Back home

As I type this, I have been home for almost two weeks. My experiences that I had while in South Africa will always be a part of me. I'm so glad to have worked with the people that I got to work with and will hopefully keep the new friendships for quite some time. The youth that we met and the conversations we were a part of give me hope for this country that is so divided in so many ways.

The longer I'm at home the more restless I become. I can't wait to travel again, maybe to South Africa but maybe elsewhere. There is so much of the world that I want to see. In every place I go I want to be more than a tourist or visitor. Thanks for taking the time to read about this trip. Here is the link to all of my photos and videos. Enjoy.

Day 13--1/8/09

Today was our last day in Africa. We spent the morning at the apartheid museum. When we walked in, we were separated into whites and non-whites. It was eye-opening to see how the non-whites were treated and how because apartheid only ended 15 years ago, those predjudices are still quite present. The photos and statistics will stay with me for quite some time. It will take generations for the situation with race in South Africa to change.

"To be free is to not merely cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others." --Nelson Mandela

Day 12--1/7/09

We woke up to a really beautiful morning. I had a relaxing breakfast and Eileen and I enjoyed a cup of coffee on the porch overlooking the town of Elysburg and discussed future travel plans and how to make them happen. I just want to go to so many places and stay for more than a little while.

We headed out to Khanysile, an organization that provides healthcare and education to people with HIV. It's located in a rather poor township--somewhere where we didn't want to be walking around by ourselves. No kids were there because they were still on holiday. We were painting two trailers--outside and inside. The trailers are makeshift offices/counseling spaces. Because of the lack of paintbrushes and rollers, I ended up being the paint holder for Karl and Mindy. It was a long, hot day, but I found it quite relaxing. We all got sunburned but had a good time and ended up accomplishing a lot in the few hours we were there. I had a chance to talk with Felicity who helped start the organization in 2001. It was obvious she had a heart for the community and for people with HIV/AIDS. She said in the township Khanysile was located in, about 60% of people are infected with HIV. Their organization has been so important because people know they can get help there and have access to medications. Felicity mentioned that in the U.S. you hear stories of people who have been living with HIV for 20 years and they are relatively healthy. That just doesn't happen in South Africa. If you make it to 40, you're lucky. Before they were able to give out medications, people would have to wait days in line at hospitals and she said that people would die there before they could get help. She said it would take a change in education and mindset for things to get better.

Day 11--1/6/09

After breakfast, we rode in the back of the bucky to a cheetah farm a couple of kilometers away. I wouldn't mind riding the in back of a truck all the time--too bad it's against the law here. The cheetah farm was started in the 1970's by a brother and sister who wanted to help with cheetah conservation. We saw caracal, serval, wild african cats (that looked very much like domesticated cats), wild dogs, cheetahs, and a variety of vultures. The wild dogs made an amazing amount of noise and were going crazy when the ranger fed them.

The cheetahs were beautiful and I loved just watching them walk around. You can just tell that they were built for speed. After the tour, several of us got our pictures taken while petting Zulu, one of the cheetahs they have at the farm. He was quite content and was purring away. I'm assuming I'm allergic to these cats as well.

When we got back the game reserve, we had to pack right away to leave for Johannesburg where we were meeting the people from Epworth Children's orphanage. We said our goodbyes to Mariana and Lauren and all crammed into the Epworth comby and went to their home.

The Epworth Children's home just celebrated it's 90th birthday this past year. The children that are there are removed from their homes because of abuse and neglect. There are usually about 75 kids there but right now there are only 53 and about 22 of those kids are HIV positive. The home rents out rooms to people like us for extra income but it only costs $11 per person per night and that includes two meals. Aunt Joan is taking care of us and she has lived her for about 20 years.

Day 10--1/5/09

The alarm woke us up at 4:06am since we were scheduled to leave the farm and head to the game reserve at 4:30am. This being Africa, we left a little after 5am. So now I can say I saw the African sunrise. We packed the comby and the bucky (van and pick-up truck). Rich, Kim, Emily, and I were squashed in the back seat where there was a lot of overlap.

We were told the trip would take 3 1/2 hours but we didn't get to the game reserve until around noon--you do the math. As we got closer to the game reserve, we started to see impala and springbok. Most of the roads were dirt or loose sand. Dick was driving and as a Mercedes Benz tried to pass us, it lost control and flipped over and rolled into a fence. Both the driver and passenger walked away from it, but all parties were a bit shaken. The Benz does well in a roll. The windshield was cracked and the hood dented, but overall it looked good.

The game reserve we went to was owned by Mariana's father and they have buffalo, kudu, zebra, giraffe, warthog, hippos, impala, blesbok, and several other animals I don't remember the name of. We stayed in chalets with beds made of bricks but with comfortable mattresses. It only costs about $20 per person per night and the house we stayed in sleeps 6. Hunters usually come in September-March to hunt the game on the reserve. The decor in the chalet reflects that.

We headed out in the reserve in two buckys and almost immediately saw giraffe, zebras, and warthogs. We drove around for about 3 hours stopping when we saw wildlife. Even if we didn't see anything, I would have thoroughly enjoyed just being out in the reserve. It looked like what I always pictured an African game reserve would look like. Mariana did most of the driving for our bucky and at one point, Rich, Emily, and myself suddenly found ourselves on the floor. She had driven straight into a ditch. No one was hurt, but we realized it was a pretty deep hole when we didn't have to take a step down out of the back of the bucky. The boys pushed us out and we were on our way again. Lauren, age 13, also took some time to drive as well. She did quite nicely.

At sunset, we drove to the "erosion" which was sand and dirt carved away by rainwater. The photograhic opportunities there were quite good.

The rest of the evening included Jim setting up a projector and checking out people's photos while Kim, Emily, and I fell asleep on chairs and sofas. When we woke up around 9pm, we thought we slept through dinner, but we didn't. I love Africa time.

Day 9--1/4/09

I woke up on the trampoline in the beating sun and crushed in between the other people also sleeping on the trampoline. Again, I do not recommend it.





We spent the morning putting the finishing touches on the cross and actually putting it up. It was surprising how good an old railroad tie, rusty bumper, and a bunch of broken glass can look.





We had our worship service which parents were invited to as well but not many came. We sang, some kids shared their testimony about how they have been changed, Bonny led a group in singing a traditional song, we had communion, and walked out singing "Walking in the Light of God." Goodbyes were said and we relaxed for the remainder of the afternoon. Once kids started leaving, I could feel the exhaustion of the week finally sink in and was glad to have absolutely nothing to do but sit in the sun and take a nap.

Day 8--1/3/09

Today was the last day of camp. We didn't have any electives or bible study. The morning was relaxed as usual. In the afternoon we worked on finishing the cross, planning Sunday's worship service, and working on an anthem for the service. I was helping with the mosaic that was going to be attached to the cross. We used the broken glass from earlier in week during bible study and make concentric circles with different colors. It turned out a lot better than I anticipated.

We had our final chapel service where Rich played a slide show that he had created with pictures taken during the week and it looked great. We also went out to our final campfire, sang a few more songs, and had smores. These campers look forward to the smores since this is the only time of year that they get them. We attempted to go to bed a little after midnight but Melissa talked me into sleeping on the trampoline. Unfortunately it wasn't as comfortable as I hoped it would be. Despite that, it was a great last night with the campers.

Day 7--1/2/09

We woke up to a rather cool morning, but it turned into a rather hot day. Our bible study continues to be an amazing discussion that surprises me since they are so young. We continue to talk about the political situation and racism that is so obviously present. While many of the youth say they are not racist, comments that are made make me believe otherwise. It's going to take a long time for groups of people to get along in South Africa. I do have a lot of hope for the nation because of many of the youth that I have met here though.

In the afternoon we played a wonderful game of ultimate frisbee. It was nice and hot and lots of attempts at amazing diving catches. We also had our camp olympics which involved a pantyhose relay, searching through mud to find treasure, mummifying a teammate, putting together an impossible lego robot in the dark, and a water brigade relay. Lots of fun was had by all.

Daniel also taught me how to sokkie which is a dance step that is done at dances. It's fast and I'm quite uncordinated. At one point Daniel said, "You're a jock, aren't you?" Despite my lack of rhythm, Daniel was able to work with me and by the end we looked great. I think there's a video of it floating around somewhere...

Day 6--1/1/09

2009. In Africa. Today everyone was tired pretty much all day. I was still amazed at the depth of conversation we had in bible study. We met for over 2 hours and the kids were engaged pretty much the entire time.

At this point in the week tensions are mounting and people are starting to annoy one another--counselors and campers alike. I think it has to do with the lack of sleep.

Our midday meal was a celebration of sorts with a lamb roast. We got to eat one of those sheep that was sent to slaughter earlier in the week. It was lovely. The cut the meat with a table saw and also had many vegetables, salads, and breads as well. We tasted marmite (yeast extraction) and all decided that we could do without. I was also chastised for putting jam in my pap (cornmeal hot cereal kinda like cream of wheat). I should have eaten it with butter and sugar or better yet, butter and marmite.

We had a talent show after chapel where the kids did an amazing job with skits, songs, and dance. A bunch of kids did a drama to the Everything by Lifehouse which was very powerful. Andy and I did the "Sin--Don't touch" skit. Andy is a great actor and we had a blast. However, it was another late night...

Day 5--12/31/08

New Year's eve. The earliest I've ever celebrated.

I spent the morning at Pholoso with the VBS. What an awesome experience. There were about 40 kids there who were all black and from a very impoverished part of town. None spoke english so Bonny, who speaks 11 languages, translated the bible stories and directions for us. The lesson was the creation story so kids were drawing lots of animal pictures and making several crafts. We played lots of games and sang in both english and setswana. The kids loved getting their pictures taken and had beautiful smiles.

We were told these kids lived at a lower poverty level than the children at Deelpan. They lived in villages only a 5 minute drive away from the farm we were staying on and they came to the bible school via trailer attached to the back of a car or bucky--I found it amusing that they used the same trailer to transport the kids that they used for taking the sheep to the slaughter.

The afternoon was quite relaxing with more gimp and hanging out. In the late afternoon, the winds kicked up and an enormous brown cloud was coming toward us. It was a huge sandstorm. We tried to cover everything the best we could, but dust got into everything--including my contacts. After that the rain came but it didn't affect our activities too much. It's never a problem to be off schedule and kids don't mind time to relax and hang out and have a late dinner.

We had chapel where we once again talked about what we needed to leave in 2008 and what we would be praying for in 2009. We had about an hour until midnight so we played "Andrew's game" which involved running around in the dark trying to get the other team's glowsticks into your team's base. I found that it was difficult to see people running towards you until the very last second which results in excellent collisions. When Dean and I collided, I didn't know if we would both get up. We finally rang in the new year with a drumming circle which was full of energy. It was an excellent end to 2008.

Day 4--12/30/08

Today was the first full day of camp and it was quite eye-opening. During bible study we had a more in depth conversation with kids on day 1 than I have had with most american youth in 3 years. They are just so open to discussing and sharing whatever. We also opened our day with the "Get down" dance and that went over well. However, it's quite the quad workout.

In the afternoon I got to hang out at the "American sports" elective with Karl and Andy. We played an excellent game of american football that kept reverting back into rugby. They couldn't seem to grasp that when you were on defense, you didn't get the ball back right away. I played hard but I didn't sweat. It was around 95 degrees but it's a dry heat. Maybe I should think about moving to more of a desert climate.

My elective was the gimp elective. Making random things out of flat plastic lacing is always a good time. What I like most about doing gimp is the time I get to just sit with people have good discussions.

Because of having all the older kids at camp, we decided to make the post-high school age students counselors in leadership training (CILT). A group of youth would help with the vacation bible school and then there would be at least one CILT with each youth bible study. Their job would be to help lead discussions and take more of a leadership role instead of a camper role. So far they have been doing a great job during bible study, activities, and chapel. It has been cool to see them move from camper to counselor.

Our evening activity was video making. Each group was given a genre and random props and had to film a 4 scene movie. Our group had the western genre and it was hilarious to hear South African kids try and talk in a western accent. Speaking of accents, several kids were trying to teach me how to pronounce afrikaans. It's quite difficult with lots of gutteral "g" sounds and rolling "r's."

After worship, I spent some time outside just checking out the sky. There is absolutely no light pollution so you can see so many stars. The milky way is also visible. We tried to find the Southern Cross and after much deliberation as to which stars made up this constellation, I think we finally got it.

Day 3--12/29/08

Most of the team went to Deelpan this morning for VBS. Rich, Kim, Aaron, and I stayed behind to make final camp preparations and to begin camper registration. Asbury had a VBS at Deelpan in previous years, so the kids were waiting for them since they knew "the americans were coming." We sent a team there on Monday and Tuesday. On Monday they started with 30 kids and ended with about 100. On Tuesday they had even more--this is thanks to the "bush telegraph."

Campers started arriving that afternoon and I quickly realized that most of the kids who were coming were older than normal camper age. I enjoyed meeting the people who we would spend the week with and getting to know the campers in my bible study group. We also broke ground for the cross that we would be building later in the week.

Day 2--12/28

We were all up with the sun on Sunday morning or up with the Haw-de-daw bird...I don't know which one woke me up. This was our first view of the farm in the daylight and the Price's had built/renovated several building so that we could hold a camp there. There was a dorm for girls and one for guys, a dining hall area, and a chapel.

We headed into Lichtenberg for church. Mindy was preaching and we all kind of had a role in the service. Keith, the regular pastor, was on holiday so we didn't get to meet him. Many of the church members knew Mindy from when she was at this church for a pulpit exchange in 2004. When we arrived, there were several kids that attended camp from previous years and it was obvious that relationships had been built with these kids since they were quite excited to see the Asbury members who had been to South Africa before.

The first thing that I noticed when I walked into the sanctuary was the definite split between the blacks and whites. They didn't sit with one another or interact in any way. However, the service was nice. Mindy preached on things to leave behind in 08 and what praises/blessings to carry into 09. There was a good bit of congregational sharing and our group led a few songs.

After church we went to the Wright's house for lunch. It was a relaxing time with excellent food. We went back to the farm and made some final preparations for the next day's camp and enjoyed each other's company until we headed to bed.

Day one--12/26-12/27

I met Mindy at her house on the morning of the 26th. There was much rushing around to be done as I hadn't really packed ahead of time. It turns out neither did Mindy. Mindy was already on "Africa time" and we ended up at the church about 15 minutes after we should have but the group ended up leaving Asbury at 11:30am. I got to ride in a very cramped van (first of many very cramped van rides) with Emily, her sister and dad, Rich, and Kim to JFK.

Our flight left New York at 5:45 PM and I was able to sleep the majority of ride. We landed in Senegal to refuel around midnight and continued on to Johannesburg. It turns out the African continent is quite large and it took much longer than I expected to get to the bottom of it. We landed in J-burg around 5pm local time where we met Bryan Price, Niels, Jarrod, and Sharon who would drive us and all of our luggage to their farm in Lichtenberg. 3 hours later we arrived at the farm, ate a light snack, took a look around, and headed to bed around midnight.

Home...

Unfortunately I did not have internet access while I was in South Africa. I have been home for a little over a week and am now back on my normal schedule. Even though I'm no longer in South Africa, I wanted to share my experiences while I was there. Enjoy.