Neighbors

If you have Google Earth installed, you can find the farm at the following coordinates:

33°51'51.76"S, 19° 2'15.96"E

Otherwise, double-click the picture to see a larger version of it.

The farm is a trapezoid that is found in the lower left of this picture - my placemark text is at more or less the center of the farm. At the northwestern corner of the property are the main buildings on the farm, including the L-shaped main building (in which we are currently living out of our suitcases), the pool (where we have been trying to stay cool), a square two-story building which contains a number of rooms that have been modified from efficiencies (the property was previously a guesthouse) to contain numerous bunkbeds (BHI needs additional funds to buy more beds), and a long rectangular building which is the shed/barn. At the southwest corner of the property is a horse barn. On the eastern edge of the property are two "labourer's cottages", which are being converted into staff housing.

To the west and north of the farm is a vineyard. The building closest to the farm's north is the house we will be renting from the vineyard's owners.

While I was down at the staff cottages killing time while the stove deliverymen attempted to place and hook up the new stoves, I noticed for the first time some of our new neighbors, directly to the east of the staff cottages. It being Friday, there were lots of sounds coming from these somewhat dilapidated looking labourer's cottages as the workweek had just ended.

There seem to be some kids here, and I was suddenly reminded that our mission field isn't just to the people in Philippi, but out here it is all around us. As we drove around this past weekend and this week, I came to realize that reaching out to the farmworkers and their families could be a huge part of what we could be up to out here in the "Cape Winelands."

Please be in prayer that we will find ways to connect with our neighbors, despite our halting ability to communicate.

Unlikely appliance men

Last weekend I promised to blog about some of the experiences I had in the first few days we were here. Here it is, a week later, and I haven't written anything.

So here goes.


Let me set the scene.

It has been hot; hotter still late this week (We hit 41C, 106F on Thursday - they say February is when it really gets hot!) than it was the week we arrived, but it was already hot last Friday (the day after we arrived.)

The power had been going on and off in the afternoon (the nuclear power plant in the Cape area isn't running at full capacity) due to rotating outages intended to spread the discomfort.

Around 7:00pm, a time by which I normally have already enjoyed my customary post-work beer, three delivery men showed up at the house with two new stoves.

One of the stoves (a new gas range) was destined for the main house. The other, plus the electric stove that was being replaced, were headed to the "labourer's cottages" 200 metres distant.

The delivery men did not have one of the adapters that was required to complete the job, and this made us a bit unhappy, since it had been ordered.

However, these men soldiered on to at least position the new gas stove where it belonged. As they were moving this stove around, I struggled to offer assistance, or at least stay out of the way. Offers of help were declined dismissively, and the two men who were the more able of the trio (each maybe 5'8" and by my guess maybe 120-130 pounds) muscled the stove into place. Then the third (the only one who spoke any English, which made communication quite difficult) got down to work with something on the floor, and could not get up without being helped by the others (too many years of moving heavy appliances?)

They looked somewhat disgruntled when I had to inform them that the other stove (already unloaded off of their flatbed truck, and the electric stove which had just been replaced) were destined for the cottages instead and would have to be reloaded on the flatbed.

However, they worked on and soon we headed down to the cottages. After I unlocked the buildings and told them where things went I tried to keep myself occupied while they moved the stoves to their new locations.

When they were ready to leave, they asked me to sign the delivery slip, which revealed that they were expected to wire a new harness to the electric stove. When asked, they proceeded to attempt to do this, with the most unlikely selection of tools (whatever they appeared to have on hand in their delivery truck). After this job was "complete" (it could not be verified whether the work was completed successfully or not as the power was out - later inspection reveals the job was not a success), they headed off (hopefully to the end of their work day!)

A few things struck me about this:

1. I was expected to not be helpful, and viewed as something of a nuisance (maybe?) for trying to help, even though my build makes me a much more likely appliance mover.
2. The common denominator of South African work seems to be the omnipresence of cheap unskilled labor. Not much effort seems to be put into training anyone on how to do jobs - brute force in the deployment of human resources appears to be the answer to any problem. These men had neither been trained nor provided with the proper equipment for doing the electrical work that they were expected to do.
3. My initial reaction, to be dissatisfied with the quality of the men's work, was altogether too natural. What about holding their employer accountable for failing to train them properly, provide them with proper equipment, to teach them how to lift things without hurting themselves, and provide disability insurance so that the gentleman who could not get up off of the ground without assistance could stop delivering appliances for a living when he was no longer able to do so?
   

Today was the first day of school for the children. Here they are in their uniforms. Looking very proper I must say. They both had a great day, made a friend and enjoyed their teachers. Gracie played cricket for sports! Lucas got to swim and be barefoot all day. Both big hits for him. Keep them in your prayers. Right now they are loving everything! We are so thankful.

Shock and awe

This weekend has been tough for us; the challenges here have been hitting us like so many ton(ne)s of bricks. Ruth has already alluded to some of the things she's observed in her posts.

For me, the issues are getting personal and intense.

I had been surprised that Ruth and I hadn't been more shocked by what we saw in SA in September; the juxtaposition of first and third world cultures. I think the reason is that I was prepared for these disparities. What I haven't been prepared for is what happens when you move from observer to participant in a culture.

I want to tell you some stories from our first few days that capture the essence of this surprise, but they are still too fresh in my memory and hence too rich in detail to be able to recount in one sitting. Stay tuned - I'll do my best to describe them in blog postings in the week ahead.

Meanwhile, stay well, and keep your prayers coming. Grace had some intestinal bug/fever the day after we arrived, but she seems to have kicked it yesterday, and ought to be well ready for school tomorrow. Please pray that both of our children will adapt well to their new school and have both great caring teachers and make new friends.

"Mama, it's Florida out here!"

That would be my Grace today when we went into town to get Gelato. Today it was 100 degrees, seriously! Tomorrow it's going to "cool down" to about 92. Oh YEAH! Thank goodness for the pool at the farm. The children spent most of the day in it. We did go out to get Gelato in Franschhoek. It was the kind of hot where it's too hot to eat even. Then we just took a drive in Susan's air conditioned car to Paarl, another town about 20 minutes away. We wanted to check it out and it seemed like a good way to spend some time on a way too hot afternoon.

Once again, we're struck by the disparity. The black people walk EVERYWHERE. They walk along the highways, city streets, wherever they have to go. And they were out today, in 100 degree heat, with their Sunday clothes on, walking. I noticed particularly some men in suits. Sunday best. Oh my goodness. Walking along the highway. What? It's just what you do! (as I cruise by in my air conditioned car.....)

School Supplies

So I went out today, list in hand, and bought the children's school supplies. They're going to a small, private school not far from the farm. Kalon picked up their uniforms yesterday and the children were so excited! Lucas immediately put his on, and wore it again today. Among the paper work we received was a list for each child of the supplies needed. Gracies was pretty long. Everything from 4 jumbo glue sticks, pencils, "exercise" books, (lined and unlined)a nature study book to tortoise shell superior scissors. They were very specific with brand and type. I had no idea what some of the things were. Fortunately, Susan Wadley took me to a store that had virtually everything we needed, and a very helpful guy who took the list and found everything for us! Then I had to get Grace's uniform shoes. Black lace ups. So we went to some other stores to find them in her size. We found them at a store in Stellenbosch. Lots of other people were shopping for their school supplies also, black families mostly. Gathering the same notebooks, pencils shoes and socks that I had purchased.

My total for everything today was 864.82 Rand. That includes lunch boxes and 2 rolling knapsacks to put all this stuff in. I'm talking a lot of stuff. With the exchange rate of roughly 7 rand to a dollar, that's about $125.00. For 2 children for the whole year, that's really not bad!

Yesterday we interviewed a house keeper for the farm. (I just listened in knowing nothing about interviewing a house keeper, let alone one in South Africa!) She is currently not working because the B&B she had been working at was slow and they wouldn't be needing her until February sometime. She has 3 children, a 20 yr old, 17 yr old and an 8 yr old. When Susan asked about her past wages, she said at this last job she was making 125 rand a week, the one before that, 84 rand. Do the math! We're talking like $15.00 a week. These are the same people who are in the same stores I was in needing to buy the same school supplies for their children. How on earth do they do it? Talk about a living wage issue.

Some of you may be familiar with Bridges of Hope's Market of Hope, where you can purchase things for people in need. Among the things you can purchase is school supplies. Other organizations do this as well, make your donation for a specific thing. Help however many children get school supplies. Well, this is it. Strange, I saw it with my own eyes. Something that I just go out and do, run this errand, not a huge deal. Actually, not a bad price. But these people are looking at weeks worth of wages, just for the school supplies!

I wonder how forward progress here is going to happen? I have only just begun to see what these people are up against. How to wrap my brain around it and have even a clue what to do (and how) is something different all together.

Did I tell you I'm living in South Africa?

This was a strange realization I had as our plane was landing in Cape Town. I knew it would hit me, I had been wondering when it would. We had been working toward this since our return from our in October. Madly trying to finish things that needed to be done, get visas, pack, rent the house, raise support, say good byes etc. etc. I guess we were too busy DOING to really THINK. So it didn't really hit me, until we were landing. We've MOVED here. It's only for a year, so it's not quite the same as a permanent move. But still...It's pretty amazing. Here's an adventure that I never really thought I would have. I'm 45 with 2 grown children, and 2 small children. But (as those of you older already know) life's adventure doesn't have to stop. There are still lots of possibilities.

I've not been a great one for seeing God work either. I've got great hind sight. "Ahhh, that's why I survived all that craziness." But, my vision is improving. And with it I'm getting some (note the SOME) patience and understanding. I've gone through most of my life kicking and screaming, trying to make things happen the way I want, and usually hitting my share of struggles.

But seriously, let's look at this. Africa has been a place I've wanted to go since my teens. In four months, we have managed to visit for 3 weeks, fall in love with place and people, return to America, work out many details and move here, with our 2 small children. This isn't to say we didn't have some obstacles. There were certainly some. But, we kept moving forward, not loosing our desire or momentum and keeping our sense of humor! That's key! Kalon and I were always on the same side heading the same way. When one felt like falling, the other would buoy. It was truly amazing. We didn't argue about things or find fault (with each other!!) And we made it. Here we are. Living for a year in South Africa, ON A FARM (another dream of mine) doing development work to help those struggling with AIDS. Go figure. What an amazing opportunity to be in an amazing place! Could be a God thing huh.