Dear Friends and Family,

It has been three weeks since I returned home from South Africa. There is still so much to process, yet life has a way of pulling me back into the flow of daily living. Since I returned, Niko and I have had a five day flu, Sam caught a cold which became walking pneumonia, he fractured his wrist, got his first cast and lost his first tooth. It has been a busy time.

Each of you have been on my mind daily, both while on the trip and since returning. I am so grateful for your generosity and support. Some of you sent money, some of you sent prayers, some of you read the online journal and stayed a breast of what was happening each day, some of you did all three. I cannot thank you enough. Your support allowed me to follow a dream and to have my heart cracked open by the people of South Africa. I am forever grateful.

While I was in South Africa, we visited 4 orphanages, 2 hospices, 3 home based care programs, 2 hospitals, a rural clinic which serves 55,000 people, an elementary school and a feeding program. We also spent 2 days at a game park marveling at the beauty of the land and its animals, a day at the apartheid museum and a day at the Freedom Day Celebration, which celebrated the 10 year anniversary of the end of apartheid. The people were so beautiful and welcoming. Consistently, I felt them draw us right into the center of their celebrations and their lives.

Your generosity not only provided for all my fixed expenses of this trip, but because of the outpouring of your support I was also able to donate funds in honor of you to the following organizations and individuals:
Mother Theresa’s Aids Hospice $550.00
Cotlins Orphanage $200.00
Soweto Hospice $500.00
Orthowandi Orphanage $365.00
Franciscan Missionaries $500.00
Cora’s program in the townships $435.00
School Fees for children in Lawley Township $235.00
School fees for children in KwaZulu Natal $365.00
Backpacks for home health care workers in Kwazulu Natal $200.00

I also distributed the following item you donated and I took with me in my suitcase:
350 Beanie Babies to the children
590 polaroid pictures to children and adults – many whom were moved to
giggles or tears at seeing their picture develop.
80 boxes of crayons to the elementary school in KwaZulu Natal
30 bed protectors to individuals and hospice programs
75 sheets to individuals and hospice programs
10 finger puppets to Cora’s program
Beautiful Scarves and Jewelry to over 50 of the heroic women we met

I made sure that these individuals and organizations knew that these donations came not from me, but from all of you. They were very moved by your kindness and generosity.

Again, I thank you. You are a people of hope, a people of compassion, a people of light. I am so grateful for your bright and beautiful presence in my life.

May God Bless You,

Today was amazing! We went to Pretoria for the 10 year anniversary of freedom! We got off the bus and began following the crowd down Church street toward the Union hall. People began to chant and clap and march/dance down the street. Tears streamed down my face as I marched with them. I was so moved by the pride and joy of the South African people. As we got closer to the area where the speeched and concert would be held men climbed up in trees while the women set up camp underneath. As far as I could see in all directions there was a sea of black faces. Throughout the whole day, I saw less than 50 white people including the 12 in my group.

We stood as a group near two trees and watched the people go by. People would smile, some would look at us curiously and others would clap or shake our hands. Once they saw our cameras they would crowd together in the hopes of getting their pictures taken. The African people, we have met have loved having their photos taken.

As it got closer to noon we followed the others into the crowd to get a view of the stage. So many people. We found a spot where we could see the big screens of what was happening. A beautiful young South African women kept sneaking glimpses my way. When I said hello, her face broke into a huge smile. We began to visit. Her name is Charmane and she has another name which means it is full or complete. She is 13 years old and she had traveled 3 hours by bus with her father to be at this celebration. As we took in the sights together, she wrapped her arms around Pennye and I. Her face was filled with wonder. As we left, I slipped a turquoise ring on her finger. She grabbed me and hugged me tightly, then she looked into my eyes and said, “I love you.”

Pennye, Lynn and I got our faces painted. Pennye had the S. African flag painted on her right cheek. Lynn and I had the flag on one cheek, “10” on our foreheads and “years” on our left cheek. People seemed surprised and amused by us and would reach out and clasp our hands or stop to visit with us.

As we left the celebration we stopped to watch a group of ZULU women dancing and were encouraged to join them. I felt too shy and just danced form the sideline.

Earlier, Lynn and I had wondered over to a watch a circle of people singing and dancing. As we got close to them a man grabbed Lynn’s hand and another grabbed mine. They then danced us into the center of the circle to dance with the people. All around us were people singing a freedom chant. It was incredibly powerful.

On our way back to the bus, a reporter stopped our group and asked if they could interview us for SA NBC Radio. Pennye and I were interviewed about our experience of the celebration and our impressions of the city of Pretoria.

As we headed back down Church Street to our bus, people were still marching up and down the street, carrying the S. African flag and chanting freedom chants. I stood 100 feet in front of the crowd as they marched toward me to get a picture. Before I knew it they had grabbed our hands in joy and friendship and brought us into the center of their celebration, clapping our hands, dancing with us to their songs of freedom.

I am overwhelmed by the beauty of these people. They have been so open and welcoming to us. Their pride in being S. African is inspiring, their joy is contagious and their sense of welcome brings me to tears.

Today was my husband, Niko’s birthday. I started the day at 5:30am. I got up and went to the Bakubug Office to go out on my final morning game drive. Oliver, our guide picked us up in a land rover and took us into the 7th largest game park in South Africa. We watched the sun come up and paint the sky in various hues of pink, red and orange as a giraffe nibbled her breakfast from a nearby tree. It was awesome. We were out on our drive for 2 hours. The morning rides are so quiet and peaceful. The views of the mountains, the mists, the savannah, the animals are breathtaking. On our 4 game drives we saw giraffes, lions, elephant, impala, white rhinos, zebra, jackal, water buck, baboon, warthog, blue gnu,rock rabbit, wildebeest, brown hyena,owl, sacred ibis, and dotter bird.

I returned to the lodge and by 9:00am I was on a bus with the rest of the crew.on our way back to Johannesburg feeling incredibly grateful and at peace. Two hours later we arrived in Soweto at the Othowandi Orphange and my sorrow was once again ignited. It rests just below my diaphragm, pushing in like a fist.

Othowandi is a wonderful orphanage. The children are very well cared for and most of the children were easily engaged. There are 31 children and 91 other children. There are on sight cottages for the older children. As we went through the baby ward my heart was so sad. Some of the children were very sick, others looked very healthy. Some were asleep and others reached out to play.

I spent most of my time with a little boy whose name means “one who brings happiness”. He was about 6 to 8 months old, and very round and chubby. He sat in his bed watching me. Then he began to turn his head from side to side, I did the same and a game was born. He would laugh and we would hold hands shaking our heads together. He was a beautiful child.

The cottages are for older children. 4 children to each small bedroom. I was surprised at how some teen behaviors are universal. Each of the rooms was decorated with posters and magazine photos of teen idols like emmenem. The surprising thing I found on the walls of each of the rooms was Reiki certificated. Many of the teens have been trained in Reiki healing. One of the staff told me that there is also a group of Reiki practitioners who come in and do reiki on the babies. I was totally tickled!

From the orphanage we went on to the Soweto Hospice. Again, I was inspired by the women who run this program and those women who volunteer to do home visits. Last year, the 5 paid nurses did over 5,000 home visits and the 45 volunteers did over 25,000.

There are 10 beds at the facility, filled with people who either have no family or whose family have refused to care for them. There is such a stigma around AIDS that some people are even afraid to touch a family member who has AIDS.

I visited a young women who was in so much pain. We looked deeply into each others eyes and with tears in mine, I told her I was so sorry. She told me she was tired and in so much pain. Then she showed me her bedsores. The fist below my diaphragm pushed in deeper.

Today was my first day in the field. I am overwhelmed with emotion.

We started the day with Cora. She is a veterinarian who cares for the pets of the poor. She also cares deeply for the poor for as she said, “How can you treat the dog of a person who has no food for their family and not help
get them food?” So Cora goes into the shanty towns of Soweto and brings
with her food, clothing and supplies. She helps transport the dying to
hospices and cares for many children living alone. She is an amazing woman.

Our first stop was to visit an organization called TCE. This group of women
provide AIDS education, counseling and testing. Their goal is to reach
100,000 people in the shanty towns within 3 years. I was amazed to learn
that 80% of the people who have AIDS also have TB so they also provide
medications for TB.

From there we visited the homes of 4 women. These homes were all made of
tin, none of them was bigger than my bedroom, and they housed up to 8
people. The first home was the home of Fekeela. Inside her little shack it
was beautiful. She had taken great care in creating her home. One half of
her home was her bed, brightly decorated with a beautiful bedspread. The
other half was the kitchen which was very clean and well organized. Fekeela
helps Cora. Her only pay is a box of food each week. Still, she goes out
daily to care for those who are dying of AIDS and to help those who have no
food or money. Outside her home, I met a beautiful grandmother who is
raising many grandchildren, having lost her children to AIDS. Cora informed
me that she really needed help, so I slipped some money into her hand. She
and I hugged and tears streamed down my face. I was so humbled by her. At
each house we visited, when I looked into the eyes of the women, I began to
cry. They are not tears of pity. They are tears of great sorrow. These
women have suffered so much and yet their hearts are strong and they
continue to give in abundance to those around them. The sorrow is for all
they have suffered. And the sorrow is for myself and for the world that we
can live our lives so unaware and cut off from so much.

From Fekeelas house we went to the house of Alina. Her husband has died, she has AIDS and her son who is 15 lives with her. Her son works each day
Monday to Monday to take care of himself and his mother. He makes the
equivalent of $25.00 a month. We brought Alina food, sheets, and money. We
wrapped a beautiful scarf around her neck. She was grateful for all of
these gifts. She was brought to tears, however, when she watched the
Polaroid photograph of herself develop before her eyes. It meant so much to
her to have this picture of herself. She tenderly tucked it under her
pillow and while we were there she went back many times to look at it.

We visited 2 more homes and then raced back for our 3:00 appointment at
Mother Theresa’s Hospice and Orphanage. We spent most of our time with the
children. When we walked into the toddler room I sat down on a bench and a
feisty little girl about 18 months or so came over and climbed in my lap.
She was a little fireball and it was a delight to watch her. What disturbed
me was that unlike this feisty little girl, most of the children had lost
their light. Their faces were solemn and serious. They didn’t want to be
touched. They watched us carefully. I couldn’t help but think of my own
Sam and his great big light. I was struck with gratitude for him and for
all Niko and I are able to provide because of the amazing abundance in our
lives.

The missionaries of Charity care for about 40 dying women and men and 40
children at this centre. They also go into over 80 homes and care for those
who have AIDS. There are 7 nuns and 20 paid workers. Each of the people we
met, whether they were someone dying or one of the children, were clean and
well dressed. It is obvious that they are well cared for. The work of
Mother Theresa is very much alive. Sister Gustavo Maria shared with us that
although they were given a washing machine they pay women to come and washed
the clothes each day. Mother Theresa had taught them that although a wash
machine is more cost effective, hire women to wash them by feeds families.
Sister Gustavo Maria asked us to pray for her that she will grow in
patience. Please keep her and all these women in your prayers.

So, I end this day in a very tender place. I am so grateful for this
opportunity and for all that is cracking open in me. Thank you. Each and
every one of you, Thank you. your support has gotten me here. I am forever
grateful.