As it is getting colder back in the states, it is getting much hotter here in Africa. It is finally starting to feel like what I expected Africa to feel like. Wooh baby, I can’t even imagine what their hot January and February months will feel like. My skin is starting to get a bit darker and as my family joked, by the end of January I’m sure I will look more African. I think I am going to be in serious shock when I come home with the frigid temperatures and snow in Detroit!
Some exciting things have happened. I have started working with the older kids helping them with college applications, career guidance, and Meyer-Briggs type of personality testing. I just love it. I am really enjoying working with them and it is wonderful to see how excited they get when they read the results of their tests and learn more about themselves and why they react to certain situations in specific ways. It is so cool to see their facial expressions and it’s like a light bulb turns on in their head. After they find out their types I have been sharing with them specific careers that might work best with their style and I think it is giving some of them encouragement and some ideas (finally) about continuing education after high-school. I have been working with this one 20 year girl Yandiswa who has just stolen my little heart. She is the one student who actually shows up for my appointments on time, who keeps signing up to meet with me again and again and who is requesting to borrow my books and then asks me to photo-copy some of the pages she loves. She just can’t get enough information. Through working with me, she finally admitted that she has a huge desire to get a college education and start a new life, but she had no idea where even to start. She is living with friends of relatives in a shack, 7 of them together. No running water. Like most township residents, she bathes with a sponge from a little basin of water she fetches from the township well. She doesn’t have any parents or siblings. I am simply amazed at her optimism and kind spirit through everything she has experienced thus far.
Last week I helped her fill out 3 different University applications and decided I would sponsor her for the application fees since that was one of the main reasons she never applied. I drove her to the Universities and we waited in the Admissions lines to get her into the system. I felt like a mom, which was awesome. She was very quiet, nervous and excited and it was an emotional day. She finally relaxed after it was all done and I took her to a restaurant to get something to eat. Her bright smile finally appeared. In the evening when I dropped her off at the shack she turned to me with glossy eyes and told me how much it meant what I had done for her and she didn’t know how to properly thank me. I told her not to thank me yet and that we needed to wait to see if she was accepted and then we would take the next steps. Over the weekend I met with another college director to review programs and I’m trying to come up with some back up plans for her. This child is different then most of the kids I have been working with. I can’t explain it, but I feel such a bond with her and I am going to do everything in my power to try to get her into college to start a new life. It would be amazing for her to be able to stay in the University or College residence with her own bed, running water, a toilet and a shower. Those items alone would make a world of difference and I could only imagine they would give her incentive to study extremely hard to get scholarships and be able to stay there year round.
I will keep everyone updated on the status. I’ve shared more about her with some of you and am so anxious to find out if she gets accepted anywhere. We will not know anything regarding her applications until mid December. I know if I could just help this one person, she would end up helping many more people in all the years to come, and then those people would help people, so on and so forth. I believe it would be a ripple affect of Love.
On a lighter note, I did something that I didn’t think I would ever have the opportunity to do. I’m sure some of you have seen the pictures by now. I went shark cage diving - which was absolutely amazing. What an adrenaline rush. OMG. It was awesome! It was the same outfitter that Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and Hale Berry have also visited. Surprisingly, I wasn’t scared. I thought I would be and as I was driving out there in the early morning I had absolutely no nerves and was smiling the whole time just anxious to get into the water. I had watched “Air Jaws” with my family before leaving for Africa and my parents all told me that I better not do something “stupid like that” and they were VERY serious. It made Jeff and I laugh. Sorry Mom and Dad.... but it was SO worth it! So my intent was to have it be a little funny Christmas present for my family and I was going to send them pictures or a DVD of the event. But after it was over I just couldn’t take it anymore and wanted to share the excitement with them. I really missed being able pick up a phone at that very moment to share my excitement and news! I will post the Kodak link of the shark pics to the blog.
The other exciting thing is that tonight I am finally going to attend a soccer game at Cape Town’s new stadium where the World Cup was held. And get this - it is South Africa vs. USA. How cool is that!? My German volunteer friends actually found the tickets and called me. Surprisingly the ticket was only $13.00. I can’t believe how cheap. Apparently they are trying to fill the entire stadium with those prices, or more than likely USA isn't a huge competitor for them. I have been warned to take my ear plugs tonight as those stupid blow horns will be everywhere. I’m sure this will be quite an occasion. The game doesn’t start till 9:30pm... which is crazy late, so maybe it is a Live game for USA? Who knows, but I’m guessing I won’t be home until midnight or 1 am. I will be sure to take lots of pictures! If USA wins (doubtful) I think I will attempt an Afrikaans accent on the way out of the stadium.
Happy Fall! Good Luck to all my Michigan hunter friends.
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