Our work

So, what will you be doing anyway?

It was difficult to answer this question when we came back from our trip to SA in September. I'm not sure that I answered it to anyone's satisfaction, and even then it took me a lot of words to answer. Distilled, the answer was "we'll do whatever is needed, but mostly we'll be helping to get things ready for children to come to Bridges Academy starting in 2008."

So, what are we actually doing now that we're here?

1. Community development

BHI's primary purpose is to help communities in Africa that are hard hit by the twin challenges of AIDS and poverty to "create long-term, self-sustaining solutions to the challenges they face." Work within the township community of Philippi to address community-identified problems of health, the care of orphans and vulnerable children, and after-school care for children has dominated the agenda of Bridges SA staff for the last couple of years.

This work has been a success story. Bridges has worked with community leaders to create programs to address these problems, and these programs are now being run virtually independently by community-based staff and leaders. Further the success of these solutions has been noticed by adjacent communities and places further afield, who have requested and are now being trained by Philippi leaders to create the same kind of self-sustaining solutions in those communities.

The success of the last 3 years means that our work looks a lot different this year than it did to last year's staff. "Self-sustaining" demands that the goal of transient labor (like us) is to work ourselves out of a job. Train, encourage, and get out of the way.

In practice, this means that this year we will spend much less time in Philippi than last year's staff members did. This may be hard for us, but it is a mark of success.

Our efforts in community development this year are focused on:


• encouraging Philippi leaders (tangibly by meeting with them weekly, and praying for them continually),
  
• supporting Philippi ministries by providing the farm (and ourselves) as a resource for retreats for staff, their volunteer facilitators, and the members of the community they serve,
  
• working with Philippi staff to figure out ways of leveraging the newly installed computer lab at Masivuke Primary school for community development purposes.
  


BHI is using the farm as a base of support and training to efforts to reproduce what was started in Philippi into other communities, but while this work is very much a key element of what BHI is doing this year, it is not likely to be a significant focus for Ruth and me. We have had hopes of beginning community development work here within the Franschhoek community, but there will be fewer staff members here than originally anticipated, and this makes it likely that our approach to starting that work will necessarily be more organic and opportunistic (i.e. seeking to develop relationships with people in the community) than highly intentional, as we seek to remain focused on the principal work of the next year, which is to develop and prepare the way for the opening of Bridges Academy in January of next year.


2. Preparing for Bridges Academy

Preparation for the Academy remains our primary focus for the next year. That focus is manifested in a large variety of work, ranging from physical property development tasks to decision-making regarding class structures, living arrangements, curricula, and educational philosophy.

Physical property development includes the design of a new main house on the property (not likely to be completed before the start of 2008), creation of playing fields, developing networking infrastructure, experimenting with gardens, refitting of existing buildings for expected use as dormitory space, a library, gift shop, classrooms, etc.

I'm finding that I'm passionate about education, if far from an expert. (Educators - please send me links/references to educational ideas, philosophies, etc. that have influenced your thinking - particularly about secondary school education, since the Academy will first target middle and high school aged youth. To get the juices flowing, here's one of my favorite links.) There is lots of work to do here.


3. Planning for stewardship/sustainability

Bridges projects (including the academy) are expected to become self-sustaining - that is, to get to the point where they are sustained by resources provided by the community they serve. We will engage in creative thinking regarding how available resources at the farm might bring in needed revenues, in ways that are consistent with the primary use of the farm as the home of the Academy.

We will also be brainstorming potential business opportunities that could become a means of employment within the impoverished communities we serve.



4. Everyday life

As you can see, there is a lot that we expect to be part of this year. This is in addition to the ordinary business of maintaining a healthy family life, developing relationships here, and just generally adapting to life in a rather different culture. I hope it's obvious how much we depend upon those of you supporting us from back home. You are critical. We need your ideas, your love, your prayers and your support. Thanks!

Perhaps, says the Grinch, there is something more

Grace gets a piggy back from Manalesi

Mama Lulu serving sandwiches

It started out low, then it started to grow...

That's how the people from Philippi sing. One person, maybe 2, start softly singing something in Xhosa. Something that they think appropriate, that they are moved to sing. I don't know because I don't understand the words, but I feel the meaning. The Spirit is there, in them.

Last night I welcomed the group of 40 Philippi staff and volunteers to the farm and said a short prayer. When I was finished, Mama Lulu said to me, "would you like them to sing a song for you?" I have never been asked anything like this before. I am being asked if I would like this gift of music from this group. I answer that I love hearing them Sing! Thank you. Mama Lulu says something to the group and one woman, whom I don't know, begins, a cappella, no discussing what to sing, she just starts. She alone has this amazing voice. Some more voices join in, and more until the crescendo of all 40 voices singing, loud, strong, in harmony, with rhythm and parts. Then down again. This one voice leading the direction of the music, everyone just knowing what to do. It is amazing, beautiful. It is over, sweetly slowing and ending. It is too beautiful to clap to. I have goose bumps. Does God get goose bumps when his children are so beautifully gifted? I can imagine him sitting, admiring, smiling at the beauty rising up to the heavens. I just say thank you and close my hands together as if making one clap, but not disrupting the beauty lingering in the room.

As I put the children to bed sometime later, the windows are open and we hear them begin again. "Mama, the singing!" Grace says almost in a whisper. Even the children can feel this is a gift. I have been in the presence of people with amazing hope, kindness and love. They have very little possessions or things to give. They give of who they are.

"We give I Pods and lap tops and gadgets galore.

Perhaps we should give what we haven't before."

View from my desk

This is what I see as I sit at my desk at home. We are renting the guest house on the vineyard that is next door to Bridges farm. Very convenient, although we don't have internet there yet. So, I apologize for not updating our blog more frequently. There is so much to tell about, I hardly know what to share.

We are doing a lot of just regular physical work on the farm. Things like preparing buildings for use at retreats and for the school next year, figuring out where things should be kept, putting them there, building shelves, cleaning up, etc. etc. Also discussing how we'll use these facilities for the school. There will be a building, eventually, but until then, we're going to use what we have. How will that work? Where will the children sleep? House parents? Teachers? A principal? Curriculum? Uniforms? And on and on. I've (obviously) never started a school. There is a lot that goes into it. Dennis and Susan have made some great contacts here in SA who are very interested in helping.

Every Monday we go into Philippi and meet with the staff there. That is an amazing experience. I usually return at the end of the day pretty tired. But it reminds me why we're here and who we are trying to help. We have one staff person, Babalwa, a young woman, who has taken it upon herself to begin reaching out to the "skolies". These are the gangsters (or worse) of the township. They are very feared young men and commit dreadful crimes. Babalwa was telling me this past Monday how she feels so close to these young men, "they are like my brothers." she said. We pray regularly for her safety and wisdom as she continues meeting with these young men and tries to help them turn their lives around. I know she would appreciate your prayers as well. That is only one part of the ministry happening out there. Babalwa is also running the after school program where she teaches students computer skills. Then there are the 2 orphan groups that meet as well. We hear about various children and any issues there might be as well as offer any help or encouragement we can. These programs are being run by these people in Philippi so our only role is support. It's wonderful to stay informed and connected with them.

This weekend, Feb. 16 - 18, is a retreat for the volunteers (facilitators) for the after school program and the orphans groups. We will have about 30 people here starting Friday evening. This will be our (Kalon's and my) first retreat experience. So, pray for us as we are here with the philippi staff and volunteers and for them, that it will be a fun and bonding time for all. This reminds me of doing my first NOAH's camp or Telluride trip, I have no idea what to expect. I'm anxious to get the first one out of the way so I understand it better. We'll be doing quite a few of these for different groups this year. And retreats are part of the ongoing plan for the farm and school. Knowing how these work is important for me.

I haven't even mentioned regular life. The kids school, trying to meet other moms, maybe make friends, maybe learning Afrikaans or some Xhosa, grocery shopping, regular shopping, figuring out how life works here (notice I didn't mention cooking dinner!) I'm just giving up on that!!! I survived and grew on peanut butter and jelly....