Burtolyd in South Africa

With just less than 2 weeks to go, time really is flying so I'm trying to make the most of my final couple of weeks here. Last weekend I visited St Lucia and visited some of the beaches there and also went on a hippo boat trip! MusaweNkosi is gearing up for their Holiday Bible Club which happens in the last week of June and first week of July.  The club is run in two different rural locations - the first week will be in Entoyeni (where the children's home is situated) and the second week will be in Enseleni (where the feeding scheme is.) Usually they have a team of 12 come over from Northern Ireland who plan and run the event but this year there isn't a team coming out. Despite this, they have decided to still go ahead with the volunteers they have availabile, as this is an amazing opportunity to share the gospel with hundreds of children who've likely never heard it before. In previous years they've had anywhere between 100-300 children show...

My week in pictures.... Like butter wouldn't melt - some more flower donations from Woolworths last week so we got some of the little ones to carry them to the Mamas. Enjoying p laying netball with the kids last Friday. The girls like to pretend to put my hair on their own and find it funny to look at. Nonhle having her hair braided - it takes 3 or more and they learn so young how to do it. Helping Amen with Maths homework. Scenes at the local cash n carry!  This week started out with a beautiful double rainbow as seen from the room where we do the homework. Then we had some beautiful sunshine during the week but have finished the week with a lot of rain and thunder storms. The roads we so bad today we weren't able to go to site today. On Monday evening I also came down with a fever and sore throat, it then developed into tonsillitis. Fortunately I live with an ENT doctor who's d...

Last week quite a few of the kids were sick with mumps or flu, but this week they seem to be back to normal! Friday was my first solo trip out to site as the other volunteers weren't able to make it. On Fridays the kids don't get homework so I brought some colouring sheets for them to do and they seemed to really enjoy doing them. On Friday evenings I help out at the youth at church and we were looking at the book/character of Ezra.  Youth bible study by torchlight due to 'load shedding' - the power is off for at least 4 hours a day for everyone that doesn't have a generator/solar power.  This week's donations from Woolworths contained lots and lots of flowers - the 'Mamas' at the site were very happy indeed, just in time for mother's Day (which is this Sunday here!) This week we've had some very heavy rain, which means the road to site has been a little interesting to drive as the last section of r...

Last week the kids at the site had two days of holiday due to 'Freedom day' so we were able to do some water colour painting with the kids.  They also taught us lots of group games and I taught them the hokey cokey! Friday was also the monthly 'party day' where the kids celebrate their birthdays with chicken schnitzels and cake! (Donated by Woolworths)  The mammoth task of cooking 42 schnitzels!  I also successfully survived my first week fending for myself, in Gavin and Elaine's house (as they are away). However at the end of the week Zama (a friend from church) moved in to keep me company which has been lovely :) I treated her and her brother to a roast on Sunday which they'd never had before! 

Well I survived the first week as the only volunteer! I'm very thankful to have a couple of volunteers from church who join me in the afternoons when I drive to site. This week I started driving for the first time too! Despite trying to avoid the terrible taxi drivers, getting used to the many many stop signs, getting to know the completely unnecessary and random speed bumps, navigating my way through 'robots' (traffic lights) at busy junctions when load shedding is on (and they don't work) and trying to avoid the multitudes of giant craters in the ground (also known as potholes) - I have survived, and dare I say enjoyed the driving experience!  Perhaps driving this 'buggy' has helped make the experience more enjoyable 😁 There was no stomach lining on this week's shopping list, just chicken feet instead 😋 Although when we went to a market at the weekend, we did see some stomach lining being sold on the road side....flies and all!! ...

I can't quite believe I've been here for over 3 weeks now, but I definitely feel settled here - getting to know people and places well. So thank you for your prayers :) This week has been a bit more back to normal (whatever that is!) - as most of the kids went back to school on Tuesday. This means a lot less games and a lot more homework! A few of the schools are still shut due to the damage from the storm.  Easter Monday arts and crafts  The primary aged kids are set homework (by us) each day to try and get them up to speed with English and Maths. The secondary school aged kids have homework set by the school. That means we mark the previous days' homework in the morning, set the next days' homework and then head over to the site in the afternoon to help them with the homework. This is fairly straightforward for the younger ones but for the older ones ....well looks like I'll be needing to do some GCSE maths revision in my spare time! (Who e...