Simply Serving

Happy WOMEN'S Day!

2009-08-10T18:05:00.004+02:00

Today is a holiday, Women's Day, in South Africa. To celebrate, Wimpy (a local restaurant chain) was giving away free coffees to women (and supposedly men who were brave enough to wear heels into the restaurant!). Sarah and I took advantage of the deal and got ourselves a free Wimpy coffee. Yeah for Women's Day!

A NEW Hairdo.

2009-08-10T16:31:00.005+02:00

A new hairdo...African style. Blessing, one of the girls at Refilwe, braided my hair in African fashion with extensions. It was several hours of delightfully painful hair-pulling, but it's fun to try new things. And hair extensions and braiding are a very common thing for African women. Although my hair will not maintain the look for the normal 2-3 months, it is still fun to get the extension experience.

Evening of BLESSING

2009-08-10T15:56:00.005+02:00

Recently, I was invited to Sister Jean's house for dinner. Jean wanted to have Meredith and I to her house before we left SA, to pray for us and thank us for our time here at Refilwe. Claire and Annatjie were also invited. The evening included a wonderful meal, pictures of the early days of Refilwe with animated stories interspersed (by Jean and Ivonne--the founders of Refilwe), and stomach-cramps due to excessive amounts of laughing! It was a wonderful evening and ended with prayer for Meredith and then myself. I felt truly blessed by the evening and am thankful for the opportunities I've had to interact with these amazing women. They are truly an inspiration! Pictured above: Jean, Claire, myself, Meredith, and Ivonne (Annatjie is behind the camera).

WINTER is finally leaving

2009-08-10T15:39:00.006+02:00

Winter, yes winter...Although not as cold as a PA winter, it would get down to or below freezing during the nights. In the past week, the weather has suddenly changed and is much warmer during the daytime. There was frost on the ground many mornings as I got up to run with Kathryn. And on a normal day, I've been wearing a lot of layers. Typically, two pairs of socks, two pairs of pants, a t-shirt, long-sleeve shirt, 2 fleeces, gloves, hat, and scarf--and sometimes I was still cold! Many blankets and heavy wool socks at night kept me surviving the cold nights in an unheated house. Despite the cold, the sun almost always came out all day long. Above are pictures of frost on the river banks, frost on some trees, and the layers I have been wearing. I am glad that warmer weather is upon us...BYE BYE Winter!

GUESS WHAT??

2009-08-10T15:33:00.004+02:00

CHICKEN, without a butt... This has nothing to do with anything, but this rooster wanders around our house all the time and it just makes me laugh. If only it could talk...there has to be a good story here. I just don't know what it is. Thought maybe it would make you chuckle, too!

American HOSPICE Team

2009-08-01T15:41:00.004+02:00

This past week an American team from Alabama came to work with our homecare workers. They were prepared to assist and teach about the care of the dying, but they did so much more. They went out with our workers into the communities, prayed with people, read books to children, encouraged the homecare workers, etc. We also started doing follow-up visits from the medical team last week. I was overwhelmed by the testimonies that people shared about how they are feeling better, living without pain, and praising God!

We started working in a new area, Video, and I'm excited to do more with that this week. God has brought two new workers from that area who are both committed Christians and ready to share the gospel as they reach their community. Pray that their lives will minister to the other team members. The pictures above are skits that were done during our normal lesson time on Thursdays with Sister Jean. They were learning about different ways to cope with stress.

PEANUT BUTTER making

2009-08-01T15:26:00.006+02:00

Refilwe encourages small businesses and supports people who desire to do this through our ACAT programme. Abel, who was part of our site team and homecare team for a time, is doing a training and has a business of making peanut butter on the side. It's totally organic and he's selling it locally as well as beginning to branch out into local markets. Above, the pictures show the roaster for the peanuts, the machine that makes the peanuts butter, and Abel with one of his finished products.

Values in Healthcare CONFERENCE

2009-07-27T20:57:00.006+02:00

From July 23-26 I attended a workshop with the two social workers from Refilwe, Shadung and Mpho. It was an opportunity to learn about teaching material on values in healthcare and learning how to facilitate this type of information. Although it was a busy four days, I enjoyed the opportunity to meet a lot of new people and try to do some networking for Refilwe and the programmes that are happening here. The pictures above are of some creative group work (top) and a picture (bottom) (from L-R) of a participant from Limpopo, Shadung, myself, and Mpho.

MEDICAL TEAM from the States

2009-07-27T20:41:00.005+02:00

This past week a medical team from States (mostly Alabama) came to a nearby mission-sending place in South Africa called Alabanza. They were a well-oiled machine, brought everything they needed, and set up in the informal settlements where we work to see LOTS of patients. The team included a dentist, eye doctor, several other providers with different experience, nurses, a pharmacist, registration people and assistants. They knew their role and purpose and worked very hard. They saw a total of 1,227 patients in one week! It was amazing. And everyone that came heard the gospel, some for the first time. It was a powerful opportunity to minister to the communities. Our counselors and nurse were also very busy taking advantage of the large crowds to do education and testing for HIV. I am not sure of the total for the week, but our top day saw 47 clients tested! Many teeth were pulled, many people received glasses, toothpaste and brushes were given to the children, multivitamins were received by all, and the gospel was shared and lived by this team. May God bless their work abundantly as they go back home.

Baking a CAKE

2009-07-27T20:32:00.003+02:00

Over the school holidays, which just ended, some of the Refilwe children leave to go stay with relatives. That means that the other children become bored by the end of the first week (some things are universal). I took this opportunity to do some baking with some of the girls. The only requirement is that they take the cake home with them and share it with their families. Here's a picture of Randy, licking the bowl from the chocolate cake batter. We had so much fun together.

BRICK-MAKING at Refilwe

2009-07-27T20:24:00.004+02:00

I found this to be interesting. Here some of the guys on the site team are making bricks to use for some building projects at Refilwe. I was not involved in this project directly, but enjoyed watching this brick-making machine. The site team works very hard to maintain and improve the site where Refilwe is located. This includes watering lawns and new trees, building a new garage, fixing electrical problems, welding a fence around the site, painting, maintaining the cottages, etc, etc, etc... They do so much. Pictured above are Chris, Kalen, and Nicky.

WORMS, worms, worms...

2009-07-27T20:04:00.007+02:00

As Refilwe grows, there have been efforts put into some business endeavors to fund many of the programmes that do not produce any income. One of the projects is a wormery. That's right, I live next door to thousands of worms. The worms are a special type which create compost and an organic fertilizer. These products can then be sold. I really don't do much with this project, but I spent the day with Sarah at an organic farmer's market nearby. She goes there on Saturdays to advertise the worm project called wormcycle. The boxes on the tables are also sold and they contain a layer of worms and compost (where you can put food scraps) and a top layer for growing herbs or plants which can be fertiziled with the worm "pee" from the bottom layer. It's an interesting project and you can learn more on the Refilwe website (for all of you worm lovers).

KRUGER National Park

2009-07-16T20:30:00.008+02:00

I was blessed recently by the Brown's (Kathryn's parents) to receive an invitation to spend some time with them at the Kruger National Park. We stayed in a lodge just outside of the park and spent a couple of days over a weekend scanning the South African bush for all sorts of amazing wildlife. Cliff and Kat, Murray and Sue Brown, Claire, and myself rolled out of bed around 5:15am to get to the Kruger gate before 6am for an early morning game drive. We spent most of the three days driving around the Park and stopping at watering holes, observing nature at its finest. We were very fortunate to see so much and this is the best time of year to spot wildlife. Some of our sightings included: elephant herds, wildebeasts, hippos sunning themselves (easily confused with rocks...), a lioness on the prowl for a kudu, impala, giraffes, zebras, buffalo, crocodiles, TWO leopards (very uncommon!), hyennas (and even a baby one on our night drive), rhinos, monkeys and baboons, many types of birds, warthogs, dassies (small rodent-type creatures), and two lion cubs playing on the side of a rocky area with the mother keeping a watchful eye from nearby. It was amazing! God was certainly creative with nature in the African plains. After thousands of photos and hours of watching and waiting, Claire and I came home early to get back to work and Cliff and Kat spent the rest of the week with the parents doing more sight-seeing. The pictures should be self-explanatory, but: elephants crossing the road, sunrise with hippos in the foreground, a leopard in a tree on our night game drive, zebras on the road drinking the rain water from puddles, and Kat and I on a tree vine at a rest stop.

Richard and Dudu's WEDDING

2009-07-16T19:49:00.006+02:00

June 27th, 2009 was a very special day for the now Richard and Dudu Bwalya. Richard (our Health and Welfare office manager) and Dudu (the Refilwe receptionist and Godparent of 6 children) finally said, "I do". It was a very fun day, with plenty of reasons for everyone to sing and dance. There was an interesting mix of cultural and contemporary wedding traditions. From the dancing in of the line-up (bridal party) and the knife girl and boy dancing in before the cutting of the cake to the toasts and speeches, it was a lovely event. The ceremony was held at a chapel nearby and the reception took place in the community hall at Refilwe. Richard and Dudu are continuing their work at Refilwe and are automatic parents of 6 teenagers! They are a blessing to this community. Congratulations Richard and Dudu! May you have many happy years together.

Pictures from top to bottom: 1. Dudu and Richard after their vows, being showered with rose petals by Randy, their foster child 2. The line-up practicing their dance on the lawn before the ceremony 3. Nombulelo (our Auxillary Nurse), Shadung (our Auxillary Social Worker), Abram Mohapi (Refilwe driver), Claire (Health and Welfare Manager), and myself--all friends and co-workers to sum it up! 4. The reception

WEEKEND at Claire's

2009-07-16T19:23:00.004+02:00

A couple of weeks ago, Cliff and Kat and myself went to stay with Claire and hang out for the weekend (Claire works at Refilwe as the Manager of the Health and Welfare Dept.--basically, she's my boss!). She lives in Alberton, which is south of Joburg and about an hour from Refilwe. We enjoyed a 10km hike on Sunday at a place called Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve. The weather was gorgeous and it's still just surprising to be hiking in the mountains and look over and see impala or zebras grazing nearby. We also had fun making soft pretzels and just relaxing during our time off.

The BROWNs arrive in SA

2009-07-07T22:02:00.004+02:00

Kathryn's parents arrived in South Africa on June 25th. After a 13 month absence, they have enjoyed catching up with each other. This is the first time that Murray and Sue Brown have been in Africa and they are enjoying this opportunity to see their children and explore the diversity of South Africa. Cliff, Kat, Sue, and Murray are pictured above soon after their arrival, at Richard and Dudu's wedding.

VCT in Joe Slovo

2009-07-07T21:15:00.004+02:00

Our days of Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) for chronic diseases in the communities where we work continue. We rotate to each of the four communities presently, changing locations each week. We do testing and education in that particular community on Tuesday and Saturday. We have started in a fifth community, Thabo Mbehki, and hope to do VCT there sometime soon. Also, two new employees are supposed to start this week at our sixth location, Videotown. It's exciting to see this type of growth and changes in the programme. We are transitioning to have caregivers who live in a community also work in that community. This cuts down on extra transportation needs and is really our ultimate goal for home-based caregivers. The pictures above are from a VCT day in Joe Slovo, which is the community directly beside Refilwe. The top one pictures four home care workers: Elizabeth, Elyse, Diana, and Peggy. The second photo is Elyse (the home care worker) with a girl she's hired to work in her small tuck shop (which she runs as a side business). We encourage the home care team to develop other skills and support them in training so that they can develop to a point that will let them move on to bigger and better things. This is the goal of Refilwe and the government in these types of programmes.

Roadtrip to SWAZILAND

2009-07-07T20:48:00.004+02:00

It's not just every day that one can say, "I'm going to take a roadtrip to another country this weekend..." Since Swaziland is so close (about a 5-6 hour drive) to Refilwe, Meredith (another long-term US volunteer at Refilwe) and I decided to visit the land of royalty for some relaxation. We had a wonderful time and felt very refreshed and blessed as we came back to Refilwe. Some highlights included: sleeping in beehive huts (pictured above), a walk in Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary (which included zebras, impalas, wildebeasts, and crocs--all around us!), some mango milkshakes at Guava Cafe, great sunsets (I think we spent most of the sunrises in bed, to be honest!), and relaxing dinners overlooking sugarcane fields and beautiful gardens. God is good! And His creation speaks of that very clearly...

Food Parcels, Vitamins, and BIBLES.

2009-07-01T18:06:00.005+02:00

I thought I would take some time to talk about the actual "things" we give to the communities where we have home caregivers. We had a recent donation of vitamins from a short-term team from the US. We've rebottled them and plan to give them out to our sick clients, specifically those who have HIV or Tuberculosis. They will be helpful to balance out people's modest and inadequate diets while they are sick. The other photo shows some soup and supplement mixes that are part of our food parcels. The government is currently giving us money for 100 food parcels per month. This has food for four people to supplement their diets for one month. Orphans and vulnerable children are the focus of our distribution. We also give out blankets, clothing, Bibles in local languages, shoes, books, and seeds for gardens. Other items that are donated are also distributed through our home caregiver teams. It is great to meet people's immediate needs in these ways, but we continue to work with them to find long-term solutions and promote sustainability for them and their families.

A NEW Baby!

2009-06-11T22:13:00.005+02:00

Although I do not work in Labor & Delivery right now, I do miss the babies and laboring mothers. And then Mamorena come to Refilwe a few weeks ago to work with the Infinite Family programme. She moved here and is alone, so I was called when she went into labor this past weekend. We took her to the hospital, which was an adventure all in itself. Nobody knew where the hospital was because in South Africa you have to book your delivery and she was prepared to go to the hospital near the place where she was staying before she came to Refilwe. We did make it and there was not too much drama in the Kombi. Unfortunately, I was unable to go into the labor ward with her but I was able to go pick her up on Sunday after she delivered and helped give the baby her first bath. The precious baby girl is named Mosa (which means Mercy in English). Above, are picture from her first day home, her first day of life! Baby Mosa, Mosa and her mother Mamorena, and the lovely face after her bath with Auntie Amanda. How beautiful and precious is new life!

GARDENS, Gardens, Gardens.

2009-06-11T22:02:00.005+02:00

A huge focus of the home care workers (HCWs) right now is establishing food gardens. The government wants to promote sustainability and not only fix problems temporarily. We have accessed seeds through Mayford (a local seed company just up the road from Refilwe) and are distributing them to the communities where we work. I went with the HCWs one day at Sunnyside to see the food gardens they have helped establish and the number was 28! These pictures were taken at Sunnyside. The top picture shows (from left) Ida and Ivonne, both HCWs with one of the community members and her garden. The bottom picture is one of the other food gardens in the same community. Although it is winter now, they are still able to grow some vegetables, including Spinach. We will continue to work at this project until 100% of the houses in the communities where we work have some type of food garden.

The QUARTER Sandwich

2009-06-11T21:50:00.008+02:00

The Quarter Sandwich...I have heard about this since my arrival. And I have also heard of many versions of this sandwich. They have now started selling them at the Tuck Shop at Refilwe, so I decided to try one for lunch the other day. It is anything but healthy. I did find that it tasted quite nice, but indigestion generally follows. Basically, it gets its name because it is a quarter of a loaf of bread (white, unsliced). Then they dig out the inside and place archor (unripe mango slices in a vinegar/chili sauce), french fries, palony (which is a slice of pink fake meat, kind of like a type of salami), cheese, viennas (hot dog) and/or a Russian sausage. Add salt (yes, more salt!), vinegar, and chili sauce, put the lid back on and ta da! The Quarter Sandwich.

REFILWE Documentary

2009-05-31T23:41:00.003+02:00

Recently, there was a filming crew at Refilwe to prepare a documentary of the programs and activities at this community project. This video is of the Refilwe choir, made up mostly of Refilwe children and some of the Mamas and other workers at Refilwe. There were shots of the school, people working in the nursery with the tree project and in the piggery, interviews with staff members, and multiple other clips. The documentary will air on a South African TV channel in June. It promises to increase awareness of what is happening at Refilwe and potentially gain support from more local businesses and churches. I managed to dodge the cameras, but thankfully, this singing always grabs the cameras' attention, and for obvious reasons!

VCT in Malatjie

2009-05-31T23:07:00.006+02:00

VCT (Voluntary Counseling and Testing) has been going on for four weeks now, each week in a different community where our home care workers are placed. These pictures are from our week at Malatjie. This informal settlement has over 4,000 people living in it. That's an incredible number to reach with education and health testing which includes blood glucose (for Diabetes), blood pressure, Tuberculosis screening/testing of sputum, weight, and HIV testing. We are starting the HIV testing this week because the kits have finally arrived. Also, we have been educating and testing on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. We are going to start working on Tuesdays and Saturdays this week to reach the large numbers in the communities who are working on weekdays. Continue to pray as we face challenges of language/translation, stigmas, and staff motivation and enthusiasm. The pictures above are of the community of Malatjie, Peggy and Zuzeka (home care workers) giving education to people before they decide to do testing, and Nombulelo (our auxilliary nurse, who has been quite a blessing in the process of VCT) preparing to start testing.

IPL CRICKET!

2009-05-31T22:06:00.004+02:00

Since I've come to South Africa, or rather since Cliff has come to South Africa, I have been learning a lot about the Cricket. Since the IPL (Indian Premier League) games came to South Africa, we took advantage of the opportunity to see a match. We overcame the challenges of a sold out night by finding tickets at the gate and enjoyed our view from the grass seats. Overs, wickets, and bowlers...I'm learning, really. In fact, it was a great match. At the end it was very close and came down to the last ball for the victory. A lovely evening it was, samosas and all.

LESOTHO Pony Trail

2009-05-09T21:52:00.007+02:00

And sometimes you need a break...I had the opportunity to go to Lesotho April 27-May 1 to do some pony treking with some Refilwe staff and friends. We had a wonderful time in the Maluti mountains, taking in the beauty of land that is so untouched. This was done on the back of a horse for three days, which was a new experience for me. Besides some chaffing and a sore bum, I can say it was a fabulous way to explore new areas where only the sheep, goats, cows, and shepherds live. We slept in a Basotho hut for the two nights on the trail, used cow dung fires, ate a traditional Basotho meal, tried to stay warm (there was snow on the mountain tops), and generally just had a great time! It was good to get to know some co-workers outside of work in a completely new setting. The top picture is the whole gang on the highest point in Southern Africa, which we reached on our second day out. The other pics are from the trail. My horse (whose name in English meant Laziness) needed some motivation but knew the trail well and got me home safe and sound! (For more pictures--see Facebook)

HOME-CARE TEAM

2009-05-09T21:39:00.003+02:00

Although I don't have pictures right now, I just wanted to give an update about what is going on with the Home-care Team (where I actually spend most of my time at Refilwe). The government has decided to fund our project for another year, which is great news. So, we have been able to increase our numbers to 19. The past 2 months has been primarily training to prepare them for doing counseling and testing of HIV in the communities. Because of the stigma that is so prevalent in these areas, we have changed our focus to educating and testing for chronic diseases. So, when we go out to areas, we educate and test for Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS. We are still waiting for a few final details to begin with the HIV testing, but we have started testing for the other chronic diseases. We continue to do home visits to clients who are sick, orphans, and other people who need social work assistance. We are hoping to move into some new communities that seem to have a greater need than the four informal settlements that we visit now. This is where we are at now and I will give you updates as we proceed. You can pray specifically for:
* Training to be finalized (the team has to retake a test that will enable them to do HIV counseling).
* Communities to be responsive to the education and testing that we hope to do.
* Good communication between Refilwe and community leaders to promote cooperation.
* MOTIVATION of the home-care team to do a good job and be passionate about the work they are doing at Refilwe.

Sowetto CONCERT

2009-05-09T21:27:00.003+02:00

On a recent Sunday afternoon, the Sowetto Choir and Orchestra came to Refilwe for a fundraising concert. The orchestra played and the choir sang all types of music--from classical to African traditional songs. People came and sat on the lawn under the trees next to the river with their picnics and enjoyed a lovely day with family and friends. Donations were accepted to help them with costs as they travel to other areas. The day was enjoyed by all and will hopefully happen again sometime!

Mamas' Afternoon TEA

2009-05-09T21:11:00.003+02:00

This was taken at a Sunday afternoon tea that Kat, Sarah, and I prepared for the Mamas at Refilwe. We had tea and coffee, small sandwiches, tea biscuits with fruit, and banana bread. Pictured above are myself, Mama Albertina, Mama Kevine, Mama Hope, and two women who were visiting for the weekend from Port Elizabeth. The one on the far right was Miriam and she runs a house of about 25 children. Her children are with her for life and have come from all types of horrible circumstances. All the Mamas shared their stories and experiences and encouraged one another in the work that they are doing. I was overwhelmed by the faith and strength that these women demonstrate in their lives every day. Funny, how our goal is to encourage and the Mamas always encourage us in exchange!

GIRLS' Day Out

2009-05-09T20:57:00.004+02:00

Some of the female volunteers (Meredith, myself, Kat, and Sarah--not pictured) decided to take out some of the teenage girls from Refilwe to see a movie the other Saturday afternoon. We invited all of the girls who attend the Hands of Hope school at Refilwe to go out. It was a fun time of getting away, relaxing, and getting to know each other a bit more. Most of them also live at Refilwe and I have the opportunity to interact with them on a daily basis. They are great girls--pray for them as they finish school and look into their futures. Pray that they will make good decisions and be able to overcome the difficult pasts that most of them have experienced. This is my prayer for them...

LION and RHINO Park

2009-05-05T19:32:00.007+02:00

Over the Easter weekend, a group of us from Refilwe went to a Lion and Rhino Nature Preserve. It's only a few kilometers from Refilwe and gave us a chance to see some animals and just have a good time together. The lions were eating when we were driving around. We also took in the reptile house and some educational animal presentations. The Nature Preserve focuses on awareness and also uses their animals in movies and commercials to earn money for future preservation.

School HOLIDAY programme

2009-04-26T21:59:00.005+02:00

The children recently had a two week holiday from school (the education system here is set up in three terms, so they have holidays after each term). Refilwe organized a programme for the children in the nearby communities to attend during this break. The children came from 10:00am-3:00pm. They played games, sang, had discussion sessions, played games and put puzzles together, and watched movies. On one of the last days, I helped organize some relays and games, including an egg race and an obstacle course on the jungle gym sets. On the last day, they were told about the meaning of Easter and had a treasure hunt to find chocolate covered marshmallow eggs. Lunch was provided each day and a chicken braai (BBQ) was held on the last day. It was a great way to stay connected with the community children and provide something fun for them to do during their holidays.

10 TENORS weekend

2009-04-26T21:21:00.007+02:00

At the beginning of April, the 10 Tenors came to South Africa. They are from Australia and Cliff and Kat's friend Boyd is one of them. He arranged for us to get free tickets and we enjoyed the show at Carnival City. This is a picture of us with Boyd at a very classy hotel, where the 10 Tenors were staying. The show was Friday evening and we were able to spend the day Saturday hanging out with him in Jo-burg. We went to the Apartheid Museum, which was an incredibly emotional and informative experience. Below are a few pics from the museum. We then spent Saturday night with Claire, my boss, and she allowed us to stay there for the night. Sunday we went to a huge African market and then traveled back to Refilwe in the afternoon. It was some enjoyable time off and quite good to see more of Johannesburg.

Vulture SHOW

2009-04-26T21:08:00.005+02:00

The other week a woman from a nearby animal park brought a cape vulture to Refilwe. These birds are in danger of becoming extinct, so she's educating communities about the value of these birds in preventing disease and cleaning up dead carcasses. Some tribes have killed these birds for their skulls because they believe it is good luck. These are the misunderstandings this woman is trying to correct. It was a fascinating session.

SOWETTO

2009-04-26T19:04:00.007+02:00

Sowetto--this is a township outside of Johannesburg, about one hour from where I'm living at Refilwe. There is a lot of history here from the Apartheid era. Basically, the white South Africans decided to move the black people to this area to separate them. This is now one of the famous townships and it is very large. There are neighborhoods of all different types of housing. There are informal settlement areas where people live in shacks. Then there are simple house structures that the government has now made (post-apartheid) that people live in for free. And then there are bond houses, also government made which people pay rent to live in and may potentially own one day--I'm not sure exactly how all this works, but these are some things I picked up on my travels.

I went with a woman from Refilwe to pick up her two daughters (pictured above on the left) who were staying with family for the holiday. The picture of us is taken with Sowetto in the background to the right. We stopped at a June 16th Memorial. This is in honor of those who were killed during Apartheid times, when there was a march down the main road to Sowetto to protest all education being taught in Afrikaans (the language of the white South Africans). The top two pictures were taken at this memorial as well. The two painted towers are just another landmark in Sowetto (at least I don't know what they might signify). Clearly, I still have research to do about this area and the history there, but it was good to spend an afternoon in the famous Sowetto.

TEACHING with Jean

2009-04-07T21:37:00.004+02:00

Jean Stewart, known to some as Sister Jean or Mama Jean, is a wonderful woman who teaches the home-based care team on Monday and Thursday mornings about topics such as hygiene, food gardens, how to dig pit toilets, and multiple health topics that are prevalent in the communities. She, along with another woman, founded Refilwe as an organization. In addition she has done amazing things in her past as a nurse and in the communities. She also started an AIDS hospice at one point. Being in her presence is both inspiring and incredibly encouraging. Jean has a huge heart and is very passionate about the work that is done here, understandably. In this picture, she is teaching the team to give a bed bath to a terminally ill client (which is played by one of the home-based care workers, Sipho). She stresses practical applications and recently had me acting as an injured client to demonstrate wound care! We are all grateful for her contributions to the work of Refilwe.

Soccer GAME

2009-03-29T21:47:00.006+02:00

On Friday afternoon, Refilwe played a soccer game sponsored by Protech (which is a local construction company that donates a percentage of their profits to Refilwe every year as required by the government). Some people came from Protech with ice cream for the spectators and shirts for the players. It was a fun way spend the afternoon, after doing government reports all morning with the team. The video is Refilwe girls and mothers cheering on the men and boys on the field.

EXECU training

2009-03-29T21:35:00.003+02:00

Execu training was held this past week, for five of our care-givers. This is a course, taught by Thabo, who is a medical doctor (pictured in the front center), which gives a holistic view on dealing with chronic diseases. This addresses not only HIV/AIDS, but high blood pressure, diabetes, STIs, tuberculosis, and high cholesterol as well. Dr. Thabo will continue to be involved with our team as questions come up over the next year. As we begin to do counseling and testing for HIV, we are also going to test for these other chronic diseases in the community. To promote overall health and to reduce the stigma related to HIV. All five members pictured here gave a presentation to the rest of the team on Friday. They did a great job and clearly learned from their training.

ICE-SKATING!

2009-03-29T21:14:00.006+02:00

The government recently gave us some money specifically for team-building for the home-based care team. It needed to be used by the end of March, so we decided to take them all ice-skating at a local ice rink. For most of them, it was the first time on the ice and that includes me! But, we had a great time, laughed a lot, and just had fun on the ice. It seemed to be quite motivational for them and that was encouraging!

Basic LIFE Skills

2009-03-29T20:43:00.007+02:00

The Home-Based Care Team spent a week doing Basic Life Skills, which is taught by another department at Refilwe, called ACAT. Topics covered included starting a business, budgeting, healthy diets, how to grow a food garden, hygiene, and topics such as HIV/AIDS. These areas are important to develop both the team members and the people we assist in the communities. At the end of the week each person got a certificate and had to do their traditional dance to get it. Then we enjoyed a lunch together and headed off to our team-building activity, ice-skating.

My new Housemates

2009-03-25T20:42:00.005+02:00

The residents of St Francis. I've mentioned the arrival of my new housemates, so here they are. Cliff and Kathryn Eberly, who are the dear friends that told me about Refilwe and suggested I prayerfully consider spending some time here. I'm glad I did... And Sarah Wells is pictured with Kathryn on the right, as we attempted to fish for dinner one night. Cliff is working with the ACAT program, the after-care program (assisting Refilwe children with homework), and multiple other administrative things. The ACAT program helps people in the community start businesses and assists them through this process. Kathryn is working with the Hands of Hope school that is at Refilwe. Currently it is grades 7-9 and is mostly Refilwe children. However, plans are in the works to expand the school. She is teaching and will be doing counseling (which will allow her to utilize her social work background). Sarah is from the US and is at Refilwe indefinitely. She is working with the Godparents' program and the Infinite Family program (which connects children here with mentors in North America via email and video conferences). We're adjusting well and excited to be a part of what Refilwe is doing in the community.

Basic Counseling

2009-03-23T20:00:00.007+02:00

Basic Counseling--This was a two week course (March 2-13) held by an organization called "Right to Care". They are the sponsoring organization of our HIV Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) program that is beginning as soon as trainings are finished. This was the first course for the Home-based Care Team. They did a great job and we ended with a lunch on the last day. The pictures above are from that day--the first one is Evelyn monitoring the meat (she said the guys were burning everything, so she took over!). Claire (my boss and the head of the health and welfare department) is handing out the sun hats to the team. The group picture is our team--newly trained counselors! And the lunch line--all good events include food here.

The OFFICE

2009-03-18T22:05:00.003+02:00

This is the Health and Welfare office staff that I work with on a daily basis. This is only part of the larger Refilwe office (which includes heads of all departments--I'll try to speak more on that another time). I work with this staff and the home-based care team under Claire Said, who is the head of the department (not pictured). Pictured from left to right: Myself, Richard (Office Administrator), Evelyn (Poverty Alleviation Coordinator), Annetjie (assistant to the Executive Director--not in our office, but works with us), Godfrey (Administrative Assistant), and Kanyisa (Orphans and Vulnerable Children's Coordinator). They are a knowledgeable and fun bunch of people...if I ever need a laugh, I head to the office!

Discovery

2009-03-18T21:37:00.005+02:00

Last week was Discovery Week at Refilwe. Discovery is an organization in South Africa that does trainings and supports other organizations (they are very large--I'm not even sure of exactly what all they do here). They came to give First Aid classes to the Godparents, do tree planting with the students, and offer a team-building seminar on communication for Refilwe staff members (of which I attended). Then, at the end of the second day, they had a picnic lunch for participating Discovery staff and Refilwe staff members. We sat on blankets on the grass beside the Crocodile River. It was a relaxing and enjoyable time for all involved.

The STRUCTURE

2009-03-18T20:30:00.004+02:00

As part of a recent new project, this structure has been erected. Refilwe is partnering with a local church to dismantle and reconstruct this greenhouse-like structure. It was purchased for a very good price, taken to pieces, sanded, repainted, and now reconstructed at Refilwe. Currently, they are working on putting screening over the top and installing an irrigation system. This structure will be used for growing seedling trees. Some of them have already been purchased. Refilwe will grow them until they are ready to sell to local nurseries. This is for the business part of Refilwe. The plan is to have projects that produce a profit in order to support other programs at Refilwe and to make Refilwe less donor-dependent. One Saturday a large group from the supporting church came and worked with a large group of Refilwe community members to sand, paint, and begin construction of the structure. It's been exciting to see the progress.

BRAAI

2009-03-10T07:32:00.003+02:00

A BRAAI...a real South African BBQ. We had a braai at Refilwe last Thursday night for two reasons: to thank the Godparents for all their hard work with the children of Refilwe and to welcome Sarah Wells, who arrived Thursday from the USA to work with the Godparents' program as a long-term volunteer. We had chicken, lamb chops, and sausage on the grill, with salads and bread to with it. It was a relaxing evening. In the pictures above, you'll note an intense game of UNO with the ladies and Jaco, the Director of Refilwe, tending the meat.

Prayer WALK

2009-03-02T17:45:00.005+02:00

On Saturday, February 28, we had a prayer walk at Refilwe. They are held monthly, on Saturday mornings, at 7:00am. It's exciting to watch the entire Refilwe community come together to pray for each other, speak scripture over one another, and commit each person and programme into the Lord's hands. Even the children are a vital part of this time. It is 2-3 hours of singing, prayer, and encouragement. A scripture that came up this time was Hebrews 3:4, which says, "For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God." We committed new and current projects to the Lord, for Him to work out the details for His glory. It was a refreshing way to start the weekend.

Team-Building Activity

2009-03-02T16:18:00.009+02:00

Last Thursday afternoon, after taking an exam on the material they have learned recently, the HBCT took part in a team-building activity--a cook-off! Meredith, a member of the REACH team that is volunteering at Refilwe, planned the afternoon. They had to work with their new team (which have been assigned a certain area in the community). Each group was given a bag of grocery items and their task was to find a way to prepare the food. Two prizes were awarded, one for best nutritional value (balance) and one for creativity. It was a VERY difficult decision. We shared the food together after they presented their work. Then, we had chocolate cake and ice cream. It was a motivating time for the team and everyone seemed to leave with more energy! (from the sugar or team exercise, I'm not sure!)
Here are some pics:

New HBCT workers join us!

2009-02-21T09:06:00.007+02:00

It's been another great week at Refilwe, as I've been working with the Home-based Care Team (HBCT). On Tuesday, we had eight new people join us. Two people are planning to leave at the end of February, but our numbers are still growing. One of the eight is a full-time driver, who will be transporting the teams to the communities and will allow us do more visitation. Also, three of the new members are actually Congolese nurses. They are not yet certified to practice as nurses in South Africa, but their knowledge and experience will be very valuable to the team. So, the week has been full of more changes and paperwork as we've rearranged our strategies for doing home visits. The group is now split up into teams and each team will go to a particular area all of the time. This will hopefully allow for more continuity and better relationship building as we go out. This video is the team singing a song as people gathered for a health education talk at a nearby community. I'm not certain of all the words, but it talks about the Lord Jehovah and how He is all powerful, nothing is more powerful. That's enough for me to want to join them!

Here are some more pictures of the team:

And just some other pics of the week:

My Birthday

2009-02-21T08:36:00.008+02:00

My birthday...this is a video of Bongane and Isaac, two co-workers at Refilwe, singing birthday cheer to me on Wednesday. The office staff also got me a cake and sang to me. In the evening, I had some people over and we ate too much food, cake, and soda! Here's to another marvelous year.

Presentations at Sunnyside

2009-02-14T13:27:00.011+02:00

This is Sunnyside, one of the informal settlements near Refilwe that we visit as a Home-Based Care Team (HBCT). Sometimes people are at these settlements temporarily because they are working in the area and they actually have an established home elsewhere. Others have lived here for a long time and so this is home. Still others came looking for family, didn't find them, and didn't have money to leave or a place to go back to. There's a lot of history here. Everyone has a story, but generally, there's a lot of poverty and needs at places like this. The HBCT had been preparing some education sessions this week and did one at this community on Friday morning. The topic was Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), with a focus on abstinence until marriage, being faithful to one partner after marriage, and condom use when sexually active. This goes hand in hand with HIV/AIDS and is a huge problem in this area and country. Here are some more pictures of the people and the presentation:

2009-02-14T12:37:00.003+02:00

I was listening to a song the other night which was a big encouragement to me, so I pass it along to you, wherever you are. The song is "If You Say So" by Rita Springer

"If you say go, we will go. If you say wait, we will wait. If you say step out on the water and they say it can't be done, we'll fix our eyes on you and we will come.

Your ways are higher than our ways. And the plans that you have laid are good and true. If you called us to the fire, You will NOT withdrawal your hand. We'll gaze into the flames and look for You."

Pictures of REFILWE Children

2009-02-07T10:36:00.012+02:00

Pictures as promised! These are pictures of the children from the daycare receiving their breakfast of maize meal porridge.

Just some more pictures of cute children! The baby is the neice of one of my Home-based care workers. The pic of the guys playing soccer is on the yard in front of the houses, which they do nearly every day. More to come, for sure...

The Rain Came DOWN

2009-02-07T10:09:00.003+02:00

Week 2: I think it could best be described as WET. It has been a great week, but the weather seems to be unpredictable, at least to me! But, the sun also shines between the rain and the weather overall is really great right now.

I think I'll summarize the week with a short story. And, unfortunately, I don't have great pictures to accompany, so you'll have to use your imagination. Pictures of these places will come, but I'm actually glad I didn't have my camera with me this week.

I went with the Home-Based Care Team (HBCT) to a shanty town for home visits on Wednesday morning. It was cloudy, but I didn't want to give in to their predictions of rain so that we could sit around all morning. It started thundering and raining at our first visit, but we were thankfully inside and it stopped by the time we were ready to leave, so I thought, "look at that, we'll be fine and God has just worked that storm out so we can keep working!" We did a few more visits, but rain was again threatening. It then started to POUR with close lightning. We found a house, which is actually where one of my team members lives and waited there for about an hour until our ride came. The rain was running in the cracks between the slats of the walls and blowing in at the door. I was freezing as we sat there and the rain seemed to be relentless. A few people managed to scrounge up some umbrellas so when it was noon, we ran in the still heavy rain up to the place where we met our ride. The what was once a road, had turned into a RIVER. And we were going up stream. Careful stepping (so as not to slip on a rock or sink to your knees in mud and lose a flip-flop) and large strides helped in this process. Meanwhile, I was trying not to let any of the paperwork get wet! Ha! It was quite an adventure. And eye opening as well. I mean, this is what people deal with every day and it can be challenging and stressful. I now understand what my team members mean when they say they couldn't sleep through the night because of the rain.

We did have some other good visits this week, in the sunshine! As we've been trying to finish assessment forms on each client we're seeing, it has been good for me to visit with the team and help them be more efficient in their work.

This upcoming week will be busy with more visits, some health eduction to the communities on STIs and condom use, and moving into my new house. Thanks for your prayers!

REFILWE--the outside

2009-01-31T18:11:00.011+02:00

Refilwe, Life for All--this is where I am and I love it.

It's been a crazy first week! I can't believe it's only been one week. Organizing and filing and planning with the Home-based Care team has been my main priority. It's quite an uphill task, due to the lack of staffing to support them previously. But, I accept the challenges that are ahead. More on work-related thoughts later...

This is the front of my house. It is like all the houses where the families and some of the staff live. They are currently renovating a house where I will move and the Eberly's will join me there when they arrive.

This is the community hall. It is used for Bible studies in the morning, the aftercare program (an after school program to assist children with homework and teach them new things as well), church, youth activities on Saturdays, meetings, and everything else that comes up.

This is a view of the creek that runs through the middle of the Refilwe property. On one side are the offices and homes of the Refilwe families and on the other side are the larger community projects and programs, including the community hall, the daycare, gardens, some staff homes, and primary schools. It's very green and muddy right now because it's the rainy season (end of summer heading into winter).

Now, I know what you're all thinking...there aren't any people at Refilwe! No, that's not true. In fact, how I managed to get these pictures without people in them is somewhat of a miracle. More pictures of people later...

It's good to be back...

2009-01-25T20:31:00.000+02:00

I arrived in South Africa, Friday, January 23, 2009, after safe and uneventful flights, welcomed by warm sunshine and African hospitality. Tired and exhausted, yes. But, happy to have a busy first day to keep me awake and avoid jetlag. I met a lot of the staff members and people of Refilwe. I was welcomed with breakfast and a lunch with the director and other staff members I’ll be working with here. I’m excited to start my work with home-based care on Monday. The healthcare department is in transition, so this should prove to be an opportune time to get involved. More on that later.

Refilwe seems to be quite a community. One that I feel like I’m still observing from the outside, but one that seems welcoming and rewarding to those who join. There are many programs and opportunities. Right now, I am trying to learn all about them to see where I fit in and where God wants me to serve. There is a new youth program that is meeting on Saturdays to encourage youth to develop God-given gifts and talents. There are also church services and Bible studies to attend that I’m still learning about. Animal programs, day care services, and skills-training are just some other prospects at Refilwe.
The newness is both a feeling of excitement and a weird kind of insecurity for me. I forgot about this stage and hope it will be over soon. But, I am grateful for it, because it’s part of the process… I look forward to making connections and establishing relationships soon. And through this, being able to minister to God’s people here. That is my heart. It’s good to be back…

Ready to fly...

2009-01-10T05:17:00.000+02:00

Sometimes you feel like you're on top of a mountain like this one, ready to leap or fly or run or whatever else, into the unknown. That's where I feel like I am right now as I'm preparing to go to South Africa.

On January 21, 2009 I will be lifting off from JFK to fly to Johannesburg via London. I will be working at Refilwe Community Project, located just outside of Johannesburg. It is a ministry to the needy people of the area, that focuses on spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ by addressing critical needs in the following areas: medical, child care/education, life and specific skills training, and income generating activities. My specific roles will include educating home-based care teams to do home care for HIV/AIDS patients, working at the clinic, and assisting with programs and grants related to nutrition and other projects as they come up. That's what I know now...I'm sure things may change as time progresses. Two friends of mine, Cliff and Kathryn Eberly, will be joining me at some point to volunteer at Refilwe as well. There is more information about Refilwe on their website: http://www.refilwe.org/ Check it out!

So now is the time that I'm saying see you later, making late night Walmart runs, and going on a lot of breakfast dates with friends. I'm ready to dive in and follow God to a new and unknown place. I want to serve Him with all that I am and I look forward to the ways that God is going to work in 2009.