Off to Zimbabwe

It is windy, raining and cold right now here in Stellenbosch. The Western Capes winter season is different then all other parts of South Africa. Because of the Indian Ocean and mountains the weather is very wet and cold in the winter. Apparently other locations of South Africa have a wet summer and dry winter. I’m only concerned about the weather right now as we are serving this afternoon in the township of Inkinini. A group of about 30 students from Stellenbosch University are joining us to help. I hope the rain doesn’t scare off the students. We will have 5 different groups tonight. 2 groups will fix steps with new cement and also will nail up some drywall into a couple of shacks for the cold weather. The other groups will work with the women and children.

For an update on my local activities, I went to my first South African church on Sunday and it was wonderful that the songs and service were in English. I was very surprised. The pastor spent a lot of time talking about the Evil spirit that is still holding the separation around the city. Stellenbosch is the birthplace for Apartheid and although it's been many years since the fall of Apartheid, sadly the separation still exists and probably always will. Blacks still don't hang with whites, etc. Unfortunately the coloreds are getting the raw end of the deal because they are not white enough to be accepted into the white communities and they are not black enough to get the benefits of being black. Many feel here that the coloreds will actually be the bridge to bring blacks and whites together.

The church that I attended focused on bringing all races together. At the end of the sermon we prayed and the pastor had us all hold hands - everyone in the church... every row and it was so obvious because the middle rows were all white, and then the side rows and back of church were blacks or coloreds. The pastor walked up and down the aisles with his microphone and made us all move around to grab hands and unite the entire church. He prayed with such Passion that the Evil spirits that were keeping the separation upon the town would be abolished. It was such an amazing prayer and very touching. The ladies there prayed with such conviction. They were praying out loud and repeating everything the pastor was praying and it was almost spooky at some points because I didn't know if they were all talking in tongues or not, but then I realized it was just in their native languages that I couldn’t understand. It was very emotional.

My second week in Kuyasa has been going much better. Some of the children were friendlier and wanted to know more about America and me. Near the end of my 7^th grade science class when I was asking if the students had any more questions, one boy asked if I could show him where I lived. I drew the outline of the U.S on the board and showed them Michigan. I was happy to explain that from the world map you could see Michigan because of the Great Lakes. Next, they started asking if I knew Beyonce and some different Hollywood actors. It was so funny. They were very serious. They wanted to know where California, New York, DC and some other places were. Then they smiled and said “Thank you Sis Katie”. I think the students only warm up to the volunteers that they know will be there longer. There are so many volunteer tutors from the university that want to get their “check mark” of volunteering and the kids have little respect for them and sadly treat them poorly. They don’t like people coming in and out of their lives. I am anxious to earn their respect and try my hardest to learn all of their challenging names.

The sad part is there is a huge civil strike going on right now against the government for more wages. I wonder if it has hit CNN news yet. (I don’t have a TV or radio where I’m living.) All of the teachers, doctors, and other civil workers are striking and so there is no school right now. The children are so bored all day and full of so much energy when we get them that it has been difficult to control them. Normally they would be in their township schools all day and we get them for the after school programs. I just heard that the petro workers (gas) might be striking next. The infrastructure is not set up to be able to pump gas on our own. It is full service everywhere so you stay in your car and give them the Rands. If everyone strikes then we won’t be able to get gas. It would be a major problem for everyone as the public transportation is horrible and unsafe and they would be striking as well. Please pray that the strike ends soon – for the children’s sake.

On a good note, I am improving driving my manual vehicle now and not stalling near as much. The hills are still a bit tricky, but thank the good Lord (and your prayers) I have not bumped into anyone yet. Surprisingly the opposite side of the road doesn’t feel weird at all anymore. I can only imagine how the reverse culture shock will be for me. (Look out Northern Michigan!) Actually, I now am more afraid of running someone over as a huge part of South Africans walk everywhere and are on the shoulders of the roads. Driving at night still overwhelms me as the people blend into the darkness. I’ve heard of many people being run over and killed. I am trying to be in by 6:00pm when the sun begins to set for driving safety purposes, but mainly for security and safety purposes in general. From what I have been told, most of the crime happens after sun set.

Tomorrow we are leaving for our Zimbabwe trip. We will be staying in Morgenster (which means “Morning Star” in Dutch). It is a mission base. The town has no hot water and only electricity for 3-4 hours a day. We will be there for 5 days staying at their base, and traveling the other 4 days. We just finished with our planning and budgeting meeting. We are very limited on packing space as we need to bring sleeping bags and food, so each of us are only allowed our back-pack. We are going to see what the needs are for the base and our team will help them in serving projects while we are there.

Please pray for the safety of our group on this trip. Zimbabwe is a Malaria area, so we will be using lots of bug spray. More to come after my trip…