The Dog that Almost Kept the Dry Land From Appearing

from Katherine
You may know that I teach a Creation Story curriculum that Elliott and I created to several preschools around our ministry area. Some of the concepts are a bit difficult for young children to understand so we have worked really hard to make it fun for the kids and focus on showing instead of talking. 

This week we are on Day 3 when God said, "“Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” Elliott had a great idea to get a small plastic tub and put small holes in the sides. We place a flat rock in the tub and cover it with dark blue water made from food coloring to represent the seas. Then we pull the covering off the holes and just enough water drains out to expose the rock. What the children saw was a 'small ocean' and then the 'seas' gathered into one place and the land came forth. The kids loved it! And believe it or not, Elliott found a rock that resembled the shape of South Africa!

At the Sirhashini school there is a dog that follows his boy to school and spends the day there. When I was there yesterday, the dog drank all the blue water. Thankfully, he waited until after the demonstration! I am not sure how I would have explained that part of the story if he had drank the water during the process. If he had done it before the demonstration I would have had to carry the water bucket to the bottom of the canyon and down to the river beacuse that it where the closest water is!

Today, I was at the Mzamba preschool. They have a goat that hangs around and sometimes comes in the building so I guarded the demonstration inside the small church until the children were ready to see how God made the waters part!

How Humid Is It?

from Elliott
It has been very hot and humid here lately. It is after all summer time in Africa. I know meteorologists have a fancy, scientific way to define the level of humidity but I have come up with another,  perhaps more pragmatic one. 

Since we are without air conditioning we often have our windows open with a oscillating fan operating. It will at least move the very heavy air especially when there is not a breeze outside.

One day I kept feeling bits of moisture. I could not figure out what was going on until I looked at the fan and there were beads of water forming on the tips of the blades and the water was collecting on the mesh housing outside of the turning blades. As a bead of water would get large enough it would then break off the mesh and get blown outward at unsuspecting people in the path of the breeze.

Quite refreshing…until you realized why the water was forming. So that is my new method of determining the level of humidity. If water is blowing off the fan the humidity is very high!

One Mans' Trash.....

from Elliott
Monday is trash pickup day in our town. With most of our ministry area not having trash pick up, they must burn everything or dump it. Fortunately, we can take a bag of trash to the curb on Monday.  The pick up usually does not occur until later in the day so when we are out for the day we must put the bag out when we leave in the morning. Like clockwork someone shows up soon after the bag goes out. 

I have watched from a distance and seen someone gently untie the bag and begin picking through what we have determined to have no use.  Invariably we have a different view of what is usable! When the picker has completed their search, they will put their items in a bag to take with them and carefully tie the bag back again. I wonder if they are simply fastidious people or if there is an unwritten code of trash pickers that is meant to increase their acceptance along our towns roads. I am fascinated that they often find something in our trash of value. There are times when we know we are putting something out that has value like clothes or empty containers so we leave it outside of the bag and put it on the ground next to the bag. 

Perhaps I would need to walk in their shoes to fully appreciate how they judge value. They are friendly when we speak to them. They seem to go about their business quietly and inconspicuously. We have not engaged in significant contact simply because we are uncertain how they view their activities and whether they would be uncomfortable relating to the owner of the trash.

One thing I have noticed here is that we generate far less waste than we did back in the US. While there we would throw out two or more bags a week even with a separate recycling bin. Here, we typically have less than one bag even without recycling. We certainly reuse more items but it appears that there is generally less packaging on purchased items. We will see if our new found waste minimizing discipline will ‘return home’ with us when we repatriate in a couple of years!

The Monkeys Might Be Closer to Us than I Thought

from Elliott
Well, I have to admit I have always been a bit offended when people suggested we were closely related to monkeys. I may have to change my tune....

Word seems to have gotten out among the town monkeys. What before had been an infrequent occurrence of a monkey sneaking into our flat has become more frequent and more brazen. At first it was an older one who stole (or as they say here, pinched) bananas and a younger one that stole a piece of hard candy.

The other day we were attacked three times in just two days. The first one was older and he made off with a half a loaf of bread in a plastic bag. I saw him on the road gently opening the bag and taking out one piece and closing the bag. Then the next day, after the bread had been replaced by a trip to the market, a young came to the door but I stopped it and he ran off or so I thought. As soon as I turned my back he returned and to the kitchen counter he went - looked at the new loaf of bread and then turned the other way and grabbed two pieces of hard candy from the bowl and jumped over the door to the tree where he sat on a branch and unwrapped each piece of candy and put both in his mouth!

Maybe they are a lot like humans - the older, maybe wiser, monkey chose bananas and bread while the young one (impatient and undisciplined) when confronted with a choice choose the candy and even to the point of stuffing both pieces in his mouth at once! How humbling to witness!

Gaining Wisdom from Bananas

from Elliott
I saw a friend recently – he might be the most industrious individual I have met in our ministry area!  And he is always experimenting or trying to learn new things. He grows all types of fruit and veg and also has a woodworking shop where he crafts beautiful benches and tables. 

The tribal authority recently gave him the rights to use another couple of acres of land nearby. He described to me his plans to grow bananas on the land. He had met with a NGO a while back to learn more about banana farming. He said that they were telling him that he could sell bananas for R50 per stalk and he could plant 2000 bananas. Each banana tree will produce one stalk every 18 months.

He did the math in his head and thought that is more money than I will ever need! What would I do with it all?

Then he figured that there was a reason why he had been given the extra land and he had learned about growing bananas. He knew that meant that God wanted him to use the land and knowledge to benefit his neighbors especially those that were hungry. 

Most people would have gotten out their ‘mental wishlist’ to spend what they would see as a personal windfall. He on the other hand saw that there was a reason for this windfall – he sought God’s will and not his own personal desires to do the right thing. 

He gained wisdom from the bananas!

"I Just Wanted to Hear Your Voice"

from Katherine

Our family returned to South Africa on January 14^th after spending 5 weeks in the U.S. with family and friends. We had a great time and loved seeing so many old and new friends. Thanks for a tremendous time!

A few days after we returned my cell phone rang and when I answered I heard a familiar voice say “I just wanted to hear your voice.” Wow! Someone cares enough our relationship that the sound of my voice would satisfy their soul. I will try to tell you what that means to me although I am not sure words are enough.

I think almost everyone in South Africa has a cell phone. You don’t have to have air time to place a “please call me” request. Most often when our phones ring it is a request from someone to please call them back because they don’t have air time.  This time my friend used her own air time to call just because she wanted to hear me. To know for herself that I had indeed returned to her homeland, that I was well and that we would once again be together. My heart soared.  My friend was waiting for me to come home so that we could continue our friendship in person. I am loved.

Great day!

From Katherine

Today I was invited to speak at Mdatya Primary School’s prize giving (end of the year awards day). Mdatya is the school where I assist the Grade 3’s with literacy by reading in English each week.It is a very exciting time with lots of important people making long speeches. Lots of grade R (kindergarten) learners were asleep in their chairs. 

When it was time for prize giving the assistant principle started with academic excellence for grade R. a name was called and a little boy came forward followed by his great grandmother and grandmother. Greatgran walked almost completely bent over and using a walking stick (literally a stick). When the threesome made it to the front the child received his framed certificate and posed for a family photo. As soon as the picture was taken Greatgran stood perfectly erect and began to sing and dance. This went on for several minutes with the whole crowd singing and swaying, then Greatgran dances back to her seat standing tall.

The next prize for academic excellence was for a tiny girl in grade 1. Her grandfather walked with her to the front and after their photo was taken granddad smiling from ear to ear planted a big kiss on her cheek. So sweet!

The reason for the story… I rarely see African men show affection to their children or grans. It was a real treat for me to see this elder in the community forget about who was watching and let his girl know how proud he is of her.

Many of the older adults in the Mzamba community (and throughout Africa) were either unable to attend formal schooling or had a leave school at an early age. They are incredibly proud of their children and grandchildren for working hard at school. I am proud of them too. They learn in crowded classrooms with no electricity and very few supplies, and many of them speak 2 languages. Something I am still working on!