Frogs, Bats and Spiders…Oh my!

The Spider on my porch

The Bat in my Room

Don’t get me wrong, I love nature. I think that God’s creations are wonderful. Every insect and animal has a purpose. I don’t have anything against frogs and I honestly don’t mind spiders. It’s amazing how spiders create silk to spin their web.  Bats are awesome because they eat mosquitoes. These creatures are wonderful if they are where they are supposed to be, which is outside. No they are not meant to be in my bedroom or in my shower. What is it that these creatures want from me? Why do they insist on coming inside?  I was sitting in my bedroom about to go to sleep when I heared a rustling sound. I looked around but I didn’t see anything, then I heared the sound again. The snake story told by the previous volunteer came racing to my mind. She had a snake behind the couch in THIS house. The snakes here are nothing to mess with, many are very poisonous. I was positive it was a cobra slithering it’s way up my bed, when all of a sudden a bat came flying through a small hole in the wall. It nearly got tangled in my hair as it frantically flew back and forth around my bedroom.  My roommate and I watched from afar not sure how to capture it.  We tried many things to get it out, from screaming outside to hiding in the bathroom and nothing worked! After many long minutes of debating we decided we needed to call in her boyfriend, the other volunteer next door. Of course he captured the bat in 10 second flat, but by the time he came over, the bat was so tired from being blinded by my light and listening to us scream that he was sleeping on my wall. We kindly sent him on his way and told him he will be happier outside. Apparently, the unruly bat told his friends where I live, because the other day I was getting into the shower and I nearly stepped on a large green frog. Before sending him on his way, I told him as nicely as I could, that he should tell his friends to knock first. These unexpected visits are very inconvenient. I think he passed on the message because I haven’t seen any creatures in a while.  I do have a large spider that made a home on my porch but he has been very polite and is keeping his distance from my house. I think we have an understanding that I won’t go into his house if he doesn’t go into mine.

If you want to see pictures of South Africa go to http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=514138014

A Video

Here is a video. I have a few more but they take so long to Upload I will upload more shortly!

Learning to drive on the opposite side.....

Learning how to drive here in South Africa has been interesting and a little difficult. The steering wheels are on the right side of the car and they drive on the opposite side of the road. Everything is backwards from what i'm used to.  Tondi, one of the Godparents asked if I would drive her to the market . Since i've been here, I have discovered that a lot of African people don't have their drivers license. The reason many don't is because of the corruption.   I've heard stories of many people failing their driving test up to 15 times before they give up. Getting a license here isn't about being a good driver and passing the test, it's about bribing the person giving you the test. You can be a horrible driver and get your license if you pay enough. On the flip side you can be a great driver and fail because you didn't offer them a bribe.  Many of the Godparents living at Refilwe have a car, they just can't legally drive it.

Driving on the opposite side of the road wasn't so bad,  it sounded a lot harder than it was.  I just  had to constantly think about what I was doing. Luckily I had Tondi in the car to make sure I was on the correct side of the road.:)  I thought I was doing pretty good actually, until I drove into a pot hole causing the tire to become flat. The pot hole jumped out at me somehow :) The roads here are not maintained, bumps and pot holes are everywhere. it's like playing a game of frogger but instead of swerving around cars you're swerving around pot holes!! I'm not sure if they will let me drive again but they were gracious and understanding about the tire. They wouldn't let me pay for the repair because they said it could happen to anyone. Hopefully next time I drive, it will turn out better!!

Little Orange

 I hate the feeling of loneliness, but I knew I would experience it being so fare away from everyone and everything. I'm in a whole new world, and it will just take time to adjust. I'm thankful Leah and Piet are here; they are truly a blessing.  A volunteer who was here for 6 month  just left the other night, and everyone was very sad to see her go. She had built some great friendship while she was here.  Abel, a new friend of mine, said to me the night the volunteer left " I don't want to get too close to you, because then you're just going to leave." He was very close to the volunteer and it was hard on him to see her go. It must be hard for the people living and working here at the orphanage.  People come in and out of their lives. But they also get the chance to meet awesome people from all over the world.

Refilwe is a great place to live.  I’m living on 72 acres with a large river that divides the property. Lately I have just been sitting out on the grass by the  beautiful trees and reading my bible. I’ve heard that  monkeys live here, but I have yet to see one.  I was just spending a lovely afternoon  at one of the Godparents house, Mama Julia, when I discovered the internet was down today. I was hoping to connect with people from back home.

Loneliness comes and goes but it never stays for very long.  There is nothing here to distract myself from those feelings so I just allow myself to be, and then shortly after it will vanish. All it takes is a conversation with someone, or a friendly hello, and then I feel at peace again. I know i'm here for a reason, knowing that helps.  I'm learning to accept negative feelings because they are only temporary. . Piet was telling me that the mission field can be lonely and hard, but that is when we grow the most and when we learn the most about ourselves.

I've made a cat friend, I call him Little Orange.  I'm not sure who he belongs to but he wanted to come into my cottage last night, so I let him in. Shortly after I let him in, it started storming and gushing rain. The last time I saw it rain that hard was when I was in the tropical rain forest of Belize. It's almost as if the heavens opened up a giant waterfall. The storm itself was very relaxing, I love hearing the sound of rain.

 I like having little orange around.  I assume the feelings are mutual because he follows me everywhere I go. I guess he has been feeling a little lonely also.

Just thinking...

When I came to South Africa I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I know that my heart is going to break more time than I can count....

Twice a week I go into the townships by taxi with an African Godparent named mama Tondi.  I'm going to teach English to the children in preschools through songs and games. When I first entered a township I was suprised by what I saw as I wasn't sure what to expect.  Rows of  one bedroom shacks crammed together with no water or electricity..  Men often walk the streets drunk, stray sickly looking dogs lay around biting off flies, garbage scattered around the shacks, and children run around with holes in their shoes. Even though English is one of South Africa's primary languages, most of the children in the communities don't speak it. Tondi told me that most of these kids and their families never leave the township so many of them have never been exposed to the white culture of South Africa. Oh the white skin, that's something really special to them as 'white people' very rarely visit townships. As soon as I walked into the preschool the children began to chant in Zulu 'white person, white person, white person' with huge grins on their faces, pushing each other aside to be near to me. What a special encounter to see a white person! If they only knew :)

The preschool has 35 children in one tiny shack.  There is no running water so children go outside to pee and pop into buckets. The preschoolers doesn't have any books or supplies.  Refilwe is supporting five preschools in the area and they are providing supplies for them.

After talking with one of the teachers at this preschool,  I got a feel for the daily struggles of the people and the dangers poverty brings upon these children. Townships in Johannesburg are dangerous. Brimming the streets are drunk men, thiefs who have learned not to care and just to steal, hurting, broken people who turn to alcohol to numb the pain of poverty or abuse that has been inflicted on them.  It's the parent responsibility to protect their children, but when they're drunk, passed out, or always at work, they can't protect their children. Despite having less, the kids are joyful, curious, trusting and sweet.

Mama Maria, a\ teacher at the preschool found out I have a degree in Psychology and that's when she told me about a little girl in her preschool who is 7 years old..  She asked if I could do play therapy with her because when she was 3 years old her uncle raped her.  Her mother found out the uncle has hurt her when the little girl started crying and acting fearful whenever her uncle was around.  Her mom took her to the doctor and found out what had happened and the uncle admitted to doing it. According to Mama Maria she had the option to send the man to jail, but she didn't. She was more concerned about keeping a good relationship with her brother, (which is valued in their culture) over  protecting her daughter. He still comes around but she isn't left alone with him. Whenever he comes around Mama Maria can tell because the little girl starts acting up at school.

Mama Tondi informed me that in the the poor townships, rape of children is very common. Everybody lives so close together and family members, friends and people from the communities go in and out of each other's houses.  When a parents passes out drunk a pedophile friend has an opportunity. The children also run around the community unsupervised opening  them up to many other dangers.

There is also a belief among the uneducated in South Africa  that by raping a child you will cure yourself of HIV.  The witch doctors are responsible for spreading this belief.  Many of these people in these communities(townships)  would prefer to go to a witch doctor than to a real doctor, even though you can go to free clinic and get free medical care. The medical care in South Africa is actually better than the states and it's cheaper. Going to a witch doctor is family tradition or a belief in their religion, but whatever it is, it's evil. 

After spending the day in a township we taxi back to Refilwe, the beautiful safe farmland that will be my home for the next 7 months.  About 5 minutes from Refilwe is the township, 5 minutes in another direction is  shopping malls, movies, pizzerias, markets and  beautiful  houses. The houses all have bars over the windows and doors which takes away from some of the beauty. Johannesburg is' rape and crime capitol of the world'.  I know that by the time I leave here, I will have a broken heart. I don’t think hearing horrible stories is really something I ever want to get used to hearing, or something I want to shrug off.  I feel things deeply which can be good but can also be hard.  God is the only thing I have to cling onto and there is peace in knowing that.  When looking at the big picture, all my worries really seem silly compared to how it could be. How can I complain about this or that when people are starving and living in shacks with no running water. I really have nothing to complain about, but to appreciate what I have rather than what I don’t. I’m learning more and more to set my mind in the present instead of living in the past or in the future. When I wake up I want to think, what am I thankful for today? I have a lot to be thankful for, I really can’t complain. 

I'm here!

I have arrived safely in South Africa and i'm ecstatic  the long plane ride is over! I just got to my ministry site Refilwe. Before that I was enjoying a few days with my dear friends Leah and Piet.  It’s a little surreal being here. 7.5 months ago I decided to come to South Africa, and after all the planning, I’m finally here! The people here are very helpful and friendly and the weather is nice and warm. I spent a few days with Leah and Piet and helped them with their ministry. Part of their ministry is going into the poor schools to dance, sing songs and teach a bible lesson during the public school assemblies. It was fun and a little scary getting up in front of the whole school with Leah and Piet and attempting to dance and sing their songs, but they didn’t seem to mind that I had no clue what I was doing. It was amazing seeing these children, even the ones in kindergarten, enthusiastically dancing and singing songs of praise to Jesus.

Now I’m at Refilwe and I’m excited to discover what I will be doing while I’m here. They are giving me the weekend to recover from Jet lag before starting work, but it hasn’t been too hard for me to adjust. I was so busy with Piet and Leah I’m looking forward to a relaxing weekend. The internet here is slow and I haven’t been able to get the wireless to work, but I will write again when I can!