crookes Nature Reserve. Only buffalo from the big five present, although we didn't see any. Came across a lot of Zebras (are they merely horses with tattoos, or is there more to them?) , several lone wildebeest, and a snake that passed in front of my car. It was a nice change with fantastic views over the hills. Still to make it on safari though!

The best restaurant in Amanzimtoti, if you are ever there, is called 'Butcher Boys' - no idea if this is a chain or not, but they do really really good steak, and the only other choices for food are of the fast food variety so you don't have much choice if you want to have a nice meal. It's on Kingsway just past Woolworths Food.

The thing about Woolworths in this country is that it is not 'Woolworths' as the Brits would understand it. Confusingly enough, it's actually Marks and Spencer's under a different guise. The food halls are almost identical to the new M&S layout in the UK. Having worked at M&S for 4 yrs as a student, I am well-qualified to identify similarities. Have I just uncovered a big secret or do the main men at M&S know that their ideas are making it out here?!?!

HURRAH!! FINALLY ONLINE!!!

2006-11-02T12:47:00.000Z

Today, I am SO happy as I've finally found a way of getting a good, superfast internet connection to my laptop, with help from my new best friend - computer whizzkid Linus (check out his blog from the links, although it's in German!)
So I'M BACK!! ;-)
And now I have to catch up with all the emails and contacts that have been flowing in for the past week. We're trying to get the whole system here sorted, but it's complicated. I'm only online because I invested a little bit of money in updating my connection system...
So if you've emailed me of late, sorry for the lack of reply, I'll get round to it soon! ;)

The weather here is still weird, it's supposed to be summer, but there are thunderstorms nearly every day, and the fog descends in the early evening and stays, which makes for fun driving when I come home in the evening as there's about 3-4 miles of roads with bad markings to negotiate with minimal visibility. It can get really hot, and then 10 mins later be cold enough to need a jumper... bizarre...

Work is still chilled out yet manic as I get things done but it's little by little. I've been mildly entertained this week by the fact that I've suddenly become irresistable to members of the opposite sex, especially Zulu guys. After 31 years of waiting, 3 guys asked me out this week..... They do say men are like buses... (obviously I can't divulge any more information on what happened in each case in such a public forum, sorry! :-) )

This weekend I'm off to Amanzimtoti for some R&R at the beach. After working for 12 days, I really appreciate the opportunity to relax and catch up on some sleep. I might even get into the Indian Ocean this time instead of just look at it!

Crazy busy weekend

2006-11-02T12:31:00.000Z

Tuesday 31st Oct (couldn't get online till now!)

Although it seems every week’s the same, crazy and hectic!!!
Weekends on are always busy, but this past weekend was especially so, with several events organised.

I accompanied the choir to a church in Pinetown on Friday night where they were invited to perform. Half-way there Siya (choir leader), Samson (driver) and myself realised that none of us actually knew where we were going… we had the name of the church and I could remember what I thought was the road, but Pinetown’s a big place! We only had to stop once, although didn’t get much help, and when we stopped for directions a second time, we found we’d stopped in the coach parking bay for the very church we were aiming for! God is good at directions when we are forgetful!
It was a mission praise type concert event and lots of different choirs performed. Apart from another black choir, the Young Zulu Warriors were the only non-white faces in there and when they got up to sing, they totally blew everyone away, it was great! I was really proud of them…

On Saturday I couldn’t go with the male voice choir to a competition as we had lovely visitors coming to repaint our dining room and I had to be here for them. I was glad also not to have to leave at 4.30am with the boys and they were under strict instructions not to wake me up with last minute questions! They were in the second round of a prestigious competition and finished 5th out of 22. Not bad, but they should have won and there was mutterings of possible rigging etc. Still, they got 90% overall, so that’s not bad!

The weekend wasn’t over for the choir though. On Sunday afternoon we hosted a Tea Concert in our theatre, where the choir performed and the children who had been doing intensive dance courses with a teacher from the Durban Playhouse also put on a show for the other children, volunteers and visitors. It was a beautifully hot day and a really good atmosphere and everyone had a good time.

I’m writing this in my room, ready to paste when I can get online. I moved offices and the phone line in my new office is out of order already, so internet connection is FRUSTRATING at the moment. Please pray for a miracle with the phone lines here, they are rubbish. As I type, a massive storm is raging right overhead, about 10 minutes ago the power finally went, instead of flickering on and off as it has been for the last hour. 2 nights ago the power was off all night and my fridge defrosted onto the kitchen floor. Looks likely I’ll have the same joys tomorrow morning… I’m providing shelter for Jock, one of Heather Reynolds’ many dogs, who is quite sad as his owner is still overseas. He came scratching at my door when the storm started but is now drying off in the middle of the carpet, might end up staying all night if this storm continues…. Thunderstorms in the UK will never be as exciting as these! (and don’t worry, I’m not connected to power supplies when I’m writing this!)

‘I’m not sick!’

2006-10-25T11:12:00.000Z

One of the joys of being here is the crèche. Every morning HJ and I pray together in the new prayer/counselling room at 7am and finish just in time for me to check in with my little friends at breakfast. We have up to 8 little people in the crèche (depending on when some of the workers are around as their kids take part too) and they are all precious.
Recently, one of them was really ill and spent several days withdrawn and generally feeling very sorry for herself. I tried to comfort her but she wasn’t in the mood for anything. However, since she’s recovered, every morning when I go to say hi, she proudly exclaims to me in a loud and triumphant voice ‘Me, I’m not sick!’ This evening they all decided to tell me this, one by one… pray with me that they would continue to shout this out and to be as happy and healthy as they currently are!

Jane's visit - Saturday 21st Oct

2006-10-24T09:41:00.000Z

Jane’s visit – my first guest!

It was fantastic to have Jane, one of my Leamington ex-housemates, visit on Saturday. She’s been in PMB working on a church project for 2 weeks. She brought some gifts for the crèche children, although we didn’t get to give it to them until Sunday morning before breakfast when they were up and had some energy. Saturday was so hot that they were all wilting!
Well, for ‘some’ energy, read ‘A LOT OF ENERGY’. They were overjoyed at the dolls and toy cars. One of our boys screamed with delight when Jane gave him a car, ran round in circles and flung himself onto a chair beaming with delight, it was magical!
The others leapt all over Jane (which I’m sure she loved!) and several non-crèche kids thought they’d get in on the action too! As we were setting off for church, I asked J if we’d forgotten anything and she replied ‘a couple of the orphans…’ ;-)

I took 5 of our older boys to I-LIFE on Sunday night at church, a service for youth and students. They loved being in my car instead of the usual vehicles (as mine is top of the range with electric windows, loud stereo and leather seats! Top of the range for 1995 that is!!!) We arrived to a power-cut but that was fixed just at the moment we decided to stop sitting around and start praising to candlelight. They enjoyed the music, dancing, singing and talk. I think they also enjoyed meeting some of the others who go there, in particular some of the girls…. Hmm. ;-)

The church we’ve settled on going to is called Pietermaritzburg Christian Fellowship and it’s a rare-ish church in that it really is multi-cultural and multi-racial. We sing in Zulu, Afrikaans, English and in many other of the dialects of S.Africa. A lot of churches here end up being either white or zulu churches with little cross-over so it’s really refreshing to find one that is committed to growing together. It’s a great church, even if I can’t go every week.

Are cattle deaf?

2006-10-24T09:39:00.000Z

It’s been a rollercoaster of a week. Thank you for all you lovely people who read my blog last Monday and instantly prayed for me (you know who you are!) as I had such an amazing sense of well-being, peace and joy around lunch-time that carried me through.
The week turned out to be very busy as well as riding the waves of emotions, probably part and parcel of being in a foreign country clubbed together with a fairly large dose of spiritual attack at my weakest points. Here’s a summary :

On Tuesday I visited one of our preschools in the valley, which was quite peaceful actually, despite there being 68 kids there! We had a meeting with a social worker who arrived to tell us she wasn’t coming, and then left. Welcome to Africa!
Tuesday also started me on a train of thought about whether cows are deaf. A small herd of them decided to cross the road in front of my car and stopped, completely blocking the road. They seemed impervious to my car horn. These aren’t little cows either, I don’t think my car would come off too well in a cow-road rage incident so need to tread carefully. This was by the preschool, which is situated in the grounds of a massive abattoir. If I was a cow, I wouldn’t be crossing the road anywhere near that place, I’d be running in the opposite direction and fast!
On Wednesday I had a meeting with a funder from Holland in a fabulous guest house in Durban (www.164.co.za), where I came across the only swimming pool I’ve had any desire to dive into as of yet in S.Africa. I’ll be returning there for a weekend away at some point...
Thursday afternoon had me driving round the Valley in thick fog looking for the place where I was supposed to be attending a forum. I happened to be out just as schools were emptying out and, in addition to the fog and speed-bumps, I had to manoeuvre round hordes of kids on either side of the road. But I got there eventually! Hairpin bends in the fog are not that much fun though…
Friday saw me once again back in Jo’burg, which was a very productive meeting and good to meet with the rest of the people in one of our funding partnerships. A Dutch organisation has brought 10 S.African NGO’s together to do some work and we are one of them, but most of the meetings are in Jo’burg (hence the fact that I know have more friends there than in Durban!)
A day in Jo’burg is tiring enough, but add on an unexpected storm to wipe out Air traffic control at JHB and it becomes even more exhausting… there were more planes than they knew what to do with, our bus, when we eventually came to board, drove us round the whole airfield to find the plane. The pilot then announced that the caterers were on strike too so no food… it was interesting to note, however, that no-one complained at all, in fact people seemed to find it all rather amusing (if only us Brits could learn from that laid-backness, life might be so much nicer!) I used my delay time productively and slept for the extra 2 and half hours on the plane. Ironically, it would have been quicker to drive home on this occasion. I finally made it back to GGA at 1.30am Sat morning having set out from there at 5.15am! So it’s not all fun and games… ;-)

new official address

2006-10-16T08:43:00.000Z

I've now set up a Gmail account so if people want to contact me to do with work they can:

education.gga@gmail.com

easy.

Please pray for me right now as everything here is rather overwhelming. It sometimes feels that I am doing the job of about 5 different people and it's a long hard path. My usual reaction when I have too much to do is to shut down and not be able to focus on anything. I need to prioritise but it's hard to know what to prioritise right now as everything seems important.
Pray for God's priorities to become clear and for everyone who works here as we are in the middle of transition right now, both with moving round offices and also with staff changeovers. We really need some more excellent people to come and work here, there is a need for several key workers and they have to come from somewhere!
Maybe it's you or you know someone who'd love to come and help run an AIDS orphans and vulnerable children project in South Africa....

Not your average playground

2006-10-14T19:32:00.000Z

The highlight of Saturday morning’s playground duty was the discovery of this chameleon which happened to fall out of a tree. A group of about 8 boys put it into a box with some leaves (picture 2) to observe it carefully. It was amazing!
There is something incredible about creation, and the chameleon is one of God’s special tricks. The 2 pictures are of the same creature. It really did change its skin patterns and colour before our very eyes! These are survival techniques at their finest.
We let it run along a wall (picture 1) and it has the oddest way of walking, like it’s hesitant at every step and has to double take. Its eyes are constantly looking all around.
The boys took it to a tree nearby and set it free and in under a minute it had blended in with the green leaves and was gone. It was a completely beautiful colour. Amazing!
I was also amazed at the way the children handled it. Given the excitement with which they set about attacking snakes, it was great to witness a big contrast. The boys were so gentle and quiet with it, which was brilliant.
About an hour later, however, the same group of boys all leapt out of the swimming pool in terror at the sighting of little frog in the water! Weird what they are afraid of! I had a very similar frog in my kitchen the other evening. Having failed to catch it before it disappeared behind my cupboard, I resolved to let it live in peace and to give it a name, which somehow takes away the scariness of the thought of it in my house… So, Bernard the frog might be the same one who decided to go swimming today, although he’d need to be fit, it’s a fair walk down to the pool!

PS: apparently, I’ve just found out, the Zulus are afraid of frogs because they are often followed by snakes…

I'm still here...

2006-10-09T07:14:00.000Z

I’m still here…

No, I’ve not gone AWOL. I am still here, promise.

Last week was HECTIC… Heather R is now in the UK and there was lots to discuss before she left so that took up most of my time. And then on Friday the internet connections here decided that they were having the day off so I couldn’t even connect! I guess that’s one of the idiosyncrasies of living on top of a hill in Africa…

Have just returned from a relaxing weekend off, HJ and I escaped to the Indian Ocean and stayed at a really nice backpackers in Umhlanga, just North of Durban, highly recommended if you are ever that way… The best bit was just getting away and relaxing and being able to enjoy a bath (as we only have showers here!) We had views over the ocean and it was mesmerising to watch the powerful waves crashing against the shore. It made me think about the power of the Ocean, and also quite sombre to think that this same ocean is the one that produced the Tsunami not so long ago…

The weather wasn’t brilliant but we managed to visit Umhlanga Rocks and enjoyed walking along the beach and exploring the rock pools. I took some ‘arty photos’ of rocks… On Sunday we drove home via a very ‘shabby chic’ beach area in Durban, wandering through a multi-ethnic market where Zulu beadwork was on sale next to Indian belly dancing outfits with second-hand books in between. It was great to admire the intricate detail of the beadwork and to chat to the ladies who made it. I networked a bit too, chatting to a young guy who was selling some beautiful traditional Zulu scene paintings. He could be a great person to do a workshop with some of our children here or in the valley, encouraging them to build on their culture, to produce items that can be sold to make money for themselves and their families. Wherever we go, we talk about GGA and it’s amazing how many people want more info or offer to help in someway. This is networking at its best!

Have also found a fantastic church in Pietermaritzburg, where I think we’ll probably stay. We only went to the evening Youth event so far but it’s very multicultural and we had a great time praising God in Zulu, Sotho and English! Feeling positive about it and am now ready to face what could be a very busy week.

For anyone who has emailed me and I haven’t replied, I will. I’m doing well and really feeling at home here. Even the bugs don’t bother me, have set roach traps all round my kitchen. It’s funny but the majority of bugs I find in my house are already on their backs, but still alive! Does anyone know why that could be? Answers on a postcard.. J

(the photo was taken on Durban beach, some guys were doing sand sculptures and this one caught my eye. Some people are SO talented!)

Choir in a combi - the picture!

2006-10-02T07:37:00.000Z

Choir in a combi

2006-10-02T07:27:00.000Z

My Valley experiences have begun...

On Saturday I drove the choir to perform at a High School Anniversary Function down in the Valley. I’d hoped my introduction to the Valley would have been with lots of volunteers on a food drop or something, but instead I found myself alone driving a combi-ful of teenagers up and down steep and winding mountain roads, across rivers and fords and through some of the most breathtakingly beautiful countryside I have ever seen in my entire life.
As you make the descent into the area called Kwa Ximba, you round a bend and the whole valley opens up before you, lush and green with rondavels and shacks dotted all over the hillsides. I was overwhelmed by the sheer size of the valleys and the fact that so many people live here in abject poverty. I was frustrated as I wanted to stop the van and take so many pictures, talk to people and get to see further into their lives here, but I couldn’t.
We passed people walking, people sitting at the side of the road, cows and goats just wandering along, and at one point a boy carrying a massive chicken. In the morning it was already hot but in the early evening for the return journey we passed so many people and especially children.
I think that’s when the reality of this place started to hit. Anywhere else and you might think these children were playing outside in the evening sunshine whilst their parents are at home. But the reality is that for the majority of these kids, this is it. There are no parents. There are children, older people and a few people aged in between, but the majority of those are dead, not at home. As we drove past, because the combi has ‘GGA’ written on it and many families in this valley are supported by the food drop programme, some children waved hello. I wanted to stop and talk to them, there is something particularly heartbreaking about younger children, who are perhaps under 10 years old, sitting by the side of the road. It’s the younger ones who get me every time. I think it’s their vulnerability and innocence which has probably already been abused.

It was a truly amazing introduction to the valleys in which I shall be spending a lot of time over the next few years. I am taking over the administration of the pre-schools. We have 5 in these valleys and that’s all I can tell you for the moment as I still need to meet with the current administrator before she leaves. Educating these children will give them the keys to get out of poverty and to live a life away from crime, giving them options other than becoming street children. It’s a hard job, but little by little lives are already being changed through it. There is always hope.

The choir had been invited to perform at this school function. Being the only white person in a group of probably 2500 Zulus it was an interesting place to be, but I’d been given a ‘VIP’ pass when I arrived, which meant lots of cool drinks, a delicious meal on a real plate (instead of throwaway cartons that everyone else got) and … most importantly of all in the valleys, use of the VIP toilet!
People stared at me, and then ignored me, which didn’t really bother me. However, the novelty had worn off by 3 hours in to the mammoth 5 hour speeches ceremony, ENTIRELY in Zulu. Having never been anywhere before where I couldn’t speak or understand the language, this really threw me. I was having a culture shock moment. I didn’t know if it was culturally inappropriate to eat whilst listening (no-one else was, but a lot of cans of fizzy drinks were being consumed), so I managed to sneakily eat my m&ms and then more daringly, a whole ham and philedelphia sandwich (nicely melted by the heat – delicious!) without anyone twitching. Result.
A mobile phone near me went off repeatedly and I was starting to get really irritated and also curious as to why no-one was reacting. Then I realised it was in a bag of one of my choir members that I was minding and so technically it was ME ringing! Yet no-one complained, thankfully.
I had the schedule and had calculated that the speeches would last 5 hours. I amused myself by recalculating the timings, given that we’d already started 3 hours later than scheduled and that several people who were down to speak hadn’t turned up. Then the former and founding principal of the school got up to speak, imagine the actor James Earl Jones and you’d not be far off this man for looks and speech, except it was in Zulu. He was extremely proud of his school, as was everyone throughout the day, and proceeded to talk about it for about an hour and a half (well over his allotted time of 25mins, as per the schedule, tsk tsk, anyone would think this is Africa! J) I mention him as it was about 40 minutes into his speech that I officially lost the will to live. I think I may have fallen asleep (again, culturally appropriate? I have no idea). I just wanted to see my people perform and then get out of there! I will never moan at long speech days and prize givings again.
Yet my (im)patience was rewarded when The Young Zulu Warriors did finally have their 5 (yes, after all that, 5mins, 2 songs!!!) on stage and it was SO worth it. They are AMAZING! Really powerful voices, strong harmonies and when the boys started dancing it was like being at a boy band concert as the entire female contingent of the school started screaming with delight. They’ll be touring the UK next June/July – you will NOT want to miss them!
The boys continued to delight their public as we set off home through the sea of people, treating them, and me, to a rendition of another song. Who needs a stereo when you’ve got an entire choir in a combi to entertain?!

Children are hilarious...

2006-09-29T07:07:00.000Z

I can't stop smiling when I look at this photo I took of one of our creche visitor kids yesterday in the early evening sunshine. I love taking capturing children's expressions on film. They love being photographed and will hold a pose for as long as it takes. But this little boy was just fascinated and not posing at all. Hilarious...

Here's another challenge! I want to raise my readership of the blog, and I can tell by the 'profile views', I think it's currently standing at about 162 people, it would be great to get it over 200, because that means 200 people are finding out about GGA and the work here and might be inspired to support us here. We really need and appreciate all the support that we get from all of you, whether it's prayer or financial, or even coming out here physically bringing things. There is a great need and I'm not exaggerating when I say we need funds, we really do, especially the children living here on site. They receive nothing in the way of Government funding and rely totally on the goodwill of others. So please tell all your friends to look at it and you never know, they might get hooked into reading and following my adventures and the lives of these children too!

Christmas - help make it special

2006-09-28T13:32:00.000Z

My first project is to raise money via GGA UK to provide Christmas lunch and a gift for everyone here on site at GGA Khayelihle. This slide will appear on the website (see links below).

I hope you can read this actually, it's rather small. What you could do is save it as a picture and blow it up (not literally, of course), print it off and distribute it among all your friends and get them to spread the word and hopefully we'll be able to raise more than enough.

We really don't have any money at the moment to buy presents for the kids so anything you can get people to give would be amazing! Don't send presents as it costs a fortune for us to receive them, but money can be sent and Heather R likes to go and get presents for the kids herself as she knows them all well.

YOU can be a part of something amazing this Christmas. Please spread the word!

If you would like me to send you the above slide as an attachment or have any great ideas for getting people involved in giving, do contact me at my email address (in my profile) and I'll send it to you.

September spiritual musings...

2006-09-28T07:18:00.000Z

All this month I've been studying the topic of FEAR and essentially it comes down to this:
There is nothing for us to fear but God.
Too many times people are afraid of other people, of what people will do to them or say to them, but it's not important. We must fear and revere God more than any man or woman or child.

Next week I move on to POWER so it will be exciting to see what God does through those times.

On Monday I was given a guitar (hurrah!). I spent a few hours praising and praying in our new prayer/counselling room, as in the past it has been a hospice and a homework room and is currently in the process of being redecorated and prepared for its new use. During that time I felt it appropriate for us to pray in there every day and so since then at 7am, HJ and I have been going down there to pray for about half an hour, and another volunteer has joined us once too. It's been great, and also good to get up early as the mornings are beautiful here. In any case, every day I've had Psalm 46v10 (highlighted below) come to me and so I thought I'd share it with you. The whole Psalm is great but that verse particularly is important at the moment. In the midst of chaos, we really do need to be still and know that God is in control, that He's the one who knows and understands everything we're going through and everything we need.

Psalm 46

1 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

8 Come and see the works of the LORD,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear,
he burns the shields with fire.
10 "Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."

11 The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah

It's also really windy here this week, and the wind had blown strong - earlier in the week bringing rains and stormy weather, and today it's blowing warm air up here, which is refreshing. I am reminded to the many sermons we had a St Paul's about the wind reminding us about the Holy Spirit, we can't see it but we can see its effects and we can feel it. It would be good to have a copy of JJ's Teddy Horsley book if anyone knows where to get a copy! It's difficult to stand against the wind, especially when it gusts strongly, better to just go with it.

And finally, a specific prayer request, please pray for one of our youngest children here, 'A'. She is very ill and has spent several days in hospital this week. When she arrived about a year ago it was touch and go then as to whether she would make it but she battled through and today she is stronger and bigger, she's about 3 yrs old now. However this week she's been ill. Please lift her up to the Lord and pray for His touch upon her life and His comfort and healing.

Thank You for standing with us here in prayer. We really feel supported and loved by you all! Keep going!
Cx

PS: it feels right not to share names of the children over the internet, which is why there are no names under photos and I've only put initials etc. God knows who you are praying about and He will act accordingly!

Tedious Link

2006-09-27T13:15:00.000Z

Here is a picture I took last Sunday.
Sunday is the name of the sheep.
There are a lot of sheep in Wales.
Wales is famous for lots of things, including rain.
It rains a lot in Cato Ridge, KZN as well.

That's where my tedious link writing just about ends...

Experienced my first African thunderstorm yesterday when the heavens opened around lunch time and all the lights flickered. As you have to go outside to get anywhere here, I had to dash back to my office to unplug everything in case of power surges but managed it before the rains came. We're on top of a hill and storms here are quite spectacular, although this one didn't have much lightening. Yet the thunder rolls around the hills in a dramatic fashion and is quite impressive. I hope all the kids got inside in time, they are on school holidays this week and enjoying their freedom. The sun is out today (thank you God!) but the wind's still whipping through the site, but means my washing will dry so I'm thankful for it too.

Wildlife watch
Current Mosquito score : Caroline 4 - Mosquitoes 0 (that's the number I've killed!)
'Kill them before they kill you' is my mosquito motto. Having reacted quite instantly and dramatically to a mere fly bite last weekend, I'm not taking any chances...
I've trained the cats and dogs not to cross the threshold into my house, they just sit on the step, which is nice. Had a meeting at Heather Reynolds in her house yesterday during which a poodle kept me warm, whilst 10 other dogs chased each other around the room. And then I had to pause while ginger paws (another ginger cat, not my favourite) walked across my notes, before stopping to miaow inquisitively in my face. That's GGA style meetings for you! It's great! The cat census of GGA is now up to about 20, maybe even 50 some say.

I'm now working on several projects and have lots to do, which is great and I'm much happier. Think I was getting a little bored before... Am working on a Christmas Fundraiser first, details of which will be out in the next few days. And speaking of which, I'd better get back to it!

party pictures

2006-09-25T08:40:00.000Z

spot the rust...

2006-09-25T08:38:00.000Z

no prizes though...

Sunday fun

2006-09-25T08:04:00.000Z

We finally made it to Hillcrest Christian Fellowship church this Sunday morning in the vehicle known as ‘Bronwyn’s Bakkie’ (play ‘spot the rust’ above), although we were late as we somehow managed to set off the anti-hijack alarm which overrode the engine. I won’t say anything about the dodgy brakes, but I had to ‘hot-wire’ the car it no less than 4 times over the course of the day so we could keep moving... (check it out, I didn’t even know how to change the oil in the UK, and now I’m quite the expert at starting cars!) They say it’s not wise to stop on the side of the road in Africa, but we had no choice! Viva la Toyota is all I can say, which should arrive this week.
Church was great. Massive building, must have been about 800 people there (and lots were on holiday too), spirit-filled worship and challenging message about choosing to put God first despite anything that may have happened in the past and radically dealing with things in our lives that are not of Him. Lots of meat to chew on over this coming week. 2 Chronicles 29 – the story of Hezekiah, a good read.

During the afternoon it was the monthly Birthday party which was chaos, but isn’t that how parties are supposed to be? Lots of active children, face paints, attempts at organised games, cake and presents – fantastic! Above are some photos in mini version (because they upload easier!) and I feature on one, just to prove I am here and not making all this up from the comfort of a 5-star hotel in Mauritius!

Oh and I saw 2 monkeys, just at the entrance to GGA. They are so cute, little grey things with white beards (description for my brother-in-law’s benefit, monkey fan extraordinaire). No photos yet, but I’ll pursue them! They are not to be encouraged as they steal things, if they came as far as the car park, there are plenty of vehicles they could hotwire and take off in if they so desired! Now THAT would be a good photo!

weekend off 1

2006-09-23T14:51:00.000Z

Great start to my weekend off! Trip to the Pavilion Mall in Durban wasn't as fun as it could have been as I developed an allergic reaction to an insect bite shortly before leaving to go there and ended up feeling like death!
Still managed to get a few bargains though, and won't need to go shopping for a little while now. Everything is amazingly cheap here (except cars) and you can buy almost everything under the sun at this mall, it has to be rivalling The Metrocentre in Gateshead for size and variety of shops!
Anyway, this blog is rapidly becoming 'diary of a hypochondriac' as I'm almost on first name terms with the receptionist at Cato Ridge surgery! Couldn't really wake up this morning as my migraine was so bad, but HJ had to go to the Dr anyway so we both went down, squished into the front of a bakkie in soaring temperatures. Waited for ages to see the Dr, but he thinks it's an allergic reaction and probably not tick bite fever, which is good cos that's horrid....
So most of our weekend off so far has been spent in bed! ;(

BUT, we did shake hands on a car deal this morning so within a few days we'll be driving round in our toyota camry (with air con!!) and managing to escape for a few hours. We've also managed to borrow one of the bakkies to go to church tomorrow morning so hopefully will make some friends there. So life isn't too bad!

More car antics...

2006-09-22T07:59:00.000Z

Went to my first Parents’ Evening yesterday with Kath and Ron, volunteer houseparents, and also had my first trip in the back of a ‘bakkie’. That’s a kind of pick-up truck where I had to be locked into the back and sat on a mattress. Was kind of exciting, not bad comfort-wise and I got to stretch my legs out so didn’t get cramp! Am sure if would be different if I had many kids in there too. Slightly bumpy down the track but once we hit the N3 and higher speeds it was quite a smooth journey. The lights worked but the brakes made interesting noises. You quickly get used to the fact that all vehicles here at GGA seem to be on their last legs!

Schools are all the same, except here in SA they don’t talk about pupils, but ‘learners’ and there are no subjects, but ‘learning areas’. The deputy head gave a talk to all the parents about the National Curriculum for about 20 minutes, referring to an overhead slide which contained no fewer than 3 major spelling mistakes (and couldn’t even be thought of as ‘cultural local spellings’) Says a lot for a school when that’s the best they can present to the parents!!!

2 of our kids go to this school, it’s a specialist technical school which seems to be quite organised (except for the typos) and they are doing well there. Was impressed by the multi-cultural-ness of the parents from all ethnic backgrounds and everyone was friendly and helpful.

It was kind of odd being on the other side of the table for a change and not being the teacher, but I guess it was also odd for the teachers to have to talk to 2 English women and a Dutch guy, all white, about 2 Zulu children! If they thought it was weird, they didn’t let it show! I think they are used to GGA…

It was good to get off-site though. It’s strange being up here as we really are quite isolated. There are vehicles going down to Cato Ridge during the day for various errands, but volunteers are only supposed to go down to either Spar supermarket on a Friday morning if they are working that weekend, or to the Pavilion Mall in Durban on a Friday afternoon if they are weekend off.

Plus points: don’t get to spend money easily, you really appreciate any opportunity to get off-site even to take someone to the Dr…

Minus points: ‘cabin fever’ can set in quite quickly, there’s nowhere else to go up here, if you wander past the (non-existent) perimeter fence you risk being attacked, robbed, murdered etc so it’s not advisable. You don't feel afraid up here but it's good to be aware of the dangers and realities of this area which is so poor and rundown. We cover a fairly large site, but it can still seem small at times.

Which is why HJ and I are so desperate to get a car so not only can we go to church, but we’re not stuck up here all day every day. We’re in the process of negotiating for a Toyota, it might be the right one, might not, more details to follow when we’ve got a clearer idea about it… In the meantime, it’s bank holiday weekend here so all car rental places are out of vehicles which kind of scuppers our plans to go and explore… praying that somehow, by some miracle, we can get transport to go to church on Sunday. It’s our weekend off, we certainly deserve a bit of chill-out time!

But before that, it’s time to hit one of the biggest shopping malls for miles around and a little bit of retail therapy! There are various things I need to get for the house and I’m on the hunt for bargains! I love new supermarkets and shops, such an adventure!

Speaking opportunities?

2006-09-21T08:11:00.000Z

Heather Reynolds will be in the UK from mid October for a few weeks and would be delighted to speak at any function or event that might be on then.
She will be in Warwickshire and then in the Bath area and also in the London area at some point.

If you would like her to come and talk about the work of GGA at a function, or in church or something, please contact me via my email and I'll pass it on, or contact Ann Smith in Bidford-on-Avon, via the website www.godsgoldenacre.org.uk . There are some events already programmed in but this is a general request in case there's someone out there who has space for her!

Also, if you live in or near Bath or London (or somewhere else in the South of England) and could provide accomodation for 2 couples during that time, would you be in touch. They have a place to stay in the Midlands but the rest is not quite finalised yet.

Thanks, you never know on the blogging network what opportunities might crop up!

Prayer-Newsletter 2 Sept-Oct 2006

2006-09-20T14:04:00.000Z

I'll be sending this out in an email to many people, but here's my prayer letter, if you want to copy and paste and print this out instead, be my guest! The most important thing is to bring things before Almighty God in prayer and to stand with me in the work I'm doing out here!

Caroline’s Adventures in South Africa
Newsletter 2 Sept-Oct 2006

Welcome to Africa and to God’s Golden Acre!

I’ve arrived safely in South Africa.
God’s Golden Acre ‘Khayelihle’ is situated on top of a hill up about 3kms up an extremely dusty dirt track. It’s quite a big place and houses 85 children, 39 volunteers and more than 20 staff.
My house is one of the best equipped on site and is situated safely next to the offices near the car park, away from the children, so it’s fairly peaceful. Heather J (from Leamington) lives next door and Christine (volunteer co-ordinator) lives next to her. We’re forming a cosy little community and even considering doing something with the garden, even if it’s only clearing out the dead plants to prevent snakes from hiding there!
One big answer to prayer is that you can buy pretty much every thing here (except Balsamic Vinegar and De-caff Tea), so I’m managing to eat healthily!

My Role: My official job title is now ‘Educational Projects Manager’. I’m overseeing everything from crèche up to arranging adult literacy classes for the Gogos. In addition to this I’ll be working with Heather Reynolds on setting up some sort of training for those in the valley, maybe working with the local primary school. Heather J (HJ) and I are also working on the spiritual side of things here, which involves:
Setting up a prayer/counselling room – currently being painted
Offering to pray with people whenever the opportunity occurs
Bible study with Volunteers
There’s a lot of potential here for Sunday school, Youth Bible studies, prayer groups, maybe even Alpha. It’s an exciting time of development and opportunity. Many people are willing to talk and open to receive prayer. Pray for wisdom to make the most of every opportunity

The children
So far, I’ve only spent time with the children on site at Khayelihle. They are a delightful bunch aged 1-21, very keen for attention. These are some of the kids I met on the first day. They are amazingly cute, if grubby all the time! It’s exciting to finally meet those who I’d only seen on photos over the past year. Looking back, I can already see their unique characters shining through on photos!

JOYS…
• The children respond well to attention; their smiles are precious; setting boundaries and seeing them play safely within them; knowing that I am making a difference to their lives.
• HJ and I are aiming to be positive peaceful influences around the place, singing and praying together regularly. We’re starting to sense a more peaceful atmosphere, although with so many different cultures working together there are still volatile moments.
• The Valley of 1000 Hills is beautiful, we’re on top of a hill with amazing views all around. Photos don’t really do it justice. It’s hard to believe there is such poverty and death amongst the townships, but the grim reality is that 1.3million out of 9.2million people here in KZN have HIV/AIDS.
…and FRUSTRATIONS
Communication – it took me almost a full week to access the internet and even now it’s REALLY slow. Time passes slowly here and at 6pm every night, darkness falls, literally. It’s not safe to be out then.
Car – Church – we’re seeking the right church family to get involved in, and transport to get there, a car is essential, we just need to find the right one.
Cold – I arrived with a cold, which wasn’t good. Having mixed with children with a range of runny nose, it’s hasn’t improved. I’m now on antibiotics and need it to clear before I head anywhere near the Valley, as a nasty strain of influenza is apparently rife down there, not to mention Drug-resistant TB!

XDR-TB
You may have heard about a new strain of drug resistant TB that is spreading. We are right in the epicentre of it in KZN, where 60 people in Eastern KZN have died of this particular TB.
900 AIDS patients die of TB daily in S.Africa and this new strain is impervious to the main TB drugs.
Pray for those dealing with this and suffering from it. Pray too for better education for AIDS patients so that they take their medicine properly when first diagnosed, to increase chances of not contracting TB.
Here are Khayelihle we are currently not affected, I believe. Give thanks for the health of the children on site.

Wildlife watch
No big game yet. GGA is home to at least 12 dogs, 5 cats and a large domesticated sheep called ‘Sunday’. Not to mention the Cockerel who likes to start his morning under my bedroom window.
On my first day here the children found 2 night adders in the undergrowth, we’ve got several deadly species of snake here, usually recognised by the crowd of children trying to kill it and the volunteers all running in the opposite direction. No anti-venom available on site though. The snakes are just coming out of hibernation now and will be hungry and grumpy. Best left alone. As long as they don’t come anywhere near my house or office everything will be ok…
I share my office with a lovely Zulu social worker (not wildlife), a snail and a frog. Only one can help me with my language learning, but as the windows can’t be closed properly I can’t be bothered to evict the latter 2 yet, more may still join them!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS AND SUPPORT!
TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
WITH LOVE FROM
Caroline xx

ISAIAH 61
PHIL 1v6

Keeping in touch
*NEW* South African mobile number: ask me!
UK mobile (SMS only): ask me!
Address: God’s Golden Acre, PO Box 331, Cato Ridge, 3680, KZN, South Africa

Some pictures!

2006-09-20T08:05:00.000Z

Here's a collage of some of the pictures I've taken so far. I love photography and when you capture the right moment with an animal or child, it's fantastic!

first time driver - the 4x4 experience

2006-09-18T15:24:00.000Z

So to go down to the Drs I was given the 4x4 to drive.
Old, just back from the garage. No seatbelts. An adventure.
With a bit of help I got it started and then I, and another brave volunteer who also needed to go to the Drs but hadn't realised what he'd let himself in for, set off down the less dusty, because it's rained so much, track.
It was an experience. There were a lot of interesting and unexpected bangs from somewhere in the vehicle, which wasn't as off-putting as the temperature and revs counters which were going beserk... (I later discovered this is normal for that car!).
Yet we got there. I locked the car and then couldn't get back in again later, we had to climb in the back (conveniently unlocked) and reach round. (although in all seriousness, if someone had wanted to steal it, they would have had to be blind as it isn't exactly the most desirable vehicle in the car park... - one good trait at least!!)
It was actually quite fun, but not a thing I would like to drive regularly.

Oh and I've got some sort of bacterial infection in my throat, chest? Had to go on a nebuliser which contained what I thought he refered to as adrenalin?!?! and now have even more pills and antibiotics to take... but I'll sleep well tonight! Have also been given some blankets so I won't freeze!

Going out now to watch the sunset.... more adventures soon.

my house!

2006-09-18T07:35:00.000Z

This is really just a test to see if I can post pictures using this limited connection speed (up to 24kbps today, Martin! That's triple Saturday's efforts)

My house is not the whole photo, I have the left hand half of it, the first green door is me, with Heather Jean (from Leamington) next door and the brown door leads to our volunteer co-ordinator's flat. It's not a bad size actually, and you can see our lovely garden!

cold

2006-09-18T07:24:00.000Z

'you won't need to take many clothes with you'
'clothes will dry quickly in Africa'
'it will be so hot, you won't know what to do with yourself'

All of the above were repeatedly said to me by various 'experts' in the UK before I came out here.

THEY WERE LYING!!!!

It is SO flipping cold in this place, the wind is whipping through and knocking pods off trees onto roofs and heads, children are manic and yesterday it rained more than I've EVER seen it do in Wales. My washing is taking an eternity to dry (and all my skirts are 'too short' because I'm very tall and thighs are the most desirable part of a woman's body in Zulu culture - so I can't wear them). I'm almost down to my last pair of trousers!!!!

There's no heating and the floors are stone cold- literally...

And to top it all off I'm STILL ill! Have had a cold for a full 2 weeks now which gets worse, gets a tiny bit better, gets worse. I'm sure I've only slept well because I've been stoned on all the cough mixture and flu capsules I've been taking! ;-)

Still, it's Monday morning after a hectic weekend of being in charge and running around everywhere with keys, starting each morning at 6am signing Security men out. The sun is out but the wind is still here. Have booked Drs appointment. Am allowed to drive one of the vehicles on these crazy tracks. Nice. Think I may need antibiotics, already.

But, despite ranting, I'm choosing to remain positive. There are many blessings to be counted here. And life's not bad :-) The sun will come out tomorrow...

Slightly out of sync 'first impressions'

2006-09-16T13:37:00.000Z

First impressions

I’m writing this in my flat on Saturday 9th Sept, although I have no idea when I’ll actually have any semblance of internet connection to post it on my blog, but hey, WELCOME TO AFRICA!!
My first 24 hours at GGA have been quite chilled, getting settled in. I’m still trying to shake a lingering cough and hoping that I won’t just pick up more from the kids to add to it or make it worse. It helps that today is Saturday, when there is less going on here. I spent some time this morning getting to know some of the children better by going to sit with them in their dusty playground outside their lodgings.
The first child who grabbed hold of me, a 5-yr old boy, told me he was looking for snakes and asked me if I supported England, who got kicked out of the World Cup. Was very pleased to tell them that I’m an Italy fan! The same child proceeded to point out some weeds growing up through some stones and tell me this was a garden. It was about at this point that I asked him what he had in his mouth and he opened it to reveal a reasonable size piece of glass!
In an attempt to learn all the names, I’m taking a little notebook round with me to write them down in, I haven’t had chance to write in it myself yet, as they all want to write their own names down and then draw me a picture, so it’s taking a while. They’re also teaching me Zulu words, but I think some could be a bit dodgy, so I’d better be careful when repeating them.
And here’s my first attempt at positive behaviour management. A little girl climbed all over me and was licking the packet of something like ‘Wotsits’, she finished doing so and threw it on the floor. I encouraged her to put it into the bin and she ran off… Never to be outdone by a child, I merely remained seated watching her, considering my next move in the adult-child power struggle, which was handed to me neatly in the next minute as she climbed a tree but got stuck, so I was able to rescue her, carry her back to her rubbish and encourage her to put it in the bin, which she then did… However, checkmate was played by her, as in the process of putting the crisp packet in the bin, she spied a piece of red pepper in there, reached in and scoffed it right in front of me! Disgusting! And yet she still seems quite healthy.
It seems kids will put anything they can find into their mouths. The crèche kids were enjoying some more ‘wotsits’ (have we got a massive donation of them somewhere?!) and a sweet, grubby little one-yr-old kept offering me one. I declined as it had already been in and out of her mouth several times and then rolled in the dust before going back in her mouth slightly darker than before!

My flat is quite nice but basic. I’ve got a living room/bedroom with lots of cupboard space (for all the clothes I didn’t bring), a reasonable size kitchen and bathroom with shower. My friend Heather from Leamington is next-door to me, which is great, although the walls are thin so I can hear all the worship music she is playing, which is also great! From now onwards I shall refer to her as HJ, so as not to confuse with Heather Reynolds (HR) who runs the place.
Yesterday I was taken down the dusty track to the SPAR supermarket in Cato Ridge in a Combi van with the Zulu workers heading home for the weekend. The whole mini shopping complex was full of Zulus shouting and getting their shopping done, especially from the market. I’ve now made a list of things I need to get for the house, such as a sharp knife as today I chopped all my veg using an eating knife about as sharp as a butter knife. Improvisation is the name of the game. I’m going to be cooking for myself, which is probably best given the number of things I can’t eat. Yet I managed to find enough stuff I could eat at the supermarket so that is an answer to prayer!

The other thing you notice up here is the number of animals. I’ve met 4 dogs (out of about 13) and there are at least 4 cats who like hanging out outside our houses. I’m not letting them in though, or there’ll be fleas EVERYWHERE! There’s also a large domesticated sheep called Sunday, and a cockerel has moved in who starts at about 6am and ends about 10am, he decided to take up residence just outside my house, he may not survive… (only joking of course, I love animals!)

Mosquito watch (a new feature where I recount encounters with some of the less-welcome residents of GGA): to count, none J - a large hornet (no relation) flew in at lunchtime but I shouted at it that if it didn’t go out I’d have to kill it (with my blunt butter knife!) and it left! But it’s still technically winter and these creatures come out in the spring with the rains. It’s really pleasantly hot here at the moment (dread to think what it will be like in the middle of summer!)

So that’s me for the moment. Tomorrow I’ll be checking out the Zulu church and seeing what I can contribute to the spiritual upbringing of the kids. There is much need for prayer out here, for God’s grace to flow throughout the place, more on that another time maybe. Then on Monday hopefully I’ll be getting more of an idea of my exact role here as that’s still unclear.

I hope everyone is well, I had a ‘moment’ when setting up yesterday but it got better when I put all my photos up. You can still send me texts on my UK number if you feel like instantly encouraging me, it won’t cost you any more as it’s to the UK, I pay more to write back. I miss everyone like crazy, but I know that I am here for a purpose and I must walk it out.

OK, time to sign off now and go in search of more children to practise my Zulu on! I’ll add some photos when there’s an established connection.

Finally online!!

2006-09-16T13:29:00.000Z

SAWUBONA! UNJANI?

So after 5 days of trying, I've FINALLY managed to get connected to the internet here in my office. A good introduction to African ways I suppose. The connection is really slow so I'll try to put some pics on but may be difficult.

I'm doing well, arrived safely after a comfortable, if long, journey. Excess baggage through ok, although it was a bit touch and go at one point. I'm living in a nice little flat next to the offices and today am the duty manager so am in charge of all the keys! This also meant getting up at 6am to sign the security out, but I'll get used to it.

I wrote a blog entry last sat when I got here and I'm putting this into the next posting, so it's a bit out of order, but you'll get a feel for the place from that!

I've now got a S.African mobile number, if you want it so you can text me encouraging things, then just ask, my UK stays the same and you can always use that. Please don't underestimate just how HAPPY and ENCOURAGED I am to hear from people overseas at any time ;-)

ok, I'm going to post this now to check it works, then I might try pictures...

so if you don't hear from me for a few days...

2006-09-06T21:53:00.000Z

... it'll be because I'm travelling and then getting sorted down at GGA. I'm also working straight away this weekend (which means I get next weekend off to explore!). So I don't know when I'll be able to blog again, but I'll find a way somehow and sometime soon.

Nationwide have given me a slight baggage allowance increase, which helps as I seem to have a lot of stuff (surprisingly?!?!). Everything else is on track, although still in piles near my case as I write this, there'll be time in the morning to put it into aforementioned bag. Then it's the old passport-tickets-brain check before heading down to Gatwick with my parents. We may even manage some time for plane spotting if the motorways are clear...

Think it's time for a blog title change - check it out.

The next time I write on this, I'll be living in Africa, so good bye England for a while and Sawubona KwaZulu Natal!

Sala Kahle!

now you see me

2006-09-05T22:21:00.000Z

pleased to announce the arrival of the smallest webcam in the world (probably, not)
so all being well I will be able to see some of you, and to be seen too during the next 2 years!

the aargh moment...

2006-09-05T22:08:00.001Z

Met my GGA predecessor this morning - Rebecca, along with her partner Tom and little baby Callum (who now has 2 front teeth - if you kn0w them!) . Was good to chat through some issues and to hear more about what I might expect! And to get some more insider knowledge of places to go and people to see...

However, this afternoon the combination of my continuing cold, the mass of plastic boxes and suitcases full of clothes to be sorted, tiredness and heat lead to the 'aargh moment', when I totally didn't know where to start packing etc... It was the 'I really need to do something productive but have run out of energy moment.'

However, the solution was simple and eccentric. Unbeknown to myself (although it seems half of Leamington was in on this) my sister had arranged to travel over from the other side of the country to surprise me and come on the family farewell meal this evening. Whilst I was upstairs sorting out clothes, she sneaked in through the back door and started up the stairs...

I heard someone coming up the stairs, the footsteps too loud for it to be the cat, and called out 'hello?'...
no response
'hello?'...
footsteps getting nearer...
by this time my mind was starting to panic but the only things within reach were t-shirts (not very useful in self-defence moments). I seriously didn't know who it was and all I could think of was 'this is it, someone is going to kill me before I even get to Africa'

And then Liz appeared.

At which point I was so surprised, and of course relieved that I hadn't paid for a flight only to get murdered 2 days before enjoying it, that I promptly burst into tears.

Crying is great, afterwards it's so easy to focus and packing was no problem... ;-)

btw, Caffe Uno in Stratford is a great little restaurant. Highly recommended!

On leaving Leamington

2006-09-04T07:59:00.000Z

Today's the day I leave Leamington Spa (for the moment - who knows if I'll be back living here one day!) I'm not really that sad as this is my home area and so I know I'll be back. Having gone to school just down the road and with family living all around this area, it's not like I'll never visit or even come back here to live.
I've come through a weekend of quality time with good friends and family, although the late nights are taking their toll, that along with cuddles from my niece who had a cold, which now means I'm fighting a cold (thanks G!)... sorry to anyone who might be on a flight to Jo'burg on Thurs night who might come down with a cold on Friday - recycled air and all that... but on the bright side, I'll be the one sharing the bugs around, instead of receiving them inflight!
So, it doesn't quite feel real at the moment, the living room here around me is still full of various items of important documents etc that need to be packed as soon as I've posted this. Most of the rest of the house is done though, but it's all the little, yet vital, jobs that I need to remember that are floating round my head.
I've had 5 wonderful years in Leam, living in 4 different places and mixing with hundreds of amazing people, all of whom I will miss. The majority of my closest friends from the past couple of years have also left Leam now, and that makes life slightly easier, as we've already proved that the world is indeed small with msn, skype and the like, meaning we talk even more now they're not here than when they were. And so I join them in communicating from a distance (and probably erratically from what I've heard about the phone lines in KZN).
And as for those good friends who I leave in Leam itself, see you in 'new' Starbucks in a couple of years time for a long overdue Grande Decaff Iced Latte and granola bar! How much I'll miss you, the people not the food (well maybe the coffee a little!)

Time to finish off that packing!

Party pictures

2006-09-04T07:53:00.000Z

By popular demand, here's a selection of pictures from my party on Friday night. Enjoy!

the morning after...

2006-09-02T09:20:00.000Z

THANK YOU to all the wonderful people who came to my leaving party last night, it was great to know that I am loved and supported by so many fantastic people. I will miss you all but you all know that you are very welcome to come and visit (and do some valuable work in the meantime) and that, even if it is the other side of the world (technically) , with today's modern miraculous means that's not really that far away... email, snail-mail, phone, mobile, msn, skype... the possibilities of contact are endless...

The general feeling of most people who I talked to last night, however, doesn't seem to be
'am I ready for Africa?'
but
'Is Africa ready for me.....!!?!?!'

Well, in 5 days, we'll find out... ;-)

the long goodbye...

2006-08-29T22:17:00.000Z

So the goodbyes have started...
I hate long drawn-out goodbyes, it only makes people depressed.

Today is T-09 until I'm off!

My current abode is gradually becoming devoid of 'stuff' as I make the trip back and forth to my parents to drop it off there (my parents are wondering why they didn't build that extension years ago to house it all!). Someone has appeared to live here after me - Praise the Lord, it was looking empty for a while, but just at the right time...

Last week it was Salsa goodbyes, last weekend it was goodbyes for some good friends from down South and the big leaving weekend is looming...

And through it all I'm still remaining completely cool, calm and collected. I was worried that I was in denial about something and that panic would suddenly descend and chaos ensue. But no, I think this is just the peace of God that passes all understanding. And it's great.

It's also great being able to go...
'Ah well, I won't be seeing you soon, because next week I'm moving to Africa.' and watching the reaction. Priceless.

Oh, and last week, a guy in starbucks thought I was 24. Result. ;-)

Visa-tastic!

2006-08-29T22:14:00.000Z

Well, after much faffing around I am finally in possession of my volunteer visa (and therefore also my passport!) valid until August 2008. Nice.
Thanks to all who prayed and to God who provided.

the reason why...

2006-08-22T09:19:00.000Z

Yet, when you see 'little wonders' like these, all of the worries seem to fade away to nothing and I remember that God has called me to go and therefore that's where I'm supposed to be and EVERYTHING else, no matter how uncomfortable, is taken care of and in HIS HANDS.

Isaiah 61 is the main Psalm that surrounds me as I prepare to go... tried to copy and paste it here, but I couldn't so you'll have to actually get your Bible out and look it up. It's amazingly relevant actually...

honest observations

2006-08-22T09:04:00.000Z

Here's another link, in case you have a spare hour or so and would like to read what it's really going to be like for me living at GGA. The Taubensee family from Canada spent 6 months living and working at GGA from Jan to July this year, and they have made some fascinating and honest observations on their blog:

http://gowellstaywell.blogspot.com

Looks like I should be getting ready to live alongside lots of creatures, especially frogs!

Having just spent a while reading the entire blog from start to finish, I've found myself excited and challenged by the kinds of experiences and adventures I'm likely to be surrounded by. 'Keep an open mind' is my first mantra, 'Just go with it' will probably be the second.
Having studied and experienced culture shock and transition I know to expect some wobbly moments when I get there, and indeed during my time there too. Living in Africa will be way further down the scale than even the slummiest of Italian cities. It's going to be one of those 'having to trust God every second of the day' adventures, where nearly all 'normality' will go out of the window... Counting my blessings will become uppermost in my thinking, and prayer will become as instinctual as breathing....

It's easy to write that from my comfy sofa and, relatively, high-speed internet connection here in the UK. The fun starts when I'm sleep-deprived, bug-bitten, hot, dysglycaemic and missing starbucks... That's when the trust bit really starts to kick in....

Three weeks to go!

2006-08-17T18:00:00.000Z

So, 3 weeks today I'll be on a plane heading to South Africa :-)
Getting nearer...

Feeling quite organised actually, which is good as I'm suffering slightly from my last few injections yesterday - Hep B and A. Still, this too will pass and I'm sure I'll be feeling better tomorrow in time to head over eastwards to catch up with my sister and husband!

But until then, it's a perfect excuse for lying on the sofa watching a film...

Skype-tastic

2006-08-14T21:22:00.000Z

Having had to put up with several one-way conversations with my friend S, I've finally downloaded Skype! And now we can chat for free over the computer!!!! It's great!
I think everyone should get it and then (when the internet is working down at GGA - it's a bit temperamental apparently) I can talk to people for free from my computer to yours!

Find out more at www.skype.com. It doesn't take too long to download - about 40mins on dial-up, which is not bad...

Don't get sucked in to buying an expensive phone to plug in, I've just got a headphone with attached microphone set that works just as well! Nice.

Thanks to all my techy friends for above advice.

Tim, chat soon, I've got you in my friends box already! Can't remember the time difference from here to Mexico City?

Leaving PARTY!!!

2006-08-12T13:42:00.000Z

So it's getting to that stage of preparing to go, it's all finally coming together.
If you are around for my party, do pop in and say 'hi/bye'...

Also, I don't want leaving presents (where would I put them in my extremely small weight limit!?), unless people really really want to get me something... If anyone would like to donate towards a vehicle though then that would be amazing. See below...

The story goes something like this. One of the GGA 4x4s recently got trashed somehow in Africa on dodgy roads and now we haven't got enough cars to get all the kids to school in the morning. I even heard something about one of the handicapped children not being able to go to school at all at the moment due to lack of vehicles...
I've written to several car companies asking for help, but only 2 have got back to me so far with polite 'no, sorry we can't help you' letters. The other 3 - LandRover, ChryslerJeep, and Nissan have not got back to me at all...
So it's looking increasingly likely that we'll need to raise some funds to buy a second hand car out there, and in addition I won't be stranded at the weekends on site and will be able to get off to various places. It seems more sensible to me to raise enough for a good 4x4 that can be used to take kids to school, rather than me just buying a little secondhand car for myself, that way it can stay there when I leave and belong to GGA rather than me...
So if you would like to donate, get in touch. Or if you know of people who work for the above car companies, or others, or if you have a spare 4x4 lying around in a garage in KZN, get in touch too... ;)
Thanks for spreading the word and playing your part in changing these kids' lives...

visa - the saga continues...

2006-08-09T21:22:00.000Z

So here's an update....

Mrs H, a friend from here who is going out to GGA this weekend and will be covering my office for some of the time until I get there in a few weeks, is having visa trouble too... She leaves on Saturday and currently her passport and/or visa is either in London, in the Royal Mail system or somewhere else gone awol... She IS leaving on Saturday, therefore her passport will be returned to her before she goes. Stand with me in covering her trip to London tomorrow in prayer, that whatever happens the end result would be that she has the relevant documents in her hand by the time she departs this weekend. God is sovereign, even over administration people and His will WILL be done. This not up for discussion.

I've now got a proper doctor's letter and an apology from the nice Dr who didn't understand what she was supposed to write in the first place. It wasn't her fault, extremely badly expressed documents from the visa people as to what they wanted.

However, the London people didn't get back to me for tomorrow so I will not be heading there. I'm trying to get in next week sometime. (you have to book via email and 7 days in advance for a time slot, they don't answer the phones - helpful.) I'm feeling ok about it all and know that God's in control of the whole situation, not to worry. Mother-daughter quality time has merely switched to a closer city instead.

Actually the concept of worrying is in fact unbiblical. Jesus tells us in several places in the Gospels not to worry, almost as if it is a command. If we truly believe that, then we need to bring everything to Him in prayer and leave it for Him to sort out, knowing and trusting that He'll sort it out according to His plan and purposes. We know that I'm going to Africa as well as Mrs H, and therefore He will make it happen, by miraculous ways if necessary, just to show who's really in charge around here.

(oh, and to any of my blog friends who are tempted to tell me to 'stop going on about God all the time', save your typing... telling me to shut up and not talk about Him.... NEVER GONNA HAPPEN, get used to it! Someone tried that with some of the apostles once... check out what happened in Acts 4v 18-20 ;-) )

the to-do list...

2006-08-07T17:47:00.000Z

Monday. Therefore a productive day.
Decided to write a 'to-do' list for all the things I have to do before I leave...
It's crazily long...
... but boring so I won't bother to put it on here.

Had a great weekend in Brighton/Hove, celebrating several Birthdays (Hello to the BIFC posse!)... Got to speak to loads of people about South Africa which was great, you never know who might be interested in coming out to help, it's always good to keep people informed of what's going on out there too... If you've never been to Brighton, it's a decent place to hang out, kind of shabby-chic, cosmopolitan although it seems rather expensive, probably because of all the Londoners who pop down regularly... Beach huts cost around £10,000!!! (for what is essentially a shed with a pretty coloured door) The world has gone mad... Actually we spent all of the weekend in Hove, the centre of Brighton being seemingly closed off for a Pride parade.

Learnt how to BBQ using those disposible ones, learnt not to put them out with orange juice (try it, it stinks), learnt not to attempt the M25 on a Friday afternoon, learnt that praying away a stomach bug when one has a long church service to go to really works! Praise God!

If you are ever looking for a Church family in Brighton, go to BIFC (Brighton International Faith Centre) which meets (currently) in the basement of 51a Selbourne Rd, Hove at 11am on Sundays. You'll leave a changed person, having had some quality spirit-filled time with some real, authentic lovers of God. The church is only small at the moment, but watch it grow!

Learnt that God continues to pour down his blessings and to give me more and more each time I spend time with Him. He's giving me insight into my future ministry, even beyond GGA, and as I walk into that destiny it's so exciting. I'm really excited about going to Africa, leaving in one calendar month, and all that's going to happen out there, for the transformations that will take place, for the renewing of my mind, for the people who I'll meet and for the way God is bringing about renewal, revival and change in the lives of the children of GGA. The journey of faith is surprising, challenging but never dull!

Visa prayer request

2006-08-01T23:43:00.000Z

(If you don't believe in the power of prayer, bringing all things before our great Almighty Creator God Father in heaven, then skip this post)

My visa is proving more difficult than I originally thought.

Would you pray for several specific things:

that the Drs letter I am getting on Wed would be sufficient and not contested.
for acceptance of my bank details as proof of monthly financial support.
that the immigration people would get back to me soon re an appointment for next thurs
that it would become clear whether I have to pay that £600 - some others who are going with me seem to have not had to pay. I'll pay it, but not if I don't have to...
that I wouldn't worry about the whole process, but know that He is in control, even if it all seems a bit crazy.

My next appointment in London (combined with quality mother-daughter time, so it won't be a completely wasted day if it all goes pear-shaped) is hopefully on Thursday 10th around 11am, tbc. I need a nice clerk to talk to who is helpful and gets the visa processed as efficiently as possible.

God knows the situation, He loves it when we include him in it and He will surround me with boldness to say the right things. It's great to have you onboard supporting this whole venture in prayer. Be blessed. Cx

Moral Courage

2006-07-31T11:45:00.000Z

The main morning meetings at Venue 2 New Wine were entitled : MORAL COURAGE
For that read: Faith - Risk etc Based on Hebrews 10v35-11v40

All very relevant stuff and encouraging to know that I'm on the right track. Although I sometimes wonder if it's not harder to take risks and step out of your comfort zone in your home country surrounded by home comforts and friends and family. God has called me to go far away (for a period of time as He decrees) and, although there are challenges and sacrifices to be made there, He is equipping me with everything I need - spiritually, emotionally, materially etc, to do the job he's called me to do. Hurrah for an amazing God!

'So do not throw away your confidence, it will be richly rewarded.'
'But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.'
'Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.'

God told Abraham to leave his civilised and rather nice home and take his wife and go to a place that He would show him, without elaborating much more.
God told Noah to build a massive boat in the middle of the desert, when there were no rain forecasts for the foreseeable future.
God told Moses to waltz into his 'grandfather's' palace and claim back all the immigrant workers and lead them out into the wilderness.

These all took faith and courage. Now is not a time to be weak or cowardly. Now is a time to stand firm, to act on what God tells us to do, sometimes in mere obedience not fully understanding the whys and hows of what will happen next.

Someone once said that the safest place to be is in the centre of the will of God. Not so.
Whilst He gives complete protection and will never abandon us, it's possibly the most dangerous place to be. Jesus was fully in the centre of the will of God at all times, and he lived a dangerous life.

All this is great encouragement as I get back into a new routine of not being a teacher and being a full-time Christian worker. I'm so excited at the possibilities and opportunities that are already coming my way. I'm challenged to stay focussed and to fix my eyes on Jesus as I walk the path He has marked out for me. He leads me and guides my every step. It's a walk, not a sprint.

God loves everyone. He is saddened by the rejection that He gets from people, from people who have turned away from His love and even rejected His rescue plan in Jesus. He is distressed by the heartache he sees in the world from so much suffering and pain. The way is open for us to be reconciled to Him and to live in relationship with Him, so that he can lead us into great and amazing adventures with Him. It's about surrendering my ego and selfishness and submitting to His way in my life. It's a daily thing, constantly coming back to Him and His love, especially when things of this world press in and try to distract me away from that.

God has the ultimate authority and when we believe in Jesus and what He established by His death and resurrection, and are reconciled to God, He puts within us His Holy Spirit and suddenly we move from being merely natural, worldly people to having a supernatural nature. God has condemned the evil forces in this world, lead by Satan, to complete and total destruction, but the final judgement has not come down yet. Until that time Satan is still squatting in the world, but he's not in charge any more. He's doing his best to trick people into thinking that he is, and so many are fooled and fear him. But he is under the same authority as we are and God has given us authority and power to send him packing in the name of Jesus. He's like a naughty schoolboy who is trying to fool a teacher into doing what he wants when in fact the levels of authority are clear and he has no rights to think he can behave thus.

God's been saying a lot to me lately about authority. It's a funny thing. When you are given authority it's often to do something much bigger than you think you are capable of. When I became Headteacher, overnight I had more authority. But you have to use it. There are lots of nasties around in the world, keeping people trapped and tricking them into thinking that this is it and a life of fear is the best they can put up with. Not so. Jesus came to set people free, He came to give life to the full and to restore people to a rightful relationship with the Almighty Creator of the Universe. He has delegated authority to us to cast out demons, heal the sick and raise the dead, all in His name. This is the life of adventure to which He has called us. I feel God is telling me to get ready, crazy things will happen in Africa, where people are even more switched on to the supernatural than in the UK. It will be amazing, humbling and awesome and totally of God. I can't wait...!

Post 100 - amazing amazing amazing!

2006-07-29T20:46:00.000Z

So I'm back from New Wine, a week that was nothing short of AMAZING!
There was brilliant weather (and corresponding sunburn) ,
Awesome worship times and many a healing, great company and lots of challenging teaching, matched by the presence of God to help us process it all and to lead us deeper into him...

The musical find of the year, and recommendation to everyone to rush out and buy it as soon as you can, is Brenton Brown's first solo album - EVERLASTING GOD
(and Thanks, Dan for discovering it first , playing it all day so it was well and truly in my subconcious, and then negotiating a discount for me for the last remaining, much played demo, copy in the shop ;-) !!) An album has got to be good when it sells out at a Christian conference where there are 8000 people.

On his website (www.brentonbrownmusic.com), in the biography section, there is some interesting background to the album. Being South African, as he is, it's a particularly appropriate album for me to take with me and there is one song which I know is going to be a key song in worship out at GGA - 'We will worship Him'
To quote the man himself:
''This song is just a lovely picture of God’s grace, and how things can change."
Amen to that.
Jesu Inkosi - Jesus is Lord

Might return to the musings of Brother Brenton at a future occasion, but there is much more to say about what I learnt last week... But for now, am just checking back in with my blogfriends, I hope you are all enjoying the sunshine, and I'm now I'm off to catch up on some all important sleep ;)

fields of fun...

2006-07-20T17:09:00.000Z

Don't expect many entries for the next few days, I'm off to NEW WINE A (www.new-wine.org) in Shepton Mallet, Somerset for a week.

My summer holiday this year going to be spent with some of my church family in a field in deepest darkest Somerset. If the weather holds, it will be amazing. If it rains, we might get a bit wet, my tent (although a mega, retro tent) is over 20 years old!

But fear not, I'll be back soon, tanned and happy, having had some awesome experiences with our amazing God.
I'm so looking forward to it and know that it will be brilliant! ;)
See you soon!

End of an era

2006-07-20T16:45:00.000Z

Today I finished my job. ;-)
I am no longer Headteacher.

No more having to make decisions and argue with trustees.
No more having to wear skirts and avoid trousers at work, my trusty old, yet classic trouser suit is once more re-instated in my wardrobe!

It's been fun working with the EB Kids. They don't like the internet, so I can't write much about them here. But God lead me there 2 1/2 years ago when I quit my comprehensive job (before I went completely mad) and then put me in a leadership position. It's all been preparation for something, and skills I've learnt there will probably be extremely useful at GGA.
There have been some challenging moments and I've never had to deal with such interesting characters, I could write a book on some of their ways, and maybe one day I will...

So, the end of an era. I've put my stack of chocolate presents in the fridge, and am ready to wrap up my stunning flowers to take them camping this weekend. Tragically, they are gorgeous red gladioli which will clash terribly with the amazingly retro orange and brown mega-tent I've borrowed from my parents... (SOOO retro it's now back in fashion.. it even has flowery 70's curtains, excellent).

The kids and their families have been very generous in donating kids' clothes and toys for the children at GGA. Several of the parents have grasped the vision for what Heather is trying to do and are inspired by the story of GGA. It's good to have them on board.

My official leaving present from the school - crystal wine glasses... beautiful, but not so useful for a mega journey south... and a copy of their Bible (now that would have been useful 2 years ago, to aid my debating skills in the classroom) . The staff got together to get me binoculars. Fantastic, much more useful for safari ;)
But year 9 excelled themselves and clubbed together to get me a mini clock set in a light blue vw campervan complete with 2 surfboards on the roof. I'll put a photo on sometime. Some presents can be tacky, this one is brilliant!

Many memories, much fun, leaving is always a bit sad, but there are lots more exciting times ahead and now it's full steam ahead for the big tidy up and throw out...

Kwa Mashu

2006-07-19T20:32:00.000Z

People who know S.Africa...
Does anyone know anything about KWA MASHU?
I know it's a township just North of Durban.
But the word keeps coming into my head randomly so it's becoming interesting to me...

Will go there someday, but is it famous for something?
Is there an amazing church there?
Is that where my future husband is currently abiding?!?!

Only time will tell...

the perils of bureaucracy, the story begins

2006-07-17T18:56:00.000Z

I went to London today.
Not to visit the queen.
But to get my volunteer visa sorted at the S.African Embassy which, if you ever need to go, is sandwiched quietly between a postcard shop and an old pub, so it's very inconspicuous. I managed to completely miss it and end up at Downing Street before I realised I was going the wrong way...
I don't like Embassies anymore.
The British Embassy in Rome was ok when my passport was stolen because I was whisked up to a nice cool office and helped quickly.
There was no waiting around today, but the whole atmosphere in there is one of stress, with people all around you almost pleading with uniformed clerks, saying things like 'But he died 36 years ago' and the like...
The clerk, who was supposed to help me, was less than helpful.
He refused my 'medical report' because it reported on my medical history and 'gave too much information'. Apparently they don't want to know that, they just want a letter saying I am fit and well. He wouldn't believe me telling him that I was. Held my tongue.
Then he disputed my bank account, telling me that the amount of money in there wasn't enough to live on. Of course it isn't, that's what monthly sponsors are for...
By now I was getting a bit fed up.
And then he came out with the 'have you got your £600 deposit?' which is apparently 'in lieu of a return ticket' and not optional. The fact that I had a return ticket right in front of him didn't make any difference. Hmm, oh yes have it out of my pocket money sir!!!!! Like I could just whip out that amount of money from my wallet and hand it over.
So not a good experience all in all. :(

Pray that it gets sorted out soon, and preferably without that massive payout- which would be more than I paid for the flight in fact....

clarification of the purpose of my blog

2006-07-16T08:35:00.000Z

There seems to have been some confusion for people visiting my blog recently.

This is not a website for God's Golden Acre (go to www.godsgoldenacre.org.uk for that)
Nor is it a fundraising exercise or marketing ploy.

I set up my blog as a means of expression of my thoughts and musings as I prepare to go to live in South Africa and work with some of the many AIDS orphans out there. It's a means for my friends to keep up with what's going on in my life and it's like an ongoing online conversation.
Although my life will be forever transformed by the experiences in Africa, there is more to life than just writing about how sad the AIDS epidemic is, and giving a constant list of how one can help.
I hope that the snapshots of life out there (as I'm discovering them) and the snapshots of what's going on in my life here in the UK are of interest, but really it's a way of processing them by journalling online.

I AM getting a bit fed up with people who read my blog, think they somehow know me enough to pass judgement on my life and leave criticism in the comments page. You can't possibly know someone well through merely reading their stuff on the blog, there is so much more to my life than what gets written here, I couldn't possibly write about all my life, there's not time...
If you have a problem with me, and you know me well enough to approach me on this issue, please email me privately about the matter. If you just put a negative comment on the web, it isn't very helpful in the long run.
(If you feel strongly about something, start your own blog and do all your rantings there, don't hijack mine)
There is a way to deal with conflict and it is in private and directlywith the person involved . On a couple of occasions I'm seeing misunderstandings and personal comments appearing here for the whole world to see.

The views expressed on my are personal ones and do not necessarily reflect God's Golden Acre as a whole. Don't judge me on that. I'm not perfect, no one is. Please remember that before you put yourself in the position of 'blog critic and judge of character'

I don't want a whole lot of ranting comments in reply to this.
Just bear it in mind the next time you feel like attacking what I've written. It's just a few ideas on a page in cyberspace, not absolute truth
(for that check out another book that's available near you called the BIBLE- now I expect THAT will get more comments than anything I've said before ;-) !!!! )

coffeeeeeeeee

2006-07-15T08:54:00.000Z

This morning my macchinetta di caffè decided to explode dramatically all over the hob.

Coffee everywhere.

Rubbish.

Yet wierdly I had looked at it 1 min before and just knew it was going to happen.
So I got out of the kitchen, fast.

(Yes, I know I could have prevented the whole thing, but that would have been much less dramatic for a Saturday morning, and besides, my hob is now sparklingly clean. Nice)

All's well that ends well (as one of my fellow Stratfordians once said)

on DVD's and 4x4's

2006-07-15T08:25:00.000Z

Several years ago, thanks to a government initiative, I got to go on a training day where I came away with a free DVD player (useful) and some DVD-making software (not so useful, at the time)... Yesterday, the software became not only useful, but a marvel of modern technology on my computer and I ventured into the world of media...
Have made a 3 minute DVD 'Snapshots of GGA'. It was much fun to do and the combination of gorgeous children, other photos of the devastation caused by AIDS and a haunting soundtrack of the Young Zulu Warriors have worked well. Am not technically-minded enough to put it on the internet as yet, but it went down well at Cafe Create last night.

Quick plug: anyone from St Paul's interested in being a presenter for Cafe Create, there's a job going as last night was my last evening up front. It's easy, just imagine you're on TOTP or similar (without the millions of people watching through the cameras...) Good fun, have really enjoyed it and hope that 'Cafe Create' continues to go from strength to strength in the future...

It's getting to that stage of leaving. Last 'Cafe create' first of all. On Thursday I shall be ending my job as senior teacher and saying goodbye to 80 great little people and my staff. My school is joining in to GGA in donating children's clothes and toys to take out there, it's so fantastic that they're on board.
All goodbyes are sad, but it's a process I have to go through and brings me one step closer to getting out to SA. 8 weeks today I'll be waking up for my first full day in KZN!

On Monday, I'm heading to London to visit the S.African Embassy to get my visa sorted. If you pray, please think of me then, that all goes smoothly. These processes can sometimes be tricky.

In other news, it's becoming apparent that we need another vehicle out in Cato Ridge as things are a bit difficult at the moment. A short while ago one of the 4x4s got written off somehow and now they are struggling to get a lot of kids to several school with very few vehicles, and they need more. Then there'd be one to take kids to hospital when necessary too.

God knows and meets all our needs. So I am confident that somehow He will meet that need, being as I've brought it to him and am leaving it with him. He loves to provide for his children, in miraculous ways. To enable people to help out with that, I've written to 5 car companies in the UK, to see if they would be able to help us out, financially or in providing a vehicle out in SA. So far, one rejection. But even if this proves fruitless, somehow at just the right time, that 4x4 WILL arrive. And so there's many reasons to be thankful! :)

'And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ' (Phil4:19)

Campioni del mondo...

2006-07-09T21:37:00.000Z

Viva Gli Azzurri! Viva Italia!!!!!
I've believed in them since the beginning

Wish I was still in Perugia to celebrate tonight.

What a great world cup, have really enjoyed it.

Looking forward to S. Africa 2010,

might even get into some of the matches then...