Today we did a 3^rd workshop. While the ladies did beadwork I walked around the VCT (Voluntary Counseling and Testing centre) with Paul, one of the orphans, and while we were walking he told me his story about his life.

It started when I asked if he was mad/sad. He answered that he gets teased at school.

I asked why. Paul said “it’s because I have white parents.” (Paul’s adopted).

After that we walked in silence for about 10 minutes. Then Paul gave me a tour of all of the VCT and told me a story about wood working and welding at his high school.

He is 14 years old and smaller than me. He is also positive.

Best part of the day: listening to Paul’s story.

Today we did home visits to 5 people. We gave them food parcels with maize, tea, powdered milk, soap bars, clothes cleaning soap, peanut butter, sugar, vegetable oil and toilet paper. We also prayed over them.

It was a different experience than what we would have at home, but it was a good experience. The first and most memorable house was Bongani’s house. His mom died of AIDS and he is also positive. He has been getting strokes, so the doctors put him in a wheel chair. He is 14 years old, but because of AIDS and strokes he only looks like he is 9 years old. We had a very long prayer over him. What we are hoping is that he gets back in school before May 1^st, and that he gets out of the wheel chair very soon.

Best part of the day: delivering food parcels.

Today we had a second workshop with the ladies of Beaded Hope.

I think that we are going to have a Beaded Hope release called “The Tandkraal Release.” Tandkraal means “tooth bead” because babies used to chew on them when they were teething.

Once we got back to the hotel we went on another safari, but it was only 1 hour long. We saw: giraffes, Bengal tigers, springbok, impala, white tigers, lions, spotted hyenas, and striped hyenas. It was awesome.

Fact of the day: did you know that striped hyenas have a bite force of 2.5 tons?!?

Today we went to Pilanesberg Game Park for a safari. It took 2 hours to get there, and it was like traveling through never ending farm land.

Once we got there, it reminded me Las Vegas. “Sun City”, the Las Vegas of South Africa because it has hotels, game drives, entertainment, restaurants, and attractions.

The safari that we took was 3 hours long. Our driver told us that if a composition book was all of the land for safari, we only covered about a 1 inch square, AND IT WAS BIG!

We saw: Lions, Blue Wildebeests, Gray Go-Away Birds, White Rhinos, Elephants, Springbok, Ostriches and Impala.

Did you know that rhinos can only move forward?

Once the safari was over, we took the 2 hour drive home. It was a pretty good day.

Best part of the day: going on safari.

Today we did 3 things: church, cheetahs, and a party at Mama Peggy’s house.

Church was 3 ½ hours long! It is nothing like at home. Church is only 45 minutes at home and way less vocal. The pastor was literally screaming into the microphone!

After church we took picture with Anthony the cheetah that stared in the movie “Duma”. It was really cool because I was taking pictures with a cheetah and he was almost laying on me at on time!

After that we went to Mama Peggy’s house for a dinner party. I ate a chocolate cake from Cakes of Africa, and it was good. We played football (soccer) with Jabulile’s son, Jabulane. It was fun.

Best part of the day: taking pictures with the cheetah.

Well, today I did not go to Makro and the lions have started again. Well our day was almost nothing as planned. First, we didn’t go to Makro. Second, we did not go on the game drive because it has been raining for 24 hours and my mom did not think we would get good pictures. Instead of the game drive we went to the South Africa mall, called Menlyn, and we almost bought a tape recorder because we thought that it was $38 but it was a very good tape recorder and it was actually $380. I was sad. I wanted to do voice recordings with the tape recorder so that I could record stories that people tell us.

We also went to the Baobab restaurant. The baobab tree looks like the roots are in the air instead of the ground. At the restaurant we ordered dishes that sounded small but they were actually very large.

The African Baobab tree is awesome

When we were driving home from the mall I saw two giraffes.

Even though the day didn’t go as planned it was still pretty awesome.

Sight of the day: I’ve never seen giraffes before, but when we were coming back to our hotel I miraculously saw them.

Hey guys. Right now it is 3:00am in Ohio and I have already had breakfast, gotten dressed and have almost finished my first bottle of Coke of the day. And you’re still sleeping.

Coke is actually very sugary in South Africa and it is nothing like American Coke. If I had to choose to have only one kind of Coke I would choose South African Coke.

It rained all night last night and there was thunder. It’s still raining now.

My plan for the day is that we are going to veg out from 9:00 until noon and then we will go to Makro (the Costco of South Africa) to get food to make parcels that we will deliver to people in need in the township later on this week. It will be awesome.

After that our plan is to go on a game drive if it stops raining.

Check back tomorrow to see what actually happened because you never know when or what will change in South Africa.

Today we made beadwork with the ladies of Beaded Hope. I also made some beadwork.

I also went to the orphanage to play soccer with the orphans. Apparently I am a good goal keeper (goalie).

me as goal keeper

my opponent Ameha

We also saw an African unicorn (they are real)…see Amanda’s post for a pic of the African unicorn.

We also went to hear the tigers and lions. They were loud and awesome.

Four best things of the day:

1)      Beadwork

2)      Football (soccer)

3)      African unicorn

4)      Lions/tigers

Today we went to two markets, an open air market and a traditional South African market. It was a very weird experience because I have never been to a market, let alone a foreign market. After that we went to the orphanage for 20 minutes. It was a fast day.

South African sweet potatoes are as big as my head. They were found in the traditional SouAfrican market called Marabastad.

Today we went to the orphanage to deliver the school supplies for the orphans. They were bored when I unloaded the notebook paper and notebooks, but once I dumped the glue sticks and markers out, they were like WOW!

Here’s what we delivered:

1 pack of staples

2 pencil boxes

2 pencil sharpeners

6 folders

8 highlighters

8 sharpies

12 rulers

18 spiral notebooks

34 glue sticks

39 markers

79 pens

108 colored pencils

226 crayons

270 index cards

291 pencils

1900 post-it notes

2250 sheets of notebook paper

Thank you everyone in the Adena 6^th grade for donating 55 pounds worth of school supplies!

After that was done, I took pictures of all the orphans, they loved it.

I also got a tour of the orphanage. It was a little smelly but was pretty good. Then I played with the orphans. It was awesome.

There are currently seventeen orphans in the orphanage but it can hold more than 18.

Weirdest thing of the day: don’t say “trunk” say “boot”. The boot, in South Africa, is the American version of the trunk of your car.