I am in my final week here in South Africa. I am filled with a huge range of emotions. I am extremely excited about being able to see my friends and family but at the same time leaving here means saying goodbye to so many new relationships that I have formed while here. The hardest part is definitely saying goodbye to the monks and nuns. They have looked after me and been my family while I have been here. They have been exemplary role models in walking a God-centered life and a great encouragement to my faith. At the same time they have been the ones to laugh with and cry with during all of the highs and lows over this past year. I have slowly had to say goodbye to the monks as they have been leaving for different events making the goodbye process even more difficult for me. Saying goodbye to the children will definitely be the hardest part as they don’t understand why I am leaving them.
I was very fortunate to have one last outing for my time in Africa. Last Saturday I got up early to meet up with some of the people I had met in town. We had planned a kayaking trip up in a game park about 1.5 hours away from here. The morning winter air was pretty chilly but after the sun came out everything warmed up to a very pleasant temperature. They skies were perfectly clear and we could see for miles. We kayaked up the river through dense bush and saw tons of birds and it really was intense wild Africa. For lunch we hiked up a short ways to the top of a hill where there was a Xhosa hut and picnicked with an unbelievable view. There were three giraffes on the hill across from us, zebra below us, and in the distance we could see impala on the river bank. While most people sat around chatting I really just soaked up the whole experience. I just took the moment to reflect on my whole time here. I feel like this year has gone by quickly but when I reflect about how much I have grown, I understand how long it has been. This year has been filled with many challenges and difficulties but those have been overpowered by the numerous moments of joy and growth I have also had. I also know that I have more challenges ahead of me as I adjust to returning home a very changed person.
I look forward to seeing what God has planned for me in my future. It has been said the Africa has a way to seep into your veins and that all this insanity can be addictive.

I have been having an incredible month in South Africa and I am very excited to be able to tell you all that has been going on. There have been two major breaks this month from school and during those times I was able to travel extensively. We had our school break between terms 1 and 2 during the first week of April. For this time I went and traveled to Cape Town to meet up with my amazing family friends from Texas. We were able to do all of the touristy things like seeing Cape Point, climbing Table Mountain and visiting the Penguins in Simon’s Town. We also had relaxing days on the beach and in the wine country of Stellenbosch. However the most exciting part of the trip in my opinion was cage diving with great white sharks. Yes I actually got into a cage that was in freezing cold water, filled with fish guts while a 16 ft great white shark circled around the boat. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. We actually were able to see 7 different sharks that day. We have some underwater footage as proof and I will get those uploaded when I can. It was very refreshing to spend time with such good friends and it definitely recharged my battery for the last leg of my time here.
I came back for a week of school and then we headed into Holy Week. I couldn’t have asked for a more special place to be during Holy Week. The Monastery is very busy yet it keeps absolutely Christ focused. We held an Easter egg hunt for the school kids on Maundy Thursday. It was their first Easter egg hunt and they absolutely loved it. The culture translation for find the hidden candy works amazingly well. I had received a package from Grace Episcopal church with gloves and hats for the kids so we also gave those out along with the candy. The joy that erupted from the kids hearts is something that I will never forget and has forever strengthened my soul. Later that evening we had a foot-washing service. It was extremely moving to see our Prior Timothy who is a white man washing the feet of all of children and elderly black women. For the Good Friday service all of the kids came to the church like usual and the Bishop came as well. We read through the Passion of the Christ and at the end the children went up to kiss the feet of the crucifix that stands in our church. It was another overwhelmingly powerful moment. My Easter morning started at 3:30am as I had to take the truck and shuttle as many people from the neighboring farms to the Monastery as I could. The sunrise service was gorgeous and very inspiring. We ended up having an incredible feast that afternoon and I ate until it hurt to walk.
Right after Easter I headed back to Cape Town to visit some of the other Young Adult Service Corps members. We had planned a trip to visit each others placements and it turned out to be a fantastic time. It was very good to be able to talk with other people that are in my situation and we were able to complain and unwind all our frustrations and our hopes for our work here.
I headed back to work today and I feel recharged and refreshed after this past month. I won’t have any more holidays or breaks for the rest of my time here but that is only about two more months. As I get closer to the end I start to think about how hard it is going to be to leave this place and how strange it will be to return home.

The latest news from the Monastery. It includes updates from the Monks and the school and scholarship fund. Available as PDF or SWF.

It is beginning to get harder and harder to write this blog. I actually have a ton that I want to say as I learn more and more about the culture and life in South Africa but the deeper I go the more difficult it is to say the things I want. It also may be better for me to not say some of the things I want to until I am out of the country (especially about the South African government).

So what has been going on in my life the past month. Well a lot of work. It is definitely a good thing that I enjoy my work because I do a lot of it. The after-school resource has really picked up as the year has come along so I now have regular attenders and all sorts of projects to deal with. Remember this job was previously handled by three teachers but now it is just me. I have even been spending all of my past Saturdays doing different things with the kids.

Bongasani is a 17 year old that has been working as an intern at the morning school this semester. We have been working on a developmental psychology course in the afternoons just before the after-school kids arrive. He is interested in becoming a teacher so the monks are trying to help him out in any way we can to get him into school. Now I am not ‘qualified’ to teach psychology but I do have my college text book and tend to focus more on the biology aspects. More than anything it helps him get used to working in class setting for example learning how to take notes from a lecture.

One event that was a little more unusual was that someone attempted to break into our school this week. We arrived in the morning to find one of the windows had been smashed and they had tried to pull the hinges off with a hooked wire. Luckily they were unsuccessful in getting in because of the security bars. When we first called to police to report the incident we got no answer which is typical. Eventually we were able to get someone out here and maybe they will figure out who did it but I am not going to hold my breathe.

Another bit of sad news is that I will no longer have a car to get from the monastery to town. Br. Roger will be taking it back to Johannesburg so it will be back to using taxi’s and hitching rides in order to get to Grahamstown.

But! I also have a bunch of trips planned around the country over the next month including a visit from some of my best friends from Texas so I definitely have a lot to look forward to.

I am getting worse about this blogging thing. People keep asking me for more updates and want to know more about what is going on in my life. Well the kids are my life so I can pretty much just talk about them.

We had a meeting to discuss the goals of our school. One of the things we decided was the Education will always come second to provided a safe place for these kids where they know they are loved. If we can’t provide that then learning can’t take place. The lives of my kids are hectic and often involve alcoholism and domestic violence. Even the really good homes tend to have unstable situations which can be tough on a young child. Through the school we really plan on creating an environment where they feel safe to explore and simply be curious children. It has been great to see how the kids have grown over the short time that I have been here. At first most of them were shy and it was very difficult for them to try new things. We recently installed a new seesaw for our playground and it was incredible to see their reactions. They were not afraid at all although they didn’t really know what to do with it at first. They tried different things, some worked and some didn’t, and started creating different games to play on it. Siviwe still calls it a soosoo but it is now a part of their school which they are proud of. It is fascinating to see how these kids have already begun to open up and how much of an advantage this education will give them in life.

Well this is a very overdue blog post. School has been out for Christmas break for almost a month now because this is their summer vacation. There has still been a lot of work to do around the Monastery and we have been doing major renovations to the school and preparing the new resource center for the after-school. Plus Christmas and Advent are very busy times around the Monastery. My parents arrived here on December 18th and it was extremely refreshing to be with family. They brought tons of donations from my aunts and uncles for the school. Plus they were able to stock me with an essential supply of Dr. Pepper and other good treats. I think they really enjoyed getting to see where I live and meet the people I work with. My community here is very hard to explain to someone so it was crucial that they get to experience this even if it was just a couple weeks. My sister and brother-in-law came right after Christmas. We drove all the way to Cape Town and back for an amazing vacation filled fancy hotels and gourmet meals. It was a big shock to my system to how nice Cape Town was. It is a beautiful and very wealthy place. It definitely doesn’t look like the areas of South Africa that I am used to. We were able to tour Table Mountain and go see the penguins of Simon’s Town. It was a well needed break. It was definitely hard to send them back on the plane. Not long after they left we had some drama with a few of our boys. They are orphans and we had been paying their oldest brother to take care of the two younger ones. Well it turns out that he was spending the money on drugs and leaving his brothers to sleep on the streets. They came to spend the rest of their holiday at the monastery. They are extremely sweet kids and it was very nice having them around. I had to make sure they were in bed on time and had brushed their teeth and other parental stuff. I also played entertainer which was not easy considering the fact that the Monastery isn’t a very lively place for children. They have now returned to school and are staying at the hostels there but I ask that you keep these boys in your prayers.

It is Christmas time in Africa… sorta. We have been doing Christmas stuff with my kids. They told me that they know who Santa Claus is but that he has never visited them before. This hasn’t stopped me from trying to be in the Christmas mood as for those of you who don’t know Christmas time is my favorite time of the year. I read “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” but I don’t think Dr. Seuss works as well when it needs to be translated. We also acted out a very simple Nativity play and read different nativity stories almost every day last week. I went to a Christmas service at the Cathedral in town last night and it was a lot of fun to get out and sing Christmas Carols. The monks are very particular about separating Advent music and Christmas music which irritates me but I understand the importance of maintaining the Advent season in your heart. They had a Christmas tree lighting after the service after the Carols but the electricity to light the tree didn’t work… TIA.

When dealing with HIV we don’t ask which children are positive and which are negative. We don’t want to give unfair treatment but one of the parents told us specifically that he is HIV+. We know that others are probably infected as well but I liked not knowing at all. It is hard not to feel differently about it and I need to do my best not to treat him differently. First step back from the US viewpoint of AIDS. HIV is for prostitutes and people that have sex with prostitutes and do drugs. People that are getting what they deserve. Of course there are a few exceptions and they are very tragic but very rare. I hate the voice in my head that says these things but I still hear it sometimes and many Americans feel this way even if they don’t say it out loud. Here 1/5th of the population is HIV positive. Women have very little say in their sexual activity. Monogamy isn’t very popular amongst males. It permeates every level of culture. When I found out one of my kids was HIV+ I immediately thought that we should invest an education into someone who will live long enough to use it. By accepting this child we are in a way turning away another child. You have to be wise with such limited resources. We should test all of our kids to make sure… but even though this is logically the best viewpoint, I feel my soul withering when I have these thoughts. I do not see the world with the eyes of God. I do not always see the benefits of my choices. I just have something that tells me I have to give them the same chance even if there is no hope. I will continue to love them and pour myself into them regardless of their health. I pray that God views my foolishness as righteousness.