Return Date changed

I will be leaving South Africa June 1 and landing in Seattle June 2 in the afternoon. 2 weeks left now! Thanks for those who prayed for my ticket to be changed. The reason for a sooner return mainly was my brothers leave from the Navy was only 2 weeks and he would be gone by the time I got back originally June 14. Other reasons were swim team starting and MATS school for Reliv. Eish...my summer is going to start in less than 2 weeks. This place has been my "home" for 5 months.
Prayer requests for the next couple weeks: for me to remain healthy (lots of flus going around lately due to weather change), to make the most of the time I have left on mission with the gospel, for the kids in hospice with my leaving and for the rest of the Lambano children.

Mothers Room

So Tuesday we started revamping the mothers room at church. I was officially the sewing person. From Tuesday night, all day Wednesday. and Thursday night I sewed...recovered 2 chair cushions, 6 pew cushions, 2 sets of curtains, 13 pillows, and 3 blankets. Jodi cut everything for me and I sewed. Took a break to paint a little bit. It looks so nice now! We an art graduate and a designer help with the layout of the walls. It's Joseph and his colorful coat. With pyramids, camels, palm trees...the river Nile! Can't wait to see it with all the new stuff in!
Next week school will start back up for the kids who've been on holiday this week cuz of Easter.
Yesterday I went to hospital to visit Phillipos who was admitted from hospice on Tuesday. He is so skinny. His test came back positive for Meningitis (the same kind as Boutimelo) and he will be there for 2 weeks.
Weather here has finally cleared up and its been sunny and COLD! Sunday I'm running a 15k and it's looking like it will be rainy.
I have a friend from Montana coming  next week for a safari/hunt and we'll be able to hang out before he leaves on the 14th! So I'm excited to see someone for the States :)
I can't believe I only have only month left here. It's going so fast. I'm not sure yet as to whether I will be coming back for a longer time period, but I'm thinking about it.
I've been officially rehired as head coach for swim team back home for this summer, so looking forward to that!
Sorry this is kinda random, but updating best I can't at this time I'm sitting at the office.
Have a lovely weekend!

School Holiday

This week has been  good in terms of I'm getting lots of rest. It's nice being able to lie in until 9am instead of getting up at 6am lol. One more week of school holiday! Tuesday was windy and cold, I had to bring out my sweat shirt! Wednesday was hot and I ended up swimming with the House 34 kids at 82...and got a little sunburnt :P

Thursday was another hot day. Went to Fruit and Veg with Martha. That afternoon I was to go with House 36 to the Children's Theatre. Since they were too young to go to the zoo on Saturday it was arranged for them to do this. Uncle Philly drove us so I would know where it was and then he went home and I was too drive back. It was in a familiar area I've been before so I wasn't completely ignorant of the locate. The play was Pippi Longstocking and it was quite entertaining. The kids really enjoyed it. The drive back was ok, traffic was back up on the highway so it took twice as long to get home. The kids were a lot quieter on the drive back since half of them were asleep :) Made it back in time to go play touch rugby and actually scored for my team this time! Woohoo!

Today is swimming lessons with the younger kids. Saturday is the Jumble Sale from 10 to 4 and I'm to help with that. Remember when I wrote about sorting 20 bags of clothes? Well this is what they were for!

We got another baby at the Hospice. He is 6 months old and came to us because of failure to thrive. He's not putting on any weight, just losing. He is super skinny compared to Bheki and Khaya the other babies at hospice that our 6 months old, but he is very active! Also my have a very sick 14 year old boy come to hospice...not sure yet, last I knew he was semi unconscious from being so sick so might not leave the hospital. Jenna said that he's just like Kokesto was...skin and bones, maybe even worse. So will see how this next week goes in regards to him. On Wednesday the police brought us a little 3 year old girl who someone found wandering around one of the squatter camps. She was so scared and crying. Thankfully the parents where found later that day and she went home.

Week in review...

February 6, 2011

This week has gone by fast but it was a good week. I started driving the school run on my own and it has gone very well. Tuesday and Wednesday there was some terrific thunder and lightening storms right at the time I was picking up the kids!

After I get back from the school run I spend an hour at House 36 with the kids there. On Tuesday I had 3 of the little girls plaiting (braiding) my hair. The momma cautioned them not to make the braids so small that Auntie Rachel wouldn't be able to find them lol. I was surprised that they did such nice braids for being to young :)

On Wednesdays and Fridays there will be massage therapy students coming to Lambano in the mornings to the hospice. They just started coming this week 2 to 3 of them come one those days. To work with the kids and staff. So including me too! I'll get to have some massages as well.

Church Wednesday night was excellent! We divided up into groups and had to look up Scriptures then define what the Gospel is :)

On Friday Koketso's 10^th birthday!

It was also the first day of swimming lessons. The hospice kids and House 36 go on Friday mornings. I went with them. They go to a swimming and aquatic center where there is a nice indoor pool. It was a lot of fun!

Saturday morning I woke up with 10+ bug bites all over my legs :S Cleaned the apartment then walked over to House 78 with Tebogo for his first swimming lesson. I teach him and Unathi and Nkosi every Saturday afternoon there while the older kids go to the aquatic center for their lessons. Unathi and Nkosi have some disabilities along with HIV, so it was great to be able to work with them in the water and they were very excited ;)

Well that was the week! I've been here almost a month...time is going so fast. Another week is starting...God has been teaching me so much...continually amazing me at the way He works in my life!

Sunny Day

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Today was finally a pretty sunny day like yesterday, which is good since the rest of the weekend is to be rainy...

I spent the morning at the hospice. Read some stories to Boutmelio because he wasn't feeling well today :( After school with Cina I did some work with Koketso and Selbe and while I was finishing up with that Martha came and asked me to go grocery shopping with her...wanted me to drive. I had some trouble...stalled a couple times...I think since it wasn't the usual route I'm used like doing the school run...oops...oh well. We went to Fruit and Veg to get a bunch of produce for the homes...like 3 shopping carts.

Getting back and having a late lunch I was to stay at 82 instead of doing the school run with Valerie because Mama Barbara took Noma to the doctor, so I did homework with the kids when they got home from school at 2:30. The kids at 82 (where I live) have been wanting me to teach them to knit all week and I said I would on Thursday, so we were going to after homework but since it was hot we went swimming instead...so fun :)

But after supper I did start to teach Tshepsio, Mandla, and Siya to knit. The 2 boys had quite a hard time, but Tshepsio picked it up pretty quick! Will have to see how the other kids do with it lol.

During prayers with the kids at bedtime Siya thanked God that Miriam and I have come to South Africa. It made me feel good to have an impact in theirs lives...even though I am only here for a short time...I don't know where God will lead me after in regards to Lambano. I feel that there are so many volunteers that come in and out of these kids lives, the only thing remaining constant is the house mamas. Anyways I won't be leaving for awhile so don't need to think so much about that now, but have been praying about it. I have already been here a week! Feels like a few days....

Since tomorrow is Friday I'm hoping to take some of the hospice kids to the park instead of doing schoolwork, hopefully it won't be raining.

Driving

I started driving on Monday because starting February I will be doing the school run from 1:30 to 3 picking up Tebogo, Nkosi, Unathi, and Nelly every school day. I've been going with Valerie since last week to know how to get there. So driving in South Africa is of course on the left side of the road... Valerie had to keep reminding me that I was driving too close to the curb because I keep drifting lol. Also the parked cars, don't want to take off any side mirrors!

Here they call the stoplights robots. Red and green still mean stop and go...Yellow means gun it though the intersection. Whoever is at the stop sign first goes first...so yeah other than those things it the same as home besides everything being on the left! I just learned how to drive a stick shift before coming here so I was nervous about stalling, but I've been doing fine...cars just pass me if I'm having trouble :P

At most stoplights there are people trying to sell various things like flowers, newspapers, fruit etc. I don't know how they keep from getting hit at such busy intersections.

I've been here almost a week now and starting to get the feel of things and the names down. Where I live at house 82, Barbara one of the house mamas (she is also from the states) has a treadmill in the classroom separate from the main house but right next to my room. It's been nice because I've taken up running a few miles on it before showering and going to bed. Martha (staff at Lambano) runs every morning at 5AM so I might go with her a few times. There are pools at house 82 and 78, I haven't gone swimming yet since it's been raining since Sunday...but the sun has started to shine again today. Lambano kids have swimming lessons starting in February where we take them to those. I will be teaching Tebogo, Nkosi, and Unathi at house 78 on Saturdays.

Oh, after I was done saying prayers with KB and Mandla the other night and was about to leave the room KB said to me... "I wish you were Shakira so you could dance." I asked what made him think I couldn't lol :)