Hi friends. I (Dan) am long overdue for a blog.  Our lives have been full, and taking the time to write is a much needed break from the busyness.  I'm also just feeling better today (Wednesday) after having spent the last 3 days struggling with stomach problems.  Nothing that kept me in bed; just enough to drain me of energy beyond what I needed to stay vigilant for the nearest bathroom!    Anyway, below are three joys that I (and we) experienced recently...

 

Tonight's supper!  Fortunately, I recovered from my stomach problems just in time for a special dinner here at GGA this evening:  Mama Tara prepared a special meal of Indian food for the volunteers.  Tara is our head cook, and a woman with the gift of hospitality (like my mom!).  She came to live & work at GGA a few years ago after her husband passed away.  Normally Tara's energy is consumed by preparing three meals a day for 100+ people, and the meals are by necessity quite simple, to keeps costs to a minimum. 

 

But tonight each volunteer contributed 20 Rand (less than $4 CDN) and we were treated to a feast of savoury rices, roti, samosas, butternut squash and various meat curries including seafood.  Plus cheesecake for dessert!  Too bad Cathy & Jessica both seem to be catching whatever I am recovering from...but at least I could finish their plates for them!

 

My birthday!  Who would have dreamed that I would celebrate my 37th birthday in Africa?!?  My family prepared a delicious birthday supper, then presented me with a basketful of thoughtful (and tasty!) gifts.  My mind does seem to be on food today...!

 

In the evening we invited some of the volunteers over for card games and frivolity; we had some good laughs together, and I wish we could have recorded the German birthday song that I was treated to!  The next morning I enjoyed hearing from many friends & family who remembered my birthday.

 

My work!  For most of the first month, I've been too shell-shocked to appreciate how good I have it in my role as preschool administrator.  Most days, I still feel dazed by the "foreign-ness" of my surroundings and my tasks (I imagine that the look in my eyes must be a bit like that of the large frog who bumped into Cathy in our bathroom last night). 

 

But the privilege I have to work where I do is clear.  Guests to GGA are often toured around our school, because the good things that are happening there are obvious.  My job is administrative, but that still means that most of my time is taken up with driving people around, serving lunch, collecting garbage, cleaning toilets, and sorting out problems.  In other words, I get plenty of opportunity to interact with people and to try to build a sense of team among the staff and volunteers, which is what I love most.  Currently Jessica joins me to help at the preschool 2-3 mornings a week, and Micayla comes once or twice.

 

I am also becoming involved in helping to support a smaller preschool in "Number Nine", a village about 12 minutes away from our preschool, down a steep, winding road that hugs the hillside of one of the most beautiful valleys I've ever seen.  I get to drive that road (dodging the goats, dogs, and crazy taxi-van drivers) at least 3 times a week, so that's a highlight!  The #9 preschool currently has about a dozen kids attending, but will have more once they get better facilities.   This week the community councillor and the local induna (like a chief's aide) chose some land for us, so we now have hope to build them a much needed new school later this year.

 

On the weekend my tasks for the Outreach Centre are always different.  Last weekend I varnished furniture (with Jessica and Micayla's help!) and I did about 9 hours of driving, shuttling local women to workshops on the coast.  The driving itself was not much fun...the freeways were busy, the days were hot, and the car has no air conditioning or radio.  But I did enjoy connecting with new people.  I introduced one of the women to a computer...she is about my age, and has seen computers, of course, but has never been able to touch one! 

 

By the way, please continue to pray for us.  As Cathy explained in the last blog, we face our share of challenges here.  These have not abated since we last wrote, and a special volunteer meeting has been scheduled for tomorrow night, as rumblings have reached the ears of some of the leaders here. 

 

Also, we are still eagerly awaiting the completion of our accommodations at the Outreach Centre (farm).  We have been told that may be able to move tomorrow, although we cannot hold our collective breath, as we've heard that before.  But we are basically packed and ready to go, since our current accommodations are already spoken for.  So they need us to move out soon, something that we are looking forward to (except Micayla, who is resigned to the fact).

 

OK, that's all for now....good night!

 

Dan