2014 Trip wrap up

On the last day of our 2013 trip I made contact with Prisca Kabole, who runs an organization called PLAEP (Pro-Life Advancement & Education Project) in Kitwe Zambia.  After taking on the phone for a while it was clear to me that she absolutely wanted to have access to a program like Smart Choices that could be used to mold the lives of young adults.  We agreed immediately that we would include a week in the 2014 trip to go back to Zambia and train some of her volunteer workers.

These are the two trainee teams

 

 

We have just completed that week in Kitwe.  We trained 20 new Smart Choices trainers.  After two days of training on Monday and Tuesday, we observed them teach Smart Choices to 74 kids from one of the nearby extremely underprivileged areas of Kitwe referred to as the “compound.”  All things considered, they did an excellent job.  At the end of the training I cautioned them about running long on their presentations when the switched to using the local language (Bemba) for the benefit of younger students that are not fluent in English.  This is exactly what happened with some of them as they over embellished and repeated themselves. Others          did great sticking to the time allocation for their section.  

 

74 Students graduate Smart Choices in Kitwe

 

Many of these volunteers only have high school diplomas but are teachers at community schools.  A community school is a school established and managed by poor underprivileged communities. The teachers are typically volunteer high school graduates who don’t get paid but have a passion for making sure that these underprivileged kids get some education. If it were not for these community schools most of the kids that attend them would not get an education and would just grow up as street kids probably turning to crime to try and get by.   According to the peer teachers from the community schools they often produce better results than the government schools. The peer teachers explain that this is because to often the trained school teachers are just there to collect a salary whereas the volunteer peer teachers really have a passion to see the underprivileged kids get ahead and be given a chance in life.

 

In general the Smart Choice Volunteers did a great job.  All of the children in the class seemed to get it.  All 74 students on the last day made commitments to abstinence.  After seeing the Jesus film 15 students made commitments to follow up Jesus.  All of the other students claimed to already be Christians.

 

 

Smart Choices teen testiminy

Bryan posted this picture on Facebook along with a comment about the program that we ran at Crossroads Teen Center two weeks ago.

 

 

This led to the following Facebook post by Janet, the Empangeni Smart Choices Team Leader.

 

 

It was a pleasure to have you all. I have a testimony from one of the girls who attended the training, she came to thank me and told me that it saved her from giving her virginity to a boyfriend that had been pressuring her. That week we were there she agreed to give in, but after watching in your face she went and broke up with him and now she is only focusing on studying at the moment.  She will be joining university next year.

This is a great testimony to the purpose of the Beacon of Hope Smart Choices mission.  When we turned the Smart Choices activity in to a mission by going back to South Africa for the second time in 2006,we went back with the attitude that we “we don’t know what we be able to accomplish but we knew that we could not sit back and do nothing.”  Also we had that attitude that if we can impact the life of one young person then it will be all worthwhile.  Know we know for sure that at least one young girls life has been impacted positively in a major way.

 

I’m not implying that this young lady is the only one that has been impacted in this way because we have thousands of testimonials written on the Smart Choices response card from young people who have expressed how the program has impacted them and has changed their attitude and outlook on life.  The whole program is about character development and behavior change to effect the very changes that this young lady chosen to do.

 

In the class that we just finished teaching in Kitwe Zambia, 100% of the kids committed to a path of abstinence until marriage.

 

 

Zambia August 11 August 15 Mark Carey

We have begun our final week in Africa.  We are training people who are a bit older than we usually train. These folks will now become Smart Choices trainers in country. Zambia is the 4th country where we will have permanent trainers equipped to keep the program going.

 

 

They all appear to grasp most of the concepts. I am always amazed how quickly the personalities of each person emerges. Some are so funny, telling jokes and gregarious, while others are more shy and reclusive, all however, displaying the uniqueness that God has built into each life. Many of these folks seem more spiritually grounded than some in past experiences. Our lives are being enriched by having known them.

 

We have now completed two days of our train the trainer program.  For the next three days we will observe how the trainees put into practice what they have learned as they train kids  from a local community school. The schools are currently on vacation but some kids are coming to school for extra class.  They will voluntarily come to a community center for the next three days to give the trainee instructors a group to practice their new found Smart Choices skills.

 

Our contact here is Prisca Kambole, a godly woman who is one of the busiest persons I have ever met.

 

 

She heads up an organization called PLAEP (Pro-Life Advancement and Education Project) which does a variety of community related outreaches. Besides HIV prevention, she does pregnancy counseling and abuse intervention and many other things. Her efforts put most to shame. She has a very positive attitude. She obviously loves people. We will miss her and all we have met here when we leave on Saturday.

Mark Carey August 4-6, 2014

Our Pretoria Accommodations

 

Today we arrive at our first school to begin teaching our first class. As we arrive, the administrator informs us that our first order of the day will be what I call morning vespers. The entire school gathers under a huge metal canopy. There is a cacauphony of sounds, laughing, talking, screaming and various other noises. Altogether there are probably around 900 to1000 students. At the appointed time the school administrator stands on a platform and calls the group to order. Suddenly there is immediate quiet. She announces that it is time for morning prayer.

Our leader Glynn steps up on the platform prays and then gives the school the message about the armor of God and it's relevance to their lives. As his message finishes, we begin singing "This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it" When we have finished the song, 900 kids head off to class, and we head off to our first school to begin teaching. This school is called Winterveldt, and is several miles from where we are.

 

We split up into two teams and begin. For the most part they are very attentive and seem interested. We will teach for three days in the morning, and then in the afternoon go back to the first school and start the program with this new school which is called Smphato.

 

This is now the school where vespers were held. This class has some fairly unruly kids too, and Bianca, Tumelo, Buti, pastor Zodwa, Offense, and I attempt to get the class under some kind of control. We finish the day and thank God for His help. When I arrive home to our beautiful bed and breakfast, I email my wife and ask her to pray for calmness. She does and the next day of teaching goes much better. Slowly the kids begin seeing the concepts, and we begin to see that some of the kids are responding well. By the end of the teaching time many of the students are warming up, and even at the end they are asking to touch our hair. Although we are not able to complete the entire program we know Pastor Zodwa will finish it probably on Monday of the following week, and we feel confident that God will use the Jesus film and our presence to help change kids attitudes and lives for His glory.

Day 17-18, Sat & Sun Aug 2nd & 3rd-Bryan Watanabe

This is the last day for Mitch, Melissa & I. It's been an awesome time in South Africa and Zimbabwe. This year was more fun for me & overall a better experience. Sad that my time is done but looking forward to being with my family again. :)
After breakfast we checked out of the Concord & headed back to the beach. Glynn drive us around Durban than we headed back to the beach & curio shops one more time.
Glynn & Judy were relaxing in the sun, Mitch & Bianca hung out at Mugg & Bean while I went down to the curio shops with Melissa. No one went into the water today, haha.
Around 11am we headed to the airport to catch a quick flight to Johannesburg. The man sitting next to me came on the plane smelling like alcohol. He drank 1.5 beers then he actually passed out. We tried to wake him up when we landed but it didn't work. The employees finally got him to wake up & he joined us on the tram. Everyone in the tram clapped as he got in, it was funny.
Mark Carey (Melissa's dad) met us at Johannesburg to finish out the last 2 weeks of the Smart Choices program. We had a 6hr layover before heading home so we were able to have some hang time with Mark. I know it was nice for him & Melissa for sure.
We all said our goodbyes & the team is now down to 4 to finish in Pretoria & Zambia. I know Glynn, Judy, Mark & Bianca will have fun the next 2 weeks.
Mitch, Melissa & I made it safely to New York after a 15.5 hr flight. Unfortunately there was a mistake and Melissa wasn't booked on the same flight with Mitch & I to LAX. It was a bummer we had to say goodbye at JFK instead of at LAX.
Mitch & I are around 30 min from LAX now. Luckily the flight on JetBlue has wifi so I've been uploading photos on FB & I'm able to finish my final blog post. :)
Looking forward to working more with Beacon of Hope and the Smart Choices program in the future. God is opening some doors for that too. :)

Day 16, Friday Aug 1st-Bryan Watanabe

Today was our last day in Richards Bay as we headed down to Durban after breakfast.
We said our goodbyes to Marjorie & Mavis as they did an awesome job taking care of us @ Zulu Lodge. Very thankful for their hospitality, friendly service & happy personalities.
We drove down to Durban and checked into The Concord to stay the night. It's a building that started out as a home for missionaries, it's a cool place. This past June, The Concord celebrated it's 100 year anniversary. After checking in we drove down to the beach to have ice cream at Milky Lane!!! Then we spent some time walking around Shaka Land to buy some gifts. We still needed more gifts so we spent a couple more hours shopping at all the curio stands! We bought a lot & it was fun bargaining. :)
Had some fun throwing the frisbee with Mitch on the beach while Melissa & Bianca took pics in the water. We decided to take a group pic of our feet in the Indian Ocean, after the pic a bigger wave came in & got us wet more than we expected. It was funny, just ask Melissa! :)
We ate dinner at Mugg & Bean inside the Suncoast casino and then we headed back to the Concord.
It was still early so Mitch, Melissa, Bianca & I went for a walk around the town for some extra hangtime. It was a nice time talking, laughing about our experience this year & any future plans with Beacon of Hope. We definitely saw some interesting people that night. :)
It was the last night in South Africa for Mitch, Melissa & I but fortunately is was nice!