28 March 2007

Leaving - Part 1

Our time here has come to a close. We leave Sunday to return to the US. It’s a whole bunch of mixed emotions we’re dealing with. Obviously, there’s the excitement and anticipation of returning home, being at our old comfortable house, seeing our dear friends and family, and having familiar things in our life again (fast internet, In-and-Out Burger, real Mexican food, and Home Depot). But of course, it’s sad to leave the new friends we’ve made here. Our kids are pretty broken up about missing their Eston School friends (especially Nina), and we’re going to miss all the wonderful people we’ve come to know. As we tell people goodbye, I tell them how it’s been the greatest, yet hardest year of our lives – we really felt like we’ve been living life everyday. There’s no routine here, and while that can drive you nuts sometimes, it makes for a very interesting day-to-day life.

One surprising thing has been how all the people in Mophela have been referring to Sharon as “Mother” or “Mommy” the last week. I guess the way she has been giving and helping so unselflessly hasn’t gone unnoticed. Today, the local electrician, Fanie, came by to see us. We’ve dealt with him only a little bit, as he took Victor’s place on the clinic after his murder. He was in tears as he asked if it was true if we were going this weekend. Not only did he call Sharon “Mommy”, he told us time and again how he loved us, and God Bless us. He’s a very sweet guy, and we shared hugs and tears as well.

While I was finishing up the final packing of our crates for shipping the other morning, a young man came to see me as well. I never caught his name, but he reminded me of when he worked on our house. At the time he had dreadlocks, and one of my favorite pictures I have is of him dancing holding a huge Sheep bone he was gnawing on. Now, he looked very clean-cut, and came with a serious look on his face. He told me he needed my help. His year-and-a-half old daughter had been very sick, and died over the weekend. Knowing the funeral costs would be killing him as well, I gave him some money and our condolences. I’m ashamed to admit, but the skeptic in me thought maybe this guy heard we were leaving, and he was working me a bit for some easy bucks. Nonetheless, I gave it to him. Today, a few days later, I ran into him on the road, and he jumped out of his car to say hi and thank me. Again, he was calling Sharon “Mother”, and he took my hand and held it close against his face, saying “Thank you”, and “I’m doing better now”. Sharon and I looked at each other very humbly and in awe. Here was a man who just lost his daughter, and was pouring out thanks to us. There’s no one I know (including myself) who wouldn’t be completely absorbed in grief to be so overwhelmingly gracious at a time like that. By the way, as he drove away, I noticed a coffin in the back of the truck – he was taking his little girl’s body to the mortuary.

17 March 2007

Nkosikhona

We’ve met a lot of people in the village here, but it seems like the ones who have touched us the most are the kids we’ve gotten to know. Most have them we’ve gotten to know as they come and play in our yard in the afternoons. Of course, there’s a few who cause a bit of trouble, but mainly they’re really good kids, who are starving for some attention…..or just plain starving. Right before the end of the school year, that would be late November, a really nice young man came to talk to me. He looked pretty young, maybe 10 or so. He’s friends with some of the Lily kids, and goes to school with them at Silverton Primary. He heard how Warren gives them a present of some candy if they pass their grade and get promoted to the next one. So this young guy asked if I would get him something if he passed his grade. I told him to come back wit his report card when he got it and I’d be happy to. He said his name was Nkosikhona. He had a great smile, really polite, yet full of life and bright-eyed. A couple days later, he returned ith a stunning report – excellent marks in all subjects. Happily, we gave him a small box of truffles and a pat on the back.

In the months since, we’ve gotten to know him a bit more. He comes to play, or just to come and see us sometimes. We’ve learned that his home life isn’t so great. He’s an only child who lives just with his Mother. His mother, we’ve come to find out, is in pretty bad shape. She’s pretty sick (we suspect AIDS), doesn’t have a job, and drinks a lot. So Nkosikhona comes looking for attention, and we give him some food quite often as well as giving him a bit of our time. He’s one of the good ones – sweet, honest, caring. We like him a lot.

A couple days ago, he came to the door and asked Sharon for “candy”. She said no – no candy today. He was more insistent – “I need candy”. Well, it turns out he was asking for candles. Apparently, something happened with their electricity, and their house was dark, and he was scared. He walked to our house in the dark to get some candles to take home. Of course, Sharon found a few, gave him a hot dog and told him to hurry home. Last night, he came back again, and told us his Mom had no food for him. He said it’s often that she might have just a little for him, and she’ll go without. He also told us how he sleeps in a cardboard box on the floor. I asked him how school was going, and he said fine, except he was in trouble for not paying the school fees. I asked him how much they were, and he said it was 64 rand, but only owed 62 rand (about $9 for the year). We told him we would pay his school fees, and come visit his home.

We gathered some food we still had set aside for food parcels and took it to him – I think his Mom was in shock when she saw us – it was quite a surprise for here. Anika said she would give him her desk, and we took a futon couch so they would have something nice to sleep on. It was the first time we met his mother – she didn’t look very well. We got them situated with everything and left. It wasn’t that much for us, but I think it will make a huge difference in their lives. As we left, we told the mother and son to take good care of each other. Something tells me the time is coming when Nkosikhona will really have to take care of his mother – he’s actually 12 years old, but he’ll have to grow up really fast when that time comes.

4 March 2007

Knock-Knock

There’s a big part of what we do here that won’t be found in any job description (except for the one I type up). It’s the seemingly constant need to be available to talk to people, usually right at our front door. At any given time of the day (it’s never been before 6:15 AM or after 7:30 PM), we get a tap on the door with the accompanying phrase “knock-knock” (it almost sounds like “nhoke-nhoke”). A year ago, it was kind of cool – people would come by looking for a job, advice, or to tell us their problems. As time went on, it became annoying at times, but we always made time to listen. All we had to do is realize this person most likely walked 30-60 minutes just to see us, and we’d come with the right attitude. Sometimes it would be me (“Mr. Tim, as I’m known around here), or Sharon (“Madame”), or sometimes both of us together. We have a big green round table in front of our door, and that has become the meeting place at our house.

One time it was Selby – a construction guy here who has worked on various projects. He showed up one evening just as we were getting ready to hop in the car and go out to dinner at Tala. We had to give him at least a few minutes of our time, but really we wanted to leave quickly. We took a seat at our green table with him and started to listen to his story. He said something bad happened the previous weekend. He got a phone call that his daughter was walking on the road and was hit by a taxi bus. She was killed instantly. He was wondering if we would advance him the money for a small coffin for her. He needed about R300 ($50). Of course, we just gave him the money, and a couple big hugs.

On any given afternoon, there are a handful of kids from Mophela playing in our front yard (or at least trying to sneak and do it). Many times, after they’re asked to leave, a few stragglers come back. They’re nice boys and say, “We’re hungry”. Well, now all these boys don’t get much to eat, to be sure. Their home lives - well, let’s just say most of them don’t have a stable family structure. So, we end up passing out a lot of food to these kids – sandwiches, hot dogs, and apples usually. We’ve adopted our home policy that if someone asks for food or says they’re hungry, we give them something – no questions asked.

Of course, right before we started construction on the clinic, the “knock-knock” was relentless!! Starting at 6:30 AM or so, we had a steady stream of guys coming and asking for a job. Sometimes it was even groups of them. I politely took their names and contact numbers, and kept a list, knowing we could only use about a dozen guys. I felt bad for most of them, but we can’t just go around handing out money.

I’ve talked about our friend Cindy, the singer (calling Sharon the “Mother of our country”, and all that part…). Well, Friday it was her turn. We were all a little slow getting up that morning, and it was also Siena’s birthday. Nevertheless, at 6:50 in the morning, “knock-knock”. ARRRGH! Who this time??? Well, it was Cindy. She came to give Siena a birthday present! Now remember, neither her or her husband have a job, she barely gets by somehow, and pretty much has nothing in terms of money or possessions. She figured a way to get to Pietermaritzburg, and bought Siena a cute little mug. The gift, of course, wasn’t the point. Here was a woman who really wanted to give something back, and the gesture was so genuine and heartfelt. Siena had a big smile on her face, but Sharon and I was were just about in tears.

24 February 2007

Mophela Methodist

I have to share a story about what happened today. Let's just say it falls under the heading of "There are no coincidences"!

I was having a (rare) lazy Saturday morning. Sharon's actually sick in bed (also incredibly rare), I'm piddling on a music project, and having my 23rd cup of coffee. The kids are goofing around on the computer. Then comes the proverbial "knock-knock" at the door. It's one of our employees here - Thula Shozi, who is a very kind man. We like him a lot, although he's sickly and not the most productive worker here. He's dressed up in a blue suit and tie - very formal. He's with a man I've met before who's the brother of the local Nkosi, Chief Mkhize. They are asking to borrow some chairs for a big meeting at their Methodist church down the street. I tell them it's no problem. They invite me to come and see what they're doing. Like i said, I'm having a lazy morning - still in my PJ's. I tell them I'll try and come down around noon to see what's going on.

Of course, i fall back into my self-absorbed slow morning, really kind of dreading what I've gotten myself into. Sharon reminds me that I told them I would come, so I put on some nice clothes, and get in the car and go see what's up at Mophela Methodist. I pull in right behind the infamous Mophela Store, home of Mophela's biggest beer drinkers, and as I'm getting out of the car, i can hear the now familiar, yet always inspiring sound of a Zulu Church choir. It's actually not a choir, it's the whole church, about 250 people, singing in wonderful strong, spirited harmony. I'll tell you, it's something you never get tired of hearing - it brings such joy every time I'm around it. These people know what it means to praise God in song. Mr Mkhize escorts me into the church, and I tell him i can just watch from the back - that would be fine. But no, he has to walk me up to the front!! Not only that, they give me a seat at the table with all the church leaders. I'm a little unsure what to do, since everyone is still standing and singing, but they indicate for me to sit down, and as I do, the music stops and everyone takes their seat as well. I'm starting to get nervous about the whole thing here, and then my new friend whispers into my ear that I'm expected to greet the people and say something. before we came here, someone told me that if you are an American visitor in a church, you'll be expected to preach - was this going to be it?? Yikes!!!

Well, luckily they had some business to attend to first. It gave me a minute to check out the situation and see what is going on here. The congregation was made up primarily of young adults, and this was a meeting from several churches in the area of their youth groups. The proceedings were all in Zulu, so it was hard to tell what was going on, but I managed to understand they were interested in social issues such as AIDS and poverty. It gave me a little time to prepare myself, and ask God to help me to speak to these people with some kind of relevant message.

Finally, I was introduced, and greeted the young people. I told them a little about my background, and what we've been doing at Lily of the Valley the last year. I spoke to them about the enormity of the problems their communities face, and how frustrating it is sometimes. I encouraged them to lean on God, and each other as a Christian community, for it is only God that can truly help to solve such huge problems. After speaking for a few minutes, I took my seat. The pastor asked for a young person to come up who could speak English well to respond. A very astute young man came and thanked me for coming, and for the work we've been involved in. Then he told me that this group would like to become very involved in helping our centre - they want to be involved in helping their own people in their own country. Iwas so impressed. I am looking forward to seeing how they can become involved here at Lily - hopefully God will open the doors and bring a new partnership here.

Then, guess what? They asked me to sing!! I’m going, like, “Where’s my piano???” They said I didn’t need one. After racking my brain for a few seconds (seemed like minutes), I started singing the chorus of Chris Tomlin’s “Unfailing Love”, and after a couple rounds, the whole room stood up and joined me. It was pretty incredible, really. Just another day in Mophela.

18 February 2007

Inkanyezini Part 2

Well, everyone pitched in on this one! By all our friends, and Amy and Eric Liecht’s friend all just giving a little bit, we raised over US$5000 to help with our food project!! It’s pretty amazing, really, and shows how if everyone helps just a little bit, it can make a huge difference. Thanks to everyone who gave money, or asked their friends to give as well. Our community here in Eston also contributed toward the project, and many indicated they would like to continue it as an ongoing effort.

We ordered massive amounts of food from a local wholesaler. Each family would get a parcel that included this: 12.5 kg Maize Meal, 10 kg rice, 10 kg beans, 2 ltr cooking oil, 100 tea bags, powder creamer, soap, candles, and sugar. We purchased enough food for 150 families. We also bought 2 trampolines to place at the Inkanyezini community hall. We had to spend a little time organizing everything, and prepared for Saturday to be our big day.

Saturday morning came, and as we got ready to load our big flat-bed truck, it wouldn’t start!! This was really a big problem. We had to take all this food, a sound system, and about 20 people with us to make this happen. We tried to get it to go – push starting, jumper cables, but didn’t have any luck!! We called around and tried to organize some other help, but it didn’t come easily. We loaded up what we could, and some trucks came from Inkanyezini to help us. Then we were able to give our flatbed a tow and get it started – turns out it was just a battery problem (I never have been very good with cars!!) – so we got going a few hours late (Africa time again – we’ve succumbed to it!).

We weren’t sure what we would show up to when we arrived. With the word out, it could be a huge mob waiting to attack the food. We got there, and there were mobs of people. Of course, they were really excited to see us, but everyone was well-behaved and polite. There were tons of kids, and mostly older women waiting to take food back to their families. In preparation, we had local people in the area we work with identify the families with the most need, and they assured us that everyone would understand they would be the ones to receive the food. We walked around and smiled and greeted the people, then I walked into the community hall. I was shocked to see about 1000 people seated waiting patiently for the festivities to begin. I think they had been there for a couple hours waiting. We brought in all the food and set it on the stage – it kind of looked like a school multi-purpose room. There was a table set in front where the local Counsellor (mayor) was to sit with us – kind of embarrassing, really. We played some music until the proceedings started, and then there were a few speeches. I had to tell why we had come to help, and how our friends came with big hearts and money from America. Amy was a little nervous talking to a large group of Zulu people, but she shared her heart, and the crowd responded with huge applause. Their family shared a traditional Hebrew song – even getting the crowd to sing along. A young group of girls did a really cool Zulu Dance routine – actually one of the better one’s we’ve seen. Then, the fun began. Outside, about 100 kids were gathered around the trampolines. Of course, they had never seen or used them before, but it didn’t take them long to figure it out. Sharon was inn her element showing them flips and all kinds of tricks. It’s always amazing how these kids are fearless. The instantly start doing flips the first time they jump on one of these.

Inside the hall, the counselor started calling the names for people to come up and receive their food. It started slowly, but gradually a system fell into place. Amy and Eric stood in front and shook hands with everyone as they were thanked for the food. People were so happy to receive this gift – it means so much to them. They really need it for their families, and it also means so much to them that people care. It was also so impressive to us that this day was so well organized, and nothing got out of control. Before the day started, Amy and Eric wondered how they would get all this food home. I assured them it wouldn’t be a problem, and it was verified when time and again, old ladies would balance 50-60 pounds of food on their heads and walk home – it’s always an amazing sight.

This was a very powerful day for all of us. To see money go straight into food and things that go directly to impacting people’s lives is a great joy. At the end of the day, we all agreed that the biggest beneficiaries were us. We have a little more left from the donations, and we will be giving more food out to families in Mophela this week, along with some fruit trees we bought.

14 February 2007

Valentine’s Day

We’ve recently implemented a new program here at the community project site. After trying to get it worked out for months, we’ve been able to start after-school activities here for the Lily kids and the children from Mophela. The Lily kids come here after school and do homework with our various international young volunteers, and then we have a variety of programs for everyone to be involved in. We do this Mon-Thurs every week. There’s usually about 75-100 kids on the soccer field, 15-20 in the arts and craft room, a dozen on computers, and anywhere from 20-30 kids doing music and dance with Smilo, our new music instructor here. He’s doing a great job by the way – very enthusiastic, and is able to handle the kids really well. He’s a very talented guy – sings great, and can also teach all the traditional Zulu music, besides modern and gospel music as well.

For Valentine’s Day, we thought we’d just have a big party for everyone. We thought we could cook some viennas on the braai (hot dogs on the bbq), have some cake, and play lots of games. We knew it would be a big group, so we prepared for about 200. Well, Smilo made the “mistake” of telling the local schools about it. We planned to start around 2 pm. Well, school got out early, and kids started pouring in around 1. They kept coming….and coming…and coming…and then the high school kids showed up too!! It got crazy!!! I think eventually somewhere between 700-1000 kids were there to join in the fun!!!!

Let’s just say it was very exciting. Kids were jumping on the trampolines, hanging out and waiting for something to start. We had the music blasting on our sound system, and impromptu dancing started. Our American friends got involved – Eric and his sons were running the big jump rope. You could tell some kids had never done it, but they got the hang of it quickly, and then they were making up all kinds of games. Smilo started having his groups perform, and everyone loved it. Nana got everyone up and dancing too. We started cooking the food, and the line got really long in a hurry. We had about 300 viennas to cook, but of course, we ran short. My daughter Nina was trying to serve the last people there, and I had to rescue her from getting squished!!! (it wasn’t that bad – but it was a little overwhelming).

The UK volunteers brought out a big plastic sheet, and started the slip-and-slide on it. Since it was a pretty hot day, it was a huge hit. Of course, no one remembered to bring their costume (swimsuit), so underwear was the fashion of the day. Sharon started doing some games like egg toss, and water balloon toss. She ended up having a huge group in the amphitheatre, and would single out a kid to play. Everyone was going crazy!! For people who one, I’d throw them an oversize candy bar.

It was really a fantastic day. Things like this are what our community centre is really for – to develop a positive spirit in the community, and to let the young people know that this is a place they are welcome, and can come to have a positive experience learning and doing things together.

23 January 2007

Inkanyazini

One thing we’ve been involved in is doing work distributing food parcels to the very needy. This has been primarily done in conjunction with the Department of Welfare here. We send out a team into an area to identify “vulnerable children” – that is, families without parents (child-headed households), or families where kids are looked after by a relative only. For some reason, these children don’t qualify to be placed in an orphanage like Lily, so they really need some help. The program is designed to identify these families, distribute a monthly food parcel, refer them to the department, and get them the appropriate grant. For most children, it’s a grant of about 800 Rand a month ($120 US). If there are several kids in a family, it can add up, and that money can make a big difference in their lives. Once they are receiving a grant, they are pulled from the food parcel program, and another family is placed into it. We’ve been doing this nearby in the poor areas of the Eston community for about 6 months, and it’s working well. We hope to expand it to our immediate area of Mophela, and it’s currently in the works with the local government there.

Earlier this year, we were approached by the Welfare Dept to help organize a National Integrated Plan (NIP) site in a rural area called Inkanyazini. It’s a very poor area – more rural than Mophela. It sits under a huge, beautiful table mountain, and although it’s a magnificent area, when you look closer, it’s less than attractive. Unemployment, AIDS, and extreme poverty are all around here. The NIP site here is to help not only with food distribution and poverty alleviation, it’s to help with HIV/AIDS education, tutoring kids after school, and helping seniors in the community as well. We started our food parcel program here just before Christmas. We give food to about 30 families once a month – it’s about R200 worth of food ($30 US) …. Try feeding your family of 5 on $30 a month!!! Anyway, so far, so good. There are so many people we can’t accommodate in the program yet, but hopefully the grants will come quickly and we can spread the food around to more.

Senzo is in charge of this program. Yesterday, he was discussing the details of his visit last week with me. He told me a story that frankly shocked me. He found a child-headed household where the oldest kids was about 15 and attending high school. There were younger siblings as well who went to primary school. But while they were at school, they had to lock their youngest brother in the house alone at home – a child of about a year old. That alone is hard to muster. When Senzo saw the little child, he had huge wounds on his arms and legs. They realized it was from being eaten by rats. It’s one of the saddest things I’ve ever heard – the older brothers and sisters are trying to do what’s right, but they don’t know what to do, and have no resources to help them. The child was taken and put temporarily with a family in the area, and the head of Welfare in the area said she would get him placed somewhere right away.

You know, you can’t fix everything. But, you can do things that help, light up people’s lives for a while, and give them hope by letting them know someone else cares about them. We have some friends, the Leicht family from California, who are coming to visit us in February. Amy, Eric, and their 4 sons want to come and help us here. We’re going to go to Inkanyazini one day, and just give out tons of food, and maybe some clothing, blankets, etc to anyone who needs it there. Here’s a chance for you to help as well. We’re asking everyone reading here (and your friends) to send Amy $10. She’ll bring it with her, and we’ll go buy food to give right to these people. $10 isn’t a lot of money in the US, but it will add up quickly and be HUGE here. They’re leaving Feb 9th to come here, so act quickly if you want to participate. You can send your donation of $10 (or more, or less) to Amy Leicht, 3272 Windflower Cir., Thousand Oaks, Ca 91360. Thanks!!7 January 2007

Victor Mkhize

I have to write and tell you about my friend, Victor Mkhize. I first met him several months ago here when he came to help in the computer room. He’s a middle-aged guy, short, a little stocky, a huge smile and a heart of gold. He’s a whiz with electronics – he quickly took the computer room to task – making it his mission to get as many computers up and running as possible. He got Windows running on them all, and was our man for troubleshooting all kinds of problems. He also became our in-house electrician, taking care of fixing lights, bad breakers, and installing electricity to any new projects. He’s a very handy guy to have around.

A couple months ago, he was wiring the electrical for the amphitheatre on a Monday morning, and I saw him limping a little. We started talking and he told me how he was in a serious car accident in Hillcrest over the weekend. A truck ran him off the road, and he hit a tree square on. He laid in the car bleeding for about 3 hours before an ambulance came to take him to the hospital. Although I believe there was some serious bleeding, he was back to work early Monday, and told be in his gregarious way how he “loved working here”. I’ll never forget that day we also had our first of many talks about God, Jesus, heaven, and what it meant to us.

This last Saturday morning, I got an unthinkable phone call. It was our gardener Alpheus, who was very upset on the phone. He told me something bad happened, and I would never see Victor Mkhize again. Confused, I asked him to tell me what happened, and he replied that he was shot and killed at 2 AM. We really couldn’t believe it. A few minutes later, our friend Juliette called and verified the story, telling us someone had robbed his house and shot him. We were obviously very upset at this point. We went to his house to see his family, and tried to console his sister and mother. Others came by as well – it was a difficult moment for all of us. We found out that he was coming home late from a funeral party when it happened. It was simply some guys coming to rob his laptop computer and cellphone. Whether they followed him there, or he arrived while the break-in was taking place is unclear – it doesn’t really matter either way.

It’s really disheartening for us. Victor was one of the people here we had a special relationship with – someone I would call a friend. We had many discussions not only about God, but about all kinds of things. He was a very intelligent, well-spoken man, and very kind and understanding. I found out later how he actually studied at Oxford for a year. It’s people like him we’ve encouraged to be role models in this community, and now one of our favorite people here is gone. Please pray for his family, this community, and the continued safety of our family.

6 December 2006

Holiday

I’m ashamed to realize how long it’s been since my last entry here. I just looked – exactly one month!! Well, I have to admit, I finally hit the point of burn-out here. It’s been about 10 months of working really hard at things, adjusting to a new home, society and culture, and being on Mr. Toad’s Emotional Wild Ride. We look back at our time here and can truly say we’ve accomplished a great deal, although there is really no finish line here. It’s satisfying in many, many ways, we’re just a little tired!! All that, and I kept my LA music career going too! So, for the first time in my life, I truly needed a holiday!

Of course, on the way out the door, we’re hit with an endless stream of people coming up for help with something or another, a question to ask, or a hungry kid asking for a snack. We actually did manage to get out of the house on a Wednesday afternoon, and started our escape down the South Coast. We decided to go with no plans, other than we had a friend’s home in Cape Town we could stay at. We thought it might take 3-4 days to get down to Cape Town, which going this route is a journey of nearly 2000 km – or about 1200 miles.

Our first night, we found a beautiful lodge in the forest called Ingeli Forest Lodge. It’s a pretty high-end place, where they have a picture of Oprah and her entourage staying here during her 2002 visit to the country. We had a nice suite and great food – our holiday had truly begun!! The next morning, we got in the car and started off through the most dunting leg of the journey – traveling through the Transkei – it’s a very underdeveloped rural area. The roads aren’t great, and there’s no fences to keep the stray animals off the road. We saw a few hideous sights – the worst of which was a dead horse that had been hit by a vehicle. It’s beautiful country though, we went through some spectacular mountain passes, and drove past countless tiny villages. It was a long day of driving – not much of anyplace to stop, but we made it through to East London, back on the coast. We arrived a little late in the afternoon, and no place booked to stay – so we found a realty office where some people were very friendly and helpful, but told us the whole town was booked up. One lady in the office remembered a client she had visited recently who had a guest house on the back of his home, so we drove there and the place was just fine. We ended up having a Braai with the family there – they even had a young girl for our kids to play and swim with.

The next morning we were off again, down the “Sunshine Coast” – we thought this was where the fun part of our journey would really begin – more places to stop and visit along the way. So we’re driving down the road, and my fuel gauge starts to drop. Now we’re getting nervous as there isn’t any place to get gas here – I thought this was a more developed area, but it’s actually not!!! We found a site where there was a little shop and some guys were doing road work. I asked around and found out the next gas was about 35 km down the road – we wouldn’t make it, and I don’t really want to run out of gas somewhere in this country where they have limited support resources. I spotted a nice guy who was the superintendent of the road crew, and he said he’d siphon some gas for me – whew!! A few litres and we were back in business – down the road to the next stop and we were ok!! I guess I won’t let that happen again. We continued on through Port Elizabeth, then down to Jeffries Bay – known as an international top surfing spot. We found a quaint little B+B right on the sand – 2 bedrooms and a kitchen for R500 ($75) and night. We loved it here so much, we stayed an extra night. We had dinner at a cool seafood place where you sat on the sand – the kids were running on the beach while we sipped our wine and waited for our food. Even though the weather was cloudy and a little cool, we had a great visit there – reminded us of small southern CA beach communities – and a little bit like our community at Crystal Cove we loved so much. It really feels like you’re in America here – very safe. The population in this part of the country seems very white, mostly Afrikaanse-speaking. There are black township areas, but they’re still very separate from the white areas.

After leaving Jeffries Bay, we got to play tourist some more. We stopped at a place called Monkeyland. Anika’s been dying to really see the monkeys since we arrived – she really wants to have one – so this was something she was very excited about. It was a large fenced-in park, where many species of monkeys and lemurs are allowed to roam free in a controlled jungle. You get to walk right in the area and enjoy seeing them up close – it was a nice experience. Next door they had another park called Birds of Eden – a huge aviary (they claim the world’s largest) where hundreds (maybe thousands) of exotic birds are free. It’s really cool to get in and be close with these beautiful creatures – of course Sharon has new aviary dreams for when we return home.

We spent the night in nearby Plettenburg Bay, then off the next morning to see where we would get to. Along the way, we passed a cute little town Knysna, and an incredible beach community called Wilderness – our kids recognized these from the SA version of Monopoly – I think Wilderness takes the spot of Park Place, so you know this is a really high-end area – beautiful!! We turned inland and headed to Outshoorn, where the ostrich farms are. We found a nice one to visit – a very good educational talk about ostriches. We learned that in the early 1900s, ostrich feathers were literally more valuable than gold!! The highlight of the day was Siena riding a wild ostrich around the ring – we all loved it!! After, it was still early in the afternoon, so we decided we could make tracks and hit Cape Town by nightfall. We drove through a desert area called the Klein Karoo – reminded us of our So California desert areas – no one on the roads, so we jammed it. We arrived in Cape Town in time to get to our friend’s house and crash for the night.

In the morning we awoke to a beautiful day – sunny, warm, and calm. We hear how the weather here can be wild – usually very windy, but it was perfect – so down to the beach we went. We’re staying in a little area called Fish Hoek – and they have a great little cove to swim in. There’s a little village with shops and restaurants, and it’s really an idyllic little spot. I was swimming with the girls when all of the sudden a loud siren went off, and everyone ran out of the water. Sharon told me later she thought a war had started, but it was actually a shark siren!! That’s something we don’t have on Zuma Beach! Needless to say, the day’s swimming was over, and we had enough sun anyway for the day. So we drove around to Table Mountain where a friend of our had arranged comp tickets on the tram. It’s beautiful view from the top, and it’s really one of those special places in the world you’ll always remember visiting. We had a nice walk around and took the tram down – very cool. We drove back home to Fish Hoek and had a great Italian dinner run by a guy named Bernardo Napoli – it was as good an Italian meal as I’ve ever had, and certainly the best pizza since coming to this country.

Now it’s the next morning, and another beautiful day is here… We’re going to drive to Simonstown to see the penguins on the beach, and around to Cape Point, where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. Who knows after that!!! Of course, first stop is an internet café so I can upload this story to you…..

6 November 2006

Cross-Culture

We’re getting ready for our next big event here this weekend. It’s a big cultural day – a music and dance show featuring local talent. Plus, something really crazy – the Miss Mophela Beauty Pageant!! It should be quite a kick. I guess I talked about it in my last entry, so enough of that.

We’ve invited our Eston Church family to join us for the festivities. When I had to announce this at church, it dawned on me – what about our other cultures back in So California? There’s always a Hispanic Heritage Day or something like that going on, but I never even thought of attending. Here, to join in a Zulu day, I wouldn’t miss it! It’s such a great time of people sharing their music, dance, food, and art. So, it follows that the white people of the area rarely, if ever, take part in something like this. Well, like I told the church, I had to cop to the fact that I passed over these events in America – so they shouldn’t feel guilty about not being there before, but they really should come. The Zulus are their gardeners, nannies, maids (sound familiar), but they never interact beyond the work realm.

So, the big lesson about this is that of taking your self into another culture. Obviously, we’re seeing new and interesting things every day. Being out of our normal comfort zone makes us look at everything completely differently. However, we also realize that it puts us into a very special position. Because we are not from here, people look at us differently as well. I think it’s especially true here, where apartheid is still fresh in the minds of everyone – white and black. It gives us an instant advantage in dealing with the Zulus that white South Africans have to earn. Senzo was telling me a while back that he never dreamed he would be able to sit down and have a discussion where a white man would treat him as equal. I’m not saying we’re any better or more enlightened, just that the old perceptions still exist in a very big way. I think our kids will have a world view that most don’t have a chance to get. They don’t even realize it, and it will be years before they do, but they will know that you don’t have to live in a perfect Suburban neighborhood in America to achieve happiness. Don’t mistake me, I’m not trashing it, just there are other ways to get along in this world. I’ve realized that a majority of the world’s population live like the people here in Mophela (many worse off than them) – but they still have the same joys and heartaches we all share.

25 October 2006

Good Day

Like I’ve said before, so many things happen every day, my entries here just barely scratch the surface. But today was pretty cool – very productive and exciting.

Like every day, I start around 5:00-5:30 in the morning, make my imported coffee (usually Peet’s, today it was Lavazza from Italy), and return some emails. I might have to make a business call to the States to discuss some music before my clients go to bed. Then I usually take care of some business here via email – send in a spreadsheet on wages, or report on tomato sales, or something like that. Then kids up and off to school, normal life stuff.

Then it’s a walk of the grounds, making sure everyone knows what their job is, answering any questions, and getting everyone pointed in the right direction. I added up how many people are here on a daily basis either working for us, volunteering, or running their own business – it’s about 35 people. Today we had a guy come with a bulldozer to finish up the grading on our amphitheatre – it was just the final touches, so Sharon had to work with him closely to get everything just right. He’s hard to pin down, so we had to make the best use of him in the time we had. She needed our guy Nathi, who works in the tomato tunnels, to translate – makes it more efficient.

Speaking of the amphitheatre, we’re really on a tear trying to get it ready for our big cultural event on Nov 11th. We will be having lots of music and dance groups come to perform, and having the Miss Mophela 2006 beauty pageant as well. 4 categories – Miss Mophela (ages 13-20), Mrs Mophela (20-40) Gogo (granny) Mophela (40+), and talent contest. That will be a lot of fun I’m sure! We hope to have large numbers come out – hopefully nearing 1000 people – let’s also pray the weather is nice – rain would be a big problem!! Between all of this, we will have speakers delivering messages on AIDS, TB, Government Grant programs, etc. We’re so excited about this, because this kind of education is so important in helping the community to cope with these large problems.

At the end of the day, a group from our church in Eston will be showing the “Jesus Film”. They bring in a huge screen and play the film, which is spoken in Zulu. To help with this, we enlisted a group of pastors from the local churches in the area, and had a meeting – I guess that brings us back to this morning. We decided to hold the meeting at 10am, but knowing “African Time”, we told everyone 9. Of course, everyone actually showed up early – so much for that plan. It was a little embarrassing as all the pastors were waiting for the white folks to show up! I invited them into our house for tea and coffee, and spoke to them a little about our plan, and what we do up here. It was funny – there was a charming old man who pastors the Jerusalem church, who just kept saying “Thank you, thank you”. I thought – Wow – how nice. Senzo told me later he didn’t understand a word I was saying a was just being funny! Anyway, our friends from Eston showed up and we had a great meeting, really engaging the pastors to bring their ideas to the party. They had many thoughts on how they felt it should go, and we reached agreement on the best way to show the film (we’re actually going to do it on consecutive nights), and for them to follow up with people who are interested in learning more about Christ. They also spoke of how this could be a big step in uniting the local Christian community. It seems there’s still a lot of bad blood from the political faction fighting that took place in the area in the early 90’s. it was ANC vs IFP, and we’ve heard horror stories of how bad this area was at that time – burning whole neighborhoods and lots of killing. The pastors said that unity must begin in the Christian community, and spread from there. To me, this was even more affirmation that our amphitheatre is an important part of our work here.

Of course, while I was doing this meeting, Sharon was still working with Sipiwhe, the bulldozer guy. She got everything done she wanted to, including smoothing out some bad roads. Not only that – she’s directing the whole crew on grooming the dirt just right, planting grass, watering, and who knows what else she was having the guys do. I think they’re not used to having a woman tell them what to do, especially when it comes to physical work, but she has them on her side. I think it shocks them when she’s in there working harder than they are.

Our next appointment was at the Tala game reserve to discuss a music event we’ve been talking about with them. They have agreed to let us have the FigTree lodge (which overlooks Lily) for the evening of December 30th. At that time, our good friends Burleigh and Mary Drummond, and Jon Baker will be visiting us from the US. We’re going to do the So African version of the LoveFest here – it will be a nice evening of food, music, wine, and dancing. I’ll have some local musicians involved as well – we’re very excited about this. For those who want to come, the cost is only 250 rand (about $35), but the plane flight will cost a bit more….. It will be cool to share our music with the people here, and raise their awareness of Lily – not to mention some more funds.

So, it was a pretty cool day. After that, Sharon took the kids to join a group at the nearby Gwahumbe Lodge for a scrapbooking party, and I worked on some music work. A glass of Pinotage before bed and I slept like a little baby.

The weather still confounds me here. On Tuesday, it was blazing hot – above 90 degrees. Today, it barely broke 70, and was drizzling by nighttime. I think of how “perfect” the weather always is in Thousand Oaks (in fact, isn’t everything “perfect” there?). Well, the weather is crazy here, and really is like a metaphor for the entire country. You can’t figure it out, it’s always changing, but you can find something beautiful everywhere you turn, if you look for it. And if something terrible comes along, it’s just another moment before beauty emerges.

18 October 2006

Food Parcels

One program that’s been initiated here lately is the distribution of food parcels – that is, an allotment of food supplies for needy people. This is something that has been placed in our hands by the local municipality Dept. of Welfare. They’ve given us a budget to manage the distribution of food parcels to families with “vulnerable children” – that is, kids who have one parent, or live with a granny or other relative, or parents are destitute, etc. We’ve enlisted 3 ladies from our village who go out and identify these families, record their details and make reports to the government office. We give them some food once a month, and also a referral form to take to the local welfare office. Once they go to the welfare office, they can apply to get a government grant, in the range of R700-1000 per child ($100-150). Then they are taken off our list, and we can add a new family in need. Today, we distributed food to 35 families in the area. Of course, many more show up hoping to get a box as well, but we can only help those we can.

The food box costs about R180 ($25) and gives dry goods that will sustain a family for the month – sort of. It contains rice, beans, mealie meal (corn meal), sugar, cooking oil, peanut butter, long-life milk, and tea (I’m probably missing something else). This month we also included some tomatoes from our vegetable project, and some seeds to plant in their yards. Hard to imagine that being the main thrust of your food supply for a month, but if you have nothing else, it means a lot. I think it’s one of the most important things we’re doing as an organization here – it’s immediate assistance to those who need it the most. Long term, it will encourage these families to get the government assistance that is available to them. It’s also a good program for our people, like our Community manager Senzo, to be involved in managing a government program. As this country has become socialist in this way, it’s important to know how to access these programs.

Of course, like everything around here, there’s something that makes you shake your head. I went to check in on our work staff earlier today, and they were all waiting around to ask me something – this is usually some kind of big deal when this happens, so I’m wondering…..OK – what this time?!?!?! Well, someone finally piped up and asked about the food – why don’t we get some as well? I really tried hard to hide my shock, and keep my eyes from bugging out 3 inches from my skull. In my mind, I said, “You guys have GOT TO BE KIDDING!!!!”. So, I took a deep breath and explained to them who this program is for – “vulnerable children”. I explained how this is a government project, not one funded out of our own pockets. Of course, one guy says, “well, I’m an orphan”. Hmmm….. 35 years old, 3 kids, a steady job, and he spends a good portion of his paycheck on booze – doesn’t sound like a “vulnerable child” to me. I went on to tell them how for every one of them, there are 9 men in Mophela who don’t have a job. I went on to agree that all of them could use more food and money – they all nodded their heads with me, but then I told them that they all know people who are worse off and need help more than they do. Again, they nodded and agreed. Just another day on the farm….

Oh yeah – yesterday I had something interesting happen. A middle-aged man was in our bakery, and seemed very friendly, so I said hi. He cheerfully started a conversation with me, and we talked for a few minutes. Then out of the blue he told me he was just diagnosed HIV-positive. I tried not to act shocked, but it’s frankly the first time I’ve ever heard it. He went on to tell me how eating right (vegetables etc) would take care of everything. He also said he doesn’t smoke or drink. I told him that was great, but he need to be on the medicine – I really stressed the importance of it. I’m not sure that he really understood how critical it is, despite my insistence. At least he’s going back to the doctor for more testing, so hopefully the doctor will get him on the program. Personally, we haven’t been faced with AIDS as much as we thought we would be, but it’s all around us. Nationwide, the AIDS rate is above 30% (US is about 7%), and in our part of the country, it’s the worst, with estimates between 50-60%. The good news about this guy telling me his status showed he wasn’t worried about the stigma of being HIV-positive. On a related note, Nina and Siena had a test at school on viruses. Nina was complaining in the car about a question she was marked wrong on. The question was, “How is the AIDS virus transmitted?” She told me she got it wrong because she put “by sexual intercourse”, when the right answer was “by bodily fluids”. She told me this when we were all driving home from school. Of course, my eyes bugged out another 4 inches on this one, and I just about spit out the sip of Coke I was drinking. Something tells me they don’t learn this at Meadows Elementary in the 5th grade back home….

24 September 2006

Heritage Day

Today was another one of the many National Holidays in So Africa – Heritage Day. (If you want to have a job in any country, you might want this one – more paid holidays than you could imagine!) Being the “Rainbow Nation”, this is an opportunity for all the diverse culture to celebrate their roots. Of course, for our local community, that means celebrating the proud Zulu traditions. We were invited to join in the festivities at the local Catholic Church here in Mophela. I’d always heard of it, and many of the people we know attend there, but this was our first time to actually see the place. It’s a grand brick building with stained glass accents. It was surprisingly large, and beautifully taken care of. We arrived a little early to set up my keyboards (more on that later), and took our very conspicuous places in the front pew. Having grown up in the Catholic Church (yes, altar boy for many years, and then organist as a teenager) the service was completely familiar to me. I could even follow the routine of the prayers, even though everything was being said in isiZulu. The priest did take a moment to welcome our family in English, which was a nice touch.

The choir was unaccompanied by any instruments, about 25 voices strong. The director would sing the first few words in high falsetto, then they would begin each piece. The sound was glorious and strong – and the congregation fell into harmony naturally as well. Being a concrete building, the acoustics made it sound like a grand cathedral as well. They sang many songs, and prayers and responses as well. I really enjoyed hearing them – all the people here love to sing, and it comes quite naturally to them – harmony, rhythm and joy.

Toward the end of the service, I was asked to come up and speak, and sing a song as well. I introduced my family, talked a little about Lily and the Clinic we’re building, and thanked the community for accepting us so warmly. I spoke a little about being American – I told them how we really value individualism, where in their culture, it’s a real community where people need each other more. I talked of how divisive our country can be – then told them of how America bonded so strongly after 9/11 – only to become radically divided again during the 2004 elections. However, as Christians, we come from different cultures and backgrounds, but we have in common the fact that we are Children of God’s family, and that’s an awesome heritage to have.

Then I played and sang one of my favorite songs, “Unfailing Love” (by Chris Tomlin). Everyone joined in as they could, and we clapped, sang, and felt the spirit move amongst us all. It was a very moving experience for me, one I’ll never forget.

After the service, everyone got some fresh air (it had been 2 hours), and then we came in for the Heritage festival. Again, I was asked to sing some more (didn’t know everyone thinks of me more as a singer here than a keyboard player – that’s a scary thought!). Being Heritage Day, I brought up my family to join me in singing “God Bless America”. I think Sharon and I both got a little teary-eyed while we were singing it for everyone. There was more singing from the choir, and a few Zulu dance groups. It’s always a lot of fun – people in the audience even start singing Zulu songs, and people take turns coming up to do their dance – it’s all very spontaneous! They asked me to sing another song – this time rock-and-roll – so Bob Seger “Old Time Rock and Roll” it was… I should learn a few new rock and roll songs, eh? They brought us some nice food – bread, chicken, and……ooooh – some kind of cow-guts. We didn’t do so well with that – actually was too chicken to try it. I did get up and join in with drinking the traditional Zulu beer out of the communal clay pot – not bad.

And the name of the Church? Saint Timothy’s!

20 September 2006

Unexpected Pleasures

Sorry about the title here – sounds like the name of a new coffee product or something – I guess I’m back doing advertising work again!! Actually, I’ve been pretty busy with my Hollywood Music business lately, but still manage to get a lot done around the farm here as well. Anyway, here are a couple little stories.

Cindy is a friend we’ve met from Mophela. She’s the best singer in the village, and a very nice young lady – I’d say she’s in her late 20’s, and single. I’ve been doing a little work with her over the past few months and her group “Peace Creators”. She’s a very impassioned singer, and writes her own Gospel music. But this story isn’t about music. We drove by her house earlier today on our way to the High School, and stopped to say hi. She was working in her garden – looked like she was getting ready to plant some food. We just said a quick hello and moved on. Later, in the afternoon, she came by to see us. Keep in mind, it’s about a 20 minute walk to get to our place. Sharon greeted her, and told her I was buys, expecting she wanted to talk to me about music. She said no, she wanted to see Sharon. A few months back, they had a conversation about starting a take-out food or catering business. Sharon started to talk about how we really can’t get started with that yet – making apologies but keeping her hopes alive. After a few minutes, Cindy told her the reason for her visit. She looked at Sharon and said, “Thank you! You’re the Mother of our Country!” She then gave her a beautiful gold beaded necklace that she made for her. Sharon was so taken aback, she was speechless (hard to believe, I know!). Seriously, she was really touched by Cindy’s gratitude – it was a very special moment for her.

On Monday, Senzo had arranged for the TV show “Takalani Sesame”, better known in US as “Sesame Street” to come and pay a visit to entertain the Lily kids. The kids were so surprised when they realized what was happening, they couldn’t contain their excitement. The crew put on a great 30 min show in our community hall, complete with music and 6 ft tall Muppett characters. They asked for volunteers from the audience to come and help dance and be involved. After each kids was done, they handed him or her a bag of prizes. One boy, Thulani (who’s one of the sweetest kids you will EVER meet) danced with the muppetts and got his goody bag. After browsing through it with his friends, he came up to Sharon with a stuffed toy in his hand. “Can you give this to Siena (our daughter)?”, he said. Well, I don’t have to say more….. unexpected.

9 September 2006

Quick Update

Guess who showed up today – the “Heita” newspaper guys. Just after panning them in my last entry, they came through. One problem has been a digital camera for them to take photos – well, they showed up with one today that they had borrowed. They wanted me to get photos onto a CD-ROM for them. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the right cable, but they’ll be able to find it. I’m glad they’re still persistent. They found someone in the area who is a Graphic Arts student, so he’s doing all the layout work.

Funny realization tonight. I took my laptop into the kitchen – using my wireless (albeit slow) internet connection. So here I am in a poor South African township, doing chats with my clients in Hollywood (wireless nonetheless), talking about a commercial for WalMart, while making tacos. Talk about the global village!

Medical clinic is moving on – the foundation footings are complete! Monday we move on to laying blocks for the exterior walls.

Kids had their sports day at school today. The sport was “Athletics”, known to us as Track and Field. They do it great here, splitting the school into 2 houses that compete against each other. They’re called Duiker (pronounced Die-kah) and Oribi (Ore-ah-bee). These are both small species of buck found in the area. All the kids get really into it – it’s competitive, but in a fun way – lots of school spirit. And the cheers they do are great (a lot funkier than we have back home!). All the kids did well, but Nina really shined, winning the high jump for her age group, and coming in 2nd in most of her running races.

Here’s one of their cheers:

How funky is your chicken, how loose is your goose

So come on everybody, and shake your caboose!

Sharon built an aviary today for her growing collection of birds (no parrots yet). It came out really nice (simple), but was pretty frustrating along the way. The standard of construction by our workers here is … well…. Pretty low. Straight lines and square corners are truly a challenge. Once there’s a problem, the solution is not to fix it, but just carry on with the next thing, and try to make it work somehow. This ends up going down a bad road, as you can imagine. (Don’t worry- we have a really good crew on the medical clinic). Of course, Sharon was on a tear, trying to get it done fast, so it was pretty frustrating for her, but in the end, she won the battle, and actually moved the birds in before the weekend (that was her goal). She will NEVER succumb to “African Time” – I’m sure of that!