Amazing Africa.

So I was invited to be part of a family vacation with my adopted South African family (this is a family I have stayed with a few times when I have to travel away from the village). On our “family vacation” we visited the most amazing game park which is situated almost on the border of Botswana (about 20km from the border crossing). A place called Madikwe. It’s hard to explain the African bush until you have been here but the game parks are quite amazing (and this one was exceptional). Prior to coming I had read that the lions at this game park were abundant (they actually have too many and are in the process of removing some) and I would definitely see all of the “big 5.” I had also read that I was in for a bit of luxury living. As you can imagine anything with running water is pretty luxury to me but this place was truly amazing…except at any moment you could be killed by a lion or a poisonous snake or spider the size of your arm because you are in the middle of the bush with a flimsy little fence around the perimeter. Every morning and evening you take a “game drive” which is where you look around for animals in the park – imagine a vast wilderness (not a zoo). It was spectacular. I saw African wild dogs stalk and kill an impala, lions just walking around, elephants outside my room, rhinos…tons of birds which I had no idea what they were but everyone else was always expressing amazement (there are apparently over 350 kinds of birds – that is way too many to keep track of - I am a horrible bird watcher). But I did enjoy the stalking and killing which we were able to witness. To see an animal hunt is intense. I know that sounds crazy coming from a vegetarian but there was something very beautiful about the process.


But, again, I am happy to be home. I miss my little place when I'm gone. I always call my host dad when I am gone to update him about when I am coming back (and he likes to make sure I'm alive and safe). Well, yesterday I called him saying I would be back in that afternoon. His response almost brought tears to my eyes. He said, “We can’t wait for you to come home. We have been missing you terribly.” Ahh.

Oh, don’t forget to check out my pictures. I am getting better about posting pictures.

Pick N Pay

Sometimes you do crazy things in Africa. Like run marathons. Yesterday, I ran a marathon.  And I ran this marathon so that I could qualify for an even longer run that will take place later this year.  Why?  I don't really know.

But an interesting tidbit was that a runner was hit by a car during the race yesterday.  The car that hit the runner was a get away car that had just robbed a store and was trying to quickly leave the scene of the robbery...talk about crazy.

Happy Valentine's Day!

The future.

I know I said that I just enjoy spending time with the kids here (and I do) but there are so many kids it is difficult to manage and can be overwhelming. I might have mentioned this but my work to start the girls club has led me to helping at the primary school in my village. This is a school with almost 700 learners…and not enough teachers. And that’s just the primary school. The high school has almost 1,200 learners and has a huge problem with overcrowding, lack of teachers and the list goes on…
So sometimes you just have to find a few kids that stand out and you start getting to know them a bit better. These are a few of the kids that I have been spending my time with...

Dineo. She is in 7th Grade. She wants to be an accountant. Her English is really quite good (it’s her favorite subject). She helps her best friend with her schoolwork because she doesn’t want her to fail. She is kind and funny and likes to dance (but she doesn't think my dancing is that good).  

Lebo. She is in 12th Grade. She wants to learn about meteorology. She is the only one of her friends that passed 11th Grade. She works extremely hard and wants so much to go on to tertiary school (college). She is bright, articulate and quite ambitious.  I try to help her with math and physical science on the weekends.

Kagiso. She is in 10th Grade. I don’t think she has quite decided what she wants to do but, man, is she sharp. She doesn’t take any crap (in a good way) and is a great student. I like to hang out with her because she helps me look at the world from a teenager’s perspective - she is totally honest and shares her feelings openly.

I could go on (there are others, definitely) but these kids stand out. A common link between all three of them is that they have all lost one of their parents. Their remaining parent is struggling to make ends meet (making very little money) and all have multiple siblings and have to help at home. They will face huge challenges simply because of their circumstances. It’s an amazing world we live in, isn’t it? These kids just want the same thing that any young person wants?  My hope for their future is that someday their dreams will come true.