South Africa 20 - finally...

OK, its been a while guys - but I've finally sat down to write this entry!
It's coming up to four months since the 7 of us got back from South Africa, that in itself is almost impossible to comprehend!

I realise that I really didn't put anything in depth for the month of August...don't think I will now. Hope that's not a big issue for any of you! Just don't feel that its necessary - given how long it takes me to type in that much depth!
Just in case you feel hopelessly left out from the last quarter of my south african journey here's a summary of what occurred:

- I skydived!!! Best thing EVER!
Photographical evidence of Phil and I jumping out of a plane from 9500ft can be seen here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=46202&l=adf54&id=511686961

- The electricity 'load shedding' threatened to rear its ugly head again but never really managed it properly!

- I got to know lots and lots of lovely people (who I hope to see again someday!) a whole lot better and felt soo incredibly settled in at times!
(and incredibly challenged and unsettled at others!)

- Learnt how to make marmalade with my South African grandmothers (not that I can remember the process now tho!)

- Had a half day at a spa for Jenny and Izzy's birthday. V.relaxing but unfortunately even more embarrassing.....story not especially suitable to be shared through this medium....

- Finished the educational posters for CCP to use to aid their teaching of kids in schools in the communities :D 60 something posters in all I think! All laminated and shiny!

- Learnt to Zulu dance and went to a church in the townships- amazing food, amazing people, amazing sermon.

- Went to the Drakensburg (a range of mountains an hour and a half outside PMB) with 50 odd school kids from GCS.
Stunning scenery, over exuberant kids, extremes of weather. Brilliant fun (two words - irish snap) and a challenging time for some of the team...

- We had many people to entertain and cook for and were invited to lots of different people's houses and ate a lot of food ourselves!

- As individuals within the team we all did a final devotional time, as part of our de-briefing - which proved to be some of the most amazing times. To see and hear of the ways we had all grown and changed as individuals as well as a team.

My highlights
- Coming into contact with so many wonderful people, from all around the world, who were so willing to give so much encouragement, blessing and love.
- Learning what it really means to be part of a team
- God - all the things He taught me, the incredible ways he loved me, challenged me, taught me, gave me fresh vision and changed my heart and my perspective. Words can't convey.
- Skydiving - already plotting the next one if its at all possible (but Mum doesn't want to know about that one so sshhhhh!)

My most challenging times

- The times when my heart was heavy; thinking of a team situation, friends and family, some of the poverty I saw and when I was learning exactly what it means to be burdened.

- Learning to lead - how I respond to different personalities, the importance of having people who you truly respect-who can stop you going crazy and how to take a really deep breath, brush it off and try again.

- Saying goodbye to everyone...sooo hard!
In the words of coldplay song 'the scientist'
"Nobody said it was easy, it's such a shame for us to part, nobody said it was easy, no one ever said it would be this hard."

The hardest goodbye (while in SA) was different to the one i thought would be....and the only one where I couldn't control the tears...

One of the main questions I have been asked (over and over again!) is:
'Did you enjoy it?'
The answer is yes, yes and a thousand million times over yes.
I would do it all again in the blink of an eye and am already plotting my next visit to the amazing continent of Africa!

Am now a massive advocate of Oasis UK and Project Gateway and will happily provide anyone and everyone with details of how to help out and how to get involved if they're interested (and occasionally even if they're not..... apologies if you have been on the receiving end of an extended SA ramble - I think Oli might hold the record for that one....but he did kinda ask for it :P)

Annnd the thing that I have missed the most above all else...
my team...the 6 amazing people I spent pretty much 24/7 around for 18weeks, who feel like family, who I miss like nothing else and who will be my friends for life (if they can put up with me...)
student life is damn lonely without them around.

The final question on everyone's lips will most likely (i'm no mind reader..) be...
How's life been since SA?
In a word: tough

In more than a word:
Eye-opening (if I thought I'd learnt all that I was going to learn about myself while I was out there I was grossly mistaken)
Challenging (Us Brits find something to complain about ALL THE TIME!)

Student life in Cardiff has been an absolute rollercoaster. I was a lot more ready to go to uni than I was when I finished school in some ways, but a lot less ready in others.

I have made mistakes I wish I could go back and change, found out the real meaning behind those three little words 'reverse culture shock' and been tempted to pack it all in and buy a one way ticket to Virginia Water/Africa/anywhere else more than once.

After saying all of that I have loved it aswell:
The freedom from parents and constraints of school (which I have obviously already experienced....but I'm in the same country this time)

Made some amazing friends who I feel like I have known for a lot longer than three months

'Choosen' a new church

Realised the true joy behind the words 'free food' and 'here, let me pay for that'

Immersed myself in academic studies which I feel I can be good at (A2 chemistry taught me exactly what that didn't feel like!)

and have been on placement in the community mental health setting....which gives me the invigorating knowledge that when I'm done with all the lectures and essays malarky (which is not my strength) I will be starting in a profession which I enjoy and will be happy in.


Today I had one of those rare moments of complete clarity, when the cobwebs that have begun to cloud your perspective and vision because of the daily whirlwind and puzzles of life are swept away; allowing a fresh outlook.

Best feeling.

For the first time in a while i was able to objectively survey the different areas of my life and honestly say that I wouldn't change a thing.

Almost simply because if I changed something I would most likely not know everyone that I know, or have lived through the experiences of my life. And whether I've realised it or wanted to accept it or not each experience or person has made a difference. Today that made joyful beyond comprehension.

That and simply being able to look up at the vast expanse of sky which is not limited by suburbia...but the simple things are never quite as easy to express eloquently, even if they do sometimes make more of an impact.

I hope that made sense. It doesn't rele matter coz i'm finishing with this.....

Throughout the ups and downs of life I wil cling to the truth that:
'Nothing is impossible with God' - Luke 1:37
This has been the recurrent bible verse throughout my gap-year! Its been an amazing one!!

Peace out x

South Africa 19 - stuck in a moment

So....its been a while since I updated - I apologise!
Things have been soo busy - I have decided that as we are in our last few days (I leave SA on Sat afternoon and touch down in the UK early on Sunday) I will not try and squeeze anymore things onto my to-do list and cut further into the time we have...but will wait to update on the next few weeks till I am sat in front of my home computer and have the hours stretching before me in which I have no scheduled work, team time, events or socializing to be done.....

This may sound something akin to bliss for some of you reading this - but I can assure you that it's going to be incredibly tough to not have something to do/other team members to be thinking of when planning anything. So I feel I will be grateful for the distraction/reminisce about SA and all the things it entailed and that which the experience brought along with it.

Don't worry I have been keeping notes so as not to forget all those boring and insignificant(!) moments that I would otherwise forget!!

So, just a quick summary of where we are at the moment:
We have already said a fair few of our many sad farewells thus far and wait, with very mixed emotions, for the rest to come :'(

It feels completely surreal that it a weeks time I will be 6000 miles away from where I am currently typing this, time has flown so incredibly fast..to the point where I almost don't know how to process all that's happened.

This has been an absolute once-in-a-lifetime.....to be surrounded 24/7 by 6 other people who are not, by rights, my family but with whom I feel part of a family with and whom I have grown to love and care for.

To have known what it is like to work as part of a team in South Africa seeking to inspire and provide the local communities with the tools they need to change for the better.

To have come into contact with sooo many warm-hearted and open people from every nation and race who seek to build us up despite the fact that it is us who has come seeking, primarily, to serve them.

To be surrounded by people who have an awe-inspiring passion for the Lord - and all the wonders, blessings and challenges He has in store for them on their life's journey. Who seek Him earnestly in all that they do and commit themselves to building up others - no matter their faith, denomination or past.

This probably sounds incredibly 'gushy' - but it is the truth.....this time has changed me, moulded me, taught me more about who I am and made me think about where I want to end up in life.

It has been different, but better than anything that I could have dreamed of or imagined.

I hope you're looking forward to next week and hearing of my adventures of my last three weeks here in the beautiful South Africa!!

Peace out! x

South Africa 18 - isn't it weird how things work out?!

Friday 25/07

Chapel was brilliant. A very mixed bag indeed. The certificates were given out to those members of staff who have become certified tour guides/first aiders in order to show tourists round Gateway site as the Gateway Tourism Initiative increases in momentum.We got read the tour guides code of conduct (fun!)Rob invited everyone to the party that CCP are having next Thursday to celebrate moving and shared a little about his own personal side of leaving the umbrella of Gateway - which he and Debs have been working in for five years in different roles and thinking/praying about for seven years. It was very moving and I think most of those gathered were crying/hastily blinking by the time he finished.

After chapel it was more moving of boxes&other miscellaneous objects (oh the joys!). It was very much down to the three Oasis volunteers to complete the task of emptying the cabin outside CCP which is being dismantled and reassembled on the new site. It was arduous work once again but we kept up an impressive pace (we unloaded one load off the bakkie in 5mins flat!).
After lunch we went back to the old poster making and were very nearly locked in an alarmed Bethany House for the weekend!

In the evening Phil and I went to NCF Youth - it was packed! The husband of the lady who spoke at Ladies Night did the sermon (they're on a visit from Australia) - he was full of beans - he had soo much energy!

We stayed pretty late chatting to many people - both of us beginning to realise that NCF has begun to feel like it holds security and friends for us! Of course we always felt welcomed by the awesomely friendly people there. But its taken quite some time for it to feel like we know people to initiate conversation with...

Saturday 26/07

This was the schools 'Family Fun Day'.
Jenny and Izzy had been working towards organising a musical/dance extravaganza with all of the school children - a performance from each grade (school year).....which is no easy feat when you're working on Africa-time, teaching in a language which is not their mother tongue and have not had that much notice on the whole malarky.
But they pulled it off and it went down an absolute storm!!
I was only involved in a bit of the cutting out stars and organising props/stage set etc - and was only able to watch about 15mins of the show (an hour and a half long in full!) due to helping out on the cake stall(which was pretty hectic/tempting stuff!) with Naomi.
But the parents went mad for it and I have heard nothing but absolutely glowing praise about it since.....according to the school we've set a precedent for future Oasis Teams (eek....sorry guys :-P)

After an exhausting day of being up and around at 0730 on a Saturday(!), moving things, selling cakes, painting faces (I was quite impressed by how they turned out considering my lack of painting skills and my fear of how badly things went last time I painted a child's face.....), grooving randomly, chatting, baking in the sun etc etc we were all absolutely knackered so...what did we do?
Headed out to a restaurant called 'The Butchery' with Naomi, Ru, the N.I. team, Mama Dora(resident cleaner, zulu teacher and all round legend!), Becky(teams co-ordinator and a lady called Wendy who used to work/mostly volunteer at PG!

I went out with my face painted like a tiger (not a lion for anyone who's inclined to fall into that fatal pothole of error...) because it was far more interesting than applying normal(boring!) make-up and was amazed that I got taken seriously by my friends/waitrons(thanks Fred..) well, indeed, by anyone! But they managed it somehow! I think I may have been disowned by Jenny and Abby in the process though!

Jules (from the NI team) made her way through 1kg of steak and a litre of beer(don't worry she's not under Oasis rules...) which cost much less than a 10GBP.....i'm going to miss the cost of eating out in SA!

It was a lot of fun! We all went home and crashed!

Sunday 27/07
We slept in (surprise, surprise!)
Had a some nice chats with Abs, Hannah and Phil.

Izzy and Jenny hid themselves in the teams room and threw themselves over what they were doing/made us stand and face the wall whenever we went in!

Later on, when we had got to the botanical gardens, all was revealed as we were given a star each with a thankyou message and a yummy chocolately goodie that they had made for us - it was niiice - we also had lunch at the gardens - which is always yummy!

We made our way back to Gateway and then headed on out to NCF in the evening.
A classic Sunday at Gateway I believe!

Monday 28/07 - Wednesday 30/07
So, I'll admit it, these three days have blurred somewhat significantly in my mind - and because I've left it so long to blog unfortunately there does not appear to be anyone to help me out with remembering this blip...
Essentially, we spent three doors of lifting and carrying and sorting at CCP - which generally resulted in plenty of fatigue.
One event which sticks out in my mind is when we (Hannah, Abby and I) attempted and were forced to stop to sort a room out at the bottom of the garden in Loop Street which had been ransacked a few months ago and had had a lot of things tossed into it when Beatrice and Benson rushed to move out in a week. Unfortunately we were not in a position to clear out personal belongings - and so, after about half a day of hard graft, we were asked to try and fit everything that we'd thrown outside (in an attempt to be able to at last clamber around inside) back inside. I believe this event could be epitomised as frustrating!

On Monday the team went to the mall and had Nandos and watched the latest Batman - which I enjoyed about three minutes of in all.
At times it felt like I was watching one of my own nightmares back! (you know the ones where you can't see any hope or light at the end of the tunnel).....However I did have a great amount of admiration for Ledger's performance of the joker -as he portrayed the more disturbing sides of his character amazingly powerfully - it was difficult to watch in places though - as we know now that having to get so into character probably ultimately contributed to his premature death
earlier on this year.

So yes, on Tuesday eve it was cell as usual - always a fun time!
On Wednesday we met up with Debs to discuss how things were going on the whole making-posters front.....because of the move things had been delayed somewhat - but it was good to summarise and make sure we knew where we were at!

Thursday 31/07
Thursday was a nice but sad day. It was the last day of CCP running from Bethany House.
We had a slightly longer devotional time than we had on the other days where we had a day of moving ahead of us. We said sad farewells to Sarah (who worked on alot of the admin which ensued from the school assessment days) she has previously worked in high places in Kenya and was moving to new pastures working/studying at the university in PMB.
Unfortunately Hannah, Abby and I had been slightly out of the loop with this news so had no idea that she was leaving - so that was tough to find out.

Ru, Hannah, Abby and I did not set out to be lazy that day - but it happened anyway! There were alot of support workers busily working around BH - so much so that we struggled to find jobs to do. So we did the sensible thing and sat in the sun chatting for a couple of hours!
This was brilliant fun - especially when Hannah tried to help Pastor Richard only to be told
"No, no - you sit down again - you girls have been working too hard - when my daughter grows up I never want her to be enslaved the way you girls are!"
I have to say that that cast a whole new light on the word volunteer :-P

The time came around when it was time for the family and friends of CCP from PG and beyond to join together for a time of praise, speeches and biriani (Indian rice and meat dish which we've had a lot of while being here!)
It was alot of fun with Rob&Debs kids running around and providing us with plenty of entertainment - we went to Loop Street and back again (I never quite made it there as one of the kids lost his 'flops'!)
Again, I don't recall what we did that evening - I'm sure it was fun!

Friday 1/08
Chapel was good, it was Ru and Naomi's final week in chapel so they got plenty of well-deserved praise and encouragement - also made our farewells in a couple of weeks time seem alot more real :S

There was a classic quote from Mthoko(site manager and all round legend)
'I was thinking in my head'
which just made me giggle - so thought I'd share - even if it was a bit of a 'had-to-be-there' moment!

The rest of the day passed in a blur of shifting things around in Loop Street and taking group photos of the CCP family.
The short-term August Oasis guys; Jo, Emma and Adam (with Flo coming separately to Gateway - but is on that team aswell) arrived from Durban and we said 'Hi' and 'Sawubona' and all those other things when you meet jetlagged Brits who are trying to get their heads around Zulu culture!

In the evening we had Naomi and Ru over for a meal - and they stayed in the cells overnight...leaving plenty of time for take-out pizza, sardines (a more complicated/glorified version of hide-and-seek) outside in the dark, banter, an encouragement session and plenty of D&M's (deep and meaningful conversations) until the early hours of the morning - so that was cool!

South Africa 17 - boxes, boxes and more boxes

Sunday 20/07
I got up fairly early - despite a late night on Saturday - and spent the morning mooching around; generally just chatting with Abby&Phil.

Jonno, Hannah and Izzy went to PCF, which they thoroughly enjoyed and Jenny and Abby went and did the food shop.

Around lunch time(ish) everyone arrived back with Jules, Ru and Naomi in tow. After much procrastination and some debate six of the team (unfortunately not including Abby as the role of being team accountant beckoned) and the other three headed out for a picnic lunch.
We went to a local 'patch of grass' and sunbathed furiously under cloudless blue skies! Consistently really nice, sunny weather is something that I am going to miss soo much about living in PMB :-P



In the later afternoon Melinda, Naomi's flatmate came down to join us and we had a great God-time&encouragement/building up session.
Really blew me away - I have so much to think about - just from those few hours...I can't think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon - ever!

We headed back to Gateway where Abby had very kindly made dinner for us.....we also then sorted out the seminar room, which was strewn with the results of our creative labour over the weekend, so that it could be used for meetings on Monday.
I phoned home - and talked to my grandparents for the first time in approximately three months - that was really nice. And caught the end of Coyote Ugly, which Naomi had lent us! Really amazing day!

Monday 21/07
A packed out devotional time at CCP started the morning - all the support workers were there as well as some previous members of staff and support interns. Very cool meeting.

Hannah, Abby&I tried to work out if we could productively do any more work on the posters, which we couldn't - so set about tidying the upstairs room.
It was generally a fairly unproductive day! I spent the later afternoon playing a card game with Ru, Phil, Juls and Hannah which was an interesting mix of card game and getting hideously soaked with water! Brilliant!


That evening we had Ru and Juls round for dinner and Jenny, Izzy and anyone else who was feeling creative got down to painting backdrops for the school show.
I called my other grandparent and much fun was had comparing English and South African weather (and many other things besides!)


Tuesday 22/07
Another quiet morning at CCP which was hugely frustrating as we knew that CCP had to be out of their current premises (Bethany House - across the road from Project Gateway) by next Thursday and we were aware of just how much work needed to be done (that wasn't currently being done....) to make that happen. Despite the fact that most of the assets are being left behind..

I don't know how/can't remember how much I have said previously about CCP's move; the current situation is that they are moving from Bethany House to 14 Loop Street - literally a three minute walk away. 14 Loop Street used to be one of the managing directors (Benson) of CCP house. He moved to a house the other side of town (you may remember my ramble about the offer for a house being accepted despite it being well under asking price....that was the house that Benson and his family have moved into)


CCP is moving out from under the Project Gateway umbrella and fully under the guidance of PCF(Pietermaritzburg Christian Fellowship) to make way for another project to be run out of Bethany House. There is a lot of other things that have happened alongside - in terms of decision-making etc which happened before we arrived, needless to say CCP has changed hugely in the past year.
You may be wondering where this leaves Hannah, Abby and I in terms of our volunteering. Rest assured that we will all be serving out our last three/four weeks in this amazing project. The question of whether future Oasis Teams will be given the option to volunteer there is a question yet to be answered. I certainly hope so!



Back to our Tuesday morning.

Late on in the morning Debbie came to talk to us and review how our making of posters was progressing. It was certainly a positive meeting, with over 50 posters (and counting...) to be made before we leave....nothing too challenging obviously!
This provided us with plenty of motivation for the ensuing afternoon!

In the evening it was Ladies Night at NCF Church. Hannah and I got a lift with Nokes (from our cellgroup) and the other three girls stayed behind to paint another backdrop for the show.


The boys went out to watch a 'manly' film with the men of the cellgroup and ended up walking out of the film (Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay) because of its rubbishness!

Ladies night was brilliant and alot of laughs and a heck of a lot of chatting :D



Wednesday 23/07
I had been unsure as to whether or not to attend feeding scheme on Tuesday night but found myself dozing fitfully from 0400 onwards on Wednesday morning! That sort of made my decision!
Feeding scheme was alot of laughs - which it isn't always(!) considering you get up so early! A brilliant new song was invented by Jonno, Phil &I based around the Zulu word for free (which we use on a regular basis while dishing out the soup) 'Mahala'. I would share the song but won't for three reasons:
a) It would be hideously difficult to explain properly over the internet
b) It doesn't really have a tune
c) It is quite possibly the kind of thing that is funny early in the morning when one is serving up free soup!



Phil did a brilliant job in speaking/praying with the outpatients - a job normally taken by other volunteers.

Upon return to Gateway I showered myself and prepared for a day of work with machines of a computerical nature. Abby dashed across from B House to declare that I was desperately needed at CCP. Being not so clothed at the time I asked her to give me a ring when they needed me.
I made the people who were expecting me to be working with machines of a computerical nature aware that moving matters at CCP were set to take priority on my day and waited.
And waited

and waited


Turned out that they had more than enough people at CCP as the Jules, Nikki and Gillian from the Northern Ireland team were more than happy to help out.
I did do plenty of work with the machines of a computerical nature, just different work from that which I had had planned in my mind.

In the late afternoon I went out with Nokes for a good old natter and then returned back to Gateway and mulled around doing cool, random, probably team-related things. Before going to bed and chatting with Abby till 1am about nothing and everything!



Thursday 24/07
Needless to say I needed some serious willpower to get out of bed the next day - it was fun(not!)

All of the normal leaders at CCP were away so we spent a hectic morning trying to make sure that everything happened as it needed to.
I think it eventually happen(!) but not after rather alot of stressing, running around and eventually sitting around and waiting on our parts.


Hannah & Abby had turns driving the Condor (Toyota 4x4) dropping CCP staff at the schools to do lessons, I would have done so had we been making three journeys in it!


After a while waiting for everything to work it self out we finally got started on our job for the day - to move food/drink parcels from the cabin outside CCP into a red bakkie (pronounced buckey aka a pick-up :-p) and to Loop Street to be carried into the house.

Our borrowed bakkie looks a little like this (but a little more old and battered)

It was a lot of fun to drive (Hannah's an expert, I'm pretty rubbish as I can't clutch it properly and Abby's somewhere in between - much, much better than me though!)
It was exhausting work to be lifting and carrying rather heavy boxes around - but we did feel properly useful whilst doing so, and spirits remained high as we roped in the staff of CCP to form chains to make carrying the boxes easier and were shown how to carry boxes on our heads - no mean feat that!
Hannah&I also spent some time moving a freezer in the bakkie for Esther House (who the bakkie belongs to) which was fun!

In the evening we said our farewells to Juls who had been volunteering at CCP and staying over with Rob, Debs and the rest of the Ng-Yu-Tin clan as she was heading back to NI. Very sad.

Needless to say, I was shattered after such a physically demanding day and was in bed by 2130!! I cannot remember the last time that happened!!!

The rest of the week's blog is in progress but I have to run so I'll leave it for now!
Peace out x

South Africa 16 - Happy 90th Mandela!!

So, our holiday!
What an absolute blast of a time it was. We packed as much as we could into the time we had but also had plenty of chill-out! Perfect!

Cape Town is an absolutely beautiful city, everywhere you go you have an awesome view of it...hence this view from a backpackers we paid approx 8GBP for!

I would love to live in Cape Town; it is another, completely different side to South Africa. Far more cosmopolitan; so the city centre is very built up and westernized, the beaches are some of the best I've ever had an opportunity to see (and I saw most of them while it was cloudy and raining!) and the people are friendly and helpful. It's a beautiful mix.

However, I do feel that PMB has a sense of cultural diversity that the centre of Cape Town lacked. The physical space between the poor and the rich was far larger; compared with PMB where the townships are almost a part of the city. In Cape Town you have to travel for a good while outside the city centre to witness the township poverty (we only really saw any of the townships on the way to and from the airport) which increases the feeling of segregation.

Having said all of that it was a strange thing to reconcile in my mind because it was a refreshing break to be away from the townships and the communities where troubles and hardships are rife.

It was also brilliant to be able to walk around freely! I went for a walk by myself for the first time in what feels like forever!! I did get absolutely drenched in the process -but thoroughly enjoyed the experience!

Here's our itinerary (which we made up as we went along pretty much!)

We arrived in Cape Town at close to midnight on Monday 30th....they chucked some people who had decided to take advantage of an unlocked room in the hostel(!) and changed the sheets so we got into bed at about 0130.

Tuesday 01/07
We got up early(ish) and walked for a while along a street - just wondering where to have breakfast/lunch - ended up on the V&A Waterfront (big shopping/eating/walking place with lots of nice buildings and mix of harbour work going on!) which took us about half an hour!

Looked in on the Robben Island tour building (you have to get on a boat to actually get to Robben Island) to discover that the tours were booked until next Tuesday! So we booked that one sharpish!

Had lunch at a really lovely restaurant (the first of many!) where we were allowed to draw on a paper tablecloth (awesome touch!) and I had an ostrich burger! Ostrich is soo good; stronger flavour than beef but no fat on it whatsoever!

We then decided to try and walk up Table Mt because it was such a nice day - and we were warned, very wisely by Dean (our cell group leader who we had the privilege of being able to have around with us) that the weather forecast was not good for the rest of the time we were scheduled to stay in Cape Town so to get up to the top of Table Mt if we could.
We spent some time faffing at the backpackers before working out that we didn't have enough time to walk to the top of Table Mt (I was sort of disappointed by this, but know that if we had have walked it, it would have taken all of us rather a while to recover from!).

So instead of hiking we got the cable car up and were at the top in no time (2 and a half minutes compared to a 3-6hr hike!). The views are unparalleled by anything I've ever seen, I took soo many photos! I could have stayed and looked and taken it all in for hours. We did have a couple of hours in which we; text family and friends (yep, that's right, mobile reception on the top a mountain...what is the world coming to!), ate sandwiches, got blown around a bit, admired views and eventually sunsets.
It was every bit as brilliant as I had imagined and more - something I am going to try and experience several more times if I possibly can!

Wednesday 02/07
We got up relatively early (again I know! We did a lot more sleeping/lying in than we normally have a chance to at Gateway, so when I say relatively early I mean around 9/10ish - which is a lie-in when we're onsite!)

It was Izzy's 19th so we gave her her card, some chocolate and a promise of a present to be revealed (mysterious eh?!) and headed out to Landudno bay. A rather exclusive area of Cape Town with brilliant rocks to try and climb and beautiful sandy beach.It was the kind of day on which you wear as many layers as poss., waterproof jackets, hat, scarf and gloves(!) on the beach - so no-one put so much as a bare toe in the water (which was the Atlantic - so would have been freezing anyway!)
Lots of reading, reflecting, talking, gazing out to sea, rock climbing, eating of lunch. Until we got cold enough and headed back to the backpackers.We managed to catch the replay of the really good match that Murray played before he met Nadal at Wimbledon! Watching Wimbledon made me feel really at home - although slightly jealous of the weather!

Went out that night to a brilliant Portuguese restaurant on the Waterfront....again top, top notch stuff!I believe that was the night that a taxi was ordered for Mike Rotch (taxi still arrived) brilliant, brilliant times!

Thursday 03/07
We scrambled aboard an open top red bus (not too different to the ones in London, in fact, basically identical....!) and got wet.
Much amusement and concern on the part of fellow passengers/staff that we were getting wet!
"Nevermind" we said "we're hardcore" (half an hour later we were desperately looking for ways of seeking shelter! Us optimistic Brits!)
I apparently acquired a new boyfriend (it’s a really pointless story - but it makes us laugh!)and we saw more of Cape Town!

Including:
more cloudy, rainy, beautiful beaches
a market
the outside of several museums and a cathedral
the inside of Cape Town 'castle' which is actually a big, yellow building which could be more accurately described as a fort rather than a castle (trust me the people who call this a castle have never even heard of Windsor :-P) which was rather boring and even wetter - but we enjoyed trying to explore it!

Friday 04/07
Jenny's 19th birthday! We get up relatively early and Jenny gets balloons, a card, a lemon (coz we know how much she lurrrves lemons!), oreos and several other novelty items.
Izzy and Jenny find that their birthday surprise is a girlie half-day at a spa two weekends before we leave in August!! Much jubilation!

We then head to Cape Town aquarium...which was fun - I, once again, got very snap happy and we had lunch and rather large pieces of birthday cake (jenny got sung Happy Birthday in a very busy cafe which was rather fun/embarrassing!)
After the aquarium the other girls headed off shopping while the boys and I went back to the backpackers and chilled/watched tennis/read books.

Another absolutely amazing meal in the evening (only because the exchange rate favours us were we were able to eat like princes/princesses, had it not favoured us it would have been beans on toast every night! Absolutely once in a lifetime as far as I think we were concerned!)

Saturday 05/07
We were going to go to a theme park but it chucked it down with rain - so it was rain checked and we had a chill-out day instead.
It was good apart from some news from home about a childhood friend passing away unexpectedly. That was really, really tough, but I was able to reflect and get my emotions in check rather than being forced to process the information while trying to work.
The team supported me brilliantly and later on we went out to the cinema - a brilliant pick me up - the film had me giggling away, just like I know my friend would have wanted it that way because she and I were forever giggling together.

A day that I'm not going to forget for a while. And a friend that I won't ever forget.

Sunday 06/07
The morning started interestingly with the entrance of a random stranger into the room we were all sharing in the backpackers at about 6 in the morning. Hannah and I both woke up to see him tipping Phil's belongings onto the floor and lying down on the floor (after he wondered around the room a bit! We both assumed that it was one of the boys - but were both too groggy to figure it out and therefore didn't say anything!
An hour later when Deano got up (he's an early riser!) he didn't notice the randomer lying on the floor....he did notice him however when he came back from his shower and found the guy lying in his bed! (I really don't know how earth this guy moved round without any of us sleepyheads noticing him!)

At this point it became clear that the guy was rather wasted and had had an eventful night. Dean cajouled him to get out of bed and into the right room. We found his boxers on the floor where he had previously decided to get some sleep. Dean's face was an absolute picture!
After a few minutes of this guy looking rather dazed and bewildered he managed to get himself out of bed. Deano was busy finding new bed sheets and making comedy remarks such as "jolly good" (i think you kind of had to be there?!) and managed to find a friend of the random stranger.
Said friend came into our room and semi-playfully punched the dude who was getting himself out of Dean's bed and berated him for getting himself lost the night before!
We never really spoke to that guy again - but him coming into our room was the funniest thing of the holiday (I think!) we did, however, make sure that the door to our room was securely locked on the remaining nights!

Following the morning's events we went to church! Deano has friends at a church in Cape Town which is linked to NCF (in PMB) who very kindly offered to give us a ride rather than us having to pay for a taxi to the other side of town.
So two cars rocked up at 0815(I think!) and we sprinted out to the cars - I have not seen rain like this in a long, long time! Just constantly lashing, the streets were streams - the ferocity of the rain was amazing!

The church service was also amazing, the sermon was spot on the mark for pretty much all of us and everyone was so welcoming, I felt comfortable there straight away and was soon nattering away for all I was worth!!
The guys who were giving us lifts eventually got us away! And we headed back for some more chill time!
It was really cold that night - I believe the max in the day was about 7degrees (that's winter for you eh!) - we snuggled down with plenty of blankets and hot water bottles and a few of us watched the 'Good Shepherd' which happened to be on TV (if anyone has seen that film and has any understanding/insight into the story then let me know. I concentrated hard throughout and still had no idea at the end of it all!)

Monday 07/07
We went on a day trip to Cape Point, seeing lots of different things along the way!
We went on a seal boat trip on which Izzy, Hannah, Abby and myself were most definitely holding onto our stomachs as the boat rolled around.
Didn't see many seals because of poor weather conditions (yes it was still raining), crammage of people and my need to hang on for dear life in order to stand up....the seals probably weren't that interesting anyway(!)...

We also visited a penguin sanctuary which was fun to see and smell!
Then it was time for an awesome picnic/ buffet-style lunch (followed by coffee in a desperate bid to warm up extremities!) and a bike ride.
Me being me I didn't participate in said bike ride and Abby kept me company in the front of the bus with our really nice driver/guide who talked to us when we weren't taking pictures of scenery/porcupines/the rest of the Wildcats looking silly while riding their bikes. Or laughing at Phil goofing around to get us to wave at him; resulting in his face narrowly missing a hostile meeting with some tarmac!

We reached Cape Point, many photos taken of random wooden board stating this fact, abit of a let-down, lets be honest. Very windswept! We then went for a hike/climb/scramble from Cape Point across to Cape of Good Hope.
The views were absolutely stunning, despite the weather; I would have loved to admire them for longer than I did but was unfortunately a little pre-occupied with trying to ensure I did not break my neck by tripping over rocks, fall/get blown off the cliff path!


Reached Cape of Good Hope, puffing a little from the splendid walk! and promptly set off on another stony, uphill path to the lighthouse - accompanied by a Portuguese reporter who was on the same mini bus as us.
We had very interesting discussions about our different paths of travel, her job, my future...it was pretty good fun!
We didn't linger long at the top as the chances of being blown away increased tenfold and she was dressed for the kind of weather a normal person would presume of the African continent (i.e. dry and sunny...!).
I, on the other hand was living it up in the waterproof trousers and jacket that my Dad (thankyou!) somehow managed to persuade me to pack!


We returned to the minibus and I saw the rest of the team pointing at something(!)
Turned out they had found a baboon lurking (staying dry) in the bushes, our tour guide came over and yelled/threw things at it (yes I thought that was a sensible idea aswell(!)) until it moved and some people got some shots of a baboon running away.
Then we all scrambled into the bus and returned to the backpackers (with a short stop at a rather boring ostrich reserve).

Tuesday 08/07
We went to Robben Island. We were late to begin with, asked the taxi driver if he could get us there as quick as poss as we had just noticed on the ticket that we were required to be there half an hour before (we had 10-15mins spare!)
So we jumped a few reds and flew through a few orange lights and sprinted from the taxi to the ticket office only to find that we were there with plenty of time to spare (we got some very amused looks from the people we ran past!)

I really enjoyed Robben Island - despite the far from nice boat trip there and back (once again Izzy and I were clutching our stomachs - though this one was more like a rollercoaster than the rolling motion of the boat on the seal trip - which made it a little easier to deal with as I've had plenty of experience dealing with rollercoasters!!)


Spending time on Robben Island made me realise just how far South Africa has come since the end of apartheid (despite there being an awfully long way to go) and just how recently the apartheid ended. It was definitely an eye -opener to see the cell that Mandela lived in (far smaller than ours in case you were wondering....!) and where the prisoners worked.

I thoroughly enjoyed the reflection time that it offered and our trip to Cape Town would have been in the lack without our visit there.

Wednesday 09/07
We were going to do something with the time in between packing up and checking out of our room at 10 and leaving for the airport at 5ish but it bucketed it down with rain (following the theme of all the days bar the first!) so some more chill time :D

Almost missed the check-in for the flight due to bad traffic -- but we didn't in the end(!) so that was OK. Uneventful flight with a beautiful sunset and a rather large appreciation for the warmth of the air in Durban when we landed!
Naomi and Becky kindly gave us a lift to PMB and our holiday (part 1 was over!)


It was sooo weird to be back at Gateway - as the trip had somehow felt soo long (in a good way). I think also because I am used to coming home from a holiday and being at my home in the UK rather than in a prison in PMB!
We all wondered round looking like lost sheep for a little while before heading up to bed.


Thursday 10/07
Lie-in!
Washing
Haircut (finally! I didn't realise how thick it was!)
Lunch in the botanical garden with Hannah Montana (we ordered a taxi under that name in Cape Town aswell but that didn't go as well as the 'Mike Rotch' joke - as the lady started getting pretty hysterical - wondering if it was actually Hanah Montana on the other end of the phone!!)
Admiration of Phil's numerous photos
Lots of eating of English food - sent for Jenny's birthday (complete with party hats and masks!)


Friday 11/07
Got up at 6 to pack for St Lucia.
We all left shortly before 9
Three cars: Naomi with Hannah, Izzy, Kat and Phil
Becky with Jonno, Abby and Jenny
Juls with Gillian and Nicky (three volunteers are here for a month from N.I.)


Got to St Lucia for a late lunch (after a toilet stop for those in N's car!) and a quick dip of feet in the cold pool before heading into the village/town for a little wonder before going on the croc and hippo tour.
Much fun, lots of hippos and crocs, very cold, discovered how large (and heavy) a hippos tooth actually is!
My camera ran out before the stunning sunset :S but a lot of fun.


Naomi cooked for us and Izzy&I sat up watching a ridiculously bad movie which was on TV - don't even remember what it was called - except it has Josh Hartnett and 'Indiana Jones' in it!

Saturday 12/07
Got up early early (we were in thre van and driving by 0600) to go on safari - we had an open-sided van so the hour long drive to the park was hideously cold and windy.
We were spoiled by seeing about 50-odd elephants in a day, along with cheetah, rhino, zebra, giraffe, warthog, gazelle, wilder beast, water buffalo, lions (sort of!) and many other things besides.

We went out for a meal after the drive which was a lot of fun - although Nicky was not feeling at all well and it absolutely bucketed it down on the walk home - bed that night was greatly appreciated!


Sunday 13/07
Relatively early start (back to Cape Town speak now) to pack up the room and get going to St Lucia beach....stunning, stunning beach - loved it!.
Another brilliant time for walking, reflecting, being blown off your feet - the usual!
Some of the braver/crazier of our bunch paddled in the shark-infested waters with strong currents...I took photos!


After lunch we headed back to Gateway - arriving just after nightfall (1630ish here remember!)

Here are the links to the pictures that I’ve managed to upload (after battles with the computer!) to Facebook. There are quite a lot of photos – feel free to browse or not browse as you wish!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=44242&l=c3b95&id=511686961

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=44354&l=df10d&id=511686961

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=44363&l=27bb7&id=511686961


Monday 14/07
Spent the day ‘de-flea-ing’ it’s a long story but essentially me, being the cat lover that I am, spent a significant amount of time befriending and cuddling a cat that was owned by the people who run the Backpackers.

While in Cape Town I noticed I was getting an increasing number of mosquito bites! This was odd as I had been told there were no mozzies in CT and it was so cold anyway I was surprised! By the time that the penny dropped that these were flea bites it was a little late for the ‘wash everything a lot and you’ll be fine’ method. I ended up not doing much about it in CT as I did not have the facilities to.

To cut an even longer ramble short. I took the time out on M0nday to make sure that all the little critters were gone from my clothes and anywhere else they might have dained to take residence.
The morning of hard work to do this was followed by a lunch out with Ru, Jules, Nai and Phil – good company, good food and the sun – perfect!


Tuesday 15/07
Back to work (or so I thought!)
It turns out that the staff at CCP were very busy finishing the assessment work at one of the schools where the absenteeism at the assessment days was huge (and where the language barrier is pretty impossible without translators – who were not available due to community visits- so we were unable to be of much use.)

The rest of the staff were all out doing community visits, which we were not able to be involved in because of shortage of car space and the fact that CCP staff have to be careful which homes we go into because we will be perceived as the ‘rich’ white people who have come to solve all their problems at the drop of a hat – which we haven’t! So that can be tricky for them to involve us.
All three of us who work at CCP are hoping, however, that we will be able to do a few more community visits before the end of our time here.

So yes, on Tuesday we found ourselves doing more of the poster work we started at the beginning – but having got pretty much as far as we can with that given the imminent move of CCP and a meet that we need to have with a staff member about one of the outstanding posters we were frustrated with not having much/anything to do.


We attended the surprise 80th birthday party for Rene who works with her sister Edith (75) running rural house industries (the longest running project of Project Gateway).
A brilliant surprise and time to celebrate a blessed, much loved servant of God.

We were invited out for lunch with Ru (who were also struggling to find a job to do) and Debs. A lot of fun and laughter, before coming back to Gateway.


Later on that evening everyone bar Abby and Phil (who was feeling ill) went out to cell group at a local coffee shop – again brilliant fun and good fellowship. I made the mistake of having an espresso (I think I forgot what time it was!) and was awake for hours!

Wednesday 16/07
Feeding scheme was cancelled so I had a lie-in (relatively speaking for a Wednesday!)
Spent the morning at CCP doing this and that (i.e. unstructured, random tasks!!) and then out to Russell High (all-girls, relatively posh school that CCP work with) to help out with the teaching.


Spent the evening doing a scavenger hunt/random challenges around PMB (set-up for us by Naomi and her flatmate, Melinda) which was hilarious and involved me embarrassing myself in a chemist, eating a lot of ketchup and laughing at other people’s reaction to their challenges!Also, the other team went through a McDonalds drive-thru in a pretend car (i.e. they were walking along pretending to be sat in a car – absolute hilarity!)


Thursday 17/07
After a late night the night before it was difficult to surface the next morning (especially due to the cold temperature of the cell outside my blankets!)
Spent the morning again doing odd-jobs, chatting to Ru for her research for her dissertation and the afternoon helping Mama B (Beatrice - CCP project leader) with some filing and generally having a D&M (deep and meaningful) discussion.

Went out in the evening to see ‘Wanted’ with the rest of the girls (I know, not your normal definition of a chick flick!) I enjoyed the action, guts and gore(!) but the storyline left something to be desired!


Friday 18/07
Chapel – the new volunteers from UCCA (Rochester) working with the fashion school were introduced and given a full-on “African church” experience!
Pastor Jabu was laughing a lot while preaching his message and the service ended with one of the most joyful/jubilant songs known to mankind with lots of rejoicing and dancing and happy times.
I’d like to know what they made of it all. Us lot just laughed, enjoyed and pretty much accepted it. I wonder what it was like from an outsider’s perspective?!

At CCP we did a lot of sorting for the move and then us three went to Edith and Rene’s house. I sorted out computer things, we all got toast and homemade marmalade (with a pot to bring back with us and a promise to be taught how to make!!), lots of stories about growing up in Zambia and training as a nurse in Richmond!....when I found out that Rene has visited Virginia Water I felt so strange to have that same link with her…to think that we share an experience of a place(the lake) despite the incredibly different experiences we’ve both had in life is a little mind-boggling!


The rest of Friday was without incidence and spent some time sitting on the steps of Devon House just taking in some much needed warmth and thought time.We also had team-time in the evening – which consisted of all of us helping to make things for the show – which is part of the family fun day (fundraising for the school next Saturday).
The show has been put together by Izzy and Jenny and we are helping to make props and costumes.
We were up late making lots of headway into our delegated jobs!


Saturday 19/07
I got up early to carry on with making things for the show; as did the boys.
Hannah and Abby went to Howick to buy pretty things and paint and other various things for the show.
The boys and I helped to move a delivery of 300 black plastic chairs from a van down a flight of steps to the church hall – with the help of a contingent of staff from Project Gateway.
Izzy and Jenny were up late and we all continued to make the things needed for the show.

Abby and Hannah came back with some very unhealthy lunch (In the form of McDonalds – yes they did use an actual car to go through the drive-thru this time!)
We all ate and felt full!
Nai came over and helped us with show things and took the girls to a material shop that they needed to go to.
Our original evening plans fell through, so instead everyone went to watch a film and I stayed at PG to write this!!



I hope this isn’t too long (well in fact, I know for a fact it’s too long…..)
So Congratulations if you’ve read this far.
I won’t be too much longer finishing this!

I can’t believe that it is midway through July and we have just over a month left to go….the time has simply disappeared. My mind feels like its playing tricks on me in terms of my time perception.
I really hope and pray that I can get all the things that I want to get done before we have to say our sad goodbyes to this place.

Depending on when you talk to me you’ll hear different takes on whether or not I want to go home! For example, earlier on this evening I would have said that I absolutely cannot wait to be back at home; but right at this moment I never want to leave!
Us humans are weird beings is all I can say! Or maybe it's just me??!


Finally, I would encourage you all to read this blog entry that Phil has written. It’s not his South Africa blog – I read it yesterday and it blew me away. I know you’re bored of reading if you’ve managed to get to the bottom of this spiel – but give this a go – trust me – you won’t regret the it!

http://deussapientia.blogspot.com/2008/07/salvations-path-genesis-37-47.html


With that its time for that age-old saying of mine!
Peace out x

South Africa 15 - It feels like home, and it knocks me out.

Tuesday 17/06
This was the first of our assessment days at a school called Fundokuhle. Hannah, Abby and I were all fairly nervous and apprehensive - as we sort of had a plan - but a lot of the time we were going to be making it up as we go along!

The morning started well with everyone being up early in order for us to have a team prayer huddle before we went out! As we had to be at CCP at 0715 everyday to be able to arrive at the school on time!
All in all things went a lot better than I had expected - we got all the assessments done ahead of the time we had scheduled and the children loved the games and things that were planned. I was in Grade 8B with Thabile and Themba. Lots of fun had!

The only slight problem was that the other school children went slightly mad when they saw that we were taking some sandwiches into the classes that we were working with.
This meant that in all the other schools we were exceptionally careful to hide the food to prevent some of the hassles and stresses that developed from that issue!

After the school assessments we had a pretty early finish from CCP I went home and got POST! More chocolate from home :-P yay! (i should clarify that the second reference to home was my British home rather than my South African one - weird as? huh!)

Then cell group as per usual. Good prayer sess and all that!

Wednesday 18/06
This was the second time at Fundokuhle - this time assessing Grade 9's (tues was gr.8). The second day was much harder as there were far more children in need and crying out for help. Abby and Hannah both interviewed children with traumatic cases; and there were a lot of children from that day who require intervention.
Having said that I now have a friend in Gr 9B who is seriously lovely and smiley!

In the afternoon we had a meeting with Rob(one of the managing directors of CCP - absolute legend..) and Di (intro-d many times on this blog....fundraising head of Gateway) to make sure that everyone was clear on the CCP moving-out-of-Gateway situation. Hannah, Abby and I were pretty clear as we've been involved in several meetings at Bethany House - but some of the other guys were a little confused by some of the things that they'd been hearing. It was a cool meeting, at one point I thought it might go on for several hours - as both Di and Rob can talk for England (though I suppose South Africa might be more appropriate!)

Then in the evening we had Kylie and her friend who had been visiting her from the UK over for homemade pizzas - a lot of fun! But unfortunately I wasn't the greatest of company as the two early mornings and assessment days had really taken it out of me!

Thursday 19/06
This was the first assessment day at Georgetown Secondary School, with the Grade 8's. I spent alot more time doing assessments as I became more confident in what was expected; unfortunately translation was a far bigger barrier than it had been at Fundokuhle - and so I needed a support worker or a member of the CCP Youth Group (also known as GOLD - Generation Of Leaders Discovered - Love it!!) in order to actually complete the assessments.

Its really tough to think that a lot of the 13 and 14 year old kids won't be able to have a well-paid job in the future because of their poor English - the support workers and youth were great at pushing the children to at least try and understand English - because in the long run not having adequate English skills ultimately continues the cycle of poverty.

After the assessment day Hannah, Abby, Ru, Jules and I headed out to Mugg&Bean for some good food and some chill out time. Tiredness beckoned rapidly!....

Friday 20/06
The boys went to a prison ministry with an evangelist(yes, that's her full time job!) from Eagle Christian Centre (ECC) which we attended as a team a while back. It turned out that they couldn't get into the prison so they went to a hospital instead and managed to get themselves into the paper(albeit as Phil Fital-Singh and John Cartala) but hey!

Meanwhile we went to the second day of assessments at Georgetown - for the Gr. 9's.
There was a far lower turn-out than the day before which meant that we finished even earlier!
I also left early with Rob, Hannah and Abby in order for us to get the letters to Zamazulu school in time for the assessment day the next week. I got out of the car at CCP to go to the loo while the other two got the memory stick - and ended up being left behind(!) so I got down to some serious counting of numbers for the admin side of things!

In the afternoon I headed out for a chill-out to the Botanical Gardens with Nai, Ru, Jules, Phil, Jenny and Izzy. Much sleeping/sunbathing! We also went to Liberty Mall and got down to some serious planning for Hannah's birthday the next day, which went on long into the night. Unfortunately I became zombie like pretty prematurely in the evening so hit the sack early!

Saturday 21/06
I rose a little later than usual - but was conscious of all the plans for Hannah's birthday so it wasn't too late...I was greeted on my way to the shower by an over-exuberant Hannah who had just opened her parcels from home. She got a few grunts that may have ressembled the words 'Happy Birthday' and went to wake myself up!

We had bananna pancakes made for us by the bananna pancake man himself (Jonno) and a few 0chilled out hours later we were on our way to the Botanical Gardens for a picnic.
Lots of fun, much music and a silly game with an orange later we were back at Gateway.

Four of the girls headed to a nicely decorated cell for birthday facemasks, the clutch cable on the car snapped, Jonno, Phil and Kat get stared at by many passing cars as we ponder how to get ourselves out of the predicament we find ourselves in.....

Car predicament is eventually partially solved (in that we are no longer stuck on the road) we phone someone else and get them to buy party food for us.
Kat gets to her facemask and the boys set about decorating the admin block for the party.

A few hours (and a lot of glamourising!! :-P) later there is a surprise party for Hannah, much surprise on the birthday girl's behalf, lots of playing of pass the parcel, musical chairs and too much food in general....
Abby is ill in bed with bad cold :S we missed her.

Sunday 22/06
Over night on Sat I slept in Hannah and Izzy's cell as Abby was worried about disturbing me and I was going to Carter School (which is where an offshoot of NCF church meets) early the next morning as our cell group was on the tea and coffee roster.
Was exceptionally weird not to be in my own bed.

After tea and coffee serving at Carter we all (minus Abby and plus Naomi) went to the Botanical Gardens for the concert in the park that was being held.
Lots of lovely music, company and food.

Got a bit bored by the end of the afternoon of sitting and listening - but it was fun!
Was also very wierd as I could count on one hand the number of black/mixed race people present. Seriously couldn't get used to being surrounded by so many white people....it hasn't happened for a good two months now!!

That evening a lot of general bumming around was done - aswell as some watching of Mulan - I was beginning to feel rather ill with cold at this stage - just as Abby was getting over hers!

Monday 23/06

Abby spent a day in bed, recuparating and trying to be in good health for her birthday the next day.
There was alot of stapling to be done at CCP to get the registers for the other three schools which were still to have assessment days.
V.long team leader prayer sess - about nothing and everything under the sun - probably not aided by the fact that I was in a tired and rambly mood!

Bridget Jones's Diary was watched (or not watched in mine, Phil and Jonno's case!)
Abby's birthday planned!

Tuesday 24/06
I was ill as anything - but still persuaded my body that it should be dragged out of bed...this persuasion plus Abby being set on her birthday treasure hunt over breakfast = us being late for CCP and Ru's devotional :S

After said devotional we had a meeting to plan the Zamazulu assessment day taking place on Thursday as the Gr8 and Gr9 days were being merged into one day which = a lot more organisation required for things to run smoothly.
Then CCP Youth rocked up in the afternoon so we spent some time teaching them some cool games for them to be teaching the children, while we pull them out of the classes to do one-on-one assessments.
Then came back to Gateway to admire all the nice things that Abby had unwrapped after completing her Maths-themed treasure hunt.

In the evening we headed out to cell group - was good fun - but I had a hacking cough which made things a little less comfy for me and a little louder for evryone else!!
Needless to say I did not sleep well that night!

Wednesday 25/06
Decided to stay in bed in order to attempt to be better for the Zamazulu assessment days for which I was needed for. So I got up late, showered, had lunch, felt knackered enough to go to bed again.
Did not much at all afternoon - skipped the meal that everyone else went out to with two new volunteers from Northern Ireland onsite (well as of Sunday there's three of them...)
Cooked some pasta and sauce (yum!)
Later got chastised/laughed at for cooking about 4x the amount of pasta I needed (pasta salad the next day...) but in my defence cooking is not as yet my forte (not enough practice..) and I was ill so my brain was hardly in gear!!
ho hum!
Slept ok though!

Thursday 26/06
Zamazulu assessment day!
A lot of fun! Out in the sun!
Good times all round, even if I did have three kids cry :-(

I got cough medicine :D I think everyone in the cell block was bored of me having coughing fits while trying to sleep so Phil&Jonno took pity! They were also threatened with many things if they forgot to get some but that's a very minor detail.....

Hannah went and had some chillout/sleep over time with Nai!
We got pizza. I went on Skype - and stayed up late trying to make myself feel tired/stop coughing.
I failed and spent alot of time having more coughing fits while trying to sleep :S

Friday 27/06
Went to prison ministry (for real this time!) with the other girls - I found it far more difficult than I had originally imagined - and my throat felt constricted the whole time. It was rather strange - may just have been spaced out from cold/lack of sleep but it was a challenging experience - trying to talk to immates through cell bars and find a way of making sense to them. The people we were with were full of passion and just talking at them/prayering over them/with them. Just all felt a little overwhelming and really wasn't sure what to say or how to feel.
I'll try it again some time - but not too soon! lol!

After prison ministry we came back and I had a chilled out afternoon - Jenny and Abby went shopping for some things and I had an early night(i think!)

Saturday 28/06
Lie-in - very quiet morning. Walked(!) down to Mac's coffee shop with the girls - about half hour walk - five minute drive.
It was soo good to walk!
Came back - there was food being given out to refudgees onsite that the boys were helping with - which apparently got fairly hectic - with people fighting about food! But it was all over by the time we were back!
Went to the house where Jules and Ru are staying and had a braai and some good time with the children they were babysitting for!
Good games of sardines etc!
Late night back - we were all shattered!

Sunday 29/06
Early start to go to PCF with Hannah and Nai - some, erm, interesting(!) God channel clips watched!!
Back for lunch
Had Kylie over for a farewell meal - all very posh (and very filling!)
Went to NCF with Kylie and Dean - sermon was good but a little rambly (which I'm familiar with of course - but didn't really help in this situation)
Then back to the prison for carrot cake(!) and banter - up late!

Monday 30/06
Just spent the day packing and chilling.
I got to dash as we have half an hour till we leave for the airport and I'm not entirely sure that I'm ready!
What I am ready for though is some chillout time and fun filled banter in Cape Town!

We're planning:
Table Mt
Cape Point
1 Thessalonians
Robben Island
Food
Much sleep and even more banter!

Should be good!

We fly back on the 9th and go for a long game weekend on the 11th
so I'm sure I'll have a fun-filled blog the week after that!

Peace out! x

South Africa 14 - lagging behind a little

Wednesday 04/06
Went to the feeding scheme early early - nearly missed it tho coz I set my alarm too late(good work huh!?) then started work late in the I.T. room late simply coz I was feeling pretty unmotivated and tired, bit of a bummer!I then went to Russell High with some CCP people in place of Abby who helped Izzy with a music lesson. It was pretty cool as I actually did some informal teaching and taught them a game which was fun....this school isn't on the list of five schools that CCP is actively working with because its a private school and doesn't strictly need some of the services which they provide. But you can't go wrong with HIV education, especially not in South Africa so..
Then later on that evening Naomi, Jules and Ru came round and we had pizza together. Lots of story swapping, especially regarding Oasis team stories - as Ru and Naomi were on the Oasis 2006 team of 10 people - lots of laughs!

Thursday 05/06
I did the bible-bit of the devotional time at CCP - which I was more than a little scared about. But inspiration about words to say to fit the story I wanted to tell hit me at breakfast time. Basically I gave a short part of my testimony, which I've always been rather nervous about sharing before. It was well received and I have since had a separate but randomly linked opportunity to minister to someone else through my experience. I was so happy for the rest of that morning.
And spent the afternoon typing registers!

Friday 06/06
There was a presentation at chapel about the newest tourist developments onsite - PG is being put on the map as part of the initiative to trace the journeys of some of the famous people who were caught up in apartheid.
Its pretty cool as they are looking at PG and the projects under its umbrella being self-sustaining so that the fundraising that Di (and many others) spend time doing will no longer be necessary and can go to other projects.
The plans are ambitious but doable with the funds which have been fundraised and the savings that have been made. Apparently plans have been around for an age - but this is a real time of change at PG - both inside and out (as in aesthetically).
Its such a privilege to be here at this time, well, to be here at all really!

The day at CCP was a prayer meeting for those working with those in the community affected buy HIV and those who are infected/affected by the virus. Unfortunately I wasn't in most of the meeting because I was helping with the lunch preparation, but the small part of it I was in was pretty radical; really enjoyed it - and the time spent playing with the children who had come along afterwards!

In the evening the girls went out to watch Prince Caspian and Jonno, Phil and I headed out to NCF Youth. Also a pretty rad time! Felt pretty overwhelmed by the time I headed to bed that night!

Saturday 07/06
I really don't know where to start with this epic of a day!
I guess the beginning would help!
OK, so we headed out to Tala Game Reserve one very fine and sunny day with Kylie, Naomi, Ru, Jules, Caleb and Ellie-Jo. Minus Jonno and Cedric(our car) we had had several car issues (well we continue to have major car issues...) and so Jonno volunteered to stay behind, despite several insistences that there would be room for one more!
We had a braai and swam in an exceptionally cold but chlorinated pool.
I seriously have never been in quite so much pain after jumping into water; it was like being stabbed numerous times! Stayed in for around 20-30 mins by which point i was numb/warm and needless to say it took awhile before I actually felt like I had feet still attached when I got out!!
Once we had exhausted the options of swimming, sunbathing, eating, playing Uno, reading, toasting marshmallows etc we piled back in the cars and went on our very own game drive!

We started off in a convoy but I was in Kylie's car and we turned back shortly after following the other car down a track which was a little more than our little VW City could handle. For us, after a hairy three point turn on a bush track and some good directions later(we did have a map..) we saw lots - the highlight of that being scarily close to a rhino (completing my BIG FIVE - o yea!).

While gaping at send rhino we got phone calls to say that the other car was MAJORLY stuck on that same track they had gone down a long while earlier. To cut an almost four hour long saga short it took two safari trucks and a 'monster' truck to pull the car out of the mess.
Absolutely miraculously everyone was fine; albeit tired, hungry and overwraught. The car required nothing more than a good clean.
I use the word miraculous because you're not supposed to go down that bit of track in a normal car and survive. Four rangers have died in the last two years while on that stretch!
I am still astounded that nothing worse came out of that day - hand of God right there.

Sunday 08/06
After a considerably later bedtime on Saturday night than we had planned we got up fiendishly early on Sunday to do the childcare at PCF once again - as they once again wanted the sunday school teachers in the service.
It was also the coldest day I believe we have had - I wanted nothing more than to stay in a cuddled ball all day - wet and cloudy aswell!!
Anyways, we did a sketch about Moses and the Israelites defeating the Amalekites (Ex 17 i believe) under the banner of the Lord. Script very well written by Hannah - and Jonno made a brilliant Moses!
The time went very quickly - we didn't have time to do the some of the things which we were planning which was annoying! But better that way I suppose!
After church we hit Mugg and Bean with friends from PCF - including Naomi, Ru and Jules to continue to recover from Saturday's escapades!

In the evening we went to NCF - once again I greatly enjoyed the service and they had lots of the youth being baptised in their indoor full-immersion. There have been alot of baptisms lately!

Once we were back home we managed to short the power in the admin block - and I didn't help by flicking the main fuse switch off!!
So we had an early night (only to find the next morning that the main switch was upstairs in the admin block! hehe!)

Monday 09/06
Monday involved a whole lot of admin and a whole lot of cool God stuff...
We had d/v at CCP - awesomely long as it always is on Monday morning
The rest of the day was spent typing lots more Zulu names and..
and our very own team d/v was pretty inspiring that day aswell!

Tuesday 10/06
Lets just say I had a mini memory collapse on that day as I can remember zilch about what actually happened!
Well, apart from our insanely cool cell group evening which consisted of much encouragement and inspirement(yes I am well aware that that is not a word :-P) and made me feel happy for much time afterwards!

Wednesday 11/06
Feeding scheme as per use, I love feeding scheme - I can't think of many better jobs to get up to do at 0530 (ok, so that might be a slight exaggeration - but the principle itself still stands!)
Found it difficult to get started after getting back - then was prevented from starting research by Phil's keys being temporarily looked into someone else's room....
Did eventually get some research done before heading off to have lunch in the blazing sunshine (i know - what an utter slacker!) with alot of girls :-p at this awsum coffee shop just down the road!

I chatted to a guy from PCF who has done some work in the school IT room previous to going to Cape Town to do graphic designing at uni. Helped me think more realistically - and I am once again re-evaluating my role in the work to update the room.

Then had a phone call from Hannah - very stressed over in CCP. Essentially some big-wigs in Pretoria (capital of SA - for those of you who are not geographically minded) decided that their definition of an 'orphan and vulnerable child' had changed to include more people. this meant that all our hard work over the last week or so had to be edited and added onto majorly, in order for the school assessment days (taking place the next week) would reach the children it was designed to reach.
So I raced over to CCP to do much re-evaluating, counting and typing - the boys (bless their cotton socks :-P) came to lend a helping hand.
And we took typing home to make sure all the lists were done for the next week (as it now turns out some of them have come out wrong anyway simply because some of the info the schools gave us was a little out in some way - but hey! lets not focus on that frustrating fact too much!)

That evening I went to the PCF prayer meet with Naomi, Jules and Ru nad we had a meal with those three + Kylie! Much fun and too late a night had by all!

Thursday 12/06
Everyone at CCP went to Fundokuhle(one of the schools) to give out letters - asking those we had identified to be at school next week while the rest of their classmates had time off. The Oasis girls stayed behind to answer phones and do more admin.
In the afternoon we began to earnestly plan some of the activites to be done with the kids on the school assessment days - which was slow but eventually productive work!

In the evening I did some shuttle runs within the prison walls - felt so good to finally do a bit of exercise listening to some tunes while doing so - even if I did get mocked/copied by all the children who live in the cell block!
Helped Hannah Montana make some roasted veg - whilst bouncing along to more tune-age and tidied my room/cell for the first time in quite some time (sound familar?? :-P) Unfortunately for me, fortunately for others I cannot leave tidying for as long as I could at home - simply because we do actually need to be able to open the cell door/get into bed everynight!!

Friday 13/06
Chapel as use.
Meeting with Debbie about all things CCP - the history of.
Much soaking up of rays while painting hearts for the simple gospel message we relay on the school assessment days
Organised Zulu bible verses, also for assessment days
Was going to go to NCF Youth but was bushed so didn't - and spent time being lazy and chatting on Skype instead!!

Saturday 14/06
Most exhausting Saturday I have had in quite some time! We dug up half of the 'volleyball court'
that belongs to the school to renew the sand and make it more of a sandpit (well, I fear the clay may stop us digging it too much deeper...)
We had no wheelbarrow to transport the earth being dug up across the field to the 'earth heap' so the most of the morning was pretty strenuous with the amount of heavy bucket lifting that went on.
Abby&Jenny were out doing the 'weekly' shop and made a scrumptious lunch to restore carb balance and the afternoon seemed better - though my back cracked pretty well by the end of it all!

We spent the evening at a reallly nice house which Ru and Jules were house-sitting in for the weekend! Much relaxing fun, a meal cooked for us - and i had a realllly nice shower.
I really cannot imagine a better ending to such a hard day!

Sunday 15/06(Father's Day)
More digging (specially so that we could share some banter with us and shake their heads at us for missing church :-P in all fairness we were doing God's work!)
Out to Liberty Mall for a lovely lunch in celebration of 2months in SA! EEEK!
I finally got my camera sorted (after putting the battery in the wrong way round after re-charging - and a whole series of other annoying sagas which made my camera life a little stressful for awhile - but its all sorted now :D)
Went to NCF - nother brilliant time
Then went to Ru and Jules borrowed house again :D
Watched Hot Fuzz :D :D
and BBC News - which was incredibly weird and I was soo annoyed when they spent 10mins talking about Brown and Bush and 2mins talking about the awful floods in Japan.

Monday 16/06 - Youth Day = Bank Holiday
Biiig lie-in :D :D
Lots of time spent fiddling about with computers - trying to get internet to work properly and ending up installing a lot of anti-virus to weed out alot of things that had crept on.
So, so, so sunny :D
lunch and d/v outside
Hannah, Abby & I spent time talking and praying about impending CCP school assessment days as we were all pretty apprehensive/slightly scared.
Went out to Spur for a meal
Our other borrowed car died....
I should explain the car situation.....
Basically....
Cedric (our team car - green Opel/VW Corsa) has big gear and steering issues which render him unsafe - but PG has no money with which to fix said problems.

So, Team Wildcats borrow Baba Zeph's car (Toyota Centra) to use. This is a good compromise - but we have not been shown how to fully turn off the engine and so end up completely draining the battery :S

Corsa and Centra batteries are swapped and we have car again! On tues night (which i have yet to talk about..) exhaust falls off (it was already broken) and we attach again with a lanyard (inventive or what!?)
so yeah!
there are now three different parties needing to use the same car
- Baba Zeph - who is generally a taxi for PG and who uses the car all the time normally
- Team Wildcats - who need it to ferry 7ppl to various pressing social engagements/go shopping/generally do anything other than be onsite!
- Nicky and Julie - two volunteers from Northern Ireland who joined us on Monday and who need a car to get to work everyday.

So yea, we need a new car - no one has any money for repairs of current cars -- let alone a new(i.e. secondhand one) cars are pretty similar in price to UK....

Shall leave you with that to chew on... I am finally almost up to date with blogging - its been so long! :-P
and I shall leave stories about school assessment days till another time as I have another school assessment day 2moro - and they equal being at work at 0715 (eurgh!) I do love them as I feel properly useful tho - so mustn't complain too much!

Peace out x