Program Coordinator

Hi all,

The second week has come and gone, and now Brice and I stand poised to take the Program Coordinator’s position at Tholulwazi Uzivikele. I reflected this evening with Brice about the series of events that brought us here. I have to obviously give credit to the outgoing Program Coordinator Joi Terreblanch for placing TU on solid footing, and motivating the staff, but I can not disregard the Lord’s providence.

It was only three years ago that I was totally rebelling and reveling in the world’s systems of pleasure. Now, I’m here in South Africa, with an amazing opportunity to lead an AIDS relief organization. I must admit, I’m not at all qualified for the position. Yet the Lord has given me the zeal to push forward, the passion to help, and a call to follow.

It seems as if only a short while ago, I arrived in South Africa. At that time, I knew little about the Zulu and the Tonga peoples and nothing of their languages. Not to mention, I had no idea what I would be doing for the next year of my life. After a period of waiting, I found my call at a small NGO in Manguzi, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.

Much has changed from that point both physically and emotionally. In regards to the former, TU moved from a small corner office in the hospital to its own a building. As for the later, Joi has given the group a strong work ethic and pride in their work.

Today, as Joi handed over the position, the team reflected on our Core Values. We sought to define the essence of the organization. We developed a list of six values that we felt define what TU was, is, and hopes to be. These values are:

1 – Respect, a respect for ourselves, our team, and our clients

2 – Compassion/Caring, taking to heart the call to help orphans and widows

3 – Integrity/Honesty, recognizing that we must be sturdy and trustworthy so that our organization will run well and for people to open up allowing us to share their pain

4 – Passion/Commitment/faithfulness, continually striving to defeat the plague of AIDS and poverty, not allowing current numerical success to dampen our pledge to help

5 – Equality, recognizing that each person in the team is equally important

I take pride in these values, and Brice and I will ensure our own lives reflect these core statements. I ask that you might pray for us, that we might live up to the expectations and challenges of the moment, that in our service He will be glorified, and that through our actions peoples’ lives change.

Some Photos and Reflections

Brice is visiting homesteads with the orphan care team. As part of determining the level of need for orphan children, TU makes home visits, where the caretaker is interviewed and their story heard. Too often, these stories involve the loss of both parents to HIV/AIDS and a child left behind. Too often, these people must pray and hope for assistance.

The woman in the centre of the photograph is Dudu Tembe. She is TU's memory box and psycho-social facilitator. Dudu holds at least 1 psycho-social workshop a month. During these sessions orphaned and vulnerable children (those living in abject poverty or with a family member near death) are given a chance to reflect on their parents. Dudu enjoys leading these workshops as it too helps her deal with her own past as an orphan.

These two boys are students at…the name of their primary school escapes me now…but its in the Phelendaba area. (The region we work in is divided into 48 isigodies, or sub-districts, Phelendaba is one of those areas). These children, along with their classmates, were later asked what dreams they had. One boy raised his hand high, and with a smile said that he wanted to be a doctor, another hoped to be a policeman, “So that [he] could put away people who broke the law.” While one must always encourage such endeavors, one too needs to reflect on the amazing disadvantage that this child has in achieving his dream. His school lacks electricity and running water, never mind worrying about computers.

More photos and posts to come.

Manguzi

I can’t believe it has already been nearly 2 weeks since my last posting! Time has been flying by. By way of update, Jim and I left Johannesburg 2 weeks ago and stayed in Durban for a weekend. We had a great time staying in a B&B in Umhlanga, enjoying the beach, the mall, the movies, and any other modern conveniences we knew we’d miss as soon as we made the final move to rural KwaZulu Natal. But, move we did, and we have been here in Manguzi (named for its many mango trees!) for just under two weeks.

Life here is great! We are situated right on the Mozambique/South Africa border and on the western coastline of the country. So, we are just a quick drive to another country or the beach or both. That part is really spectacular. Within Manguzi, we are living in a rondovel (cute round cement house with a tin/clay roof) on a property with a two other small houses and one big house. The owners of the property work out of Durban; however, so they are not often here. Our rondovel has a nice living room, small kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. It is the perfect size for me and Jim and such a fun house to have as newlyweds! It is decorated with a funky safari theme, and protected by two enormous guard dogs, a big metal barbed fence, and a full time security guard. I feel extremely safe here, but it’s nice because we live out in the “community” rather than within the hospital grounds (where most of the white people live). So, hopefully we make friends with our neighbors and practice speaking Zulu.

The house is about a 5 minute drive to our work at Tholulwazi Uzivikele (which means “Get Knowledge, Protect Yourself”). This South African NGO offers help and shows compassion to individuals suffering from HIV/AIDS through a Home Community Based Care (HCBC) volunteer corps and an intensive orphan care program. TU has established a physical presence in the KwaNgwanase area through its 205 person HCBC volunteer corps’ homestead visits to the sick and needy. Additionally, TU garners respect from the community through its social empowerment programs such as orphan psycho-social workshops and registration assistance for disadvantaged persons in need of Identity Documents. Jim and I have been training since August 15th and will begin working as the organization’s Program Coordinators on Sept. 1. We are both thrilled to have such an incredible opportunity at such a young age and can’t wait to get to work. I have had the best time getting to know the staff at Tholulwazi (current manager, 2 paralegals, school coordinator, 2 cooks, psychosocial support staff, and life skills teacher) and am looking forward to working with them all for the next 10 months.

Today was the highlight of my time with Tholulwazi, as we went to Tembe Elephant Park (nearby game reserve) for a staff team building day. We started the day by driving 2 4x4 vehicles into the park and viewing tons of antelope, impala, and buck. After about 10 minutes of driving, we had to slow down and wait as an elephant crossed the road directly in front of us!!! It was incredible. Then, we went to a “hide” (tree-house like place) where you can sit and watch the animals at a nearby waterhole. From there, we saw 9 elephants (tusks and all), zebras, giraffes, wart hogs, tons of impala, and loads of birds. It was so neat to see all the animals in their natural habitat. I felt like I was filming a Discovery Channel documentary with my eyes, and suddenly understanding where the inspiration was stored in making a movie like the Lion King. It was just amazing. But, better than anything else, it was the first time for everyone on the Tholulwazi team to go a South African game park! This was such a great boundary to cross, as going to reserves is typically difficult for local Zulu people to do if they do not have a 4x4 vehicle or extra money to spend on leisure. For this reason, I think everyone LOVED today and I know I will (but I think everyone will) remember it always. One staff member said one of his proudest moments of his life was today – going to the Tembe – and that he was excited to go home and tell his mom he had seen the animals up close. To me, that was so special.

Anyhow, this is a long post! I hope you are all doing well, and I can’t wait to hear from more of you. Miss you all!

In Johannesburg!

After a 21+ hour flight, Jim and I made it safely to Johannesburg, South Africa! We are so excited to be here, and it truly is an adventure. We are staying with two friends, Cara and Justin, in their beautiful home outside the city. We are trying to buy a car in the next few days, and then move out to the bush this weekend to start our work. I am a little anxious about moving out to Manguzi (having to boil water before drinking it or cooking with it and having to be very careful to stay with Jim at all times). Life will be different, but I am excited for the change. Stay tuned for an update on our new car - as long as we find one!

Wedding is over - Packing for the Trip!

So, this is our new blog! We will be posting here while we are in Africa - anything from stories of our adventures to pictures of our work. We hope this helps keep everyone updated on what we are doing and allow you all to contact us and keep in touch easily!

We can hardly believe the wedding and the honeymoon are already over, but I guess time flies when you're having fun. We just returned from St. Lucia on Tuesday night, and I am already packed for Africa and we are in Albemarle, NC. Our flight leaves at noon on Sunday and will last around 30 hours! Please pray we have a safe and restful flight.