Week Two in Africa!

 One awesome mentor having a good chat with the sports kids

This week has been quite an eventful week! Last week I was able to drive through the townships, but this week we started our sports program in the communities and got to actually get out of the car and spend some time with these kids and also walk through the townships. There is one particular township that stood out to me this week… there were the normal rows and rows of small shacks, but then leading up to our soccer field (a dirt lot) was a thick path of garbage. We followed a group of children as they led us through old remnants of food, all kinds of trash, shoes, and tons of dirty diapers. Of course I thought it was gross, but that wasn't my first reaction. The first thing I observed was that these children walk through this all the time without even blinking, without shoes on. It was a gut wrenching experience. 

Who needs to speak the same language to have fun?!

My role in the sports program is taking on a new shape. My job originally was to help run the program (run the games, teach the bible lesson, etc.), but we have such a high number of children that come to this that are under the age (usually preschool to around second grade aged children) that need a little love and attention! The leader of this program (Tim) and I have both agreed that these children are just as important to reach and love on as the older kids are. They are too young to participate in the sports program and end up being a major distraction to both the older children and the sports mentors. I have told Tim that I would love to help out with the younger children. There is obviously a need for someone to do that but we are so short on volunteers here that it is hard to find someone to do it. But I know without a doubt that God has given me a special love for little children and I feel so blessed to be chosen to fill this role. Right now we don’t know what it looks like to minister to these children. They only speak Xhosa, which is an extremely complicated language to learn and involves many clicks that my western tongue cannot figure out! But I know that even having someone there loving on them is a big deal. This is a culture where parents work and older siblings care for younger siblings. Mothers try to provide for the basic needs of their children with the limited resources they have, but struggle to meet their needs emotionally. I can see these children are attention starved just by the way they come up to me to be hugged, lifted up and just touched! It overwhelms me to think that God has chosen me, a little person from Southern California who struggles to love people well, to love on these children. But I also know that that is what we are called to do, show the love of Christ by being in relationship with people. I know that in my own strength I cannot accomplish this, but it’s a good thing that I am not here with my own agenda and wanting to do this alone! I want to love these children because Jesus loves these children so much and He wants them to know how precious they are to Him; because they are.

Sweet girls singing "Happy birthday to you!"

The first five years in a child’s life is the most vital for development. A big problem in South Africa that is overlooked is schooling for preschool age children. The first five years in a child’s life is the most vital for development and 70% of the children in Grabouw do not attend preschool. Thembalitsha (the parent organization for the Village of Hope) has a long term goal to develop more preschools in Grabouw and the goal right now is to move from 30% to 35%, which means opening another preschool. I have been asked to help a lady named Frances in this project while I am here. Right now that involves going into every single preschool and figuring out how we can come alongside them to help develop their existing program and where we can start another preschool. I am so excited for this because this is an area that I am passionate about. I have a little background in early childhood education and believe that God wants to use that to help this little community. Right now it’s all in the beginning stages, but I am really looking forward to how the Lord will use me to help the town of Grabouw and how He will develop my skills and passions even more to impact His kingdom! I will be assisting Frances and another lady from one of the local townships, named Oggi.

I am doing very well here so far! One never knows what to expect when going into situations like this, but I know that God has and will continue to equip me with all that I need for each day. I already know He is working deep within my heart and I want to thank you all for your constant prayers and support.

South Africa is beautiful!

Things To Pray For:

• Pray that the Lord will use me to love these young children in the sports program , even with the language barrier.
• Pray for Frances, Oggi and myself as we figure out when and where a new preschool can be opened.
• Please continue to pray that I develop a strong community while I am here. I am not really homesick, but it is always good to be in community.

Hello From South Africa!

For those of you who don’t know, I am in Grabouw, South Africa volunteering with a non-profit Christian organization called the VIllage of Hope and will be here a minimum of six months.  I arrived on January 29th after over 24 hours of travel. Boy am I glad to be off that plane! It was such a long flight! But it wasn’t too bad because on the longest flight (approx. 19 hours long) I didn’t have anyone sitting next to me so I could stretch out a bit! The bad news of the trip is that my luggage was left in DC! So I didn’t actually have my things until I had been here about a day and a half, which wasn’t too bad. I was picked up at the airport on time and taken back to the farm, about a 45 minute drive. When I got to the farm, everyone was sound asleep. 

squatter camp, aka Iraq

The next few days was filled with tagging along with anyone that was going anywhere. I was able to go on a couple drives through the closest township, called Rooidaka (meaning red roof in Afrikaans).  The purpose of driving through there was to pick up a few local teenagers to bring them back to the farm for a sports meeting. When I say “pick up a few” I mean four kids in the backseat and about 6-8 in the bed of the truck! It was a fun and crowded experience. While on that drive I was able to see what these townships look like. Let me start by saying there are townships (or informal settlements) and there are squatter camps. Before I came here I thought they were different names for the same thing, but actually, townships are tiny dirt lots with fences around them, but are basically little houses. They aren’t all well made or made out of good material, but they seemed a step above squatter camps. I was told that townships were built when apartheid was ending and they are very similar to the reservations that were built for the Native Americans. But the squatter camps are even worse, they are basically little shacks with no electricity and no running water, made out of wood and old scraps of material. I drove through both of these places. It’s very strange to me to be able to drive through a place like this, with iPhone in hand to snap a few pictures, and realize how different I am than them. It’s a strange feeling driving through with my clean, semi-new clothes and seeing how little they have. But I don’t think I could ever really understand or put myself in their shoes. But then again, I'll be here six months and people do change. Another thing I observed on that drive (and enjoyed very much) was hearing the children and women call out as we drove by, “Tim, Tim!!” Tim (along with his wife, Maz) is the director of Village of Hope and was driving the truck that day. They all know him there and it’s sweet to see the relationships he has built over the five years he has been here. He truly loves these people and has such a big heart for them.

In addition to the children from the townships, there are the children staying at the Village of Hope. They currently have enough room for nine children, but only have three at the moment because next week they will begin construction all over the farm to build more volunteer housing and to expand the children’s unit in order to accommodate more children in the future. When I arrived there were five children, but since then two have been placed in another home in hopes of a better chance of adoption. But the three children here are very precious and I am really looking forward to knowing them. Also because of the construction, I will be moving out of the volunteer house to the other side of the farm to live with Tim and Maz! I am excited for that because it will be less like dorm living and more like living with a family or with roommates. I love that because it’s more relational and comforting.

                

view from my bedroom window

So far I am enjoying my time here. I am desperately homesick, but that is to be expected when you move to a foreign country by yourself. But everyone here is very kind to me and very inclusive. Tim and Maz have already invited me to a couple different things, one being a bible study at their church, which I went to. I think I will like it here very much. I know the Lord has brought me here and I want to make the most out of my six months here. I know that God will use this experience to make me more like Him, and I am so excited for that!

I want to thank everyone for all the support I have received, not only before I left, but since I have been here! My facebook page has been exploding with people telling me they are praying for me and are excited for me! I cannot express how that makes me feel! I am alone here, but somehow I don’t feel alone, especially since technology keeps me connected with everyone instantly. I will try to keep everyone updated with what God is doing and how you can be praying for me.

Things to Pray For:

• Homesickness: Pray that my homesickness won’t be a distraction from what God is doing here, but that it would encourage me to stay connected to those I love.
• For courage to step out of my discomfort and do the things I wouldn’t necessarily do back home; i.e. pray out loud in groups and teach bible studies to the children in the communities.
• Pray that I develop strong relationships here, with the people of VoH and the children in the townships in our regular outreach clubs.
• Pray that I find a good church to attend.