Monday, March 25, 2013

Small Group in Luanshya


Every Wednesday morning, regardless of what country you are in, the Hands at Work family meets for small group. This picture was taken after our small group met at Kachele Farm in Luanshya on March 13th. These are just a few of the people who spend their time here at the farm in Zambia. They have all become such good friends and have a special place in my heart!

back to Kitwe

This afternoon I am going back to Kitwe, and plan on staying there until I fly back to South Africa on April 4th. This means I will probably be MIA for the next two weeks: not checking emails or facebook and not writing anymore blog posts. I'll just spend the rest of the time digging into the work here. Next weekend we are planning on going to the Kitwe markets, which should be an experience. So far now, I am well and just embracing Africa. Happy Easter, and I will be back in a few weeks!

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Kitwe: Week 1

I am settled in and loving Kitwe!

I live in a guest house, which has four other tenants, and I am on the same property as Byron and Diane (CAN) The room is pretty nice, and very spacious. Not a bad place to spend three weeks!


 


 


While I am here, I am supporting the Kitwe Service Center and learning all I can about their CBOs. Kitwe supports nine communities. Seven of them have established CBOs and six have been matched with international donors. My week began with the Monday morning prayer meeting: Hands operates on essentially the same schedule no matter what country you are serving in. After that, it was time to travel to our CBO in Chibote for a budget meeting. I met all of the care workers briefly before the meeting began. The main purpose of the meeting was to analyze their previous budget and project what their spending will look like in the future. Many of our CBOs in Kitwe are doubling the amount of children at the feeding point as of July. We consider start up cost for additional supplies that will be needed to feed the additional children, and make sure we can provide our children a nutritious meal while staying within our budget. The budget meeting takes place at that CBO. That means the building is a basic African structure, typically brick walls and a metal roof. It is crammed full of Service Center staff and the care workers for that CBO. The meeting is primarily conducted in the local language: in this case, Bemba. And it is hot! The barriers in language, context, and comprehension definitely give me a new appreciation for the work the long term volunteers have to do! The budget meetings are so important because we do our best to encourage the CBOs to keep all receipts and records of what they have purchased, so we can show the donors how their donations are being used effectively. The concept of keeping receipts is foreign to most Africans, so this is definitely a challenge, but it is worth it when we can provide our donors with statistics on the impact their donations have in our communities!

When the meeting was finished in Chibote, Byron went with Lynn to meet the lawyer in Kitwe and we picked up Diane before heading to another budget meeting with the Mulenga CBO that afternoon. We got to Mulenga while the children were still eating, and while we were waiting for the care workers to be ready it started to rain! Most Africans do not like rain, so once the sky began to look suspicious, most of the care workers went home as fast as they could! Our group from the Service Center waited out the storm with a few of our precious girls. It was great to spend time with them, but the budget meeting never happened!


 





On Tuesday, Byron and Diane dropped me off at the Service Center(SC) before they had to take care of a few things in town. I spent the morning with the SC staff learning about our nine communities, where they are all in the Hands process, and what that means in practical terms. When Byron came back, we discussed a few budget things with the staff (evaluating what we really need and pending expenses.) We filled out our weekly bank withdrawal form, to ensure that the Service Center has sufficient money to meet it's needs that week. Then we drove to Zimba... We drove to the new care point, only to find out that the care workers were at the former feeding point. When we all got into the Surf to drive to the other care point, we found out we were stuck!


 


We eventually got unstuck and made it to the new care point for the budget meeting there. It had originally been scheduled for 10am and we arrived at 1pm: TIA! These budget meetings are interesting. They help you learn a lot about that CBO and you see how differently the individual CBOs handle things. Again, language, context, and comprehension are huge barriers. This meeting lasted over three hours and we didn't balance the budget, so the SC staff has to go back again! Once we got back home, I walked into the guest house and was invited to dinner by one of my housemates. She had prepared nshima, sweet potato leaves, and meatballs. It was nice to have an Zambian meal - and it was delicious! We watched the news, and Grey's Anatomy. Africa really is not so different from back home!

Wednesday began with small group, and then Diane was working with our bookkeeper, Mary, on petty cash requisitions and bank withdrawal form procedures. This day we stayed at the SC, so I had time to learn more about the SC and CBOs from Byron. We worked on collecting information on the nine communites we work in to relay back to the Regional Support Team (RST) in Luanshya. This was nice to see because it involved getting information we don't necessarily have in mind each time we are out with our children, and it provided me the chance to get a well-rounded picture of our communities. The staff caught up on some emails, and then it was time to work on quarterly reports to submit to the RST. We also worked on the SC budget for Celebrations and community profiles.


 


Thursday morning we spent devoting a few minutes to the 40 days of prayer, before continuing to work on quarterly reports. We also had to work on project proposals to submit to the RST. These in particular were larger projects to occur in communities that have already received funds from an international donor. In order to keep everything transparent and accountable, The SC must fill out project proposals with anticipated costs and it must be submitted and approved before the project funds can be dispersed and the work can begin. That afternoon we went to Amlew to meet with the CBO there. Anywhere we go, people get excited but when we walked into the care point the children just started screaming with excitement! We were able to walk the community and go to home visits with two of our precious children there. It was an amazing experience! We went back to the care point and I helped the cooks pass out the meals. We had a chance to talk with the care workers before we left.


 


 


When we went back to the SC we worked on finishing the community profiles for our quarterly reports. I had a chance to type of two of the stories we had collected from our communities. It is a long process though, because often when we sit down to write these stories, we realize we don't have enough information. I jokingly told Clement that I had no problem typing, but that I would need a lot of help with the details. I wasn't kidding! I kept asking Clement to call the care workers to get more details for our stories. Eventually we finished the profiles though, but the SC still had to update the work plans. Diane was delayed, so Byron and I spent some extra time at the SC. Finally it was time to leave and we were off to Towela's house for dinner! She was going to help us on our technique for stirring nshima...







I'm not a pro just yet, but dinner was delicious!

Friday morning we all traveled to Mulenga for Village Prayer. On the way, we picked up Clement and Mary. That morning was some of the craziest traffic I have seen since being in Zambia. Once we arrived in Mulenga, we went to Village Prayer. Once every three or four weeks, the RST travels to different communities to meet with all the Hands staff/volunteers and care workers, along with anyone else they can get from the community (preachers, teachers, etc), to pray and worship together, in addition to hear stories from the care workers. The care workers are often not that much better off than the families they care for, but because of their optimism and willingness to care for others, we sometimes forget they struggle as well. Hearing there stories helps us keep things in perspective. The care workers are there to support the children and their families, but Hands is ultimately there to support the care workers. At the Village Prayer, Tawonga decided she should style my hair. I didn't mind, and it kept her (mostly) quiet and out of trouble during the end of the prayer meeting. After the prayer meeting was over, the Kitwe SC traveled back and prepared for more budget meetings. I, on the other hand, jumped into the boot of Adam's buckey. (That is what we would call the bed of a truck.) We were bound for the Kachele farm in Luanshya. Dave and Russell had landed in Ndola the day before and were getting settled in at Kachele. That afternoon the three of us went with Adam, along with Gideon and Kennedy, to Ndola to take care of some business. After we dropped off Gideon and Kennedy, we ran a few errands before heading over to the complex that has Pick n Pay. We got Subway and stopped for gelato - which is probably the real reason Adam planned the trip into the city in the first place. We did some shopping, and Russell got more gelato.

We eventually made it back to Kachele. I spent the afternoon playing with Tawonga. She is only two years old, but has the run of the Kachele farm and has everyone wrapped around her little finger. We spent most of the afternoon watching the cows. She still isn't quite sure what to think about Uncle Russell or Uncle Dave, but Uncle Dave came with us on one of our jaunts to see the cows who live on the neighboring farm. She gradually started to warm up to them, and eventually started throwing money at Russell. She thought that was a swell game! Eventually, we took her home and the three of us went on a walk with Adam to see where the large cobra lives on the edge of the farm. When we got back, Tawonga was ready to play again and we sat in the yard keeping her entertained until she couldn't avoid bath time any longer. The rest of the evening we spent inside, having grown tired of dealing with the mosquitoes. We all made dinner and sat around the dinner table. Russell was playing his ukelele, Dave was playing his guitar, and Adam blew our minds with a magic trick until it was eventually we all caved and accepted that it was time to go to bed.

Saturday, March 16, 2013

In Kitwe!

I saw my first spitting cobra at the farm yesterday. The guys killed it and proceeded to carry it's dead body around on a stick. Boys are exactly the same regardless of where you are and what country they are from! Last night Adam, Alicia, Byron, Diane and I went out to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. For dessert, we got legit Italian gelato from a guy named Marco. I know most people would prefer to go to Italy, but I find it quite amusing that I had my first real Italian gelato in Kitwe, Zambia!

I am settled into my room in Kitwe! It's amazing, I can't wait to show you guys pictures. Though that might have to wait because the internet access here is limited. I do have access at Byron and Diane's: that's the nice part about being neighbors with long-term volunteers! I think I'll take advantage of the excuse to not spend so much free time on the internet though, so no worries! I am safe, happy, and healthy. If I don't respond to any messages for the next week, don't be alarmed. I'm not dead, I'm just in Kitwe!

Thursday, March 14, 2013

An Evening Out

Byron and Diane arrived in Luanshya this evening. All of us (Adam(UK),Lynn, Byron, Diane(all CAN), and myself) went out for dinner in Luanshya. We were hoping to go out for Indian food, but no dice. We went out to this other restaurant instead. The guys all got t-bone steaks, while Diane and I got wings. We all got salads and french fries as well, along with Coke or Sprite. (With the exception of Lynn who got a grapetizer.) They might have been the best wings I ever ate. It's strange how Africa can be so drastically different, and yet so similar to life back home.



Random fact of the day: One thing that is not similar to life back home is how sweet the jelly is here! Naturally after landing we went to Pick n Pay to get some groceries. I'm only in Luanshya a few days, so I bought the basics: bread, peanut butter, jelly, and carrots. I had toast with jelly for breakfast and I thought it was really sweet. I hadn't had any jelly for a few days though, so I thought maybe I was just oversensitive to the concentration of sugar. Well, I was making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while Adam was making his lunch and I commented on it. Without any hesitation he agreed, not just that it was sweet, but almost disgustingly so. I thought South Africans loved their foods sweet, but even they don't compare to the Zambians...

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

TIA

The afternoon and evening here was pretty low key. It is much smaller, and quieter, than the Village in White River, SA. Once I got to the farm, I met Liz, Adam, Levy, as well as Abe and Suzette (USA) and Shelly (CAN). Liz cooked an amazing dinner for us all and we all got to relax while Lynn and George were meeting before and after dinner. Obviously I was able to get on the internet to blog and update my facebook, that is until the power went out. Let's review:

First night in South Africa: no power
First night in Luanshya, Zambia: loss of power
Candlelight is becoming a theme of my African life...

Adam (UK) brought me a candle, only to discover (as we were attempting to light it) that it's wick had been lost. It was one of those amusing moments "I wanted to make sure you had a candle." (I'm trying to light candle) "I don't think that's the right end" (I turn the candle over) "Well surprise it's a trick candle. Here, just take another box of matches" No worries, I eventually did fish out the wick and get my candle melted into place. (We aren't picky, we use plan pillar candles in whatever holder we can find. Sometimes we use actual candle holders, but normally we just find empty bottles or small tin cans, from tuna, etc.

So here I am, first day in Zambia. It should be fairly low key while I am here. I want to take a look at my budget since I knew leaving South Africa was a possibility, but wasn't entirely sure where I would be placed after orientation. Everything happened so fast I didn't sit down to look at numbers before jumping on a plane. I did a quick analysis yesterday and I should be fine, but I'd like to look at things in more detail. Hopefully I'll also have time to explain more about how Hands works, and how (and why) I ended up here in Zambia.

Thanks for sticking with me, and thanks for praying!

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Zambia

I'm here!!!

After a very long night... after the braai, we played a few last rounds of Dutch Blitz, sang and danced to a few songs from the mix-tape playlists... Mariah and I went up for one last bounce on the trampoline, and to look at the stars, but it was too overcast. I stayed up way too late, cleaning out my refrigerator and my cupboards, bagging up the food I left behind, setting out other food to be eaten by the other volunteers in the Village, did laundry, unpacked and repacked my suitcase, had so many prayers and hugs... I went to bed just before 1:00am, and barely slept. I basically took a nap. I woke up (and gave up trying to go back to sleep) at 3:40ish and got a shower, did some dishes, finished packing. Alicia, Mel, and Daytona all woke up at 4:45 to come see me off! Cat and Lynn pulled in front of the Village at 5am on the dot and we were on the road.

I managed to take a few cat naps on the CityBug. "A few" means two: one that was about 20 minutes and one that was about 10 minutes. (I'm the queen of sleep, I know! You don't have to tell me twice!) Lynn and I had a pretty easy time through the airport and we even had some downtime to shop. Not that either of us bought anything, but we at least perused the merchandise. We finally boarded the plane, and I had another cat nap, maybe 20-30 minutes this time. So I'm still awake, going on about 4 hours of sleep...

Landing in Zambia was beautiful! It looks like the stereotypical image of Africa you have in your head when you think of Africa. Getting my visa was interesting. It was fine, not dramatic, though they did initially write that I was Canadian... So now my visa lists my nationality as "Canada America." All the Canadians will love this I'm sure. First, I started saying 'oh hey' and now the Zambian government says I'm Canadian... Well that is just absolutely delightful! My experience was breezy, no problems. Lynn was tied up though, so I found Weston and we took my luggage to the car and I went to the ATM to take out some Kwacha. My collection of international currency is growing quite nicely if I do say so myself. Weston took us to Pick n Pay to pick up some basic things. Yes, I bought all the necessities: bread, peanut butter, jelly, and carrots. (I'm only here until Friday people! I promise I will buy real groceries in Kitwe) I also got a SIM card (for Zambia) for my phone and some data to keep in touch with everyone else in the intake, and people back at the South Africa HUB. Once we got to the farm, I couldn't believe it. It is much more green here. There is just a more dense population of trees around the property. In South Africa, there are roughly 40 people living in the Village property. This land is smaller scale, and it's much quieter. It's nice. It's been raining off and on all afternoon. The most relaxing kind of rain you can have, not too hard or too noisy, just persistent. It's quite lovely. Also, it was quite humid when we were landed at the airport, but the rain has cooled things off quite a bit.

I'm still in shock that just over a month ago I was leaving the United States for the first time to go to South Africa. Now I'm sitting in a bedroom in the main house of the Kachele Farm in Luanshya, Zambia, and on Friday I will be traveling to Kitwe, Zambia and moving into a guest house by myself for the next three weeks. It's a moment I've had to pinch myself, and ask: how I got here? how am I so lucky, so blessed? and is this really happening? is this really my life? It is just CRAZY... crazy in the best way of course but it just blows my mind! I am so excited to find out what the next month holds, and what I will learn here in Zambia. About myself, my faith, and the lives of the people I will be meeting here. I have a journal full of observations from the last month, I'm almost ready to start my second one!, and I'm sure I'll continue to reflect back on those situations and learn new things after the fact. I hope to really dive into the communities here in Zambia, even though I'm only here for a brief stay. I want to get everything I can out of these next four weeks prior to going home. It is definitely going to be bittersweet.

Prior to coming to Zambia, I've been reading Psalms, specifically Psalm 27. Here it is:

Psalm 27 [NIV]

Of David.

The Lord is my light and my salvation—
    whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
    of whom shall I be afraid?

When the wicked advance against me
    to devour me,
it is my enemies and my foes
    who will stumble and fall.
Though an army besiege me,
    my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
    even then I will be confident.

One thing I ask from the Lord,
    this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
    and to seek him in his temple.
For in the day of trouble
    he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent
    and set me high upon a rock.

Then my head will be exalted
    above the enemies who surround me;
at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy;
    I will sing and make music to the Lord.

Hear my voice when I call, Lord;
    be merciful to me and answer me.
My heart says of you, “Seek his face!”
    Your face, Lord, I will seek.
Do not hide your face from me,
    do not turn your servant away in anger;
    you have been my helper.
Do not reject me or forsake me,
    God my Savior.
10 Though my father and mother forsake me,
    the Lord will receive me.
11 Teach me your way, Lord;
    lead me in a straight path
    because of my oppressors.
12 Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,
    for false witnesses rise up against me,
    spouting malicious accusations.

13 I remain confident of this:
    I will see the goodness of the Lord
    in the land of the living.
14 Wait for the Lord;
    be strong and take heart
    and wait for the Lord.

Just read it a few times. See what it speaks to you, because I know it's been a moving scripture for me this past week.

Monday, March 11, 2013

Zambia Bound

I am officially going to Zambia!!!

I found out Saturday evening that they wanted to send me to Kitwe for the next three weeks.
Booked my flights through Mary in the office at 2:00pm this afternoon.
I'm leaving with Lynn at 5:00am to catch the 6:00am CityBug, and the 11:15am flight to Ndola!!!

I'll spend a few days at the Kachele farm in Luanshya, and then Friday I will travel to Kitwe!!! I'll stay in Kitwe with Diana and Byron until April 4th. I'm ready for the next phase of my adventure and to find out what Zambia has to offer. So many people have told me it is going to be amazing, and I had a great send-off from Jen and Dan before dinner. And for dinner, David Bentley showed off his skills by throwing me a good-bye braai. It may have been planned as this weeks Foodapalooza and merely rescheduled in order to happen while I was still here... but it was awesome nonetheless.

Here is a picture of our intake. We won't all be together at the same time, so we had to get one today!

Our Crew!!! (From Left to Right) Back row: Alicia, Dave, and Melissa, Next row: Leyton, me, Mariah, lying down: Joe and Russell.

I'll hopefully be able to write again soon once I'm settled in at the Kachele farm. It's going to be a very busy morning, but it's going to be a fantastic experience and I'm really excited about it!!!

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Community Stays: TIA

Disclaimer: I'm not sure this blog post is exactly what I hoped it would be, but I've already put it off too long, and today I learned I am going to Zambia. I could leave as soon as Tuesday, so here it is for better or worse...

On Friday March 1st, after much anticipation, we left the Village just after 12pm to head out for our community stays. After a leisurely 2.5 hour car ride, at roughly 2:30, we arrived in Welverdiend at the care center/feeding point. When we initially arrived, the children were still finishing up a lesson so we waited outside. After that we went into a room to meet the care workers and, most importantly, the children we would be staying with for the weekend. I was paired with Melissa (AUS) for the weekend, and we were told we would be staying with a 14 year old girl named Bethany. Busji went around the room pointing out the pairs from our intake, and then the children they'd be staying with. Melissa and I were told Bethany was not there because she was at home cleaning in anticipation of our arrival. It was decided that the boys would walk to their houses, because they were relatively close, and the girls would follow behind in the vehicles. We stopped at each house the boys would be staying at to drop off their groceries before being dropped off at the houses we would be staying at. Initially, they were going to walk carrying everything, but there was concern over them looking too touristy.

The first house we went to was were Dave and Russell would be staying. Honestly, the main thing I remember is how excited the gogo (grandmother) was. Then we dropped off Leyton and Joe, and then Mariah and Alicia. Then it was just Mel and I in the car with Busji and Stephen. (Simon was in the Venture with the care workers.) We drove to Bethany's house, and she was not home. After some discussion, it was decided that Mel and I would wait it out at Thelma's house. Initially, all our stuff was left in the car; I just took my notebook, pen, and water bottle. We met Thelma's sister and her one month old baby. I had actually been taken to the house before, with Alicia and Dave, by one of the care workers, after getting caught in a rainstorm on our first visit to Welverdiend. Mel and I got settled in the kitchen/dining room, since we weren't sure how long we were going to be there. Thelma offered us guava from the tree in their backyard, so we could have a snack while we watched 'The Young And The Restless' This was a surprise because I hadn't considered television in general, let alone that I would fly 8,000 miles to watch American soap operas. There was some African programming, but there was a lot of American programming. There were teasers for 'The Real Housewives', specifically, The Real Housewives of New Jersey, though that distinction wasn't actually made. They are several seasons behind, but for a moment it struck me that, of all the American programming they could get, they get 'The Real Housewives of New Jersey' which just presents an awful picture of our society.

While we were watching television, we asked Thelma lots of questions. Thelma is 29; I'm 27 and Mel is 32, so we were all of similar age. One of the first things we talked about, of course, was how one goes about finding a good man in Africa! Of course we were thrilled when we found out Thelma has a man in her life she believes will be her future husband. Right now he is off working so he can save his money, in order to be able to marry her. We didn't get much detail beyond that; discussing relationships is interesting because they are handled so differently. Africans don't really date the way we do in westernized society. To say you have a girlfriend or a boyfriend is to announce publically that you are having sex with that person, which obviously no one would do. There are not many men in the communities, as most of left to find work elsewhere. It is unusual to find couples that are actually married. Often the extent of discussion consists of saying a woman will have a male visitor, but that she doesn't have a boyfriend, etc. It is an ironic and unbeneficial lifestyle given what we know about HIV/AIDS. It is difficult to grasp coming from western culture. At home we are empowered to make decisions to better ourselves. Women are encouraged to get out of abusive relationships, and outside people are encouraged to intervene if a relationship looks suspect. Here there are not that many men present within the community, and most of the ones that are are the ones you wouldn't want to meet. It isn't ingrained in their culture to change the patterns that our present; it is very much an uphill battle. Many women know the men they are sleeping with is not faithful to them, but to ask your boyfriend to use a condom implies that you don't trust him. It's something they would never do, because more often than not, it would probably end badly, and so the cycle persists. But that is another topic...

Busie dropped off the girl she was staying with to sit with us while she and Thelma went to take care of something at one of the other houses. It was around 5pm at this point. We watched more television, I think this was about the time that 'Rhythm city' came on. Around 6pm Busji and Thelma came back to tell us that we'd just stay at Thelma's house. Bethany was not comfortable with the idea of us staying for the weekend. This was completely understandable considering she is 14, she lives alone, and is very shy. Then just try
to consider the mindset of living alone at 14, with your parents burial mounds in the backyard, doing all of the cooking and cleaning while going to school and having no income. It was of course a bit of a disappointment that we couldn't stay with her, but completely understandable at the same time. Bethany must have been so stressed over the whole situation; she had even arranged to have us stay with a neighbor the next day because she intended to go to her sister's house in a different community. This is the part of the weekend where we all said 'TIA' and go with it. TIA stands for 'this is Africa' and it is what everyone says when plans change, which it seems like they do 95% of the time here.

After we found out we'd be staying at Thelma's, we went outside to fetch water from the tap for tea. Obviously I have known about the community stay since the first week of orientation, but it didn't really sink in until we were in Thelma's backyard. I just had this moment that I thought about my life at the time, and if I ever could have predicted it would play out this way. Of course I wanted to come to South Africa and serve with Hands at Work. At this time last year, I certainly hoped it would happen. The idea of staying in a local community never really sunk in. Of course I thought it was an amazing opportunity, but it was not something that I ever thought I would be doing! Standing outside, I was struck again by how different Africa is and yet how it is still the same as home. Here we are just constantly pushed outside of our comfort zones, and constantly encouraged to be the beautiful feet:

"How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!'" - Isaiah 52:7 [NIV]

Thelma's house is really her families home. She lives there with her mother, seven of her eight siblings, her son, and her sister's two children. Her father works in a different town, and usually comes home just once a month. The house is fairly large by African standards. African houses can look a different number of ways, from being an individual one room structure, to a collection of multiple one room structures, or one structure with multiple rooms. In Thelma's case, the main house consisted of a hallway, main room, and four bedrooms. The main room is the sitting area, indoor kitchen/dining room. Thelma's family had a television, refrigerator, toaster oven, electric stove top, so it looked like a fairly typical kitchen minus the sink. There was a tap in the backyard to get water for cooking and washing, along with an outdoor kitchen where we cooked over the fire. This house also had two outdoor toilets, one of which has a chicken nesting in the corner! It was definitely a more modern experience than we would have had at Bethany's house, as she does not have toilets or water on site. That evening we stewed tomatoes and chicken necks to eat with our pup for dinner, and watched television until it was time to take our bucket baths before bed. Bucket baths are self-explanatory as they are exactly what they sound like. Water is boiled, and combined with some cooler water if needed, and poured into a bucket. In this case, we had a large basin - we barely even made a mess (luckily!) It's not what most of us would consider ideal: it's an adjustment, but it is definitely doable.

Thelma, Mel, and I all slept in the same bed. I know I'm in Africa, but that first night I took the outside of the bed, and I froze! I was up by 5:30 at the latest, and only got about three hours of quality sleep because I was so cold! African women do not get tired though, they are amazing! We were all up, dressed, and doing chores by 7am! We started by sweeping the yard. Welverdiend is very arid, so there is very little grass. The neighbors got a kick of watching the white people sweeping the yard; I just don't have the African technique down quite yet... Sweeping the yard collects leaves and other debris, so the remaining sand just looks nicer. We swept the debris into multiple piles and then collected them all in our wheelbarrow, to take to the road. People dump their debris in the road in an attempt to fill in ditches.  Then it was breakfast time: oatmeal, it was so good! Then it was time to feed the chickens their breakfast. After that we really got going: we swept the whole house, mopped the floors, made polish and then polished the floors. Then we got water and proceeded to wash three bins full of laundry. And we finished everything by 11am!

Life is much more social in Africa. Alicia and Mariah came over to pay us a visit and see what our house was like. Other people from the community came over just because we were white. A few came inside the yard to meet us, but others just peeked at us through the hedges. Anywhere you walk, almost everyone will say "Hi. how are you?" and "I'm fine" because that is the first English phrases they learn. We had a quick break for tea, peanut butter sandwiches and moonballs (white grapes.) When we went back outside, we started playing some games and we ended up attracting over 20 kids. We played catch with tennis balls and then kicked around a soccer ball. Then we got into 'Stella Ella Ola" (a hand clapping game), 'Vasolina', 'Bananas of the World', the limbo, and we taught them 'the Hokey Pokey."


 


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It was really fun, but Pinky came over to meet Thelma to go visit the boys, and by this time it was already 1:30 in the afternoon. We went inside for another bucket bath, and got ready.

 First we went to visit the boys and their families, which involved watching Dave lose at some sort of card game. (Not that I would have had anymore luck, mind you!) We also stopped over to see Alicia and Mariah. Finally, we went to go meet Bethany. For the first ten minutes, Bethany didn't even come outside. We met two of her sisters and two friends, but Bethany is quite shy. Bethany's sister shared with the care workers that she was supposed to receive a grant from the government to help her take care of her sister. She went on to share that when she had traveled to retrieve it the day before, she was told they had nothing for her. Bethany's sister works in a different community as well, so she predominantly lives alone. It was heartbreaking to meet Bethany because you can see how damaged she is, while at the same time knowing we are only seeing a glimpse of how much pain she has experienced. She was desperately shy and struggled to even make eye contact. She has had to bear far more than the average 14 year old; it is truly heartbreaking.

We returned to the house and had to prepare dinner. That evening, our dinner was shredded cabbage and carrots, served with tomatoes and pilchards, and of course pup! While we were preparing food in the outdoor kitchen, we saw a woman from the community dressed in a traditional grass skirt and was going dancing. We ate dinner while watching 'MacGyver', of all things. Then it was time for our third bucket bath of the day, before climbing into bed. This time I took the middle, and it was much more comfortable!

The next morning I woke up at 5:30 again, but feeling more well-rested. Again, we got ready, washed and swept the house. We went to Thelma's Church: The Welverdiend Creche which was started by Swiss Mission for Refugees. It is a Presbyterian Church, but make no mistake: they are not part of the frozen chosen! There were about 50 people in attendance, and, including the pastor, only three of them were men. Everyone else was women and children. The scripture passages for the day were in Acts 16: 25-(?) and Luke 1: 26-38. We sang a lot of songs! There are only a handful of songs that I know well enough to sing the majority of the words to. One of my favorites is a song with hand motions; I have to get a copy of the lyrics from someone before I come back home. Being the only white people in attendance, it was obvious that we were visitors. We had to dance our way to the front of the room to introduce ourselves to everyone; later we were used to illustrate the sermon! (The theme being that God sends us to do His work and nothing is impossible with God.) All together, the Church service lasted three hours - but it was very cool, and very high energy! They even sang 'Come Though Almighty King' and 'What A Friend We Have In Jesus' in Tsongan! After that, there is an upcoming youth conference, so we stayed for a meeting (that lasted about 30 minutes) after the service concluded because Thelma was involved.

Then it was time to walk back to Thelma's house and eat lunch. We had prepared the rice before going to Church, and we ate that with the most amazing chicken! After that, we were so full that we insisted on taking a nap! Of course, once we were resting, Stephen and Busji came over to check on us... After they woke us up, we were fine. We cooked more chicken and pup for dinner. I like pup, and I like most African dishes; but I do not like cooking over an open wood fire. The smoke is so thick that it burns your eyes and you can barely see.




The next morning was our last chunk of time with Thelma. We got up, swept the yard and the house, went to the store, ate our breakfast and drank tea. Then it was time to walk to the care center. We were late, ironically we were the only ones who stayed with a care worker and we were the only ones who were late; according to Busji, this means we are officially on African time. The care workers were not prepared to do home visits, so we spent some time helping them break soil and do some landscaping details. We also swept, mopped, and polished the rooms in the care center themselves. After that, we had a quick debrief and said our goodbyes and climbed back into the vehicles for the care ride home.


Here are pictures of me with the whole family, and with Mel and Thelma:




  


So that is at least the highlights from my community stay. Again, I'm not sure how well communicated it was but I'm still a little in shock after the amazing day we had today! I woke up at 4am ready to go: I worked on this blog, and I watched the sun rise, before taking care of a few things. David Bentley took some of us into Nelspruit. I originally wanted to get my tragus pierced, but they couldn't do it at Mopani so we just got our cartilage pierced instead, but Bentley was able to take me somewhere to get my tragus pierced, which I've wanted to get for years. Then back at the Village, we had a Hands at Work Amazing Race put on by Kristi and it was amazing! We were put into four person teams (8 teams total and I believe 10 challenges) and were running all over campus! It was so, so much fun but I am exhausted!


Everyone showing our team spirit! You can see me with the blue team on the right. This is before we started, you can tell mostly because we are all dry and still covered in face paint. [We would later be covered in soap suds from the slip and slide challenge.] We all ate dinner together: we had pizza, which was another challenge, and we watched photos and videos from the event. After dinner was when we all found out about our placements. I honestly had no expectations about my placement after orientation. I am here for the shortest duration in our intake, so I saw it going 50/50 either way in terms of whether to send me out or keep me in South Africa. Jen discussed what they were thinking, and that I could look into flights, but also that I could leave as soon as Tuesday. That would mean: a. I am leaving before orientation is even finished, b. I am the first to leave out of our intake group and c. I only have two days to get my stuff together. Jen wasn't exactly sure how I would take the news, but honestly I'm not be overly stressed out by the idea of leaving on Tuesday. I don't even have a full load of laundry to do. I have six items I would have to buy, here or in Zambia, but otherwise I'm set. Once I buy a plane ticket of course... I've just been here in South Africa a month, as of yesterday, so the idea of leaving to spend a month in another country still boggles my mind! It's crazy, and I'm not sure I've entirely wrapped my head around it yet, but I'm so excited! I'll be going to Kitwe, to work with Byron and Diane. That's exciting because, aside from Marj and George, Byron was the first person I met at the Village! I'm discussing details tomorrow with Lynn to see if I would be able to get on the same flight to Zambia. We'll see what happens. I will probably be staying in Kitwe by myself, but I'm told it's very safe. Everyone has also told me how beautiful it is there; I'm very excited to see it! I'm also told that it is a much different image of the poor. That the poor there have even less than the poor here, which is a hard idea to wrap my head around having not experienced it yet.

I don't want to ruin the excitement for anyone else so I won't tell you who is being sent where just yet. I will tell you that I'll be one of the four in our intake who are being sent to Zambia; the other three are staying at the farm which is about an hour from Kitwe. There are also two people being sent to Malawi, one person is being sent to Zimbabwe, and one person is staying in South Africa. It's amazing how much one conversation can change everything! For the most part, we didn't really discuss where we would want to go but it all worked out. I think everyone is thrilled with their placements. The person placed in South Africa was actually hoping to stay here, rather than going somewhere new and starting all over. I know I'm ecstatic to be going to Zambia! Now I just have to sort out details, and I will blog again when I know more concrete details!

Thanks for praying! If you could, keep all eight of us in your prayers as we all sort out what the next phase looks like. Especially for the seven of us who will be purchasing flights, packing up our rooms and settling into our new homes within the next few weeks!

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Home Visits

Last week our intake was out in the community to do home visits with the care workers. Community Based Organizations, or CBOs, handle home visits differently. Some strictly perform home visits that pertain to vulnerable children. These visits include examining the house, in terms of safety and access to basic needs, as well as examining the emotional well being of the child and how they interact with other members of their household. Some CBOs also perform patient visits. Patient visits are different in that the subject is usually an adult, as opposed to a child, with a medical condition of some sort. This does include people with HIV, TB, but also a number of various other conditions. Later in the week I went on a patient visit to the home of an individual recovering from a stroke to check on his progress. Anyway, I digress..

On this particular day, I was with Dave, Jo-Anne and two care workers on a patient visit. We visited a simple home that was not remarkably different from simple homes in the United States. The living room was centered around the entertainment center, that was also used for basic storage. One end of the entertainment center was used to store ceramic figurines not all that different from pieces I might find in my grandmother's house. There was seating, two matching love seats and two matching chairs, that centered around a simple coffee table. The home obviously had electricity, and there was a small television in the entertainment center and I believe I saw a computer tower. There was a refrigerator with fruit magnets, something else you could find at my grandmother's house. There were two doors on either side of the living room that allowed a cross breeze, quite a luxury compared to most of the homes I have been to thus far. If you ignored the steel roof and the dry wall that was beginning to lose it's integrity, you could easily forget you were in Africa. A single roll of toilet paper and cell phone sat on the coffee table next to the love seat where Martha was laying down.

Martha is 40 years old. The care workers stop in to check her progress and have an idea of her overall well being. This visit was unique in that Martha spoke in her native language and the care workers did not interpret what she was saying for us. I know the conversation, despite being spoken in an African dialect, was peppered with English words and phrases. I know the word 'cancer' was discussed, but not in what context. Other words that stood out included 'abdominal pain', 'pregnancy', months, years, numbers, and reference of HIV status and ARVs. I'm not even sure how long we were there. It might have been twenty minutes, but it easily could have been longer. I just could not escape how thin and frail Martha looked. How bright her eyes were, and how they contrasted with the pain she wore on her face. The pain that could be seen simply by the way she held her hands. I only know Martha was crying. The care worker sitting next to me was crying.

We went on another visit that day to see a woman named Susan. We sat outside her house on crates and wicker chairs. The view from her backyard was absolutely beautiful. It's a strange juxtaposition of so much physical beauty in an area filled with extreme brokenness and heartache. Susan is dealing with TB in addition to being HIV+. She even shared her last lab value of CD4(T-cell) levels, which determine whether or not they need to be placed on ARVs. She suffers from bleeding in her ears and has to walk to the nearest clinic for treatment. She is not working so her only source of income is two grants she receives for her children. She is given 280Rand for each child, which (combined total) provides her just over $60 per month. That is all she has to support her family. Her only prayer request was for healing, so that she would be able to find a job.

The language barrier is a dilemma. We, thankfully, aren't expected to become fluent in these languages immediately. Even so, what do you say to a woman who has just told you she has TB and HIV? They don't understand our language, but even if they do - what do you say? There is the language barrier, but there is also just a word barrier in general. These people that we visit are dealing with so much, and have so little to do so, yet the continue to blow us away with their hospitality towards us and their faith in God. Susan asked for healing because she genuinely knows God has the ability to heal her. It is an awesome faith to be seen. It's also hard for us. There are questions about hospitality. Africans are so given when they have so little - which is a difficult pill for everyone to swallow. How guarded are we with sharing our possessions? You could be the most generous person and you would still come to Africa, only to realize that your generosity pales in comparison! Our Churches are littered with traps of a self-serving mindset, everything comes back to us. Here everything comes back to the greater good. These communities are so social, so group-centered - it is a dramatic contrast from westernized society.

Here we have to accept that we are essentially useless. We cannot 'fix' anything. We cannot provide a solution. We don't have all the right answers, contrary to what we all want to think. All we can do is stop talking and just listen. We can provide support to the care workers by hearing their personal stories, and the stories of the people they care for. We can hold the hands of the families we visit, consoling them as they tell their story, and hug them tightly before we leave. We can pray over them.

In the past I have gone on mission trips where people struggled to allow themselves to entertain the idea that they could have been in that situation. I have experienced people who, more than anything else, want to think that the people we serve are in the situation by their own doing. Because they are less motivated or because they don't have skills or money. That is easier, and quite frankly, more comfortable, than admitting that bad things could happen in our own lives. That they could be beyond our control, and that we could be unprepared to fix them. "If I was in this situation, I'd have insurance which would cover that..." Make no mistake, and I cannot stress this enough: here it is only too obvious that I have the life I do, not because I am better or more deserving, or because of anything I did, but because, by the grace of God, I was born in the United States and not in Africa.

Monday, March 4, 2013

We Made It!

Just a quick blog because, quite frankly, I just don't feel like going to sleep just yet...

We all made it back from our community stays safe and sound. This morning we all headed back to the CBO, with the goal of being there at 9. Ironically, Mel and I stayed with one of the care workers (it's a long story that I will blog about in more detail tomorrow...), and we were the last to arrive. We got there around 9:30, and Busji says that makes us officially African, because we now are moving on African time and not Western time! We got into some manual labor at the center: sweeping, moping, and polishing the floors, along with breaking up some ground to weed and even out ruts, and cutting some grass and disposing of the clippings. I got yet another sunburn, but it isn't too bad. I just look very pink, or so I'm told. After we finished those tasks, we had a quick debrief with the care workers and some of our families, and we prayed before we left. Then we repacked the cars and climbed in for the long car ride back. We were all pretty tired. I'm not sure about everyone in the Venture, but I know Dave, Mel, and I tried to sleep on the way back. I was probably the least successful, but I've slept the least in general since being here, so I really shouldn't be surprised...

Once we got to Hazyview, we went to KFC for lunch. Stephen was telling us about how much better KFC is here than our respective countries, which of course peaked my interest. It was an experience because we were all told to bring not more than 30 rand, and I had given some of mine for offering at the Church Mel and I attended. I ended up getting a 4-piece wings and mashed potatoes and gravy, because it would have been un-American to get anything else, for 20.80 rand ($2.29 USD) so it wasn't so bad at all! Then we got back into the cars to continue on our way. We had some time to relax, check email (I had over 150 unread emails in my inbox from just 3 days...) and shower! Mel and I took at least two bucket baths every day in the community, but it was still really nice to take a hot shower - not to mention being able to wear pants! Once I was settled, I ventured up the hill to pay the boys a visit, and buy a can of Pepsi. It never fails, so many volunteers don't drink pop, but we all come here and drink it. I think it's because we, at least the new intake, cannot just leave the Village at any time and when you can't have something, you usually end up wanting it more often. So I went up to get my post-community fix, and talked to the boys and their mom about our community stays. When I went back to the Village, most of our intake was congregated on the front porch, relaxing and waiting to go grocery shopping. By the time we were off to Pick n Pay, I was feeling even more giggly than usual and I'm blaming the latest sun exposure. Poor Daytona had to put up with me laughing hysterically in the car, both to and from the store. In terms of shopping, I was determined for it to be quick and painless so I made a list and stuck to it. Today the boys decided it would be fun to play bumper cars, and anytime they found one of us in the store, would purposefully ram our carts. My list worked and I was the first one done, so after loading up my groceries, I sat with Kristi and Daytona while they finished their meal, while we all waited and watched for the others to come out of Pick n Pay.

Back at the Village, we had some semblance of dinner. Some opted for salad, to counteract all the traditional foods we ate this weekend, I just had a proper peanut butter and jelly sandwich (something I've had basically everyday without fail since being here), and a few others just relaxed. And the hi-jinx, due to sun exposure and/or exhaustion, continued. We then headed up to the Waspe's for another debrief, which was fairly quick as we have another debrief session with Jen tomorrow morning. Then we went back to the Village, where even more hi-jinx occurred. We heard the latest Australian headlines from Leyton, I sang a few songs that everyone my age knows (aka Dave knew exactly what I was singing, but it was completely lost on Leyton and Mariah) and Mariah had a fit of laughter that was positively delightful. Singing and laughter are two tell-tale signs that we, the North Americans, have experienced too much sun exposure, especially seeing as it is winter back home. Once Mariah started laughing, I started laughing. Luckily we got it out of our system just before curfew. And no one was here to enforce curfew anyway because Jenna was getting picked up at the airport. Anyway, that is the gist of our day post-community stays. Perhaps not my most exciting entry, but we have the afternoon off tomorrow and I will try to write a proper blog on home visits and/or community stays tomorrow. Until then, I should at least try to get some sleep. Or at least not keep Alicia up... Either way, look for an additional post, or two, tomorrow!