Our trip to Durban on Saturday was amazing! We went to uShaka first and started with checking out the animals. They had penguins, a really large aquarium, and a dolphin and seal show (but I didn't go see those). Then we went on all of the water slides! It was so much fun! I haven't been to a water park in a long time! After lunch we headed to the beach right by the park and swam in the INDIAN ocean!! I loved it! The water was so warm and I just swam and body surfed for a couple hours. Once we got home that night I was exhausted!
On Monday we had a guest speaker for our History and Culture class named Michael Cassidy. He is actually the founder of African Enterprise (where I am staying), and he had a big role in bringing peace after the end of the Apartheid and before the 1994 elections. His story is really cool and one that probably 98% of the South African population don't know about. I bought his book if anyone is interested in hearing it!
Today was such a good day! :) First we visited another service site called RivLife, and I fell in love with it! They house children during the day, help them with their homework, play with them, etc. We got to meet some of the children and they were so precious! They also go out into the communities to sew and do crafts with some of the women (totally my thing!). Their main objective is to not give hand outs, but hand ups. To equip the people in the community so that they will eventually be able to sustain themselves. The director said what we could do here is very flexible and they will try and fit our skills. He also told us there was a building, not part of their ministry but very closely related to them, that helps with disabled people! He said that if anyone was interested in OT and related fields we could get a chance to help out there for a few days! I just felt like the whole time I was at RivLife God was tugging on my heart! This would be such an amazing opportunity. I would love to work here but I want to keep my mind open because only about 7-8 people will be able to work at this site.
Then in the afternoon I went on a hike with my friends Yui, Kel, and Kenny. It was quite the adventure! We had to climb over barbed wire and through grass and plants that were as tall as me. We arrived at these beautiful gardens and jungle-like greenery. It was breathtaking! We also found an abandoned home. It was just one room and it had a bed, some old clothes, and shoes. You could tell that no one had lived there for a while, but it was kind of eerie. We have been told that there were houses built in the hills for farmers but when they are abandoned they get burned down and vandalized, and homeless people sometimes come inhabit them. We then decided to explore some more and found a man living in one of these houses hanging up some clothes on a clothesline. He didn't speak any English so we talked to him with the VERY limited Zulu we know. We realized it was really hard to communicate with him and eventually said goodbye.
One of the churches we go to has connect groups, which is like a bible study for college aged people. It is located at one of the guy's houses and it was so much fun! There were probably around 30 kids that showed up! It was really crowded, but I loved meeting a bunch of South Africans my age. They are so nice and friendly! We talked about the sermon on sunday- what is the importance of the cross to us. We had a really good and insightful discussion. I am excited to go back and build relationships with these awesome people :)
Sorry for the LONG post! So much to catch up on!
On Monday we had a guest speaker for our History and Culture class named Michael Cassidy. He is actually the founder of African Enterprise (where I am staying), and he had a big role in bringing peace after the end of the Apartheid and before the 1994 elections. His story is really cool and one that probably 98% of the South African population don't know about. I bought his book if anyone is interested in hearing it!
Today was such a good day! :) First we visited another service site called RivLife, and I fell in love with it! They house children during the day, help them with their homework, play with them, etc. We got to meet some of the children and they were so precious! They also go out into the communities to sew and do crafts with some of the women (totally my thing!). Their main objective is to not give hand outs, but hand ups. To equip the people in the community so that they will eventually be able to sustain themselves. The director said what we could do here is very flexible and they will try and fit our skills. He also told us there was a building, not part of their ministry but very closely related to them, that helps with disabled people! He said that if anyone was interested in OT and related fields we could get a chance to help out there for a few days! I just felt like the whole time I was at RivLife God was tugging on my heart! This would be such an amazing opportunity. I would love to work here but I want to keep my mind open because only about 7-8 people will be able to work at this site.
Then in the afternoon I went on a hike with my friends Yui, Kel, and Kenny. It was quite the adventure! We had to climb over barbed wire and through grass and plants that were as tall as me. We arrived at these beautiful gardens and jungle-like greenery. It was breathtaking! We also found an abandoned home. It was just one room and it had a bed, some old clothes, and shoes. You could tell that no one had lived there for a while, but it was kind of eerie. We have been told that there were houses built in the hills for farmers but when they are abandoned they get burned down and vandalized, and homeless people sometimes come inhabit them. We then decided to explore some more and found a man living in one of these houses hanging up some clothes on a clothesline. He didn't speak any English so we talked to him with the VERY limited Zulu we know. We realized it was really hard to communicate with him and eventually said goodbye.
One of the churches we go to has connect groups, which is like a bible study for college aged people. It is located at one of the guy's houses and it was so much fun! There were probably around 30 kids that showed up! It was really crowded, but I loved meeting a bunch of South Africans my age. They are so nice and friendly! We talked about the sermon on sunday- what is the importance of the cross to us. We had a really good and insightful discussion. I am excited to go back and build relationships with these awesome people :)
Sorry for the LONG post! So much to catch up on!
Excited to hear that God is using "your thing". I love reading every word, so no need to apologize. Love Dad
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