A non-baby post

I think working with the Ikhaya kids was the highlight of our time in Empangeni, but we did spend some of our time with people over the age of three as well!

Christmas and New Years

We had all sorts of fun over the holiday season—a total of five parties! One was at Ikhaya with the kids. Our next was on Christmas day was with an Afrikaans family (Thanks again Janita!). One tradition they had that we really liked was to start the day with communion. The rest of the day was amazing: great food, fun company, good times! The food was delicious—but different. It was mostly cold cuts and salads—which makes sense since Christmas in South Africa is the middle of the summer. Our next party was at “our” house—we were housesitting with Luisa, the other Ikhaya volunteer. We made a more traditional northern dinner with pumpkin pie, chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc.

Our next party was on New Years and it was with some of the younger crowd from the church we attended. We had a lovely fondue meal and stayed up to ring in the new year together (all of us except Amanda, that is, unfortunately she was sick and so she stayed home and went to bed early—she's feeling better now though...). Finally, on New Years day we joined our neighbour Helma and her family for a more German meal to welcome in 2010.

Our first weekend off

Amanda, Luisa, and I all managed to get a weekend off together just after New Years. We decided to take the time to do a bit of sightseeing. We ended up heading to St. Lucia with Duane—a friend from church. St Lucia was cool—it's a nearby area which is home to the highest concentration on hippos and crocodiles in South Africa. It was a great day—we had a picnic on the beach and saw both hippos and a giant crocodile—what more could we ask for! :) The next day after church we just chilled with our friend Elinor at her neighbour's pool. It was fun to think that we could hang out outside during January in our bathing suits without freezing! I think it hit the upper 30's that day!

The volunteer excursion

Mel and Sean—the directors of Ikhaya—very kindly took us on a excursion the next weekend. This time we went to the beach at Sodwana—one of the best snorkelling areas in South Africa. It was beautiful—and the snorkelling was great. I've decided I'm quite addicted to snorkelling and I really need to find more time to indulge. The beach was beautiful too—and we managed to squeeze in the time to built a sandcastle too.

More animals

Luckily we just managed to squeeze in another game reserve before leaving South Africa. We went on this excursion with Angus—another friend from church. We spent the whole day out and saw lots of game. We even almost saw a lion kill! The animals kept kindly walking across the road in front of us: first a rhino, then some zebras and impala, then a buffalo... It kept on like that all day! It was a definite highlight.

p.s. Once again, this post is both very late and short on pictures. If we manage to recover our pictures later I'll add more...

Ikhaya Likababa

It's funny how things work out sometimes, isn't it? Amanda and I knew our mission trip in Randfontein was finished at the end of November and we didn't know where we were heading next...so...we posted that on Facebook! And...sometimes the internet is a wonderful thing! :) A friend I used to work with had some cousins who were volunteering at Ikhaya and so my friend gave us the name and we followed up on it. We contacted the director and a week later we jumped on the bus and the rest is history!


Ikhaya is a Babies Home for abandoned babies in Enpangeni, South Africa. The idea is that they only have babies for a maximum of six months in which time the kids are adopted or fostered. When we arrived there were four babies/toddlers (one baby, three toddlers), plus another part-timer (a former Ikhaya baby who is in the process of being adopted by the directors). By mid-January, though, another two babies has arrived, so the house is currently at maximum capacity. Anyone out there looking to adopt? :) The maximum capacity at the moment is six children, but a new house is almost finished. When they move to the new house they will be allowed to have up to twenty-two kids.



The kids are great! (What kids aren't?) I especially enjoy the "triplets". No, they aren't actually triplets, but as they are all the same age and all living at the same place it seems like they are. One little girl speaks English quite well, but the other two are still learning. One of them primarily understands Zulu, while the other understands more Afrikaans. They ARE learning though--and it's so much fun to watch how quickly they pick it up! (I don't think I'll ever here the words "Oh no!" again with out thinking of one of the little boys here who's picked up that expression and uses it constantly!)


I don't think I'll type much more, instead I'll let you experience Ikhaya through pictures. Enjoy!

Ikhaya Christmas party (not sure what I'm doing--it looks like I'm begging for food)

The toddlers all love the babies--but occasionally they get a bit carried away! We caught one of them trying to pry this baby's eyes open after he had fallen asleep...











Note: one of the reasons this post is a few months late is that we're currently pictureless. We'd appreciate prayers for our external hard drive which quit working. When we recover our pictures we will post photos to go with the following antidotes: One of the first activities we did with the kids was finger painting. They loved it once they realized they didn't have to eat it...although one-year-old Ruthie, our part-timer, did still manage to eat quite alot! *sigh* We also tried baking with the kids. It went pretty well, considering there were three three-year-olds and a one-year-old! The neighbours who are on the same property just had a dog who had seven puppies! The kids--especially this little boy--were enthralled.


That's it for now! There'll be a bit more about Ikhaya in the next post.

A few Randfontein highlights

African frogs

The frogs have made it to Africa! (If there's anyone out there who doesn't about our frogs yet...then they haven't known us very long and can email us for a youtube link if you want more info...) The first time we made frogs here was my favourite. Bright and early one morning, shortly after we arrived, we went out to the small shack village of Seferbuilt (commonly called "CY"). While there, we went around the village and prayed for people who were sick or in need. As we walked through the village, several of the young kids began to follow us at a distance. After we found them waiting outside of several houses, we couldn't hold back any longer! We quickly folded a frog and showed it to them--after that they all wanted one so we sat down in the road and folded frogs for the kids that shyly gathered round us... I think they were probably the shyest group of kids we've ever met--perhaps that's why they stand out--but the grins they gave us when they managed to hop their frogs were the same as the grins we get from kid everywhere!

500 Lions

Amanda and I often act out Bible stories for kids and our favourite is Daniel and the lions' den. Normally, I play the role of Daniel, Amanda is the 500 princes, and a volunteer is the king. We told this story at one of the schools we visited. It was not an ideal setting--it was a cold and blustery day, and despite this, the assembly was to take place outside! We were cold, the kids were cold, the staff were cold, and the wind was so loud it was hard to speak loud enough for the over 500 kids to hear! But...we forged on forward--I was yelling at the top of my voice to be heard over the wind--it was one of the hardest, but most fun, retellings we've done! The kids were the lions in the den--and man were they enthusiastic lions! I'm sure alot of their enthusiasm came from the fact tha,t as lions, they could jump and roar and therefore warm up slightly, but whatever the reason their enthusiasm really brightened our day. It was a great experience!

People...

It's rarely the countryside or history or the beaches that really capture me in a country. Those things are generally beautiful or fascinating...but it's the people that make or break a country--not the scenery. The same can be said for South Africa. From the Bishop and his family to the waiter we had several times at one of the local restaurant, the people we met in Randfontein so many marvelous people! These wonderful ladies in the picture took care of us while we stayed at Chris and Henrietta's... We miss all of you guys and can't wait to come back! Lots of love from us.