Tuesday
So after yesterday's interesting, stupidly late start, the boys decided to turn up early this morning - it didn't last long at all, they are loving the whole "African Time" business. Chloe, Esther and I spent the morning at the care centre with two of the student nurses, Jess and Steph. We were sorting out, and pricing clothes for the Ethembeni jumble sale. Once that was done, Jess and Steph taught us how to take blood pressure and we had a lovely morning chatting to them about everything and anything! Eli, Chloe, Esther and I then drove down to the family centre for lunch and stayed there all afternoon. Vernon, Jill and the band from HCC came down to the family centre to run an afternoon of worship and dancing with the kids, which was great fun. Once again, we were overwhelmed with the hospitality of Jill as she offered us her home anytime we wanted to chill, her washine machine and she was just so lovely! Chloe, Esther and I were dropped home about 5, and all the kids were in the street waiting to play with us. We introduced Esther to the kids and vice versa and they loved her, we had a great evening. Esther was picked up a couple of hours later, and then we had dinner, watched Generation's (our fave SA soap) and just relaxed.
Wednesday
The boys had returned to being late this morning! No surprises there.. Chloe and I got dropped at the care centre where we showered (you can honestly not understand how amazing this was!!!!) and then waited for Shelley. We headed down to the classroom for just before 10 with Shelley for anti-natal class! We watched an 1 1/2 video of how a baby develops from 1 day - birth, and I think it's fair to say that watching a rathe graphic labour - Call the Midwife had not fully prepared me for this - I am so put off having children for a while! We headed down to the family centre for lunch and played with the kids in the afternoon. When we were dropped home last night, one of kids told me he had a box of frogs - which I laughed at as I didn't really think SA would have a large supply of frogs - but I opened the kid, and he was right, he had a box of frogs.... Chloe and I watched the kids play last night, and then we taught the kids to stargaze! Chloe and I headed to bed at 8:30 last night, and didn't wake up 8 this morning - crazy sleeping!!
Thursday
This morning was home visits. This means that we go out with a volunteer from HCC and a care worker from Ethembeni and we deliever food to their patients. All their patients are HIV+ which is quite difficult to cope with as they are all such lovely people. We drop the food off and then Linda does a bible study. They love the bible studies, and today they told us what hope they get from them, and how they feel that they are born again each week and are excited for the week ahead. It's so great to see them so encouraged! We were all dropped at the family centre after our various home visits and we managed to have some team time which was so lovely. We are here all afternoon and then heading home later on, Esther is currently making lasagne for 12 people!! The weekend looks excitig as we are heading to a Zulu wedding on Saturday!!
Overall the weather this week has ranged from 34-38C which is crazy! But it's getting stormy now, so it will probably rain tonight, so tomorrow will be cooler!
Hope you're all well,
Sending lots and lots of African lovin' xxxxxxxxx
Thursday, 28 February 2013
Monday, 25 February 2013
Friday 22nd, Saturday 23rd, Sunday 24th and Monday 25th February
Friday
The boys picked us up "early" on Friday as we were going to a church, in Howick, called Oasis for a soaking. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but we got there late - blame African time - and so snuck into the back. A lady was playing the piano and singing, whilst everyone else was just sat there listening and reflecting. The church was there to pray for and with you. After the soaking, Sarah took us to a farmers shop where we bought the most amazing food!! The food in the township is very different to what we are use to, so this was a God send! Sarah then dropped us off at Howick Community Church (HCC) where we had the chance to relax, Facebook, Skype and just generally chill. We had some lovely talks and caught some rays. We were there to help with the Junior-Junior Youth, Junior Youth (5-6:30) and Senior Youth (7-8:30). These were both really good, and many of the Senior Youth were a similar age to us, so it was really nice to just chill and chat with them. We had takeout pizza ordered for 6:30, which was incredible!! After Senior Youth we came back to Pops (the township), and chatted with our host families. Chloe and I's host family were waiting for us when we got back, so we played a couple of games of cards with them and then crashed in bed!
Saturday
Sarah picked Chloe and I up at 10(ish) - Sarah is English and so runs off English time, which is certainly refreshing! Sarah drove Gideon, Eli, Chloe and I to her house while we waiting for Esther and Ruth to finish up at the Lion's River breakfast. We suncreamed up (was lovely and hot) and headed into Howick Centre to a cafe called Chinwag's. I had a huge English breakfast and the yummiest chocolate milkshake, before we all headed to Karkloof Falls. We stopped at a veiwing point and took some photos of the main falls, before heading up the world's dustiest, bumpiest, most potholed road I think any of us have ever expereienced! However, once we got there, it was most definitely worth it!! We walked into the river at the top of the smaller waterfall above Karkloof Falls. Eli, Chloe and I then swam up river (against the current so it was major swimming) about 100-150m to some large rocks. We used the current to almost whitewater raft (with our bodies being the rafts!) back down to the top of the falls. Having witnessed some South African locals jumping off the top of the falls, Chloe decided to go wild and so Chloe, Eli and I jump of the top of falls!! The waterfall was around 20-30m, high, and so the drop was insane! The plunge pool must have been really deep, because none of us even came close to touching the bottom.. (Don't worry Mum, we checked about rocks and stuff first!) So crazy, was really, really good though. Esther and Gideon took some really good photos, so they will follow at some point... After the excitment of swimming all the water up the river, jumping off a massive waterfall and just generally having a wild afternoon, I managed to slip off a rock on the last metre back to the bank, fell on Chloe - who dropped Eli's flip-flop which floated off down the river - resulting in giving myself a fat lip and Chloe a bruise on her arm!! We headed back to Sarah's and had a South African Brie (for all you Brit's that is a BBQ), and chilled. Eli, Chloe, Esther and I then watched The Avenger's and had a lovely, relaxed evening.
Sunday
Sunday morning we headed to HCC and had such a funny service - in Africa it's acceptable to shout out and ask the preacher questions whenever you feel the urge! We had non-stop converstations over real tea (made Chloe and I so happy!!) about who we were, what we were doing, where we were from ect.. Sarah, Esther and I made macaronni cheese for lunch, and then we headed over to a lovely couple's house called Vernon and Jill. We were able to sunbathe, swim, table tennis, play darts, eat yummy food (popcorn and cupcakes was a first to eat while sunbathing!) and just chill and chat with them. They have told us we can pop over whenever we want some downtime and just some space to relax - such lovely people. Chloe and I then headed back down to HCC so I could Skype and then the rest of the team came down for the 6:15 youth service... At HCC everything seems to be followed be pizza, so after the service we chatted with the youth, lots of from Friday night, and ate pizza. After this, we were dropped back to Pops. The children were really excited and and gave Chloe and I the biggest hugs when we got back, we played with them for a little bit, and then we all went to bed.
Monday
Today had an interesting start.... Gideon and Eli told us to be ready for 8:30 this morning and so Chloe and I woke up at 8. We dressed, ate and got ready for the boys at 8:30 and then sat and waited.. and waited... and waited... it got to 9, so we rang them - no answer. We waited some more... 9:15 came so we rang again - still no answer. We waited even more and then called Sarah and she had no idea what was going on. Finally Eli called us at 9:50(!!!) to say "Sorry we used an English alarm clock..." We were dropped at the Care centre and covered some more folders with pictures so that they were more interesting for the ladies, Chloe then drove us down to the family centre, where wer started to plan the English lessons we are going to hold 4 times a week. We had a base for our lessons now which is great! We had lunch, and then I drove Chloe, Esther and I down to the petrol station where we got icecream!! Driving back was certainly an interesting expereince. School had just finished and so there were children (4-18) just all over the roads, they don't care about the cars, they are just so chilled. Dodging children and various livestock is always interesting. We had spent the rest of the afternoon creating advertisment for the internet cafe and hair salon.
Hope this brief update makes sense!!
Miss you guys,
Lots of love, Nicola. Xxx
The boys picked us up "early" on Friday as we were going to a church, in Howick, called Oasis for a soaking. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but we got there late - blame African time - and so snuck into the back. A lady was playing the piano and singing, whilst everyone else was just sat there listening and reflecting. The church was there to pray for and with you. After the soaking, Sarah took us to a farmers shop where we bought the most amazing food!! The food in the township is very different to what we are use to, so this was a God send! Sarah then dropped us off at Howick Community Church (HCC) where we had the chance to relax, Facebook, Skype and just generally chill. We had some lovely talks and caught some rays. We were there to help with the Junior-Junior Youth, Junior Youth (5-6:30) and Senior Youth (7-8:30). These were both really good, and many of the Senior Youth were a similar age to us, so it was really nice to just chill and chat with them. We had takeout pizza ordered for 6:30, which was incredible!! After Senior Youth we came back to Pops (the township), and chatted with our host families. Chloe and I's host family were waiting for us when we got back, so we played a couple of games of cards with them and then crashed in bed!
Saturday
Sarah picked Chloe and I up at 10(ish) - Sarah is English and so runs off English time, which is certainly refreshing! Sarah drove Gideon, Eli, Chloe and I to her house while we waiting for Esther and Ruth to finish up at the Lion's River breakfast. We suncreamed up (was lovely and hot) and headed into Howick Centre to a cafe called Chinwag's. I had a huge English breakfast and the yummiest chocolate milkshake, before we all headed to Karkloof Falls. We stopped at a veiwing point and took some photos of the main falls, before heading up the world's dustiest, bumpiest, most potholed road I think any of us have ever expereienced! However, once we got there, it was most definitely worth it!! We walked into the river at the top of the smaller waterfall above Karkloof Falls. Eli, Chloe and I then swam up river (against the current so it was major swimming) about 100-150m to some large rocks. We used the current to almost whitewater raft (with our bodies being the rafts!) back down to the top of the falls. Having witnessed some South African locals jumping off the top of the falls, Chloe decided to go wild and so Chloe, Eli and I jump of the top of falls!! The waterfall was around 20-30m, high, and so the drop was insane! The plunge pool must have been really deep, because none of us even came close to touching the bottom.. (Don't worry Mum, we checked about rocks and stuff first!) So crazy, was really, really good though. Esther and Gideon took some really good photos, so they will follow at some point... After the excitment of swimming all the water up the river, jumping off a massive waterfall and just generally having a wild afternoon, I managed to slip off a rock on the last metre back to the bank, fell on Chloe - who dropped Eli's flip-flop which floated off down the river - resulting in giving myself a fat lip and Chloe a bruise on her arm!! We headed back to Sarah's and had a South African Brie (for all you Brit's that is a BBQ), and chilled. Eli, Chloe, Esther and I then watched The Avenger's and had a lovely, relaxed evening.
Sunday
Sunday morning we headed to HCC and had such a funny service - in Africa it's acceptable to shout out and ask the preacher questions whenever you feel the urge! We had non-stop converstations over real tea (made Chloe and I so happy!!) about who we were, what we were doing, where we were from ect.. Sarah, Esther and I made macaronni cheese for lunch, and then we headed over to a lovely couple's house called Vernon and Jill. We were able to sunbathe, swim, table tennis, play darts, eat yummy food (popcorn and cupcakes was a first to eat while sunbathing!) and just chill and chat with them. They have told us we can pop over whenever we want some downtime and just some space to relax - such lovely people. Chloe and I then headed back down to HCC so I could Skype and then the rest of the team came down for the 6:15 youth service... At HCC everything seems to be followed be pizza, so after the service we chatted with the youth, lots of from Friday night, and ate pizza. After this, we were dropped back to Pops. The children were really excited and and gave Chloe and I the biggest hugs when we got back, we played with them for a little bit, and then we all went to bed.
Monday
Today had an interesting start.... Gideon and Eli told us to be ready for 8:30 this morning and so Chloe and I woke up at 8. We dressed, ate and got ready for the boys at 8:30 and then sat and waited.. and waited... and waited... it got to 9, so we rang them - no answer. We waited some more... 9:15 came so we rang again - still no answer. We waited even more and then called Sarah and she had no idea what was going on. Finally Eli called us at 9:50(!!!) to say "Sorry we used an English alarm clock..." We were dropped at the Care centre and covered some more folders with pictures so that they were more interesting for the ladies, Chloe then drove us down to the family centre, where wer started to plan the English lessons we are going to hold 4 times a week. We had a base for our lessons now which is great! We had lunch, and then I drove Chloe, Esther and I down to the petrol station where we got icecream!! Driving back was certainly an interesting expereince. School had just finished and so there were children (4-18) just all over the roads, they don't care about the cars, they are just so chilled. Dodging children and various livestock is always interesting. We had spent the rest of the afternoon creating advertisment for the internet cafe and hair salon.
Hope this brief update makes sense!!
Miss you guys,
Lots of love, Nicola. Xxx
Wednesday, 20 February 2013
Wednesday 20th & Thursday 21st February
So I thought that before I told you what we have done today I would explain about our sleeping arrangements. Until March 5th we have all been paired off and living with staff from Ethembeni.Chloe and I are living with a lovely lady called Dudu, her mother and two of her grandchildren. They have given up half their house for us and it's really amazing of them!
Tuesday night we played cards with them all evening. We taught them snap and spoons and they taught us five and ring. Last night there was a huge, huge lightening and thunder storm, and because the house has tin roof, the rain was so loud we couldn't talk. And to make matters worse the roof started to leak - lucky Dudu knew the spots and had buckets ready!
On Wednesday Chloe and I set our alarm for 7:30, and woke up at 8:30, Dudu then told us that the car would be there in 5 minutes - thank the Lord for African time!! We had 5 minutes to get up, dress and eat.
We then went with Tutu and Shelley to help run an anti-natal class, it was really informative and has put me off having kids slightly!
We then came to the family centre for lunch and have spent the afternoon at both the care centre and the family centre, me and Chloe drove (crazy here you have to drive round goats, cow, children and avoid the huge cracks and dents in the road). It was much colder on Wednesday, about 24C, so 10C colder then yesterday!!
When we got home last night the kids were waiting to play with Chloe and I, which was so lovely, we played cards and played with the ball. They are so friendly now we've broken the ice! They were both showing us their school work, and it was amazing because they write it all in English!
Today we went on home visits this morning, so we were split up with the Ethembeni workers and voulenteers and went round delievering food to the families who needed it the most. We came back to the family centre for lunch and then have played with the kids, had some team time and had a meeting this afternoon. Just had the world's riskiest shower at the family centre as the door doesn't have a lock... or close properly! Such a dare devil...
Hope everyone is okay and England isn't too cold, it's been about 28C today...
Lots and lots of African lovin', Nicola. Xxx
Tuesday night we played cards with them all evening. We taught them snap and spoons and they taught us five and ring. Last night there was a huge, huge lightening and thunder storm, and because the house has tin roof, the rain was so loud we couldn't talk. And to make matters worse the roof started to leak - lucky Dudu knew the spots and had buckets ready!
On Wednesday Chloe and I set our alarm for 7:30, and woke up at 8:30, Dudu then told us that the car would be there in 5 minutes - thank the Lord for African time!! We had 5 minutes to get up, dress and eat.
We then went with Tutu and Shelley to help run an anti-natal class, it was really informative and has put me off having kids slightly!
We then came to the family centre for lunch and have spent the afternoon at both the care centre and the family centre, me and Chloe drove (crazy here you have to drive round goats, cow, children and avoid the huge cracks and dents in the road). It was much colder on Wednesday, about 24C, so 10C colder then yesterday!!
When we got home last night the kids were waiting to play with Chloe and I, which was so lovely, we played cards and played with the ball. They are so friendly now we've broken the ice! They were both showing us their school work, and it was amazing because they write it all in English!
Today we went on home visits this morning, so we were split up with the Ethembeni workers and voulenteers and went round delievering food to the families who needed it the most. We came back to the family centre for lunch and then have played with the kids, had some team time and had a meeting this afternoon. Just had the world's riskiest shower at the family centre as the door doesn't have a lock... or close properly! Such a dare devil...
Hope everyone is okay and England isn't too cold, it's been about 28C today...
Lots and lots of African lovin', Nicola. Xxx
Tuesday, 19 February 2013
Day 2 - Tuesday 19th February
It's super hot here today - just spoken to Mum who said it was warm at home - warm being 9C!! Today it has been 34!! So it's been very, very, very hot.
Me and Chloe walked down to the family centre today and it took about 45 minutes, so we got to see the township and it is completely normal in Mpophomeni for cows and goats and horses and chickens and children to just run wild all over the roads!
Me, Chloe and Eli went near Howick Falls today to do some anti-natal visits, which was really good to see, and as the talks were in Zulu, we entertained the children with games and balloons so that was fun :)
We came back to the family centre this afternoon to sing and dance and play with the kids... we are getting to know them now, and are also starting to learn some basic Zulu - yebo!!
Currently sat at the family centre next to Chloe and Esther blogging away!!
Speak soon,
Lots of love, Nicola. Xxx
Me and Chloe walked down to the family centre today and it took about 45 minutes, so we got to see the township and it is completely normal in Mpophomeni for cows and goats and horses and chickens and children to just run wild all over the roads!
Me, Chloe and Eli went near Howick Falls today to do some anti-natal visits, which was really good to see, and as the talks were in Zulu, we entertained the children with games and balloons so that was fun :)
We came back to the family centre this afternoon to sing and dance and play with the kids... we are getting to know them now, and are also starting to learn some basic Zulu - yebo!!
Currently sat at the family centre next to Chloe and Esther blogging away!!
Speak soon,
Lots of love, Nicola. Xxx
Monday, 18 February 2013
Day 1
HI GUYS!
We arrived safely yesterday and then had a 2 hour drive from Durban to Howick. The team have been partnered off and we are all staying with staff from the center. Me and Chloe are staying at the top of a hill and so have a great day of the township.
We went to the center this morning and met the team. We spent a lot of time playing with the kids today, and then went to visit Howick Falls and Mandela's capture point this afternoon.
The weather is very hot, with occasional, hot showers - so lovely rainbows.
I have my normal number and will be getting my South African number later on today, so feel free to drop me a text,
Hope you're all okay and the weathers not too cold..
Love Nicola xxx
Sunday, 10 February 2013
Less then a week to go! (6 days)
So, I've passed the "one-week-left" landmark and my prep has now gone from calm and collective to running around like a headless chicken!
I am packing, un-packing, re-packing and then un-packing again to check - for the sixth time - that I have actually packed this, that and the other!
For people who like the nitty gritty details, we don't leave Heathrow until 22:00 on Saturday, so I'll be around on Saturday to become an emotional wreck and to say final, final, final goodbyes! So please feel free to text or call me anytime between now and then for final chats and such.
If you want to have a little look at where we are working, then the link to Ethembeni's website is here http://www.ethembeni.co.za/ it's got lots of great information on it, so it might help you understand what I am doing properly!
Lots of love! Xxx
I am packing, un-packing, re-packing and then un-packing again to check - for the sixth time - that I have actually packed this, that and the other!
For people who like the nitty gritty details, we don't leave Heathrow until 22:00 on Saturday, so I'll be around on Saturday to become an emotional wreck and to say final, final, final goodbyes! So please feel free to text or call me anytime between now and then for final chats and such.
If you want to have a little look at where we are working, then the link to Ethembeni's website is here http://www.ethembeni.co.za/ it's got lots of great information on it, so it might help you understand what I am doing properly!
Lots of love! Xxx
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