Hello beautiful people!
Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve updated. I hope everyone had an absolutely wonderful Christmas and New Year’s! Mine was a whirlwind tour of the U.S., but SUCH a blessing to be home and to see so many people I’d been missing. I was in DC for a few days to catch up with the Georgetown fam, and then headed to Detroit for a week to spend lots of time with family and old friends. Then my sister and I flew out to LA for a week to see my Mom & Mark, and I got to see a couple great Gtown friends too, Princess and Maleia! I even met up with one of my Hands at Work coworkers and his girlfriend (he’s South African but she’s American, from LA!) My last stop was Atlanta, to see my dear friend Gabrielle and her son Lawrence Prince who is my Godson! It was so beautiful to spend new years at church with them, and a great send-off back to South Africa. I even got to see my uncle and aunts who live in Atlanta!! So it was an all-around amazing 3 weeks in the U.S.!
I arrived back in South Africa on January 3, and I was basically out for the count for the first few days – jetlag got me good this time! But by the end of the week I was back up and running, and we had a couple meetings in the various villages in Bushbuckridge to plan for 2011. It’s the beginning of the academic year here, so all of the services for the orphans and vulnerable children are starting back up, like feeding programs and after-school help. So for the past few weeks we’ve been meeting with the community-based organizations in the different villages to see what their hopes and dreams are for 2011 and to help them set goals and create budgets for the new year.
Then, on the 12th, one of my best friends in the world came to visit me from Cape Town!! My first visitor!! It was such a blessing to show her around and to introduce her to all the people that have become so dear to me here in Mpumalanga. It was especially nice to expose her to the work that we’re doing in these villages, because sometimes I feel like my “worlds” are so disconnected, so to have someone from a different part of my life come and see the work that I do and the places that I go every day just felt so nice. And we also got to do a bit of touristy stuff which was great! We went to a soccer game at the World Cup stadium in Nelspruit, as well as the Botanical Gardens (SO gorgeous!!) and this place called Bourke’s Luck Potholes. I know it’s a really weird name, but it was literally the most beautiful place I have ever seen. When we walked up to it I turned to Brittanie and said, “This must be what heaven looks like!” Blue skies, rolling green hills, waterfalls all around… it was paradise! So all in all, it was a lovely visit.
During that week, we had our Watchword meeting, which is when Hands at Work comes together at the beginning of the year and George, our founder, shares a message about where He feels God is leading the organization this year. It was such a powerful word! It was based in Ephesians 1:11 (Message version) which says “It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for.” He emphasized that “we are before we do,” and the importance of Christ continually transforming our lives so that we are equipped to minister to others and do the work that He has called us to. Then, another volunteer spoke about “going deeper,” in relationships with people in the communities we serve but also with one another within the organization. He talked about deep relationships as being God’s primary tool in shaping us, and the meaning of true compassion as choosing to suffer with people. It was such a stirring message, and one that definitely resonated with some of my personal resolutions for 2011.
That following weekend, one of my co-workers brought one of the little boys from Bushbuckridge to Hands at Work, so that he could go to ACTS Clinic, a free HIV/AIDS clinic next door that was founded by an amazing woman of God. Spending just a little bit of time with him really touched my heart and reminded me of why I am here. He and his two siblings don’t have any family; they are completely alone. But thanks to one of the careworkers from a community-based organization we work with, he at least has someone visiting him and caring for him. He’s very, very sick though, and he’s only 11 years old. Even though we can’t communicate beyond “hi, how are you?” it was so sweet sharing smiles with him and playing with him a bit. He seemed like such a fun and goofy boy, despite his circumstances, and he just tugged on my heartstrings and reminded me how important this work is. If it hadn’t been for the work of the community-based organization and Hands at Work, he never would have gotten to this clinic, and his condition would have simply gotten worse and worse with no hope. But now his illness is being treated, and there is a glimmer of hope in his life. Praise be to God!! What an encouraging way to start the new year.
Last week was my first week staying out in Bushbuckridge since last year. It was so wonderful to see my dear host family again!! I had a particularly exciting evening on Wednesday when I cooked mopane worms for the family! I had never eaten them before, let alone cooked them, but people, they were actually DELICIOUS!! You buy them from the markets on the side of the road already cooked and dried and salted. Then you fry them up with veggies until they get a bit soft but they still have a nice little crunch – I’m telling you, I really enjoyed them!! : ) Other than that, we had several meetings out in the different villages during the day setting things up for 2011. It was so nice to be back in Bushbuckridge driving around – it made me realize how much I missed my new rural surroundings after being back in the States for a while! Driving on the dirt roads, dodging cows that think they own the road, picking up different pedestrians in the back of the bakkie (pick-up truck) on the way, waving to all the little kids excited to see a mlungu (white person) riding through their village, and eating grilled mealies (corn) and mangos from the markets on the side of the road… it’s the small things in life that really put a smile on my face! : ) And I got to try something new this week – something like a sugarcane that the coordinator of one of our community-based organizations grows in his backyard. It was so delicious! My co-worker says when he was growing up and had to be out taking care of the cows all day, he would bring a few sticks of that stuff and it would keep him energized the whole day! I don’t know if it would be enough to sustain me, but it was definitely yummy!
I came back to Hands at Work on Thursday, because I’ve also started working with the team who runs the Youth Camps (where orphans from the villages come to Hands for a weekend) to help them develop a curriculum. On Fridays, I’m going to be in their office helping to put a manual together which will compile all the different lessons they teach the children, about making good decisions, relationships, HIV/AIDS, career guidance, manners and respect, etc. I’m happy to be helping with it because the kids are my passion, so it’s nice to be helping directly and having an influence on something that benefits them so much.
This weekend was pretty relaxed – had a girls’ night on Friday to celebrate my co-worker’s recent engagement, and a birthday tea for another co-worker yesterday. Also went to a braai and had some awesome steak (I am really gonna miss the meat in SA!) Today, went to church and had our first Youth Service of the year. It was really nice! Oh, I have to tell you a funny story from church last week though. So, obviously my church does not have air conditioning, and it’s very hot, especially with all those people in there, dancing around and stuff! So I was getting in the minibus taxi and I was literally praying that someone would have bought my church some fans to keep us cool. And sure enough, miracle of miracles, I got to church and there were not one but two fans! But then – can you believe it – they were only pointed at the men’s section! (Yes, we sit according to gender at my church… it’s old-school!) It was African patriarchy at its finest y’all, and I can’t even act like I wasn’t upset!! I had to just laugh though, because it was just too ridiculous to be true, and yet it was!
So that’s been the past few weeks… Looking forward to a fun and productive February! I’ll try to update you all again soon. God bless!
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