WORLD RACE MONTH 5
Where:
Ntabamhlophe, South Africa
Loskop, South Africa
Winterton, South Africa
(1 week in each village)
When:
April 28th – June 1st
Who:
The Thunderbirds (Abbie, Jackie, Jillian, Lindsey, Lauren, and Britney)
Ministry:
Zimele (an organization that works to empower Zulu women with the skills, resources, and support networks to start businesses and social service projects to sustain themselves, their families and their communities)
http://www.zimelecommunity.co.za
Hosts:
Kim McCall
Currency:
Rands
Language:
Zulu
Dress Code:
The dress code here in Africa isn’t like I expected. The area that we are in isn’t super strict, so basically we can wear whatever we want. We do have to wear skirts to church and when we meet with the village chiefs, but that’s about it. The weather here has been pretty cold (50 degrees average) which has been the real deciding factor on what we can and can’t wear. It’s really hard preparing for this type of weather when you come from 90 degree weather in Central America, but we are totally making due and getting creative with our outfits. Chacos, sweatpants, and flannels are the go-to!
Food:
Oh African food… It’s a true love-hate relationship. Our meals are full of porridge, potatoes, butter and cheese sandwiches, wors, and every other carb you can think of. The food tastes good, but there is usually just sooo much of it and in African culture it is rude to not finish it. Imagine this… 6 girls and 72 sandwich triangles… which is about 3 whole sandwiches for each of us. I totally understand why racers gain weight in Africa!
Lodging:
– Host 1: We all share one small room in our hosts’ home. When you open the door, all you can see is a giant pile of mattresses, blankets, and pillows. We have six mattresses all puzzled together on the floor and we each have these 20lb blankets to keep us warm because it gets freezing at night. It’s quite cozy and like a giant sleepover every night.
– Host 2: Again, we are sharing a small room inside a home in the middle of nowhere. It’s the same deal with the puzzled mattresses and heavy blankets.
– Host 3: Our favorite place! We have the same mattress and blanket deal, but this time, we have our own African hut! It’s awesome! In order to enter the hut you have to crouch down to enter the small children’s size door. It looks like something out of Lord of Rings. Also, there is no electricity, so everything at night is done by candlelight.
Bathrooms:
– Host 1: During the day we use the outhouse (which is pretty much a bucket over a hole in the ground) and at night we use a wee-wee bucket inside… but only for pee! If you gotta go #2 at night, you better be heading outside. Our baths are even more exciting. Every night our host heats up a 5-gallon bucket of water and two teammates bear it all to each other and share that water to each bathe themselves in separate basins about 2 feet from each other. Other than being super awkward at first, it has really caused us to bond and get comfortable with each other real fast.
– Host 2: Outhouse party again! Bathing at this house was done in the kitchen with basins (usually when other teammates were doing the dishes…)
– Host 3: At this place, we had a legitimate toilet that flushed and all! It was like sitting in a throne! We also had a working shower! Although the shower was FREEZING, it was nice having running water. Most of us still choose to take a warm bucket shower, but it was nice having the option.
Laundry:
We are back to the basics! No more luxurious washing machines like we had in Panama. Once again, we are hand washing all of our clothes in giant basins and hanging them on lines and the bushes to dry.
Ministry:
This month has been sort of frustrating for ministry. In Central America, we were always doing something and getting dirty for some reason. Here, all we have really been doing is walking around the villages and visiting Zimele members. It kind of feels like we are some rare item being shown off around the community. Although we don’t feel like we are actually doing anything, one of the Zimele staff members explained that us just being here and living with these Zulu women causes them to have to work together. It forces them to have to communicate and plan with each other in order to take care of us. It was pretty much the opposite from what we were taught to do thus far on the race. We had to let them serve us. It was sooo uncomfortable! But on the real, we did do a couple of ministry-esque things such as collecting water and firewood (and carrying it on our heads), teaching a bible lesson at the local school, shucking corn, doing house visits, crafting, and painting a preschool with mud.
Adventures:
– Winterton: One day at our second host home we took a sketchy taxi bus into the town of Winterton and spent all day sitting at a coffee shop just enjoying some civilization. We also were able to pick up some groceries and just do our own thing for the day.
– Hiking: We got the opportunity to hike part of the Drakensberg mountains. It was AHHH-MAZING! When we finally reached the top after 2 hours of climbing, the view made it all worth it. Plus some Zulu women came with us and they provided us with tons of entertainment. They thought we were crazy for wanting to hike for “fun”(because they walk everywhere!).
– Museum: On our last day, Kim (our host) surprised us with a trip to the Nelson Mandela capture sight museum. It was very interesting because I seriously knew nothing about him… except that he looks like Morgan Freeman. Plus that night we got to stay at Kim’s aunt’s bed and breakfast and it was sooo needed. She had beds, hot showers, and delicious food. We loved it!!!
Overall, this month has honestly been really hard. New teams, new country, new everything. Plus we were in the bush of Africa so literally nothing was familiar at all. Although it was difficult, it gave our new team the opportunity to struggle together and bond over funny and weird african things. I’m so glad that our team got to live in a hut and really experience african life.
Next month our team will be in BOTSWANA instead of Lesotho due to some ministry changes. I’m so flipping excited!
Thank you sooo much for your continued prayers and support. It means the world to me.
If you want to reach out to me, please do! Even just to say hi! Facebook is the way to go and I’ll reply as the the african wifi allows.
Love you all!
– Abigail Sheckells
