Last week we took off from Tabitha for a few days to have our very own little holiday adventure. Us, along with 7 more inspirational and influential people from another Tearfund team in South Africa had the truly African tourist experience and went on safari. Apart from us being told we were going to be picked up at 4am and so waking up at 3:30am only to find out they had got the time wrong and we had to wait until 5am everything went smoothly!

Top 5 funniest stories –

1. When Abi’s fear of bugs was taken to a new level as she tries to remove a grasshopper which was in the truck. It jumped back into the truck while she threw the shoe out of the truck. It took a while for us to explain to our guide the reason we needed to stop (he thought we wanted him to get the bug out and was insisting it was harmless). Just to put you minds at ease we did reverse and manage to retrieve the shoe.

2. The truck was pretty high up and to get in it there were holes in the side that we had to climb up. As I was trying to get back out of the truck I couldn’t find the foot hole so Laurence (our wonderful guide) put my first foot in for me. I thought that was all he was going to do to help so I started to squat down to put my other foot in the next hole. Unfortunately poor Laurence had decided to help me with my other foot too – this awkward mix ended up with me near enough sitting on his head… And we had only just met!

3. We can’t really go anywhere without having a laugh (which usually involves us being loud and probably very amusing or annoying to the people around us). An evening out for dinner turned into another crazy time with me getting my bum stuck on the slide in the children’s play area and Molly not being able to piggy back Laura and them both ending up collapsed on the pavement. At least we always enjoy whatever happens right?

4. For most of the two days poor Laurence was stuck driving four very excitable girls around in a jeep. As he commented to the guide in the other truck on the second day “my females are in a very strange mood today.” Between the four of us we managed to have several ‘Laurence please drive very quickly to the toilet – I’m desperate’ incidents. I guess that’s female bladders for you… He took it all in his stride though and told us he hadn’t had as much fun with a group for a while.

5. We borrowed a car for our journey and six of us had to squish into the open back for the four hour journey. It actually made it all very exciting and very African; having to catch water in bottles when it rained so it didn’t get us wet, trying to use hand signals to communicate with Jacob who was driving in the front, and having to keep untangling our legs to reduce the numbness in our bums.

Highlights of the trip –

1. We saw so many beautiful views – sunsets with tree silhouettes, sunrises over the vast open spaces, mist hanging over the dunes and beautiful rocky beaches with foaming white waves. It’s incredible to see the beauty of God’s creation in such a personal way.

2. Once there had been a ‘sighting’ of an animal Laurence wanted to get there as quickly as possible. He called it ‘Ferrari safari’. Speeding up and down the hills and bumps with the wind in our faces and hair, laughing out loud was almost more fun than actually seeing the animals!

3. We were so lucky to be able to see so many animals during the two days; giraffe chewing on leaves, a lioness stalking her prey in a tree, a family of elephants plodding along in a line, African wild dogs (which are apparently one of the rarest animals here now), a cheetah lying in the shade of a tree, two warthogs fighting, tonnes of impala jumping around, some pregnant zebras (which are black with white stripes by the way), kudus looking at us with their long necks and big ears and any number of interesting species of plants and insects (we saw a golden web spider – you have never seen a female spider so BIG, probably because it eats the males, and we saw a curry plant and the leaves really do smell like Indian food when you rub them!).

4. Breakfast and lunch were provided for us in our safari package. At lunchtime each day we had a braai (the South African version of a BBQ) in a beautiful spot in the park. The food was amazing – pasta and potato salad, steaks, Wors (a type of sausage), and kebabs with chicken and bacon. Great food, great people, great conversation, and great scenery.

5. One of the best things about the trip wasn’t actually what we were doing but who we were doing it with. It was incredible to get to spend some quality time with the other Tearfund team who are staying in South Africa, before they move to Cape Town. They have been doing some amazing work in Pietermaritzburg for the past three months and it’s such a blessing to see how they have been growing and supported each other as a team and to have some really honest conversations. I’m sure we will be able to make loads more memories with them when we go to visit them in Cape Town at the end of our trip in July!

Coming back to Tabitha after the few days away really did feel like coming home. We got a big welcome from the kids – being told ‘they missed us’, giving us extra big bear hugs and being generally even more excitable than normal (and trust me that is pretty difficult). There was even a pile of notes waiting for us that they had written while we had been gone.

We are now halfway through our trip. 3 months in. It’s funny to think that the unknown turned into the unfamiliar and now it’s normal for us. Life at Tabitha is just our daily routine; being woken up early by children, going for my morning run with the girls cheering out the window, prayers with the Zulu women, having endless cuddles and fun with toddlers, helping in the school, making flash cards for reading groups (I am so sick of cutting and writing cards every lunchtime), staying patient while the kids struggle along with their Maths in homework, dodging curious eyes as we go down to do our laundry, finding a time to take a shower when there is still some hot water, preparing fun things to do with devotional groups, fitting in team bible studies, singing away while doing the washing up, preparing our meals and always finding time to play whatever game is the new craze with the kids that week.

There is never ever a dull day here – drama is frequent – but despite that things are now comfortable, familiar. I can’t imagine life without those things I have grown so accustomed to and to love so much. Home is where the heart is as they say and a home away from home is ‘a place where you feel as comfortable as you do in your own home.’ So I guess this really is home in some sense.

‘You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place.’

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Fear and complacency. I think that is what stops so many people from pushing themselves out of their comfort zone. Today we live in a culture where sadly our priorities start with ourselves and safety is paramount. Therefore it isn’t a surprise that we are becoming content to accept living as lukewarm Christians who pick parts of the Bible that suit us, watering down the gospel so that it can be accepted by everyone.

‘A ship in port is safe but that’s not what ships are built for.’

The truth is that when Jesus is calling us he is asking us to do something difficult; taking up our cross daily (Luke 9:23) and putting aside our own interests and instead worrying about the interests of others (1 Corinthians 10:24). We are called to go to the hard places. Wouldn’t you rather live a life filled with risks, adventure and purpose over a life of predictability and safety?

When you study the history of Christianity, it is packed full of followers of Christ embracing risk. From the Old Testament – Saul preaching what he had before been prosecuting and Esther risking being executed to fulfill her purpose. Fast forward thousands of years and people still think it’s a worthy cause to die for – John Bunyan spent 12 years in prison away from his blind daughter because he wouldn’t sign a statement saying “I will not preach” and Christians in the Middle East are risking being captured and even beheaded by ISIS because of their beliefs.  All these people weighed up the risk and reward and decided Christ was a worthy cause even to die for.

A risk is an action that exposes us to the possibility of some kind of injury or loss. They could be small risks but I suppose everything is a risk in some way. When you put your opinion out in public you’re risking being laughed at, when you make yourself a cup of tea you’re risking getting burned, when you cross the road you’re risking your life. Most of these risks don’t stop us from doing these things.

‘The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore.’ – Vincent van Gogh

For me that is what overseas mission is like. We are living in an orphanage with HIV+ children and although we have been trained and are always cautious we are still in an environment exposing us to the difficulties of this disease; but when you start to love these children you stop seeing that because the joy that comes from getting to know them is greater. Here in South Africa we have to take more precautions than at home but the desire to experience this beautiful country overshadows the small chances of danger. The rewards are greater than the risks.

Life isn’t always easy here. When a child gets angry they can be unpredictable and lash out. When you know that at any point they could flip and decide to be aggressive it can be scary. But none of this matters when you realise that what you are gaining is so much better. None of this matters when you have experienced the fulfilment that comes from seeing that child improve, or learn something, or make progress, however small it seems at the time. At the end of the day I never regret putting myself in those situations or feel unsafe, even if they don’t always turn out the way I was expecting.

Life has a habit of surprising us, and let’s be honest we can never be prepared for everything. We travelled to Africa after having our vaccinations and being warned of the health risks: Malaria, HIV, diarrhoea, rabies etc. So what are the chances of our lovely Laura getting appendicitis and having to have surgery here right? Even in the suffering there are rewards though – it has been amazing seeing our team grow so close as we have supported and cared for Laura and each other. We all knew we were taking a chance coming on this trip, but we are letting it change our lives. We didn’t expect it to be easy, but it will definitely be worth it.

Let’s be ready to take the risk of the gospel and pray ‘not my will but yours God.’ Who knows where it will take us but with Jesus those hard places aren’t so hard. And the reward that’s waiting is so much greater than any of the risks.

‘Love can heal a wounded soul. We all have scars from our past. Scars on wrists and throats can be healed with time but there are some scars which are much deeper than those on the body. They are the scars on our hearts, minds and on our souls which take a long time to heal. Embrace people who love you because love has an amazing power to heal and bring back the radiance in our life.’ – Aarti Khurana

The children here have tough feet and tough skin. They aren’t fazed by playing soccer on the concrete barefoot and they don’t bleed when they fall. I haven’t developed this tough shell yet -my feet get blistered on the hot ground and I managed to trip and skin my knees. For the last couple of weeks my knee has been healing itself. In this environment I have no choice but to keep it covered up but this meant that it couldn’t dry up. The scab got pulled off several times and the pain seemed worse than ever. I felt like I was in a helpless cycle but in reality it was slowly fixing itself.

“It gets worse before better – try not to panic.”

Most of the kids here have extremely painful pasts. There are two brothers here who were buried alive by their mother. The older brother saved their lives by screaming for help. The younger who is now 5 years old almost died – he had holes in his lungs. These stories are beyond shocking.

When you know where they have come from it explains how dysfunctional they can be now. Sometimes when they disobey you and insult you and scream at the top of their lungs you just want to give up. It feels like they will never grow up and understand how to better themselves. But then going back and reading their stories, the emotional trauma they have experienced I remember how much they need to be shown love. Caring for vulnerable children has shown me I can love more passionately, hurt more deeply and celebrate even the smallest improvements more joyously than I ever imagined. ‘As we are willing to walk down this path for their sake, our embracing of their brokenness paints a vivid picture of how Jesus embraces ours.’

I am finding it so important to believe in these kids – they might be behind in education and struggle to communicate their feelings but they have potential and don’t need to settle for prospects of poverty. ‘Scars show us where we have been, they don’t dictate where we are going.’ We got to take twenty of the older kids to their first ever swimming lesson and you can’t imagine the joy we saw in them. I am so glad that we can be part of teaching them such a basic life skill which they will use for the rest of their lives.

I feel like I now understand a little more about what being a parent involves. All the energy and love you have to make available 24/7. It makes me appreciate mine even more and I realise how lucky I am to have a family. It’s something I have always taken for granted but these kids don’t have something I consider so essential. I am lucky to have been able to spend Mother’s Day with these 41 incredible kids who didn’t have any Mum’s of their own to celebrate with – we are one big family really.

‘Family isn’t always blood. It’s the people in your life who want you in theirs; the ones who accept you for who you are. The ones who would do anything to see you smile and who love you no matter what.’

We have had the opportunity to go into the rural, underprivileged and immensely poor community in Sweet waters, bringing hope, medicine, food and the gospel to sick and dying people;

“We distributed food to over 100 kids from child headed households in burning 40 degree heat. I found it emotional seeing such young children trekking back home for miles with the food balanced on their heads and knowing that it is so normal for them – they have been brought up to accept that way of life” (Phebe)

“Emotionally heartbreaking, spiritually challenging and intellectually demanding.” (Molly)

“It was very emotional when we had to leave one of the patients who was severely ill. She was crying so much and begging us to stay because she was so lonely.” (Abi)

“Hearing some of the patients stories was hopelessly heartbreaking, seeing the conditions the people live in was very eye opening, and giving out food packages to child headed households brought me as much joy as it did helplessness in not being able to reach all that are in need.” (Laura)

We have enjoyed so many things together as a team recently. We make the most of every opportunity we get to celebrate or have fun together. We bought lots of little treats from the farmers market and rated each food to see our favourite, we made pies for pi day, sunbathed on our few hours off and tried out the frozen yoghurt place (Abi put every single flavour and topping possible on hers). We even caught live cockroaches and had a cockroach spitting competition… well being imaginative is the most fun!

God can restore what is broken and change it into something amazing. All you need is faith. – Joel 2:25

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‘We need to do more to listen and act for those whose voices often go unheard’

This week we decided to ask the incredible children we have been spending the last month with about themselves. Hopefully their answers will give you a little bit more of an insight into their lives and the way they think:

What do you want to be when you are older?

“A police. To take robbers to jail so there are no more bad people.” (JJ, 8 years old)

“I want to be a person that cleans people’s houses and works in the garden and if they want a swimming pool I will make them a pool and put a piano and write fabulous on it. I will get lots of money from cleaning, like when I raked up the leaves after the hailstorm and cleaned when the roof was leaking and I got 20 rand and I’m only a kid! I save the money for when I grow up so that I don’t have to be a street person.” (Futhi, 8 years old)

What are some things you remember from when you were little?

“One time we were by the gate and the dog chased us and our pants were too big and so when we run they fell down. When I was a baby I went to Sweetwaters and there were ducks and I tried to hit it on the beak and it bit me on the butt. We had chickens here at Tabitha and me and Siya stole two of their eggs and then Bunny drank a bottle of oil because he thought it was juice.” (Bonga, 12 years old)

“When I was smaller I broke my big toe. We played soccer in Sweetwaters and I saw a big stone and thought it was a ball and kicked it. It was sore and just my big toe was sticking up. We didn’t go to the doctors just put ice and salt.” (Khule, 10 years old)

What is your favourite thing to do in your free time?

Eating chocolate. I like playing soccer, I play with Mandla but can’t play with the big boys because they hurt…and I like cake.” (Emme, 4 years old)

“I like baking. I like to bake pizza. Aunty Bev takes us baking on Thursday. We bake burgers and fried chips and banana split. This week we went to a picnic and saw some dogs. I don’t like dogs, they bite and jump. I like netball too.” (Thobeka, 9 years old)

Do you like living here? Why?

“I don’t really like living here because I want to use my phone but I can’t because the other children don’t have one but I don’t think they are jealous because I still talk to them on the phone while I’m away. Sometimes I have fun with the kids here but sometimes they sit on my head!” (Siya, 11 years old)

“I like living at Tabitha ’cause I like playing sports and playing with the kids. Colouring is my favourite and I love making bracelets.” (Amanda, 7 years old)

“I don’t like living here because we always eat the same food.” (Sihle, 10 years old)

Do you like school?

“I go to a different school not at Tabitha because I passed a test. I like my teachers but I don’t like school because I get too much work. I made new friends there. My favourite subject is life skills. We learn our strengths, mine is gymnastics.” (Lulu, 9 years old)

“I don’t like school because people smacks and the principle shouts and he let me punished. I find the work easy but I did a test before and it was hard.” (Thobeka, 9 years old)

“I’m in Grade R and I like it. I do work with letters and shapes and colours like blue, yellow, green and orange.” (Aya, 5 years old)

Do you believe in God and like church?

“Yes I believe in God. You shouldn’t listen to Satan. I want to be like Pastor Khule when I am older ’cause it’s nice.” (Aya, 5 years old)

Did you like going to the beach?

“I liked going to the beach. I love the shells and the crabs and the waves. I went before but it was long ago.” (Amanda, 7 years old)

“It wasn’t my first time to the beach, I have been many times before, but we went in vehicles. This was my first time on a bus. I was a bit scared of the sea but now it’s OK because we are having swimming lessons.” (Moppie, 9 years old)

Do you have any brothers and sisters here?

“I have one brother here (Cebo) but I have other family in Edendale. I have a big brother somewhere like Johannesburg too. I met them on December, they came here to visit. They said hello and brought me shoes. The other children at Tabitha are my brothers and sisters in Christ.” (Futhi, 8 years old)

“I have a twin brother (Simphiwe). I like it because he shares with me and is my friend.” (Sipho, 7 years old)

“No I don’t have any brothers and sisters here they are just my friends.” (Khule, 10 years old)

Do you speak Zulu?

“Yes I speak Zulu, I practise with the staff and my friends at school who don’t come from here. When I was a baby I was born talking Zulu but Mama Gail taught us English.” (Moppie, 9 years old)

What makes you angry?

“ I don’t get angry. When people are horrible I get sad but not angry.” (Sihle, 10 years old)

So we know you and Cebo get to stay with a family in Johannesburg during the holidays, what is it like?

“I go there to help and save animals and help poor people and for Christmas. We get to go out lots, we went horse riding and to the lion park. Aunty Helen and John live on a farm with dogs and pigs. They never get angry with me, even when I vomited in John’s car. But they shout at the dogs when they are naughty. We got presents at Christmas. I really like going to Joburg.” (Siya, 11 years old)

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‘Above all watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.’

When I was little Dad used to take me and my sister out on little adventures. “Let’s go on an adventure. I’ll pack a picnic, we’ll get on our bikes and get lost somewhere.” I can remember the childish excitement of those days out. We made houses in the woods, found hidden places and pretended we were detectives. The greatest trips are the unexpected ones. Thomas (Paige and Thomas are the lovely hosts who are looking after us while we are here) will turn up at Tabitha some days and take us somewhere spontaneously. It reminds me of those childhood times when I enjoyed every minute we were out.

This week we went chasing giraffes. We left the jeep parked up and trekked through the long grass in the hot African sun. We got so close to the giraffe, and when it started walking away we tried to follow until eventually it ran off. Or maybe I should say galloped – if you’ve ever seen a giraffe run you will know what I’m talking about. It almost looks like they are gracefully gliding. One night we also drove to the countryside to stargaze. I have never seen such a big sky with so many bright stars. Like thousands of little wishes. It’s those small moments you have to grab onto, they make you feel the most alive.

It’s better to look back on life and say “I can’t believe I did that.” Than to look back and say “I wish I did that.”

There have been so many storms here in the last couple of weeks. And I don’t say storms lightly, I mean; roof-pounding rain, rumbling, window-rattling thunder and flashes of lightning which lit up the whole sky. Unfortunately parts of our roof here at the orphanage are slowly falling in – each time it rains there is a new leak, with any bucket or pan we can find put under it to collect the rainwater. We were woken up at 4am by one of these storms to find the children awake and scared and the rooms flooding despite the roof supposedly having been fixed from the damage the hailstorm did the other week.

That extreme weather can be awe-inspiring and frightening to experience. It has given me a realisation of the power and majesty of God. ‘His voice roar; he thunders with his majestic voice, and he does not restrain the lightnings when his voice is heard. — Job 37:4’.

Watching the HIV+ kids take their medicine every morning and evening is eye opening. To them lining up for medication has become such a regular part of their lives they don’t think twice about it. Seeing as young as 4 year olds swallowing 6 huge pills with one mouthful of water is something you can’t imagine or describe fully until you have seen it. That is one of the most challenging aspects of being here: they don’t even know what they have got they just know they are sick.

‘Fill your life with experiences, not things. Have stories to tell, not stuff to show.’

I still struggle with seeing the contrast between rich and poor here and how segregated they are. I read an article in the newspaper about Kwa-Zulu Natal (the province of South Africa we are living in); 28% of people in KZN (it’s population is about 10 million) are living below the poverty line which is 318 Rand a month (that translates as about £15) and a woman is killed every six hours by her partner. There is no doubt that this is a developing country in desperate need! As Nelson Mandela said “Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice.” We have to be the change we want to see in the world…

But, it’s not all about money. I was reminded this when we took some of the boys to see Paige and Thomas’s son play cricket at a private school. We walked around the huge, ostentatious grounds and the kids were just so content with taking it all in. They looked so much happier than some of the children restrained by their uniforms and rules. ‘Some people are so poor, all they have is money.’

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“Rest and self-care are so important. When you take time to replenish your spirit, it allows you to serve others from the overflow. You cannot serve from an empty vessel.” Eleanor Brownn

This week has been encouraging and restful for us. A team from america have been here on a mission trip for the past week. ‘Nothing can wear you out like caring for people’. We have only been here three weeks but the energy needed constantly with the kids here leaves us all exhausted.

The Americans were running a holiday bible club for a couple of hours after we finished homework for the day which was the perfect napping opportunity for me! Each day this week there was always something new to look forward to. As well as the crafts, games and songs for the VBS we had; a cook out one night (the boys even helped to grill the meat), a movie night with popcorn (one child actually ate the paper bag the popcorn was in – they really will eat anything), KFC one night (they eat all the bones from the chicken too…), a piñata (they hit that thing so hard to get to those sweets) and a running race. N.B. Notice how all the activities are based around food – we gave out ice cream after the race incase you were thinking that one didn’t involve something edible.

The highlight of the week was taking 20 of the kids who had never been on a bus to a beautiful beach in Durban on Saturday. It really made me appreciate things seeing how much joy they can get from just splashing around. To me, I would consider learning to swim as a basic life skill but none of these kids have ever been taught. It puts things into perspective realising how little people here can have but how easy it is to give them a little bit of happiness. ‘The things you take for granted someone else is praying for.’

When you are with children who haven’t had the opportunity to experience things, it always feels like you are on an adventure of discovery. We jumped waves and fell over in the sea, caught a crab, saw some fish in the rock pools, found a coconut which we ate after cracking it open, ate hot dogs, buried each other in the sand and sang our lungs out on the bus.

It was cloudy all morning at the beach even though it wasn’t cold. We now all know how strong the sun is here though as we are very red and sore today with sunburnt toes, shoulders and noses.

It was really lovely to get the chance to spend a couple of hours catching up with Ty from Tearfund while he is in South Africa briefly. It makes a change to be able to chat to someone from home while we are in this context. We have been very lucky to have the opportunity to spend time with, get to know, and learn from such a variety of great people who have served at Tabitha while we have been here so far.

In my opinion you should never miss an opportunity to celebrate. It is something fun for us to do together as a team as well as bringing a little bit of our home traditions here with us. In this spirit we enjoyed pancakes on Tuesday (we even pushed the boat out and had savoury as well as sweet!) and have decided to make the most of lent.

We were inspired by our daily devotions to do things differently and rather than give something up, we are taking up living generously. 40 generous acts – we are given a specific challenge each day. A heart turned towards God and serving others is wide open to God’s blessings and hopefully our lives will become bigger as we give. Let’s pray we can make a difference in people’s lives by doing this as well as learning all the ways we can express and live out generosity…

“Pure and genuine religion means caring for orphans in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.” James 1:27

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“The struggle you’re in today is developing the strength you need for tomorrow”

When you plan to go to live in an orphanage for six months I guess the image in your head involves the kids embracing you with open arms and loving you and all the attention you give them. I’d love to say that is the reality – and sometimes it really is like the dream. However I have found the last week extremely challenging. I didn’t think about the fact that the children haven’t been taught know how to give and receive love properly. That they have learnt to play up in order to get attention. That they will push the boundaries with us as they get to know us to see how much they can get away with. And that we aren’t always here to be their friend but we have to be able to discipline them too otherwise they will walk over us. These are totally dysfunctional kids who I am already starting to love to pieces.

“Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations”

I am learning to remind myself every day that these kids need unconditional love and patience more than anything. Whether they are cuddling you, or pinning you against the wall, drawing you pictures or saying the meanest things they can think of. I guess we are all sinners in the eyes of God but he still thinks we all deserve to be loved. Going back and remembering the individual kids stories puts things back into perspective when they are really making you angry.

Another challenge which I wasn’t expecting is having a language barrier. The majority of people in South Africa do speak English and coming to an orphanage where the kids are brought up speaking English it wasn’t even something I considered which would be hard. Zulu is the most common language in this area – most of the staff are from nearby communities and don’t speak much English at all, some Zulu kids come to the school here and struggle to learn in English too. Not to mention the fact the Tabitha kids like to use Zulu (or even pretend Zulu if they don’t actually know any) to try and intimidate us.

I think the language is lovely to listen to though. There are five clicks – two of the kids names here have clicks in them and I am trying to master them. One of the most amazing things is every morning we have prayers with the Zulu caregivers which involves them all singing. It’s emotional how passionate they all are in worship and how incredible it sounds with just their voices! It really is so eye opening how music can bring people together even in a language which is completely foreign to me.

I think we are all starting to settle into African life; going barefoot around the orphanage has become normal, we have learnt that time keeping is much more laid back here and are doing our best with the heat and humidity. However the bugs are something else. At night there are cockroaches everywhere. The other day there was a huge, gigantic, massive one on the toilet seat. I’m not exaggerating. We managed to catch it in a glass but now I’m always scared to go to the toilet in the night…

So yesterday we got to celebrate Valentines day with 41 wonderful kids. And despite the sticky lollipop hands, cake getting in our hair, being hit with balloons, having to make lots of cards and trying to make sure nobody got knocked over during the enthusiastic dancing I’m pretty sure we had the best time ever.

We have also been able to appreciate a bit of this beautiful country and it’s history (as well as being able to have a little break from the chaos here). We visited the Nelson Mandela monument, and even though it was drizzling, it really was a sight. You have to stand in exactly the right place and then all the poles line up and you can see Mandela’s face – artwork at it’s finest. I find it so interesting how this country has had such a big change so recently. However you can see there is still so many things which haven’t been resolved. I don’t think the future of South Africa is going to be easy.

It never fails to amaze me how we can be in town one minute and then see breathtaking nature within a short drive. We saw monkeys, springbok and zebras in a park, and could even get out of the car and get real close to them. We tried feeding them shortbread but I’m not sure that is in their regular diet… There is also an awesome waterfall close by which we visited. In the words of Molly it’s “almost Niagara Falls but just smaller”.

I am so thankful for the company I have on this trip. When you are totally emotional and missing home, fed up from a long day or just enjoying the new culture it’s the girls I am with that make everything so much better. Memories are always best when you have someone to share them with – especially if you are me and have to have someone to tell literally any and everything you see and do to. We have so much fun. Today we spent the car journey in the truck improvising our own instruments and just going crazy to the music. We had a bucket as a drum, air guitars and umbrellas as microphones, although we couldn’t sing most of the time we were laughing too much. Having a sore belly is the sign of a good day!

‘Perhaps this is the moment for which you have been created.’ Esther 4:14

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We have been in South Africa for 6 days and we have already been challenged in so many ways. It really is hard to explain the culture until you have experienced it first hand.

I knew I would be working with children suffering from HIV, but then you meet them and get to know them and realise how normal they are – it’s heartbreaking to think they have had to grow up knowing they haven’t got parents like most people and on top of that they have a terminal illness which will affect their future.

Tabitha does an amazing job of trying to give these 41 kids; a home with a ‘loving’ family, some prospects for the future through education and an almost normal life.

Some parts of South Africa are westernised. We have been to a mall which has everything you could find at home, but there is no doubt we are in Africa. The differences between wealthy and then a huge majority in poverty within a mile of each other is really difficult to see.

I have already had the opportunity to play football with the kids. I have been told and read about people in Africa playing football but actually seeing it blew me away. They played on the tarmac play area (which is just a car park) completely barefoot! So many people wanted to join in – girls and boys and of all different ages. There wasn’t a pitch marked out so the rules changed frequently whenever someone decided they wanted it to. You have to make sure you dodged the little tufts of grass sticking out from the cracks in the ground. All this in a scorching 38 degree heat. It was incredible to see how much of an international game it is, bringing people together.

There was a massive storm last night which isn’t common at this time of year because it’s summer here. It was apparently one of the worst storms even some of the South Africans had seen. The hailstones were the size of tennis balls and they broke quite a few parts of the roof in the orphanage, leaving the rain to come straight through. It was horrible to see how devastating it was for everyone here. We had to move a lot of the children into different rooms and spent a few hours putting buckets wherever we could and trying to save as much as possible. Although the staff said the roof had never been broken like that before, it doesn’t seem rare around here that things break and there is a struggle for the money to fix them.

Life here is never boring. Living in the orphanage means there is always something to do and someone to play with. I think we are all grateful that we have our own kitchen and lounge area where we can shut ourselves away from the kids when we need to.

I think it’s exciting that we have the opportunity to have such an impact on the kids lives during these next six months. We are their role models and so can influence them in a positive way. We have the responsibility to lead them in devotions, in reading groups, help them in their school work and in their free time and how they choose to spend it.

I can’t wait to see how we and they grow in these months.