I Will Wait

Hello everyone!


This week was kind of slow to be honest!

On Monday I worked again at Heartlines finishing up the database we were working on last week. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday were spent resting and relaxing. Tuesday I went to the Lenasia mall, Trade Route, and saw Hansel and Gretel(not as bad as I expected but not really good.) Thursday I went to the Rosebank Mall with some new old friends (Dieter Botha and Jonathon Abrahams who were both on Team iThemba) and we saw Django Unchained (pretty good, but is blood really that slimy?) 6riday evening at Youth we took to the streets shouting "Human Rights Are Our Responsibility!!!"

March 21st was Human Rights Day, a public holiday that honors the Sharpville Massacre where 60 people were killed when police opened fire without order on civilians who weren't carrying their required passbooks.

Saturday morning I helped Aunty Elizabeth and her granddaughter Tzcheza clean Jeshua Community Church.

Saturday afternoon I went to see Oz The Great and Powerful (very fun and well crafted, the graphics were a little annoying because it was obvious they we computer generated) with a new friend named Yeshika. I spent Friday and Saturday night at Merrishia's parents house who live very close to the church. So, I had my first experience with a host family. It was fine! They were very welcoming and made sure that I was comfortable. It also gave me an opportunity to practice the new skills of conversation I am acquiring.

Sunday, I performed a monologue I wrote in church. I was very pleased with my performance but it needed some better directoral decisions.

Today I am moving to the Amakhaya Home for Children and will spend at least a week there working with the young people and learning more about how others live. I would appreciate prayers for a sharp mind, courage and good sleep as well as motivation to continue pushing myself.

I called home last night and it was really good to hear my family's voices!

Oh, one last thing. I have written a number of letters but have been unable to send them because the post is on strike here! So whenever I am finally able to send them out if they seem a little dated, it is because they are! Also, I might not receive any mail for a while.

Say It Now

This past week has been one of continual blessing, growth and encouragement. I have had so many wonderful experiences and met so many people.

Last Sunday evening I attended Doxa Deo, a predominantly white church founded for the Afrikaana culture. The Afrikaana people are descended from the Dutch who brought their trade here. The Afrikaans language is a very interesting mixture of Dutch, English, German and African languages. The church is trying to take steps forward in diversity and having Seth preach was one way for them to do so. Seth preached about “Standing in the Gap” from Ezekiel. The passage calls for a man to stand in the gap between the corruption of the city and the perfect that waits. After the message there was a time of socializing out in the coffee shop area of church lobby. I met a young woman named Danica who is studying theatre. We hit it off right away and went out for coffee together Monday afternoon. I loved looking at South Africa from a different cultural perspective and was surprised that there were a lot of similarities between hers and mine. I really enjoyed her company and hope that I will get to hang out with her again before I go home!

On Tuesday I went to the Hector Peterson Museum along with four students from Duke University who are in South Africa for one of their business classes evaluating the company Heartlines (which is one of the consulting companies Seth does work for). The Hector Peterson Museum commemorates the June 16^th, 1976 uprising that took place in Soweto. During apartheid the Afrikaana regime decided that Afrikaans was the medium for instruction in all of the schools. The black students in the Soweto schools were furious and wanted that to change. They met together, formed plans and took to the streets in a peaceful rally on June 16^th, 1976. No one is really sure what happened or who “shot first” but police opened fire on the young people and chaos ensued that lasted for days and had repercussions that lasted months.

This is a famous picture from the first day of the uprising. The dead boy in the arms of the other boy is Hector Peterson, thought to be the first child killed. The girl is Antoinette Sihkole, his older sister. Because Seth has a connection with her because of the work he has done over the last twelve years, the Duke students and I had the immense honor of hearing the story of the uprising from her personal memories. She told us about the sense of victory the students had upon taking to the streets, the confusion when the police tear gassed them, the fear of seeing her eleven year old brother at the rally when he wasn’t supposed to be there and the desperation when she discovered her brother was dead.

            I was introduced to the story of Hector Peterson years ago by Team iThembabut had forgotten most of it. It was very inspiring to hear it again from someone who was there.

Wednesday and Thursday I spent at Heartlines along with my fellow interns, Elzemeike and Craig, calling NPOs for their contact information for a database that Heartlines is compiling for a corporate company called SASOL. They were long days but the company was great, we had a few good laughs as we struggled to pronounce “Heartlines” so people could understand it (Hot lines? Hard life? Hot life???) and I learned a bit about the lay out of South Africa. South Africa has nine provinces. We called NPOs in the Free State, Gauteng and Mpumalanga.

On Friday I observed three consultations Seth gave over the course of the day to three different groups all involved in the same project. The Seacom Solution Quest is a social mission project that SEACOM, an African internet company, is trying to initiate in the Tembisa High School. We met with the SEACOM peopl in the morning at their headquarters and then transferred to the highschool for the meeting with the teachers and the one with the students. The main idea is to motivate the students to take the initiative for themselves to work for the social, academic and physical changes they would like to see in their school. I met a lot of the young people and they are very excited about becoming leaders in their school. They made commitments to themselves and to each other that from here on out they will keep each other accountable and be the call that will bring about the change they promised their school. It is likely I will return with Seth later during my internship to see how things are going and to continue to motivate the students on towards self facilitated change.

I lead a few theatre games at the Friday night Youth meeting. They were pretty well received. We played around with getting your body engaged and active in different ways by toying with near/far, focus points and connections to each other. We ran out of time for the exercise that was going to explore self-esteem and self-confidence, the items we are focusing on with the young people, but Nakita had a wonderful exercise that dealt with the subject even better. First we wrote on a piece of paper how we felt about ourselves. We taped it to our backs, covered it with another piece of paper and wrote on each other’s back how we thought about them. At least for me, the difference between my perspective of myself and everyone else’s perspective was quite vast. I must keep that in mind when I get down on myself.

Well, that’s all for now! I’m attending a birthday party and baby dedication this afternoon with Seth’s family. I am excited to see an Indian South African birthday party and dedication.

As you are inclined, please pray for my body to adjust to the sleep schedule. I got hit with jet-lag really bad in the middle of this week. Being tired makes it very difficult to focus on the learning and to push myself where I need to. Also, I would appreciate prayer that I would knock down the walls of fear and low self-esteem that continue to mount against me.

Thank you for your support and love!

Alison

Sekunjalo (Now Is The Time)

Sunday, March 10^th – 14:40

Good afternoon everyone!

I have been here in South Africa now for four and a half days and have already learned so much about myself and have had so many great experiences.

First I want to let you all know that my flights were wonderful. It was on my bucket list to fly over land and the ocean during the night. It wasn’t as exciting as I thought it would be because I forgot to take into account that it is dark at night and you can’t see anything. However, the stars were glorious and I saw the northern lights over Greenland. It was amazing to see them at eye level! On my second flight I met a wonderful young woman named Lucy from JoBurg who currently lives in Lieds with her English husband and works as a choreographer. Our flight landed in South Africa around 10:30pm and the airport was very empty. It only took about 20 minutes to get through customs and pick up my baggage. I was met there by Merrishia Singh-Naicker and taken to their new house.

Seth and Merrishia and their three beautiful children moved into a new house the day before I arrived and they are having some extensive building projects done on the house even as I write this. They are hoping that everything will be completed by the end of this next week. But for now we live with builders, dirt on the floors, loud noises and the stress of it all.

The first two days were off days and I spent time with the children and ran errands with Merrishia getting to know the land. On Thursday night we had dinner at a restaurant called Spur and went over the contract for my internship. I wish I had a picture of the interior of Spur. It is American Indian themed but in a very laughable and stereotyped way. If I go back I will take a picture and post it here.

On Friday I went with the Naickers to their 5 year old daughter’s sports day at her school. Mahalia was so proud of her accomplishment in the walk-with-a-bean-bag-on-your-head race. It didn’t fall off her head once! Although the school was multi-racial the majority were from the white Afrikaans race. I also attended the evening Youth meeting at Jeshua Community Church. The majority of students who attended that night were Indian and a few were Black. Craig and Nakita, the youth leaders, were extremely welcoming to me and I had a great time talking with them. I am really looking forward to working with them for the remainder of my internship. Although the youth weren’t as outlandishly excited by the presence of an American as Craig told me they would be, one young man remarked on how cool it is that my eyes are grey.

Saturday I had the great blessing to join Seth and 13 grade 10s from Lenasia South Secondary and two of their teachers at the Amakyah Home and the Disabled Refugees Project to serve as needed. I mopped and cleaned the bathroom. I met two young Indian boys named Obadiah and Data. I also met a Black women named Bertha who lives at the Disabled Refugees Project with her husband, Moses, and their baby daughter Mercy. At the end of the two hour time of service Seth spoke to the young people and really encouraged them to think about what they had done. It wasn’t just cleaning toilets; it was helping people have a better and healthier life. Seth’s hope is to build a team of young people to be social advocates. I, along with Craig and a young woman named Alzameek, will probably work with them at their school and further service weekends.

This morning I attended the Sunday service at Jeshua Community Church. I gave a short five minute introduction about myself as the guest speaker in their series of “Focus on Community”. I also played “Amazing Grace” on pennywhistle at the end of the service during a quiet reflection time. The church body is made up of all the four major races in South Africa and welcomes the children from the Amakyah Home, the men from the House of Compassion, and the men and women from the Disabled Refugees Project. There are also men and women who attend who are not Christian, but everyone is welcomed and helped as they are ready. Seth says that he leaves salvation up to God. It is our job to love and to work for reconciliation between all people. If those people who do not follow Christ feel that Jeshua Community Church is a place they are loved and welcomed than they are receiving the message of Christ.

Whew!!!! It’s only been four days!!! I hope that I haven’t bored anyone. I appreciate knowing that there are friends and family in the States supporting me in prayer. It has already been a roller coaster of emotions and experiences but I am confident that Christ will bring to completion the good work that he has begun in me.

And just for fun here is a vocabulary lesson

AMERICAN – SOUTH AFRICAN

Bathroom – toilet

Napkin – serviette

Diaper – napkin (YIKES!!! Don’t ask for a napkin at dinner!)

Candy – sweet

Faucet – tap

Trash can – trash bin

This is good – This is nice

With love! I miss you all! I think of everyone I know at various times and just the thought of you warms my heart.

Alison

Oh…by the way. The cream soda is green here. Electric Kelly Green.

Did I Make the Most of Loving You?

Hello everyone!

In just over 24 hours I will be on my flight out of Chicago to Amsterdam and from there onto the true destination; South Africa.It is hard to put into words the exact emotions I feel right now. The good news is I'm not nervous at all. I feel a sort of heartsickness coupled with eager anticipation

I have been watching Downton Abbey with my sister Emily and I have just fallen in love with all of the characters, the history, the culture, the sounds, the fashions, the language and it has been awesome to discover this TV show along side my younger sister. We have just two episodes left in the third season that we will watch later today. The third season has some significant changes that have left me a bit heartsick and I've picked up that something rather sad occurs in the last episode. Even though I want to finish the season before I leave, instead of waiting three months to conclude, I know that only sadness awaits me at the end of the story. It's kind of depressing place to be. Also, when the season ends it will be hard because I am really going to miss exploring movies with my sister. The last episode will announce the end of those things that I love as I know them and herald in the next chapter in my life. I hope that I have not wasted the time I've had.

While I am quite heartsick for whichever member of the Crawley family that isn't going to make it past the end of this season I am also overcome with excitement that soon I will be out of the States and experiencing things I've only heard about in books, movies and TV shows. There is so much adventure waiting out there to experience and I only have to reach out and take a hold of it. I am ready to leap outside of my comfort zone and try new things ( like driving a backwards car!!!) knowing that in just three months I will be home and I will have wasted the opportunities to grow if I don't make the most of the time I am given.

I hope that you will follow my blog over the next three months and join with me as I adventure! Thank you for your support in prayer and in finances. I did raise the total needed plus a bit more! God is good!

In Christ,
Alison