Dear Ali....

Its been a year since we set off on our South African adventure with a group of 5 other insane girls and no idea what to expect, the 6 months certainly exceeded all expectations! Having been back in the country for 6 months none of us were expecting any more hard questions from Ali... we were wrong....

 Hey ladies! Can't believe it's been a year since I last read your blog. If you re-read it now would you still agree with yourselves? How have you grown and changed in the last year? In what ways is your time at LI affecting now? Ali B

Well a lot has changed- for example we are all now spread across the UK again meaning its a lot harder for me to persuade someone else its their turn to write! Another important change that needs to be mentioned is that I now regularly find myself drinking cups of tea- something pre SA Catherine would never do, not even dentist Catherine who had to make countless cups of tea for Ali!! But knowing Ali he is going to expect a deeper answer than that!

I think its very easy to imagine that you would return from such an experience and be very grateful for everything, but the truth is it isn't that easy. I don't leap out of bed grateful that I can do so without shaking the bunk bed so much that Hannah's life is at risk. I sometimes think my shower could be a little hotter, forgetting that for months I had no hot water and for many people that's the same for their whole life. I complain that uni costs 9 grand a year instead of thinking how lucky I am to have had an education that means I can go to uni. 

Having said that, there are several times when I am very grateful! If I go to the doctors I instantly remember the hospitals I saw in Phoenix and  I am so happy to know I have free, good healthcare and no insurance paperwork to fill out. If I cut myself (a very common occurrence at the moment) Im grateful that I live in an area where my first worry does not need to be about the high risk of HIV. I appreciate having my own bedroom, as much as I love the girls to pieces spending 24 hours a day together for 6 months is quite a bit of time!

Some things haven't changed since returning from SA- I look at the time and then consider if its an acceptable to ring home, in my head there must still be a time difference!!

I haven't looked back at our blog but if I could go back and tell the 6 of us anything it would be-'don't worry, just keep trusting'. Whilst we were away we were incredibly blessed to be surrounded by inspirational people who trust in God huge amounts! I would say dont worry about the car (and the many issues surrounding it) its all in control, and if some days you cant get to work appreciate the time to relax and slide down the stairs on mattresses. Don't worry about not doing what you imagined, those weeks driving round were the best use of your time at that point. Don't worry about trying to run a holiday club with no money, all those kids will end up fed and having a fun filled week. In every little (and big) situation just keep trusting God!  

The time spent at LI has had a huge impact of life back home. I talk about South Africa all the time, to the extent that my flatmates greeted me on my birthday singing the circle of life (the only zulu song they know) and there has been more than one occasion where we do a bit of zulu dancing (well try to!) Also been crazily blessed with the fact that one of my friends at uni was also in SA last year (Hey Lara!), nice that someone understands me when I say braai, checkers and wakaberry, although if we start talking about SA (one of our 3 main topics of conversation) I think we annoy everyone else around!  

Whilst I was away the children's stories we heard didn't hit me too hard but coming home its been adifferent story. I've realised that 'break my heart for what breaks yours' is a brave prayer to pray. There are people I think of all the time, one girl in particular, and I get this gut wrenching ughhhhhhhhh feeling. My heart has been well and truly broken for Amaoti. There were many times when we were away that I thought 'this is why I'm going to study psychology' and coming back there have been just as many times in lectures where I hear about what an impact a persons childhood can have on their later life and I picture the kids I know. I wonder how being brought up such neglectful and abusive environments is going to to affect their education, their relationships and what can be done to give them the future they deserve. 

I could go on forever about the way South Africa wasn't just a 6 month trip but has had long lasting impacts but I'll stop for now! You never know, maybe one of the other girls will decide to write from their point of view! (hint hint)

Over and out,

Cathy Keyz 

xxx

Missing these views!

So that's it.... We've said our goodbyes and all 6 English Roses have been reunited with their families, life has returned to normality.... except the 6 best friends who returned are not the same as the 6 strangers who left Heathrow all those months ago. We have had an incredible time in South Africa but its impossible to forget the harsh realities. Just because we are no longer there doesn't mean that LI aren't working with those children day in day out, Amaoti is still there-a community full of people who just want to be able to support their family but due to the unemployment level are unable to, a place filled with schools run by teachers who care more about the money than their pupils and a community where far too many children are in abusive homes. But, despite the darkness in Amaoti its a place that has such a sense of community, its a beautiful place.

While in SA we heard a lot about light and dark, about 'shining like stars in the dark world' (Philippians 2:15), it seemed to be an ongoing theme, with the soundtrack of Build your kingdom here

Build Your kingdom here.
Let the darkness fear.
Show Your mighty hand.
Heal our streets and land.
Set Your church on fire.
Win this nation back.
Change the atmosphere.
Build Your kingdom here.
We pray


I hope that for the time we were in Amaoti we were lights to the community, like a city on a hill (You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden- Matthew 5:14) On our last day Theo mentioned how the people of Amaoti are talking about us, they cant believe that 6 white girls would work with them for so long and would live in the community for a week. I would like to think that during our 6 months we've challenged the people of Durban about their attitude towards Amaoti and Phoenix.

We lived a much simpler live in our 2 bedroom house in Phoenix, its seems weird to come home to my own bedroom which is full of a lot of rubbish! Small things like hot water, tin openers and carpets are luxury and as Abi said when we all got very excited by comfy beds when we went on safari- I never want to stop being so grateful.

We have learnt that poverty isn't just materialistic, yes that is a huge part of the problem but spiritual poverty is an aspect we had never considered. One of our team phrases was 'you live in freedom', in our final weeks we went on a prayer walk in Amaoti and prayed for so many people, alcohol and drug abuse are huge problems in the community and we prayed for people to realise that they don't need to rely on drugs and alcohol but that they can find a freedom in Christ.

One of the main things I learnt was to trust God with everything, I have heard people say this before after doing similar trips but never really realised the extent some people trust God. The staff of LI are such an inspiration- never in the UK would you try and run a holiday club for 700+ children with a zero budget, we had to fully rely on God to provide food for 5 days, the staff are trusting for salaries at the end of the month and we are still praying for breakthrough with the vehicle situation. They don't give up but continue to pray and worship, they have a passion which is inspiring and through it all there is a sense of joy.

We never imagined that it would be so hard to say goodbye, we have build such strong relationships with the staff that saying goodbye was a tearful occasion. Even as I write this I am chatting to friends from SA! In our last week we popped round to the Browns several times just to make the most of our time with them, we couldn't have felt more welcomed into their family, they are incredible!

Its been 6 months where I have been constantly pushed out of my comfort zone but its been incredible to see all of us grow, if you had given me a huge group of Zulu speaking kids when I first arrived I would have had no idea what to do but now I just get on with it, even if our Zulu singing isn't the best!

Our hearts have been broken for the people of Amaoti and the thousands of miles between us and South Africa aren't going to stop us praying for the people we met and getting involved from here! Rend Collectives album was often blasting in our car and the lyric 'you're not finished with me yet' seems appropriate, God has bigger and better plans for Amaoti, LI and the 6 of us, by Gods power Amaoti can become a place of hope and where children have the same opportunities as those born in richer parts of Durban.

This is probably our last blog post, there are so many stories we could tell you that never made it online so ask us questions, the more interesting the question the better! 'How was it' is quite hard to answer!

Loads of love

Catherine
(on behalf of all the girls who are far too far from me!)

Emma's blog!

Hello!

As I begin to write this blog we have ten days left in South Africa, I have no idea how and I can’t even begin to understand leaving. Even as I am writing this Cathy Keys is in the bunk bed above and we are reminiscing on life, torn with leaving this place and all that is here which is now a regular conversation in team life and one that is becoming an ever closer reality.

As I reflect on our African adventure and look back on this journey I think I now realise it has been a call to live out of my comfort; to step beyond and into a place where only God can carry us through. We’ve been so pushed beyond what normal life is- living in a two bedroom Phoenix house as our little six, bungee jumping, or even teaching “zumba” at holiday club! God is in the areas that don’t rely on us, where we step out of the boat and focus on Him- going through challenges, being at Brookdale reading with teenagers, working in Amaoti One with uncooperative teachers or in a crèche without any sort of system.

Stepping out of myself has allowed God to truly break my heart for the community of Amaoti- a place so lacking and in need but also brimming with life and hope. Poverty is no longer a distant picture full of nameless people but it is where we live and who we serve. It’s a boy who was found unloved and uncared for as a vulnerable baby wrapped in newspaper, living in a home where the family only “keep” him because of an orphan grant- a case so regular when the desire of money beats family and love. It’s the friendship I have with that child who has eyes so full of joy and innocence but are also so lost in neglect. And that is only one vague story of the many people we have met and love. These are the people who we serve, people that are broken and alone and the people that break me as we say goodbyes...this is what poverty is.

I have struggled a lot with the division in South African society- take a 15 minute drive out of Amaoti and arrive in Durban North- a place of overwhelming affluence with people blissfully unaware of what life is for the people of Amaoti, their wider community. It’s a divide that can never be justified, it’s the difference between children only getting the food LI provide at aftercare and the existence of Wakaberry (a frozen yoghurt shop) being everywhere. As much as I still struggle with it, if not more than ever, I feel it is a another way that I have needed to be out of comfort; to be uncomfortable with the poverty, division and brutality of life. I want it to mould my decisions and to move me to speak up for these beautiful people. It gives me a passion to see God’s Kingdom here, and to see glimpses of this deepens this passion- seeing God’s power through prayer when we went on a prayer walk in Amaoti, 900 children attending the LI holiday club and also seeing our team form strong bonds with the people we work alongside and who we serve.

I feel like my heart has been stolen by Amaoti and its people and so to not tell their story is an injustice to them. They are a community with horrible contrasts- a place of poverty, broken families and violence but also a place filled with hope, joy in celebrating life and a real sense of community. At the weekend we had a goodbye braai in Amaoti with the LI staff filled with African dancing, loud music and laughter. It tears me apart that we have to leave these amazing people who we work and serve with but it has made me feel truly blessed that we have journeyed and shared life with them.

What I have realised over this trip is that it is a real blessing to be placed out of comfort, to live in a place seeing the Kingdom being revealed and seeing God working in the greatest of ways. It really is going to be hard to leave this amazing place and return to Northern Ireland life but I am excited for what is still to come!

Lots of love,
Emma xoxoxooxoxoxox

Hey

We are loving life and will blog at some point but for now is a link to a blog written by Nate from our home group about us!
http://www.therock.org.za/church/community/

Enjoy
:)http://www.therock.org.za/church/community/

Creche times

Hey there!

We have had a busy few weeks here and now that I stop and think about things I just can’t believe that we have a matter of weeks left! Where has the time gone?!

Anyway, we now find ourselves at the end of the projects that we started just after our mid-trip holiday over 6 six weeks ago! Just to recap; on our return from our holiday we decided that we would be much more effective and build stronger relationships if we spent a long period of time at one particular project. After much discussion and prayer Abi, Kez and Emma felt called to work in Brookdale Secondary and Pippa and Catherine in Amaoti 1 Primary with the intension of taking small groups of struggling kids and helping them learn to read and write better. I felt called to work in the crèche.

It has been an incredible 6 weeks for us and while in hasn’t all gone according to plan (particularly for Catherine and Pippa as we’ve talked about in other blogs!) God has been so present and at work in the things that we have been doing.

Pippa reminded me the other day that as a team we have a lot of initiative and when I think back to our 2 week placements at the crèche at the very beginning, I remember the worksheets we started making and the games that we thought up and I’m really proud of my team and what we managed to do! So when we came back from our holiday I felt convicted to go back and carry on the work that we had started and hopefully try to make a difference. This all sounds a bit clichéd I know, but now that I look back I really can see that the crèche has improved. For example, when we first arrived at LI there was very little structure in the crèche, and not a lot of learning took place. We spent a lot of time being human climbing frames which was quite tiring and, at times, the lack of structure was frustrating. The kids were given plain paper to draw on during the activity time, which was great! But what came back were 30 sheets of scribble; I knew that with a bit of help they could turn those scribbles into writing letters or drawing pictures - all they needed was a bit of guidance.

I think my biggest challenge at the crèche has been with organising and preparing the craft activities (usually in the form of worksheets). I have really enjoyed thinking up, preparing and leading the activities for the children but on the days when I didn’t, nothing was prepared by the staff. I found this really hard because I enjoyed the work that I did but didn’t feel that as a volunteer it was my place to be leading. After talking this through with Zanele we decided that even if it wasn’t sustainable I could continue doing what I was doing because the children would at least learn something during my time there.

It is frustrating that Nombuso (the crèche principle) doesn’t really prepare activities for the kids to do but I have come to realise just how difficult her job is. She looks after upwards of 30 children from 8am to 3pm Monday to Friday and, although there is usually someone else helping her, there have been days where she looks after them single-handedly. The age range of children is from about 18 months to 5 years, which is massive! And at the end of the day she goes back to look after her 7 children! What she does is incredible with such little support. With a very tight budget and only two pairs of hands looking after the children it’s very easy to see how Nombuso is stuck between a rock and a hard place. How can the crèche develop when just getting through the day is a struggle for her?

Thankfully a local charity, Domino Foundation, who work alongside LI, has been very involved in crèche development. Each day it provides soup and porridge for the kids to ensure their growth and development, they also have a monthly workshop to help crèche workers all over Amaoti improve their skills.

I have learnt that development can be a very slow process and that you have to be patient but also stubborn in making sure that things happen and get done properly, so that people don’t forget the vision and what needs to happen to get there. I have also learnt so much about material poverty; my first thought when I first arrived at the crèche was that they need more toys, more craft materials, more space etc. (and I still believe that they really could do with more), but actually children can find so much enjoyment from simple things like bark rubbing which requires a piece of paper, a crayon and a tree – that’s it, simple.

Since our arrival:

·         The crèche has moved to be closer to the LI offices (funded by Domino Foundation) so that the kids are closer to the toilet and the water supply

·          A kind woman at a local church has donated an incredible climbing frame

·         The team have made a number line and alphabet which have been put up making the crèche look much more colourful

·         We have printed and put up pictures of each of the crèche kids to help them feel part of the crèche

·         The kids have been on a school trip to a local primary school

·          We have done lots of painting and crayoning and making of worksheets

·         We have even had a go at planting African daisies

·          We brought in a CD player and watch them have fun playing musical statues

·         Some tyres have appeared (not quite sure where from!) which the kids have loved rolling down the little hill

·          We have introduced morning exercises where the kids enjoy coming outside and doing lots of star jumps among other things (the idea of this was for them to release some energy before they came back inside to play – I think it just makes them a bit more hyper!)

·         The majority of the kids have learnt to count to 10 and can draw the letters of the alphabet, the oldest kids who are going to school next year can even say the sound of the letter when I point at it – it just makes me so proud of them!

So much has been achieved at the crèche and I just want to give God the glory for it all!

It’s sad that my time at the crèche has come to an end but it was such a rich experience that I will never forget and has equipped me with new skills. My prayer for the crèche is that it will receive more support so that it can continue to go grow and educate children out of poverty.

Thanks again for all your prayers and support,

Love to you all!

Hannah x

Photos Photos Photos

Hello lovely blog readers!

This week I've decided to go for a different approach to blogging, by uploading  a few of the 3,836 photos I have taken over the past 19 weeks!

Although at times this beautiful country has given us experiences that can't be captured on camera, I have made it my challenge to take photographs that will at least remind us of the amazing journey that this trip to South Africa has been.

I couldn't upload the photos to the blog itself, so follow the link and enjoy :)

Abi  xxx

https://www.flickr.com/photos/124732887@N05/

After 4 months of avoiding doing the blog post I have finally taken on the task. I've never been the best with words or sharing my thoughts but felt I needed to highlight the challenges we face doing mission in a beautiful, frustrating, diverse country such as South Africa.

I came on mission to step outside my comfort zone, experience life in another country and of course, serve! The popular song by Hillsong 'Oceans' sums it up 'spirit lead me where my trust is without boarders'. But I never quite expected to face so many challenges or to be so far out of my comfort zone that I thought I would never make it back. However here I am writing about some of the things we have had to face while I am forever closer to being back in my depth (which isn't very deep considering my height ;) )

Working in Amoti 1 has never been easy but has always been exciting. It was in the middle of all the madness that it struck me; where do you begin to help where the need is so great ? The answer I do not know, but what I do know is you just have to rock up and roll with it. This is never the easiest thing to do when you have grown up in our western culture where the systems are far from perfect but are more established and structured compared to the places we work where communication is lacking and corruption is rife.

For example trying to work with the social workers to get a young girl out of her home where she is being sexually abused and all that is stopping this from happening is a phone number of a guardian is needed. It is in these situations where I can't help but question how there can be so much injustice and corruption, and these situations where I have learnt not to give up but persevere through the frustration and to fight for justice.

Last week was different in terms of projects, our house turned in to a small factory and we spent every waking moment making hanging heart decorations, bracelets,  journals and drawing logos on what felt like a million pieces of brown card. All to sell at the Hope Market which was took place at Grace church and supports local charities/businesses. The market went well and helped to raise valuable funds for LI.

In all of the challenges, each day we see glimpses of hope and it is these small mercies which keep us going.

Pippa