Day 7 Friday, June 14 - The Beach in Durban

From Evernote:

Day 7 Friday, June 14 -

While the bed was comfortable enough, the bright light outside our little rooms window gave me a restless nights sleep at best.  I got up early again, grabbed my camera and laptop and as quietly as I could so as not to wake Melissa, I went outside for some quiet time and some exploring.  The conference grounds sit on the top of a hill overlooking a valley of low lying hills.  Unfortunately, the morning mist and low trees at the edge of the grounds blocked my view of most of the valley.  The crisp morning air was filled with the sound of birds, from the low soothing caws of the Inkankan and the cooing of the doves to the high twittering of the finches and many songs in-between both exotic and familiar.

We drove down from our Hilltop conference rooms to the busy city of Durban.  Durban was settled by many Indians and so is an interesting mix of Zulu, Indian, British, and dutch influences.  We headed straight for the coastline and met up with Bongi, the fiancé of Pastor Thulani with whom we had just taught the Smart Choices program in the Mtunzini area.

There at the beach we wandered an outdoor mall and the street vendors who line the boardwalk selling their handcrafted beaded items, wood carvings, and usual "made-in-china" t-shirts and hats.  Shaded by tarps and tents of various materials and colors,women sat on the ground stringing beads with all their goods spread out on blankets around them.  Down at the sand, young men created intricate sand sculptures;  rhinos, water buffalo, a castle, a full-sized couch with a skeleton sitting on it.  A blanket spread on the sand collected change in appreciation of their artwork.  Along the boardwalk men dressed in Zulu costume called to passers by inviting them to take a ride in their elaborately decorated rickshaws or just take a photo, as long as you were willing to pay.  

Before heading to the casino where Bryan wanted to stop to get a chip for his collection, the casino kind not the fries kind, we stopped and had an ice cream at Milky Lane, a popular ice cream shop in South Africa and a favorite of Glynn's.  We ate lunch at the Casino and collected shells and sea glass on the beach, put Bongi on a bus back home, and went on to a BBQ at the home of John Tempelhof, the founder of Campus Crusades for Christ South Africa.  

John and his wife MaryJean live in a lovely home overlooking the valley and not far from our conference rooms.  We gathered for a wonderful BBQ dinner and fellowship with other Campus Crusades leaders including Jon and Margaret Jacobsen, the editors and developers of the Smart Choices program,  and a few local Zulu pastors who are planning to begin the program in their areas.  After dinner we sat together in a circle and shared what our team had been doing and Glynn shared specifically about how Beacon of Hope has been working and growing.  The Campus Crusades team was very impressed and plans are being made for some follow up meetings and coordination and collaboration.

Tired but oh so satisfied by the good food and marvelous fellowship we went back to our little rooms at koinania to pack up for our very early flight to Zimbabwe in the morning.  4am comes early no matter which continent you are on. 

Bryan's blog, day 1

Day 1, June 8th.

Finally arrived in Durban after a 16hr flight from New York to Johannesburg then around a 1hr flight to Durban. We're staying at a nice place called Toad Tree Cottage in the middle of some sugar cane fields in Mtunzini. Relaxing day as we went to a beach called Sandy Shores, saw a couple wild zebra's on a golf course & finished the night with dinner at The Clay Oven where we celebrated Julie & Doug's (he's back in Ca.) 39th wedding anniversary with a brownie/ice cream dessert.

From Evernote:

Day 5, Wednesday, June 12 - last day of teaching in Mtunzini

I woke early today, 5:30, and decided to use the time for some extra study and reading as I waited for the sun to rise and the house to stir.  We all enjoyed our now familiar breakfast of yogurt, granola, and muffins and then packed up our belongings for the last day of teaching.  

We made the rounds down the bumpy rock and dirt road to pick up our team members, packing 8 into our 5 passenger truck, and headed to the school.  There were blue and white uniformed students of all sizes walking up the road, standing around the gates outside the school grounds, and sitting, standing , and wandering within the fences, many already munching on a bag of chips or a lollipop. I wondered, hoped, that this was not the full content of their breakfast.   We had to wait outside the school a few minutes before someone came to unlock the wide chain link and barbed wire gate to allow us to drive in and the loitering students to enter.   

The kids straggled into class, maybe just a bit hesitant to come inside on such a pleasantly sunny yet cool day. Today was THE lesson.  The main point of our coming to Africa, the lesson about the most important "Smart Choice" in all of life, the choice to respond to God's call or reject it.  During the presentation of the Jesus Film, the children were amazingly attentive; responding to miracles with applause and the crucifixion with gasps, shudders, and tears. Two boys even approached us at the end of the class to ask if they could please get a copy of the Jesus film because it had so impacted them.

When we passed out their certificates, Bryan and I tried to pronounce their names with mixed results but we were always rewarded for our efforts by a friendly smile and laugh from the kids.  We went outside for a class photo and lots of hugs from the students.  The team then went back into the class for a light snack which the school staff had prepared for us.  As we ended our day, Bryan pulled out the response cards which we had the students fill out after the film.  We had 13 students indicate that they had made a first time commitment to Jesus.  Several others responded that they would like more information about following Jesus.  Praise God!  He is faithful and He is good!  The team closed our time together with prayer over those response cards, prayer for those children, that this would be the start of of a new life in Christ, that they would find the right place and person for discipleship, to grow in their faith. 

After our teaching was ended we stopped for short visit with Derrick, the pastor of the in eSikehwini whom we visited on Sunday.  We were supposed to have had a training session with some new team members, but they had had to leave early to get home because of their long long drive.  instead we just visited with Derrick and his family.  I had the pleasure of connecting with his teenage son who is an aspiring photographer.  Having lost his prized camera to theft, David was not taking photos with a simple point and shoot camera but still had managed to get his photos in a local publication. I really enjoyed teaching him a few things and seeing the excitement and joy in his eyes when i allowed him to play with my camera a bit. I look forward to connecting with him again via email.

We left Derrick's and went on our nightly hunt for food and internet, landing at a hotel in town.  Oh what a luxury to have unlimited internet connection and a good meal to boot!  We all tapped in and were able to Skype with loved ones, answer neglected emails, post blogs, and upload photos to Facebook.  

Back at our cottage we had a hot cup of tea and discussed how the program had gone, what went well and how it might be improved,  We shared our frustrations and our victories. Lots of ideas were batted around; Facebook page for Smart Choices, discipleship and follow up programs, letters to the kids who made new commitments, better training for team members. Our original plan was to head out of Richard's Bay area by noon tomorrow, but after our discussion it looks like we will be meeting with the team leaders here to discuss these new ideas and how to implement them.  So much for free time.  But hey!  What am I here for anyway, right?  Bring it on.  I can rest in July!

Julie's First Day in South Africa

Photos for day 1

From Evernote:

Day 1 - LA To Mtunzini,SA

So here I sit in my private room with only the sound of the ceiling fan whirring and the tree frogs chirping in the background.  Thirty-three hours of travel.  I am exhausted.  How wonderful after such a long and uncomfortable trip to be here alone in my little room.  This British Colonial Indianesque bedroom with its old mahogany wardrobe and drawing table, iron four poster bed, and mosquito net is part of the three bedroom guest house on a large sugar cane estate.  Surrounding us are sugar cane and various small groves of trees and not much else. 

Also belonging to the estate are four dogs of various breeds and sizes.  There's the old madame. Frail and skiddish she follows us around at a comfortable distance, squatting to empty her old bladder numerous times along the way. Then there is Jack the Serpent Slayer, a spunky jack russel terrier who hunted down a snake in the garden and shook it to pieces for our protection. Gentle Giant is a red mastiff mix who only makes an occasional appearance and the puppy, whom I have not yet named, is playful and friendly, but like most puppies, not yet civilized, jumping on us in happy greeting and venturing into our little house, which is against the rules.  

After settling into our rooms, Melissa and I walked to the end of one road.  We were rewarded by a beautiful view of the cane filled valley; the cane rippling in the breeze with the sun stretching across the northern sky heading to her bed, warm and sultry.  The tales of black mamba in the cane deterred me from going into the cane too deeply, but oh! it was tempting. 

After we were settled in we drove back down our cane lined dirt road and headed into town to find some dinner.  Deciding to take a short detour to see the Indian Ocean, just 5 minutes down the hill, we happened upon two zebra grazing on, of all things, the golf course!  Bryan, Melissa, and I walked right down to them, getting within about 10 yards of the zebra. Along our short drive to the beach we saw monkey chasing one another long the road and amongst the trees. 

At the end of the road we came to a small parking lot area then followed he wooden boardwalk which lead us through the forest and dunes to the shore of the Indian Ocean.  The dunes gave way to a long stretch of red course sand and the dark powerful waves and white foam of the sea.  Rolling up our pant legs we waded into the warm water.  I was so intent on taking a photo of my feet actually in the Indian Ocean that I didn't see a large wave come in.  Suddenly I was in knee deep water and soaking wet! That was the end of my wading.  

As the sparsely clouded blue sky began to turn deep indigo and pink, we headed back to our car and to find some dinner.  Winding back up the road a small deer-like creature that we could not identify, but I think is called a dykdyk, dashed across the road and into the cover of the brush and trees and we passed the zebra again who had moved on to the longer grass at the forest's edge.

In town we stopped at a restaurant called the Clay Oven thinking we might find some good curry.  They did have curry, but also nearly everything you could imagine, from hamburgers to pizza to subs and greek salads.  I chose barbecued chicken and a salad hoping for something easy on my jet-lagged stomach.  The chicken was tasty but the BBQ sauce was not like any I had ever tasted, fruity flavored with a jelly-like consistency. Not my favorite. Bryan started his apparent travel tradition of ordering chips (fries) with every meal, even with rice. 

Back at our cottage, I slept quite well, waking only once around 4am.  Waking refreshed ready see what adventures await me on day two.

Hluhlue and Umfolozi Game Park

Greetings from beautiful So. Africa.
 

We had the wonderful opportunity to visit two truly beautiful wild Game Reserve parks on Thurs of this past week. Umfolozi/Hluhluwe parks are connected together.

We arrived shortly after sunrise and started out on a paved road, full of potholes that Glynn navigated around well, and eventually transitioned to dirt roads. Judy was the first one to spot a mother rhino with a baby in tow up on a hill side. Our day ended up being full of rhino, 30+ by my count. Glynn said he had never seen so many white rhino in one day before. 

Lots of impala joined us along many turns, and I found myself quite partial to the nyala which I had never heard of or seen before. The male and female are very different and I would not have guessed that they were the same species at all. We were able to see quite a number of cape buffalo, often a lone buffalo by himself, with some great, up close pictures taken. At one turn out, we were able to get out of the car and overlook this truly breath-taking valley looking down on the river below, and watch a heard of cape buffalo slowly make their way across. I think I could have stood there for an hour and listen to the call of the African birds and revel in the amazing creation of God, who is truly creative with the many diverse creatures that he placed upon this earth. 

Later on we came around one bend in the road to find a lone zebra standing there, whom we soon dubbed the crossing guard, as a mother and baby zebra then crossed the road, followed by a forth zebra, and lastly the crossing guard made his way across. Stunning. As we crossed over into Hluhluwe park we saw two elephants in the grass, and able to see a few flicks of their enormous ears and a quick flash of a tusk, which turned out to be the only elephants we saw all day, whereas the last time Glynn and Mark had been to that park they saw two herds of 30+ elephants, different day, different animals want to be seen, I guess. 

Around dusk, we had the very fun opportunity to witness three white rhinos make their way into a mud pond to cool off and wallow. One rhino decided that the first rhino was in his spot, so he gently (as gently as a 2000 lb or however much rhinos weigh) nudged the other rhino with his horn in the behind to get her to move over. He kept nudging and poking her bum until she finally moved over enough to make sufficient room for him and then he waddled in next to her to lie down. It was hilarious to watch. 

After that we finally found some giraffe, which are my sons' favorite animal and therefore I really wanted to get to see them and take pictures. We found a group of ten of them eating leaves off the trees, and on our last loop before leaving the park in the semi-darkness, we saw a mother leading a baby giraffe (who was acting more like an independent 2 year old and not actually following his mama very well!). 

What a tremendous day in Africa, and I felt truly fortunate to be able to witness such beautiful, strong, and sometimes scary creatures, truly in the wild without any fencing separating you from them. God is truly awesome in all that He creates.
 

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Mandeni 2013

Greetings from the great land of South Africa May 2013

We arrived safely Friday May 31.  This is one of the few times we arrived with little incident. After a one more, hour long flight to Durban, we secured our rental truck/car, and away we went to our beautiful accommodation, a local B&B. 

Our next stop was the local supermarket, called Super Spar. We were instantly I the midst of hundreds of shoppers and barely able to move. Suddenly Glynn, our team leader, noticed a lady with a shopping cart with four large black plastic bags, which in itself I not unusual, but what was unusual, was that each one contained an entire cow's head, including the hairy ears! After relating this to one of the local pastors, we learned that some folks here like to have the entire head cooked, and then they eat the various parts. This seemed an entirely undesirable option to us. 

Today we completed our first day of classes in the schools, one class of about forty-five senior high students and the second school being a junior high school, with about fifty students.

Please pray that our interaction with the students will be more than educational, but rather that God's spirit may be moving within their hearts as they hear and see the Jesus film.

More Pictures

Open Air Bazaar Saturday morning                                             Checkout at the Supermarket

Cane-cane and more Sugar cane

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