This week there's a team here from Charlottesville, VA, leading a vacation Bible school (or holiday Bible club, as we call it here). They're fun to be with, and it's nice to hear that American accent again! We've had between 65 and 85 kids each day, ages 4 to 13. Today (Wednesday) was a little low because we woke up to see SNOW on the ground! It was a dusting, but it's so rare here that everyone made a big deal out of it. I'm hoping this cold snap passes by quickly!
On Saturday evening we had the opportunity go out with Tony and Anne to hear Haydn's Creation put on by the Joburg community choir and orchestra and the Yale Alumni chorus. They are sponsors of the choir, so they had free tickets, and even treated us to a nice meal beforehand! It was beautiful music and a fabulous performance, but while I was there something didn't feel quite right. Then it hit me – the choir, orchestra, and audience were overwhelmingly white. There were maybe 20 black people there. And it made me very uncomfortable. Which is odd, because Mary Washington was unfortunately a 90% white majority and I never really felt uncomfortable there. But I guess my perceptions have changed a bit.
I've mentioned it before on the blog, but race is a big deal here, and I still have trouble with it. People have set ideas about someone based upon their race. I've heard whites make passing comments about blacks, and that always makes me cringe a little bit. They're usually not offensive, but the fact that they're making broad comments about someone based upon their race is unsettling. (Example: “Blacks have such cold hands! It freezes me every time I shake one of their hands in church.”) Even when describing someone, usually the first trait they give is “white” or “black.” I notice skin color, but it's usually not the first characteristic I associate with someone. When I think of the kids at the Centre, I don't think “black kids,” just “kids.” And it's taken a lot of coercing to convince the black staff to eat lunch at the same table as the (white) American team...they don't feel as though it's their place.
But the sad thing is, there are basic generalizations that are mostly true, though it has less to do with the characteristics of the people and more to do with their economic status. White = rich, black = poor. The people that have been entertaining us on weekends and such: white. The concert was a higher culture thing, so obviously the people there had money, and therefore mostly white. I don't know of any blacks with cars. And poverty here is a tough thing to get out of. For example, the education system here is all private schools, i.e. parents have to pay. Where children go to school is not based upon location, but upon how much the parents can pay. Higher cost = better education. So even though apartheid legally ended, the schools are very much segregated due to money issues. There are even some kids who can't go to school because their parents don't have enough money. But if you can't get a quality education, or any education at all, how can you rise out of poverty? And so the cycle continues, for some at least. Hopefully there are some who can change their circumstances.
I've tried to compare it in my head to the States. Race relations there are far from perfect, but they're a little better I think. Then again, our civil rights movements were in the 1960s...we've had 50 years to work towards fixing those issues. And it's taken several generations to change ways of thinking and acting, and we're still not fully there yet. Old habits die hard, and South Africa is no exception. The youth and children we're serving now will be critical in continuing the movement towards change. I just wish that it wasn't such a slow-moving process to change the mindset and perspective people have.
But how did this all start in the first place? Why did people start suppressing others solely based upon race? Why did they decide skin color made such a big difference? And why did some of those people bring God into it, claiming God prefers one race over another and that gave them the right to have authority over those who look differently? It's a ridiculous concept, but one that has cost the freedom and lives of countless people all over the world.
I know I'm not the first to think about things like this. I guess in the States I was able to turn a blind eye to race problems. But when you're immersed in a place like this, you can't ignore it.
An unsettling way to end a blog post...I never promised it would be full of happy thoughts...
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Friday, June 22, 2007
The Joburg Crew
Before I start, I wanted to give you all a little bit of SA history. June 16 is known as Youth Day, commemorating an event that happened in 1976. Due to the apartheid, children were separated by skin color for their schooling, and the black schools were greatly inferior. On that day, a bunch of black school children marched in protest through a part of Joburg, and the white police officers opened fire, killing several of them. The shooting was not in self defense. The rest of the day was one of riots and killings. The children did not initiate the violence, though in their anger over the killing of their peers they did begin to stone innocent bystanders whom they associated with the government. It was a horrible day, but it caught the attention of people and helped start the movement to work towards ending apartheid. And though it has ended, healing is still a long way away.
And a quick update on the strike – it's still going on. We went with Cheryl to the hospital on Sunday so she could visit someone, and it was eerily empty. Some staff is there, but they're all in plainclothes so they aren't attacked coming to/from work. Only the worst patients are there; they're trying to send as many home as they can since they lack manpower. In fact, the woman we went to see had had a stroke on Friday, had her head and heart operated on on Saturday, and was back at her house on Sunday. It's a miracle she was able to get the treatment, and even more of a miracle that she was doing okay. I just pray the strike will end soon, because there are many more who haven't been so fortunate.
Since I've been dropping all these names, I thought you might want to know who they are! So here are some brief bios on them...
Cheryl Allen is the pastor here at Troyeville Baptist. She is a whirlwind, and you have to listen closely because she will tell you about 10 different things at the speed of light! She has a great heart, and knows what she's doing, even if she's always 5 steps ahead of the rest of us. We typically have lunch with her family after church on Sundays, and this past week we started watching another season of the Bachelor (the season with Bob). I reassured her several times that us American girls aren't all like that :o)
Uncle Tony is the director of the TLC, and has been helping me email these blogs home since the laptop is still unusable at church. He had retired from his previous job, then came on to help get the Centre started. He and his wife, Anne, have been very kind to us, helping us get the space heaters for our rooms and even taking us to a Sunday night worship service. This Friday we're supposed to go to their place with some of the youth to watch a movie and have supper.
Janice and Josh have been named my unofficial family here. Janice has had us over for dinner twice, as well as taken us grocery shopping. Josh is her son, age 16, and often his friends Ngobi and Jono are over as well. She even took us along last Saturday to Gold Reef City theme park with Josh and Ngobi, where we rode lots of the rides and got quite dizzy. (And the cost was only R100 – about 12 or 13 USD!) They also lent us a cell phone to use while we're here. They've made us feel so comfortable and accepted here. And like a good adopted little brother, Josh has fun picking on me.
I've mentioned Nomalanga several times – she lives in the cottage with us. She's a sweet woman, but doesn't put up with any foolishness! It's been fun getting to know her and hear her story. For a long time, she lived with Oyisa's father, and he kept saying they would get married “one day,” once he had the money. She knew they should get married, and kept pushing for it. A year ago, he won a drawing for a new car which he couldn't drive. The logical response would have been to sell it and use the money to get married, but he didn't. At that time, the offer came for Nomalanga to work here and move into the cottage, so she left him and took Oyisa. In March, she took in Thabo, who was very malnourished, because of bad family dynamics. He looks very healthy now, but is still undersized for his age.
Aurelia is my co-teacher. She has twins – Prince and Princess, but everyone calls them Puti and CeeCee (that's my phonetic spelling of the words). She is sweet as well, and it's a struggle for her sometimes to teach if one of her children is crying, even through we put them in another class.
Joyce is Russell's co-teacher. She's from the Congo, and started teaching here a week before we got here. She's very talkative and funny. She's fluent in French, taught herself English, and is now working to learn Zulu. At some point I'm supposed to start discipling her with a “Fundamentals of the Faith” workbook that Cheryl is ordering.
Faith is the head cook, and always smiling and laughing. She lives across the street, though her power has been cut off. She broke her foot before we got here, but cut the cast off herself about two weeks ago because it was heavy. I'm afraid as to how poorly her foot may heal.
And Carol is now here! She was working at the Virginia Baptist Mission Board, but has come over here to spend (at least) a year working with the youth group. I think she's doing a great job already! She's full of energy, and I love to talk with her. I'll probably be helping her some with the youth, at least until I leave. And she'll hopefully be getting a car soon so we can go places!
Well, naptime is almost over, so I should go. There's lots more to do – they've asked Russell and I to help out musically on several levels, so we need to figure something out!
Cheers!
And a quick update on the strike – it's still going on. We went with Cheryl to the hospital on Sunday so she could visit someone, and it was eerily empty. Some staff is there, but they're all in plainclothes so they aren't attacked coming to/from work. Only the worst patients are there; they're trying to send as many home as they can since they lack manpower. In fact, the woman we went to see had had a stroke on Friday, had her head and heart operated on on Saturday, and was back at her house on Sunday. It's a miracle she was able to get the treatment, and even more of a miracle that she was doing okay. I just pray the strike will end soon, because there are many more who haven't been so fortunate.
Since I've been dropping all these names, I thought you might want to know who they are! So here are some brief bios on them...
Cheryl Allen is the pastor here at Troyeville Baptist. She is a whirlwind, and you have to listen closely because she will tell you about 10 different things at the speed of light! She has a great heart, and knows what she's doing, even if she's always 5 steps ahead of the rest of us. We typically have lunch with her family after church on Sundays, and this past week we started watching another season of the Bachelor (the season with Bob). I reassured her several times that us American girls aren't all like that :o)
Uncle Tony is the director of the TLC, and has been helping me email these blogs home since the laptop is still unusable at church. He had retired from his previous job, then came on to help get the Centre started. He and his wife, Anne, have been very kind to us, helping us get the space heaters for our rooms and even taking us to a Sunday night worship service. This Friday we're supposed to go to their place with some of the youth to watch a movie and have supper.
Janice and Josh have been named my unofficial family here. Janice has had us over for dinner twice, as well as taken us grocery shopping. Josh is her son, age 16, and often his friends Ngobi and Jono are over as well. She even took us along last Saturday to Gold Reef City theme park with Josh and Ngobi, where we rode lots of the rides and got quite dizzy. (And the cost was only R100 – about 12 or 13 USD!) They also lent us a cell phone to use while we're here. They've made us feel so comfortable and accepted here. And like a good adopted little brother, Josh has fun picking on me.
I've mentioned Nomalanga several times – she lives in the cottage with us. She's a sweet woman, but doesn't put up with any foolishness! It's been fun getting to know her and hear her story. For a long time, she lived with Oyisa's father, and he kept saying they would get married “one day,” once he had the money. She knew they should get married, and kept pushing for it. A year ago, he won a drawing for a new car which he couldn't drive. The logical response would have been to sell it and use the money to get married, but he didn't. At that time, the offer came for Nomalanga to work here and move into the cottage, so she left him and took Oyisa. In March, she took in Thabo, who was very malnourished, because of bad family dynamics. He looks very healthy now, but is still undersized for his age.
Aurelia is my co-teacher. She has twins – Prince and Princess, but everyone calls them Puti and CeeCee (that's my phonetic spelling of the words). She is sweet as well, and it's a struggle for her sometimes to teach if one of her children is crying, even through we put them in another class.
Joyce is Russell's co-teacher. She's from the Congo, and started teaching here a week before we got here. She's very talkative and funny. She's fluent in French, taught herself English, and is now working to learn Zulu. At some point I'm supposed to start discipling her with a “Fundamentals of the Faith” workbook that Cheryl is ordering.
Faith is the head cook, and always smiling and laughing. She lives across the street, though her power has been cut off. She broke her foot before we got here, but cut the cast off herself about two weeks ago because it was heavy. I'm afraid as to how poorly her foot may heal.
And Carol is now here! She was working at the Virginia Baptist Mission Board, but has come over here to spend (at least) a year working with the youth group. I think she's doing a great job already! She's full of energy, and I love to talk with her. I'll probably be helping her some with the youth, at least until I leave. And she'll hopefully be getting a car soon so we can go places!
Well, naptime is almost over, so I should go. There's lots more to do – they've asked Russell and I to help out musically on several levels, so we need to figure something out!
Cheers!
Friday, June 15, 2007
Two Week update
Sorry for the extreme lack of communication! Over the weekend, Russell and I had typed up huge updates on Tony's laptop for us to send out on Monday morning. On Sunday, it decided to crash after being used for the worship lyrics. Needless to say, they have decided to get rid of it and buy a new one. Which is fine, but it means our updates are gone, and the church is now without a way to get online! So, we've undertaken a little creative emailing to get this new update out to everyone. So just know that my emailing will be very very rare, and my appearance on Facebook and MySpace will be nonexistent until I'm back in the States!
On to the real update...
I'm writing this on the evening of Thursday, June 14. We've been here for a week and a half, and I feel a little more settled. After a long flight (and an enjoyable layover in London, where we ran around the city), we made it to Johannesburg on the morning of Sunday, June 3. We had just enough time to change and get to church. Running on about 6 hours of sleep from the past two days, I don't remember much of that day!
We're staying in a cottage in the church “compound.” All houses and places here are gated, even in the “nicer” parts of town. Troyeville is not one of those parts. So, we have a wall with fencing on top with barbed wire. As long as we stay smart and follow the basic rules (don't wear jewelry/carry expensive things in the street, don't go out in the street at night, keep the gate locked), we're safe. It used to be a nice area with a white majority, but sometime recently (within the past 10 or so years?), blacks started moving in, and the whites left. Apartheid may be gone, but remnants still remain. And sadly, in Joburg skin color still has a meaning. With the influx of blacks came more crime and poverty. I'm not trying to be racist at all, but it's what happened. White equals rich. Black equals poor. Making the culture switch after apartheid is difficult, and there is a large unemployment rate, especially among blacks. Much of the crime is out of desperation to simply have money for food. Several families might live in one small room, with children sleeping on the floor. It's a rough life for them.
In the States, I call myself a “poor college student.” But I now realize I have so much more than most people in this world...
Our cottage is quite nice. We have our own rooms, and we share it with Nomalanga, the head teacher at the TLC, and her two children, Oyisa (age 6) and Thabo (age 7). Thabo isn't really her son; I'll tell that story at another time. Anyway, we share the lounge, the kitchen, and the bathroom. It's a decent setup, and we have everything we need. The one shock for me was the lack of a shower. Baths only here! But I still have hot water and get clean, so I can't complain too much. There is also no heating in the cottage, or in most places around here. And yes, it's wintertime here. At night it can get cold, but when the sun is out during the day it can be quite nice. After about a week we were given small space heaters to warm up our rooms, but we use them sparingly to save on electricity. But if you wear a lot of layers and use a lot of blankets, no problem!
And we do have to be careful about blackouts. The power supply is unstable, often because people will cut the cables to sell, or steal power and overburden the system. Last night the circuit the cottage was on went out, and was out until this afternoon. I was so happy when it came back on, though, if only so I could have warm water for a bath!
There's also been a strike in South Africa. It started June 1 (the day we left the States). Basically, the teachers and hospital workers are demanding a 12 percent increase in their wages. From what I've heard, the upper rung of government holds most of the money, and there is a large gap between them and those below. So, the demand isn't unreasonable. However, negotiations haven't been going well. Many children have been out of school for almost two weeks now, and those schools that do still operate do so under great security. Unfortunately, many of the strikers have been using violence to try and convince the non-strikers to comply. It is a culture of violence. We actually closed yesterday, as more government workers were planning to strike, and we didn't want to become a potential target or put any of the children in danger. No worries – we opened up today just fine, and there were no problems. But the entire situation needs a lot of prayer.
On to the TLC itself: The Touch Life Centre has been in existence for about a year and operates Monday through Friday, 7:30 to 16:30. Approximately 60 children are enrolled, and 40 more are on the waiting list. They are about 2-5 years of age (out of their nappies...er, diapers). It is extremely low cost: 50 rand a month. One US dollar equals about 7 rand, so essentially they are paying 7 dollars a month. The actual cost of caring for the children is higher, so they rely on donations and such. The children are divided into three classes: Puppies, Elephants, and Giraffes (youngest to oldest, respectively). The first day, Russell and I were given the Elephant class, because their teacher, Malt, has had to leave town for a few weeks to care for her brother's affairs after his murder. (I'm sorry, I know that was probably a jolting statement, but I felt I should include it). They quickly took advantage of us, so now we co-teach with others. I help Aurelia in the Puppy class, and Russell helps Joyce in the Elephants.
It's taken a while for me to get used to the ways of these children, and for them to get used to me. There is no discipline at home, so they don't know how to respond. At first, they would infuriate me by deliberately doing the opposite of whatever I said while looking directly at me and smiling. They knew they were disobeying me! But they also weren't used to me. My English is quite different (though I've found myself using some South African pronunciations), and I don't speak Zulu (what most of them speak, though we encourage English here). And, my skin is a different color, a fact I often forget. Again, skin color holds much more meaning here. But they're starting to listen more, and I've been able to relax a little more. They're so affectionate and love to have any contact with you. When they come running at you for a hug or a high five, it's hard to stay mad! And they need a lot of love; they've been exposed to so many horrible things already, more than I've seen, and I'm four times their ages.
Our basic schedule: breakfast, toilet, morning prayer/singing, teaching, outside play if it's nice, toilet, morning snack, sleeping time, toilet, lunch, face wash, story time, play time, toilet, afternoon snack, group singing, playing until pick-up. Due to a lack of training and resources, there's not a lot of structured education that happens. A woman from the States is supposed to be coming at the end of the month to help implement something. So basically, I take a lot of kids to the toilet, keep them from hurting each other or myself, and give them food. I know it must sound like a lot of food, but for many of these kids it's probably all the food they'll get for the day. And yes, we eat lunch with them (where we've been introduced to pap, which is basically a sticky and tasteless starch made from cornstarch and mixed with anything).
Today we also had the opportunity to spend a few hours at Door of Hope, the baby house Cheryl helped establish. I got to hold a bunch of precious babies, and it made me happy :o) But I also found out that Americans can't adopt from there or anywhere in SA due to our government's refusal to sign some adoption treaty that SA is a part of.
As we have no car, we've been reliant upon the kindness of church people to take us places. We've had a few people have us over for meals, which is a nice break from cooking! (Yes, we cook for ourselves, and we are masters at grilled cheese and pasta. And yes, we eat fruit as well.) Janice had us over for a meal and game night with her son and his two school friends, and Tony and Anne took us to an evening worship service at an “emergent” church and fed us afterwards (and lent us some more reading material). And we have a standing after-church lunch invitation at Cheryl's. I realize those names probably mean nothing to you right now, but in a later update I'll try to let you know a little more about them. Nomalanga also occasionally includes us in her meals, which is nice as well. And we're in the process of making a few plans to see things – a hike, maybe a rhino park, etc.
There's so much more I can say, but I'm sure you've probably gone cross-eyed by now from reading all this. But if you're dying to read more, take a look at Russell's blog!
Cheers!
On to the real update...
I'm writing this on the evening of Thursday, June 14. We've been here for a week and a half, and I feel a little more settled. After a long flight (and an enjoyable layover in London, where we ran around the city), we made it to Johannesburg on the morning of Sunday, June 3. We had just enough time to change and get to church. Running on about 6 hours of sleep from the past two days, I don't remember much of that day!
We're staying in a cottage in the church “compound.” All houses and places here are gated, even in the “nicer” parts of town. Troyeville is not one of those parts. So, we have a wall with fencing on top with barbed wire. As long as we stay smart and follow the basic rules (don't wear jewelry/carry expensive things in the street, don't go out in the street at night, keep the gate locked), we're safe. It used to be a nice area with a white majority, but sometime recently (within the past 10 or so years?), blacks started moving in, and the whites left. Apartheid may be gone, but remnants still remain. And sadly, in Joburg skin color still has a meaning. With the influx of blacks came more crime and poverty. I'm not trying to be racist at all, but it's what happened. White equals rich. Black equals poor. Making the culture switch after apartheid is difficult, and there is a large unemployment rate, especially among blacks. Much of the crime is out of desperation to simply have money for food. Several families might live in one small room, with children sleeping on the floor. It's a rough life for them.
In the States, I call myself a “poor college student.” But I now realize I have so much more than most people in this world...
Our cottage is quite nice. We have our own rooms, and we share it with Nomalanga, the head teacher at the TLC, and her two children, Oyisa (age 6) and Thabo (age 7). Thabo isn't really her son; I'll tell that story at another time. Anyway, we share the lounge, the kitchen, and the bathroom. It's a decent setup, and we have everything we need. The one shock for me was the lack of a shower. Baths only here! But I still have hot water and get clean, so I can't complain too much. There is also no heating in the cottage, or in most places around here. And yes, it's wintertime here. At night it can get cold, but when the sun is out during the day it can be quite nice. After about a week we were given small space heaters to warm up our rooms, but we use them sparingly to save on electricity. But if you wear a lot of layers and use a lot of blankets, no problem!
And we do have to be careful about blackouts. The power supply is unstable, often because people will cut the cables to sell, or steal power and overburden the system. Last night the circuit the cottage was on went out, and was out until this afternoon. I was so happy when it came back on, though, if only so I could have warm water for a bath!
There's also been a strike in South Africa. It started June 1 (the day we left the States). Basically, the teachers and hospital workers are demanding a 12 percent increase in their wages. From what I've heard, the upper rung of government holds most of the money, and there is a large gap between them and those below. So, the demand isn't unreasonable. However, negotiations haven't been going well. Many children have been out of school for almost two weeks now, and those schools that do still operate do so under great security. Unfortunately, many of the strikers have been using violence to try and convince the non-strikers to comply. It is a culture of violence. We actually closed yesterday, as more government workers were planning to strike, and we didn't want to become a potential target or put any of the children in danger. No worries – we opened up today just fine, and there were no problems. But the entire situation needs a lot of prayer.
On to the TLC itself: The Touch Life Centre has been in existence for about a year and operates Monday through Friday, 7:30 to 16:30. Approximately 60 children are enrolled, and 40 more are on the waiting list. They are about 2-5 years of age (out of their nappies...er, diapers). It is extremely low cost: 50 rand a month. One US dollar equals about 7 rand, so essentially they are paying 7 dollars a month. The actual cost of caring for the children is higher, so they rely on donations and such. The children are divided into three classes: Puppies, Elephants, and Giraffes (youngest to oldest, respectively). The first day, Russell and I were given the Elephant class, because their teacher, Malt, has had to leave town for a few weeks to care for her brother's affairs after his murder. (I'm sorry, I know that was probably a jolting statement, but I felt I should include it). They quickly took advantage of us, so now we co-teach with others. I help Aurelia in the Puppy class, and Russell helps Joyce in the Elephants.
It's taken a while for me to get used to the ways of these children, and for them to get used to me. There is no discipline at home, so they don't know how to respond. At first, they would infuriate me by deliberately doing the opposite of whatever I said while looking directly at me and smiling. They knew they were disobeying me! But they also weren't used to me. My English is quite different (though I've found myself using some South African pronunciations), and I don't speak Zulu (what most of them speak, though we encourage English here). And, my skin is a different color, a fact I often forget. Again, skin color holds much more meaning here. But they're starting to listen more, and I've been able to relax a little more. They're so affectionate and love to have any contact with you. When they come running at you for a hug or a high five, it's hard to stay mad! And they need a lot of love; they've been exposed to so many horrible things already, more than I've seen, and I'm four times their ages.
Our basic schedule: breakfast, toilet, morning prayer/singing, teaching, outside play if it's nice, toilet, morning snack, sleeping time, toilet, lunch, face wash, story time, play time, toilet, afternoon snack, group singing, playing until pick-up. Due to a lack of training and resources, there's not a lot of structured education that happens. A woman from the States is supposed to be coming at the end of the month to help implement something. So basically, I take a lot of kids to the toilet, keep them from hurting each other or myself, and give them food. I know it must sound like a lot of food, but for many of these kids it's probably all the food they'll get for the day. And yes, we eat lunch with them (where we've been introduced to pap, which is basically a sticky and tasteless starch made from cornstarch and mixed with anything).
Today we also had the opportunity to spend a few hours at Door of Hope, the baby house Cheryl helped establish. I got to hold a bunch of precious babies, and it made me happy :o) But I also found out that Americans can't adopt from there or anywhere in SA due to our government's refusal to sign some adoption treaty that SA is a part of.
As we have no car, we've been reliant upon the kindness of church people to take us places. We've had a few people have us over for meals, which is a nice break from cooking! (Yes, we cook for ourselves, and we are masters at grilled cheese and pasta. And yes, we eat fruit as well.) Janice had us over for a meal and game night with her son and his two school friends, and Tony and Anne took us to an evening worship service at an “emergent” church and fed us afterwards (and lent us some more reading material). And we have a standing after-church lunch invitation at Cheryl's. I realize those names probably mean nothing to you right now, but in a later update I'll try to let you know a little more about them. Nomalanga also occasionally includes us in her meals, which is nice as well. And we're in the process of making a few plans to see things – a hike, maybe a rhino park, etc.
There's so much more I can say, but I'm sure you've probably gone cross-eyed by now from reading all this. But if you're dying to read more, take a look at Russell's blog!
Cheers!
Thursday, June 7, 2007
I made it safely to Joburg. It's wintertime here, and very cold. With no central heating. Yay! Lots of layers and blankets for me! And I now think in a SA accent…haha.
The kids are sweet, but undisciplined. There is no discipline at home, so they misbehave a lot. But that's also because we're new. Remember how you used to act when you had a substitute in school? Yeah, that's them. But they're very affectionate. I have to practice not smiling at them – then they think I'm playing and don't listen.
We're living in a cottage at the church. The area is pretty unsafe, but as long as we're inside the church compound (which is gated), we're okay. We share the cottage with Nomalanga and her two children – Thabo and Oyisa. Nomalanga runs the education program here, and she is the force that the children fear. We say "Line up!" and they run away. She says "Line up!" and they are perfectly straight. Oh to have that power…
Evening is for reading, Sudoku, and watching TV – either SA soap operas or old seasons of US shows. For example – Andrew Firestone just selected his match on the Bachelor. How long ago was that?
There is more I can probably say, but internet time is limited. And thank you to my parents for posting this! For more, check out Russell's blog – the link is on the right.
Cheers!
The kids are sweet, but undisciplined. There is no discipline at home, so they misbehave a lot. But that's also because we're new. Remember how you used to act when you had a substitute in school? Yeah, that's them. But they're very affectionate. I have to practice not smiling at them – then they think I'm playing and don't listen.
We're living in a cottage at the church. The area is pretty unsafe, but as long as we're inside the church compound (which is gated), we're okay. We share the cottage with Nomalanga and her two children – Thabo and Oyisa. Nomalanga runs the education program here, and she is the force that the children fear. We say "Line up!" and they run away. She says "Line up!" and they are perfectly straight. Oh to have that power…
Evening is for reading, Sudoku, and watching TV – either SA soap operas or old seasons of US shows. For example – Andrew Firestone just selected his match on the Bachelor. How long ago was that?
There is more I can probably say, but internet time is limited. And thank you to my parents for posting this! For more, check out Russell's blog – the link is on the right.
Cheers!
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