June 2011
1 post
Get Back
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...
May 2011
2 posts
I Feel Fine
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...
Uxolo →
The latest news from the Monastery. It includes updates from the Monks and the school and scholarship fund. Available as PDF or SWF.
March 2011
1 post
Paperback Writer
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...
February 2011
2 posts
Think for Yourself
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...
“The love for equals is a human thing—of friend for friend, brother for brother....”
– Frederick Buechner -The Magnificent Defeat
January 2011
2 posts
Shosholoza: Video of my trip so far →
Come Together
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...
December 2010
3 posts
Tomorrow Never Knows
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...
All Things Must Pass
I am here during an interesting time for the Monastery. There are a lot of transitions going on. The biggest one that I am a part of is the closing of the after-school program. The monks sponsor 60 children to attend private schools through scholarship funds. Most of the kids sponsored are from the rural community around the monastery. The after-school program was designed 6 years ago to provide...
November 2010
2 posts
Ask Me Why
There are a lot of things that I don’t like about being here. The food isn’t the best. I miss the comforts of air-conditioning and laundry machines and my drum set. My social life is pretty much non-existent. I work long hours for no pay with kids who are awesome but know how to drain the life from you. Worst of all I feel disconnected from all my friends back home. I miss my family...
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice...”
– Isaiah 58:6-9
October 2010
5 posts
No Reply
Apartheid was an enforced racial segregation system used by the South African government from 1948 until 1994. Whites, Blacks, Indians and Coloureds were forced into separate sections of a city to live in. The non-white areas were kept as slums and are called ‘townships’ or ‘locations’. The majority of the population lives in the townships but a lot of work is put into...
Maxwell's Silver Hammer
Before I arrived in South Africa I did a lot of research. This meant I spent copious amounts of time on wikipedia. I spent hours and hours learning about the languages and the history of South Africa. I researched the cultures and read about the colonization and apartheid. But to be honest most of my time was spent learning about snakes because of my child fascination with everything that has...
Uxolo →
This is a pamphlet put out by the monastic community that I live with here. It is an annual update on the lives of the monks and the programs that we are all involved in. I took most of the pictures!
“when pain is to be borne, a little courage helps more than much knowledge, a...”
– C. S. Lewis
September 2010
6 posts
The Long and Winding Road
I have just returned from a weekend trip to a place called Bolotwa. It is about four hours north of here and is home to several of the safe houses that are coordinated by other missionaries in my community. Brother Josias and I took several of our kids to visit two of these safe houses Isibindi-Ezebelini and Isibindi-Ilinge. The houses are a partnership between the Anglican Diocese of Grahamstown...
Drive My Car
My weekend actually wasn’t that quiet. I stayed pretty busy. Saturday I got to sleep in for the first time in a long time which was very nice. I did laundry most of the day and then red some excerpts from books from the library. I like C. S. Lewis a lot but he gets boring to read too much at one time. I have recently acquired an acoustic guitar and it has been amazing!!! I have been...
Day Tripper
Last week was a very exciting time for the kids and I. We were able to set up a game drive at the Pumba Game Reserve just outside of Grahamstown. When we called to book they said they had heard of the monastery and school and would love to offer us a free game drive for the kids. Every Thursday, Brother Josias comes and teaches Bible Stories for the kids. Before we went he discussed Daniel and the...
August 2010
3 posts
Nowhere Man
Culture and People are two of the most difficult things to write about. I am by no means an expert of Xhosa culture but this is the collection of my experiences and what has been explained to me about life here in South Africa. Brother Timothy told me the two most common phrases used in South Africa are “It’s broke” and “I don’t know.” The first statement...
July 2010
7 posts
A Day in the Life
For the past 10 days things have been pretty quiet around here. The monks have been on silent retreat which meant there was no one for me to talk to around here. May days start at 6:45am. I get up shower and eat. I then have morning mass with the monks and then take a small hike up to the Holy Cross School. Last week we learned about dental hygiene and taking care of ones teeth. This all led up to...
Magical Mystery Tour
So this all just seems surreal. I really am in Africa. On the drive into Grahamstown from Port Elizabeth I got to see zebras and springbok and cape buffalo. They supposedly have monkeys and baboons near the monastery but I haven’t seen any yet. They mentioned that one of the baboons is a rogue who has been booted from the group and is dangerous so I should avoid him. I live about 7km...
I Will
I leave for South Africa in two days and I am filled with excitement. I am overflowing with a joy for the adventure that I am about to undertake yet still saddened a the thought of leaving home for so long. I go through ups and downs of being ready to go and then ready to run away but I guess that is always how someone feels when on the verge of starting something new. By this point I have...
“If you have come here to help me, then you are wasting your time…But if you have...”
– Lila Watson
May 2010
3 posts
Here, There and Everywhere
For the next year of my life I will be working for a program called the Young Adult Service Corps (YASC). This is a branch of Mission Personnel of the Episcopal Church. The Mission Personnel Office empowers members of the Episcopal Church to enter into relationship with people outside national and cultural borders. The Mission Personnel Office helps to nurture worldwide relationships and...
“If you came this way, taking any route, starting from anywhere, at any time or...”
– T S Eliot - from Little Gidding