:River of Life:

I apologize for my lack of updates, but I have been journaling almost every night and would love to share some entries.  Being at service sites has been so amazing and I already feel very attached to the community.  My time there seemed to be long, but I am now realizing that it is a bit limited.  It has been a wonderful experience so far and I cannot wait to continue the relationships!

Day 1- March 15

Today was the first day of service sites, and it was truly amazing.  I started off my day by going to four home visits with Grace, Alex, Steven, Jess and Adrian.  The first home we went to was Debra's. She had a large wound on her backside.  Grace, A;ex, Steve and I could not contribute much with the wound so we sat out on her couch watching isiZulu soap operas. I felt kind of useless as we sat there and the nurses took care of everything, but after they were done we were able to go and pray for her.  The next home we went to we just simply prayed over her. She was a young woman with AIDs.  She also had two young boys. When we asked her what she needed prayer for, her request was that she is able to stay strong for her two boys.  It made me think about the things I pray for, and compared to her prayer requests they seem incomparable.  She had so much trust in the Lord, it was unbelievable.  As I stood in her small two bedroom home, I realized her strength and trust in the Lord and I know if I were there, in her place, I may not be as trusting. I thought back to my home and how blessed I am, yet I cannot seem to trust the way she does, everyday.  The last home we went to was even smaller. We walked into find a woman holding a small 2 month old baby. The nurses took the woman's blood pressure, blood sugar, and listened to her lungs.  When they told her that everything was in good condition, she was overjoyed, just by the results of those simple tests.  She then pursued to ask the nurses to test her 2 year old baby for HIV. The nurses did not have the equipment, but I think all of us realized that baby had a very good chance of being HIV positive.  This small child, only at 2 months, has a long road ahead of her. The woman then asked to test her teenage daughter for AIDs. The nurses can't do that without a lab, but it meant that this woman's other daughter was already HIV positive.  It was so crazy to me.  Here I am blessed to be healthy and these two girls without a choice were born into a life of a lot of struggles ahead. When we asked the woman what she wanted prayer for she imply said "For people to not be afraid of me and for my community to understand the seriousness of HIV and AIDs".  When the nurses did her blood sugar and pricked her finger I will admit the sight of that blood scared me. It was crazy to know that this serious disease was right in front of me! So we stood, joining hands with her and prayed this prayer and I saw that nothing should separate me from the rest of God's people no matter who they are.  

After home visits my group joined Dan, Yui, and Anna at the Creche (daycare center). We were welcomed by 3-5 year old Zulu children. They are adorable. Precious. Sweet (and a little sassy). I was totally in my element, and even though I am the one loving on them, they show way more love in return with each smile! There was one small girl, red dress, shaven head and ears pierced, that I fell in love with. She was the most joyful child I have ever met.  Constantly singing in the cutest high voice. I would just hold her and she would sing and smile at me, touching my face.  If anything. it was in her that I truly saw Christ's love. That little voice will forever be stuck in my head, "My Jesus died for me, my  Jesus died just for me!". She knew no English, but she knew that song, as well as it's context.  The rest of the kids were a hoot! I have never seen that much energy before... ever! They really didn't understand anything we said, so chaotic is one way to describe the Creche.  There was one woman looking after these 40 small children and her reign on them was pretty tight, but as soon as she left the story changed.  We played outside with them, running, singing, climbing, anything and everything! Nap time was also a favorite of the day. Us girls, Anna, Grace, Yui and I took the 15 girls into, while Alex, Dan and Steve took the 15 boys to the nap room.  We were instructed to lay with them and make sure they napped and that's exactly what we did, nap! A few were hyper, but with the simple back scratch they were asleep.  I sat for a while watching them all sleep on the foam pads laid across the floor, and just prayed.  I got to pray over each and every one of those little girls. Soon enough I fell asleep too with them there on the floor. After a while I heard the door open and Alex looking in. I noticed the noise from the boy's nap room, crept up and went to the boys. They were typical boys running around, doing handstands and acting like... boys.  We gently took a boy on each arm, laid them down and began scratching their backs.  I am proud to say within 15 minutes all of the boys were knocked out.  It truly proved that the affection of touch spoke wonders to these little boys. As they were sleeping, I began to look around and just wanted to cry.  It was no place for children to lay and take naps, it smelled, yet every child looked so innocent and peaceful.  I didn't understand and still don't know how they can live like this.  It broke my heart to think about how unacceptable this would be in the States, yet here it's so normal.  I wanted to book a plane ticket for everyone of them back to the US with me. But they are such joyful kids that I have to remember it may not look the way it does to me.  

The last half of the day was at the Drop In Center (DIC) with older children. It's like an after school program that provides a meal and activities.  These older ones are much more guarded around us, so those relationships will be a goal to work on.  

All in all my eyes were glued open today by all that I saw.  The happy and sad.  I am also so thankful to have my team of 13; Alex, Enoch, Dan, Steven, Kenny, Yui, Yvette, Grace, Anna, Emily, Hayley and Michelle.  I cannot wait to see the friendships that will form out of Riv Life. each day I have to remind myself how blessed I am, today I saw it even more.  

Day 2- March 16

Service sites continue to blow me away.  As soon as I left the Creche yesterday I was already missing all of those adorable faces.  I crave being around them and holding Nojabulo as she smiles and sings.  I have such joy when I see them, yet every time I look at their surroundings it breaks my heart. It is filthy. The Creche is nicer than their homes, but still is in poor condition. There are ants everywhere, dirt and pee from the kids.  Today there was one girl who was burning up with a fever and I felt so bad for her.  It was so difficult to comfort her, and we had no First Aid kit in sight.  That really angered me.  What does it take for a child in Africa to be as valuable as a child in the States? Why does one get a beautiful, easy life while the other suffers trial after trail? Why are their clothes dirty? Why do none of them have shoes? Why do the little ones walk around the dirty street along, peeing on themselves? It kills me to see God's children in this position. It is not supposed to be this way and I wish there was something I could do. 

It's hard to face those sights everyday,but God has simply called me there to love! As little as it does for m anger about the situation, I know it speaks wonders to them. I need patience and acceptance. I need to remember I am here to show that Christ's love is enough.

Nojabulo

:Serve:

Tomorrow I start my service site. I will be at this service site for the next for weeks.  It is called Riv Life and it was my number one choice of site.  I have no idea what tomorrow will bring, but I am so excited to go, to see, and to learn! I really have no idea what I will be asked to do here, but I know that whatever it is, God will work wonders! I am going with my team of 12 and I cannot wait to see our team grow closer and stronger through this experience.  I am ready to be challenged and changed by these next four weeks and I hope that what I see and experience there will stick with me for the rest of my life! 

God has created me to serve others and I could not be happier that I get to do exactly that.  

Jesus Washes His Disciples' Feet

 ¹ It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world. It was time for him to go to the Father. Jesus loved his disciples who were in the world. So he now showed them how much he really loved them. ² The evening meal was being served. The devil had already tempted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon. He had told Judas to hand Jesus over to his enemies. ³Jesus knew that the Father had put everything under his power. He also knew he had come from God and was returning to God.
 ⁴ So he got up from the meal and took off his outer clothes. He wrapped a towel around his waist. ⁵ After that, he poured water into a large bowl. Then he began to wash his disciples' feet. He dried them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
 ⁶ He came to Simon Peter.
   "Lord," Peter said to him, "are you going to wash my feet?"
 ⁷ Jesus replied, "You don't realize now what I am doing. But later you will understand."
 ⁸ "No," said Peter. "You will never wash my feet."
   Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you can't share life with me."
 ⁹ "Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet! Wash my hands and my head too!"
 ¹⁰ Jesus answered, "A person who has had a bath needs to wash only his feet. The rest of his body is clean. And you are clean. But not all of you are."
 ¹¹ Jesus knew who was going to hand him over to his enemies. That was why he said not every one was clean.
 ¹² When Jesus finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes. Then he returned to his place.
   "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. ¹³ "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord.' You are right. That is what I am. ¹⁴ I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet. So you also should wash one another's feet. ¹⁵I have given you an example. You should do as I have done for you.
 ¹⁶ "What I'm about to tell you is true. A servant is not more important than his master. And a messenger is not more important than the one who sends him. ¹⁷Now you know these things. So you will be blessed if you do them.

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:Safari:

I continually have to pinch myself to remember that I am here and experiencing the things I am.  We just returned from a three day safari! It was so unreal and the entire trip was something I will never forget. We arrived to the fame reserve Friday afternoon and got to see the other half of our SA group (they divided the 50 of us into two safari trips), they had just finished safari.  And out of the entire weekend, being reunited with them only for a few minutes was the best! After not seeing each other for three days, we all greeted each other with hugs. Three days is not that long, but we all genuinely missed each other a lot! It really went to show how much the group has grown and how hard it will be to leave this semester.  After we said our hellos, we had to say our goodbyes. The other group left to go back to the AE Campus and we began our safari!

We were greeted by Matt and Andy who would be our guides, along with Reg. We were told the many important rules of the reserve and then were immediately on our way.  I ended up in Andy's Jeep and we began our ride! The first thing I remember seeing were giraffes, which were not very far away from our open vehicle.  It was amazing to be so close and personal with these large and wild creatures! 

We spent the rest of the afternoon just driving around, taking millions of back roads, trying to find the biggest game.  I got to see rhinos, zebras, wildebeests, impalas, and warthogs all on the first day! It was an unbelievable thing. We were completely surrounded by nothing, we were the only people for miles and were surrounded by God's beautiful creations.  It was really relaxing to sit in that Jeep, speeding down dirt roads, wind blowing, blue skies, beautiful scenery and a giraffe every couple minutes. After the first day out on the reserve, we were escorted to our tents with our roommates.  As soon as I saw the tent I would be staying in my mouth dropped.  There were the largest tents I have ever seen. It had a porch and a bathroom connected to it, as well as two beds that were bigger than the ones we have back at AE.  Let's just say that "roughin' it" could barely be considered rough.  

We settled in and made our way to dinner in a large tent down the camp site where Andy's wife, Susie, cooked us a delicious African meal! We were then dropped back off at our tents by Reg and hurried inside.  The thing about this camp site is that it's on the middle of the reserve where all the animals I had seen earlier run free, so free that the night before there were lions and hyenas on camp! Because of this we were not allowed outside of our tents after dark.  Another thing about the camp site was that all power went out at 10 pm, so we got completely ready for bed before the lights shut off on us.  Our beds also had large mosquito nets that covered us so we wouldn't get eaten alive (I am proud to say I did not get bite once the entire trip)! Once the lights were off it was pitch black and I realized how outdoors I was. I could hear every single noise and I laid in bed praying I would hear a lion grunting outside my tent. I began to worry the two sippers that separated me from the outside was not enough! I eventually feel asleep only to be awoken at 4:45 am! We got dressed and ready in the dark with the help of our flashlights and head lamps.  We then opened our tent and stood on our gated porch until we saw our jeep down the road.  We ate a light snack and headed our immediately. The morning air was pretty brisk and definitely did a good job of waking me up.  

Within no even twenty minutes of our ride Reg radioed Andy reporting that he found what we had all been hoping for... lions. Andy slammed on the gas and just like out of an Indiana Jones movie we were flying through the reserve. We spotted Reg and Andy dropped the engine. OUr jeep crept up to the spot and three beautiful lions came into view.  It was perfect. The sun was just rising and they were sun bathing.  There were two males and one female, and they were so amazing.  I snapped a billion pictures! Then one of the males stood up and walked off. Next them female stood and moved to the left of our vehicle and the other male followed her.  They hunched into the grass and I realized they were about to hunt! Suddenly, in perfect timing, some zebras came trotting down the road further down the road. We had a great view of what was about to happen. The zebra paused for a moment, but then continued on. The male launched to his feet and hurled after a zebra. All we could here was the frantic trotting of the zebra's hoofed feet, and then they both disapperaed into the bush.  The lioness stood and listened with us, nothing. It ended up being an unsuccessful hunt. The male returned and we watched them for a bit longer until they both disappeared into the bush.  By this time it was only 7 am and it was by far one of the best mornings of my life!

We continued to see more and finally saw what I had been waiting for... elephants! They were in a herd of at least 20, including some babies.  It was like straight out of a movie, they were all lined up, connected trunk to tail and just strolling through the bush. We saw so many animals and then finally stopped for lunch in the reserve.  We continued on the rest of the day spotting more rhinos, elephants, and zebras. However we were all scanning the bush for cheetahs or leopards. We ended our day around 5:30 pm. We were all exhausted and falling asleep in the Jeeps.

We then had an amazing braai for dinner! It was so good and the chicken was to die for! We also roasted marshmallows outside the tent on the grill. It was a really good night and my group bonded a lot under the breath-taking stars. We were heading back to the Jeeps to take us to the tents when we had some visitors who wanted some food... the hyenas were already on the camp site looking for something. Some of my friends came face-to-face with them.  We were all completely freaked out and everyone, including me, ran back to the tents.  We got ready for bed and turned out the lights but instead of freaking myself out about the hyenas we talked about life until we feel asleep.  I woke up again bright and early, packed and got picked up.  We ate a small snack and headed out.  We immediantly saw hyena, which I'm sure was just leaving camp. We continued and drove across the reserve and had a huge breakfast at the reserve buffet. After breakfast we packed up and headed out for our last two hours on the reserve.  In this time we saw rhinos rolling around in mud and wild dogs eating their kill (wild dogs are the most rare to see on safari). We ended our trip with no cheetah or leopard sightings but I had the most amazing time!

It is still unreal to me that I was able to expericnce this.  A safari is something I never thought I would have the oppurtunity to do, yet here I am just returning from my first one and hopefully not my last. I was, however, excited to return to the place I now call home and see the friends I now call family. God has truly blessed me and I could not be more happy with my life than I am at this moment.  I am in Africa, living an incredible life.  I owe God everything for the way He blesses me everyday. I am a very lucky girl!

Now the real excitement beings! I know I have been in Africa for quite some time, but I feel like now is when I am really going to have those life changing experiences.  Today, I took my one and only final exam! I am now done with my classes (except for Zulu), and it is only March! The first semester was amazing, but I am ready to get off of campus and go into the communities at our service sites! I also want to make the promise that there will be more blog posts during service sites! However; before service sites we are going to finish out this week with a bang!

Tomorrow, I am going zip lining on one of the tallest zip line courses in the world! I am not a fan of heights but this is a chance of a lifetime, just like everything else I do here.  Better yet, on Friday I leave for a three day safari! I cannot wait to go out to the bush and finally see the major Game in South Africa (also known as all of the characters from Lion King).  It is going to be such a great experience and I will be sure to share it with you when I return!

After this week we will finally be starting out service sites.  This is what I am most excited for, and it is one of the main reasons I decided to come to Africa.  I will be spending the next month, everyday from 8 am to 4 pm at Riv Life.  It is an amazing community that brought me to tears when I visited it.  Here I will be doing anything and everything.  I will have to opportunity to help kids, do community projects, and do home visits to patients with AIDS.  I cannot wait to finally go into a community and become involved and form relationships! Serving is one of my favorite things to do and I am so blessed by this opportunity.  It reminds me everyday of why I chose the career I chose.  Picking Social Work as my major was a very difficult decision.  And whenever I tell someone what I am studying, I get one of two responses; either “Wow, you must have a big heart” or “Oh, that’s nice”.  It is hard to hear, but then again I am not doing it for others.  I am praying that Riv Life will strengthen my desire to serve people for the rest of my life.  I pity the people who don’t respect my major because I am simply doing what I love and fulfilling a calling I know I am supposed to be involved in.  Social Work doesn’t make a lot of money and the cases are not shut and close, but I don’t not do it because of those things… I do it because my heart finds joy in letting others know that there is someone out there that cares.  I do it because I learn how to humble myself and what a difference it can make if you just sit and listen to someone else’s story.

I cannot wait to share my love and faith through Riv Life for this next month and I know I am going to have the hardest time leaving.  But when I go back home and hear those discouraging comments about my major, I will look back to Africa.  I will remember the smiles and laughter. I will remember the stories of the people. I will remember the ones who I helped and the ones who I wished I could have helped.  I will remember the changes I will see happening, no matter how big or small.  I will remember the way that I impacted Africa, and most importantly the way Africa impacted me!