As the days turn to weeks here, I’ve been immersed in a whirlwind of people from all different points in life, from all parts of the world. If the U.S. is the melting pot, then South Africa is a delicious soup with more ingredients than I have fingers and toes.
The little time that I’ve been here so far has been spent being introduced to the various projects, project leaders and other organizations we work with here. Forgive me, but I’ve had little time to use my camera yet.
Last week we traveled to Soweto to visit Kliptown. Kliptown has a rich history. It is the epicenter of South Africa’s freedom movement. There, members of the African National Congress with the likes of Nelson Mandela, set out the framework to begin a movement that would end apartheid in 1994. This set the stage for the first equal opportunity elections of which Mandela was elected President. Since then, there have been a slew of obstacles overcome and great strides forward but as with any new democracy, the footsteps are only as great the people who leave them.
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In my position, I’m more interested in the people and their stories. In Kliptown we visited “Mama P” who runs the Kliptown Kresh. Kresh is South African for children’s preschool and day care. Mama P has a heart as big as the Sahara and you can really see the joy that caring for children brings here. I was able to walk around and get to know the staff, but sadly couldn’t bring out my camera. The children range from 2 and ½ to 5 years old and are some of the happiest kids I’ve encountered. We walked around saying hi, hugging, high fiving or just touching a hand and they loved it! Besides the kresh, Mama P runs a womens AIDS support group as well which Vox is in process of working with. Soon I’ll have news for you about that.
Later in the week, Jeff, Sara and I went up to Krugerdorp to visit Jaco and Joanne for a bry [South African BBQ]. Jaco directs our Mozambique water initiatives. He helps setup the sites for wells and purification so that people can get safe, clean water. I’ll be traveling with Jaco up to Mozambique and Zimbabwe in June to cover the groundbreaking of the first wells. Joanne oversees our sewing initiatives as well. Jaco farms cattle for scientific research up in the hills of Krugerdorp and what a beautiful place that is! I grabbed these two photographs just before sunset.
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This week there is more work to do and many exciting things in the works. We're looking at going to Swaziland later in the week to cover the Sewing initiatives and Poultry Projects as well as some education work in Soweto. Pray for me always.
Jerome
www.jeromelovesyou.com
VOXUnited
jerome@voxunited.org
www.voxunited.org
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