After a bit of a rough Valentine's Day I was in desperate need of something to restore my soul and what better way than to spend the weekend lost in the mountains in the province of Mpumalanga and enjoying fireside chats with my friends at Henrie's sheep farm. Mpumalanga means 'where the sun rises' and apparently is now my African name. The mothers don't call me Jen anymore and I knew that would only be a matter of time as they like to give everyone nicknames. We enjoyed a braai on Friday and I climbed numerous trees throughout the property to try and get as high as I could to see the absolutely beautiful view that this province has to offer. Saturday morning we spent in a small art/antique town walking through all the shops and then decided to head to another small town to see where the first gold rush took place here in Africa. The most beautiful thing was the Old Cemetery, literally called "Old Cemetery" which was written on a tree in paint. The graves were fairly old and surrounded by tall mountains and shade trees - what a beautiful final resting place. On the way out, Wessel took one of his famous "short cuts" which had us lost in the mountains for a little over two hours but totally worth it. We kept stopping to look at the small, unsuspecting rivers and the occasional monkey would run across and surprise even the South Africans. I had myself fully convinced that we would be stuck in the mountains, no cell phone service, flat tire, spending the night in the car, but somehow we finally found civilization - I had never been so sad and happy at the same time. The beautiful thing about this country...well, one of the beautiful things is that even for my friends who have lived here their whole lives, the nature and landscape still takes their breath away. I tried to snap a couple pictures and then realized there is no way to capture this place on film. I almost feel as though I am violating the mountains or insulting them by trying to do so. After our long day I was able to watch my first rugby game on television...what a backwards ass sport, but fun to watch anyway and the following day we spent on a hilltop at a lodge, laying out by the pool and enjoying everyone's company. Another successful weekend in South Africa.
Upon my return to the Village, there were many things to be done in order to get our donation room set up so we know what we have in stock and we can easily find clothes for the mothers and children. The directors were freaking out because shelving needed to be put up and our only male volunteer is on holiday with his family. Being the one woman who refuses to need a man for these types of things, I grabbed a wrench and screwdriver, told Lise we needed to prove we didn't need a man around here, and we put up shelving all day. Now mind you, it may have taken us a little longer and they may lean to the side a bit - but we did it and that was all that mattered at the end of the day. Today, I have spent the morning with the mothers and learning more about their stories and whatnot. A lot of the mothers here enjoy the free handout of food and a place to stay and have no further ambitions in life. However, there are a handful who are well educated and healthy because of their ARV's and want to get out and work, to make their own money and eventually get their own place to provide for their own children. One mother imparticular, Samantha, is from Zimbabwe and her children are back there. Because of the crisis in Zim, she has not had any contact with them and does not know if they are getting proper food and care. She wants to bring them here, but wants to provide for them herself, so I am going to speak with the directors today and see what their thoughts are about mothers who want to better themselves and have a future. This should not be the end of the road for them if they desire more and are willing to work for it. So we shall see what happens. This Thursday will be my second week working with the teenagers. I have found that an instant ice breaker is to show them my tattoos as they think it is cool and somehow puts me on their level. There are some who are such great girls and have faced adversity and not let it slow them down or corrupt them and their are others who would rather prostiutute and drink than go to school. It is an interesting combination, but they are very excited to have me on board with them and I can only pray that something I might say or do will help them in their lives. Until next time...
