The Week That Was

What a week it has been. After Monday it was difficult to touch base with Ngoie - she ended up in the hospital with swollen and bruised legs. I ask that you keep her in your prayers. She has been given a prescription but more tests will be done next week as the doctors believe that it is something in her blood. I was able to visit her home and meet some of her family yesterday. I was also able to buy some groceries for them, but I think it was more of a blessing for me than for them. You should have seen Ngoie's sister shop - she had A LOT of fun!

Besides working on my assignment with Ngoie, I've spent the week preparing slide shows and presentations for my time home at Christmas. Wednesday was spent in Cape Town getting my visa extended (and it was an agonizing process!). Beyond that, the rain really has not ceased, so it's been difficult to get around. Trackers are slowly returning back to the house and classes start up again on Monday.


P.S. - Happy Birthday to me! Thanks to all of you both near and far that helped me celebrate! Photo thanks to Naomi.

Ngoie - Part 4

As our time came to an end on Monday, I came back to the place we had started. I told her that I couldn't get her comment out of my head - pay it forward. Why did she want to pay it forward?

As I looked into her eyes, I saw a regular teenager. I didn't see a small child, escaping war in the middle of the night. I didn't see an 11 year old girl, standing by her mother's grave. I didn't see a soul without hope, though if anyone could have a reason to, it would be her.

I saw potential and possibility. I saw strength. I saw peace.

"There were so many people that helped us, through the wars and especially when my mom was sick. And most of the people who helped us were underprivileged themselves, but they just gave. I pay it forward to say 'thanks' even though I can't repay all those people."

Ngoie - Part 3

I asked Ngoie if her family changed after her mom passed away.

"It had to change," she said, "I have experienced things that others my age have not experienced. We know how to deal with the tough times, fleeing war-torn countries. We know where help is needed."

As if Ngoie has not already experienced enough injustice, her family lives in a township (which goes back to the apartheid and I don't even have the space to begin speaking about that here). Because they are foreigners to South Africa, her dad has a hard time getting work and if he does get work, he is not paid properly. They are continuing to seek resettlement, specifically in Canada.

Part of what sustains Ngoie is her religion - she is a Jehovah's Witness. It is a personal decision to be baptized and become a JW (not something just passed on from parents). Ngoie made the decision at 11, after her mom passed away. She spends her weekends at the Kingdom Hall.

Ngoie - Part 2

After trying to meet up at a number of different times and places, Ngoie and I were finally able to sit down and talk this past Monday. She is #5 of 8 children and has lived all over Africa: DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Burundi, Tanzania, Mozambique, and now South Africa. Her family was constantly on the move as they fled war, running as refugees in the middle of the night from country to country. As it pertains to my assignment, I have "an injustice", but it wasn't war that brought me to tears as she shared her story.

While living in a refugee camp in Mozambique, her mom kept going to the doctor but they couldn't figure out what was wrong. She was still breastfeeding Ngoie's youngest brother, which probably didn't help in trying to diagnose the problem. It was finally decided by the family that Ngoie's mom would go to South Africa and it was here in 2001 that she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Ngoie was only 11 years old when her mom passed away.

And I sat there, unable to contain my tears. I wanted to comfort a hurting 11 year old girl and, at the same time, I wanted to scream in anger that, because of where they lived and their circumstances, Ngoie's mom was not diagnosed or treated in enough time to maybe save her life. We sat in silence and then Ngoie asked me if I was o.k. I have not lived through war or lost my mom to breast cancer and she's the one asking me if I'm o.k.

Ngoie - Part 1

I want to introduce you to the student that I am working with this week. Our assignment is to shoot a photo-documentary (basically telling a story with 5 - 8 pictures), dealing with any injustice. I met Ngoie ("nn" + "goie" rhymes with joy) about 1.5 weeks ago. I was giving a Voice for the Voiceless presentation to the grade 11's at the high school where I'm been volunteering (when we first arrived, I was SO excited to find this school because it's a block away from our house). Once I was finished, Ngoie literally jumped up to speak with me and asked for some of the quotes I had used in the presentation.

Later that afternoon I met with the Interact/CHOC club at school (they deal with fundraising and charities in the community), of which Ngoie is a member. Ngoie, the Interact/CHOC teacher and I went to the local pregnancy crisis center, but before we left, I asked Ngoie why she was involved in Interact/CHOC. She replied, "I want to pay it forward."

I couldn't get Ngoie or her comment about paying it forward out of my head. I talked to my fellow Trackers that had been working with her in the Film Club (she's a very active student) and also to the Interact/CHOC teacher and everyone said that she has lived a pretty hard life in her short 17 years. It begs the question, "WHAT do you have to pay forward and WHY do you want to pay it forward?"

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

We are waiting and waiting for summer to arrive around here. I guess after Panama's heat and humidity, you just gain a certain tolerance level for the warmer side of the thermometer. (I don't know how I'm going to survive the cold back home at Christmas!) The wind is one thing, being as close to the ocean as we are, but the rain is another. It has been raining (and I mean RAINING) since Friday without reprieve. I woke up to rain again this morning and wondered if it would ever stop. It's difficult to go anywhere (including to catch the train) because it's at least a 15 minute walk and those 15 minutes have proven difficult this weekend. People come back to the house, soaked to the bone. Thankfully, the clouds did move away and by the time I was ready to head out this morning, though the ground was wet, the rain had finally stopped falling from the sky (for now anyway!).

And Then There Were 13

With Genevi (pictured - right) leaving last weekend and Kristin (pictured - center) heading home today, that leaves the Track at 13 (hopefully not an unlucky number). I wish Kristin well as she makes a 24-hour stop in Hong Kong before landing back in the good old U.S. of A. again. I have really enjoyed getting to know her and am so encouraged to see her continue to ask questions and press God for answers about her faith.

Kristin, the Track just won't be the same without you! Thanks for sharing yourself and your stories. I feel your tears and I know that God is not done working in you yet!


P.S. - Another one bites the dust!!

Field Trip Week #1

Next week is the first of our two field trip weeks. We have a photo-documentary assignment to work on, focusing on any injustice area of our choosing. Some people are taking the bus or flying to various parts of South Africa or surrounding countries. I am staying back this first week (in hopes that the money budgeted for the 2 weeks together will get me somewhere the second week). I hope to be able to connect with one of the students that I have met at the high school, which is easier said than done! I also have a lot to prepare for my presentations at Christmas time and so I'm thankful for this good chunk of time to get that done (or at least a good start!).

Dust Bin Day

Even though we've been in South Africa for 2 months now, living at the Track house 1.5 months, some things are just hard to get used to. We are slowly picking up some of the local lingo (it's not "yeah", it's "ja" - like German) and there are things that are "normal" now that were not when we first arrived. But Friday mornings always bring me back to the life that I am living in South Africa, versus other places in the world. Friday is dust bin day (aka garbage day) for our neighbourhood. But before the rubbish is actually picked up, there are homeless and other poverty-stricken people that go through our bin in search of food, other items they deem of importance to them, and recyclables. They go up and down the streets, knowing which neighbourhood to go through on which day. If something accidentally drops into the garbage back home, we are disgusted to have to go and find it, but that is a regular part of these lives.

Punch Buggy - Cow

Seeing the beetle world in black and white:

May God Bless You

I received the following quote from one of my leaders (Diane) today and I want to share it with you:

"May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths and superficial relationships so that you may live deep within your heart. May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace. May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation or war so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy. And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world so that you can do what others claim cannot be done."

~Francis of Assisi

Youth Group

I love being able to work with youth and because of my job, normally I have to pass up working with a church youth group (because how weird is it having a teacher teach you and then seeing them in the evening as your youth leader?). I have been able to connect with the Bay's youth group over the last few weeks and have had so much fun. Last night there were 2 girls and about 6 boys (last week there were just boys, which is so strange, coming from our house of just girls). It's great just to be able to hang out with them, play games and talk God. Next week I'll be sharing about Voice for the Voiceless with them.

Thank You!

I just want to send out a big thank you to all of you who baked or stopped by the bake sale on Saturday to support me! We were able to raise about $400, which is awesome! Thank you also for those of you who have been buying the World's Finest Chocolates and Threads of Hope from my parents - they are still selling these items, so if you're interested (especially with Christmas around the corner) please let my parents know. Next on the fundraising list is IGA/Sobey gift cards and Spenst pizzas. My parents also have Voice for the Voiceless 30-Day Prayer Booklets for $5 - consider giving them as part of your Christmas gifts this year.

Punch Buggy - Royal Blue

EVERYWHERE!