CONTINENT CHANGE!!! We are in Africa!!!
After 48 hours of travel to South Africa, we made it! We spent 5-6 days in Cape Town with our squad having debrief of the last 3 months before we started ministry. I LOVED Cape Town! It was beautiful! I got to go to my first Rugby game, hike one of the 7 wonders of the World (Table Top Mountain), and paraglide over the city! After debrief, we had a 24 hour bus ride to our ministry location outside of Durban!
South Africa Update
Location: Durban, South Africa
Ministry Contact: Sinakekele’s Children
Types of Ministry: Every day (besides our off days) on person is assigned an am or pm nursery shifts for the 5 orphans housed on site. When not in the nursery, we do things like home visits and organizing their donations. We have been organizing, labeling, and documenting books in their library for the local children. They come on saturday to check out books, do puzzles, and play games. On tuesday mornings we have a ministry for the “gogos” (aka grandma’s) of the community. They are incredible women of faith!
Travel to Ministry: We took a 24 hour bus ride from Cape Town to Durban. To get from Panama to South Africa, we took 3 flights over 2 days. 9 hours to Rio, 14 hours to Dubai, and another 7 to South Africa. Whew!
Language: English (praise the lord!) and Zulu
Weather: It is starting to be winter in South Africa, so it is like fall here! It is a nice change of pace coming off of 4 really hot months.
Wifi: To get wifi, we have to go to the mall in Durban 30 minutes away to use Mugg & Bean’s free wifi (coffee shop with GREAT chocolate chip cake 😉 )
Sleeping: We are in a “cottage” with 2 bedrooms. One room has 2 bunk beds and the other a twin and a double. I am sharing the full with one of my team mates, Kimberly.
Showers: HOT showers—always exciting!
Toilets: American style—first month we can flush our toilet paper! It’s the little things. Sometimes we still find ourselves throwing it away out of habit already..TMI? maybe..#itstheworldrace
Typical food: This month we have been cooking for ourselves, so American food it is. Our team has been able to make our small food budget go a long way and have some delicious meals, including lasagna, burgers, and fajitas. Every friday night our hosts grill, so that has been amazing!!! This week our ministry host is making us Lamb Curry, so we are excited for that! Durban has the 2nd highest Indian population outside of India, so Indian food is popular here.
Adventure days: Last week our host showed us around Durban. She took us to the Indian markets and to the local boardwalk/shopping area. She also organized for us to all go to the aquarium/water park for free! They are truly a blessing us.
