Well I didn't think I would blog this soon again, but today I feel I must. My last blog entry, I commented about the other's leaving two by one by one from our country reps home. It was sad but a happy moment. We finally split up and went our separate ways. So a couple days later, was told I could move into the adjoining flat house, located behind the main house. The flat house contain a bedroom with two single beds, off a lounge room and a little kitchenette (no appliances, eg. no fridge or stove), and washroom. I really don't need the appliances, since the flat is just outside the kitchen in the main house. But moving into the flat house, just reminded me again that the boys are gone and my adventure is continuing!
Okay, so you are probably wondering when I'm moving out. Well I don't have an exact date yet, but it's looking like sometime around the 26th or 27th of September. The house I'm moving into doesn't have room for me yet, until another girl leaves, which might be either the 25th or 26th of September. So I have temporally moved into the flat house. I have to add in here that I now have met my house mother Lucille, and one of the house girls, Nandi, they are especially friendly, and I look forward to moving in! Actually Lucille, called me at work today which was a good and unexpected surprise! But I better stick in the time frame and not jump around from day to day!
So, to start my first four days of work, I'll start on Monday. Monday, I spend here James & Joan's home at the MCC office. James gave me a manual to refresh myself on accounting principles, and after reading it through a couple times, he got me going on some journaling, and some little filing tasks. My day finished off with working on something in Excel. A good first day with the MCC office, and I look forward to many more days of work with them :).
Tuesdays and Fridays, you will find me in at Gateway's Administrative building doing whatever administrative duties they need or want me to do. I will probably be asked to help in other areas too!
I officially, got a tour of Gateway's grounds, including touring in the prison cells, including the alleged cell that Mahatma Gandhi, stayed in. The Administrative building used to be the building where the Political prisoners from the Apartheid era, where kept in cells, but also contained a gallow. If you go to the seminar room, in the building and look up to the ceiling, you will see a rectangular spot where the men were hung and dropped through, and in the floor directly below, you can see a smaller rectangular indentation where the bodies were dropped after they died. Scary eh? Gateway, uses all the buildings either for all their different projects, offices, shops, storage, housing for volunteer groups, and for their museum tour with period artifacts left from the days of the prison. So, if you come with a group to volunteer, you will be housed and paird up to sleep in a cell. But don't worry, the cells aren't what the used to be like. For some historical dates, the prison was built with the first cell house in 1862 and six years later another cell house was built in 1868, and over the years they kept on building more and more cell houses. The prison closed in 1989, and in 1992 Project Gateway moved in, renovated some and has continued to grow with their many project needs.
So, Wednesday and Thrusdays I'm in the Gateway Christian School. Where I'm assisting the Public Relations Manager, Mrs. Marge Bennet. She is a very lovely woman, and I am especially looking forward to spending the year with her! I do need to say that I am looking forward to working all with the lovely people in both Gateway Admin building and the School, and especially the children :) Everyone has given me a very warm welcome. My work with Mrs. Bennet will consist of administrative work, but also accompaning her around the school, where she interacts with the students. The school has about 270 disadvantaged students who would not be able to attend a good school without the help of overseas sponsers who pay for their tuition. The school classes start at level R (kindergarten) through to grade 7.
Well tomorrow I'm in Gateway, but will start the day off in chaple first. Signing off from Maritzburg (aka Pietermaritzburg), SA
What special moments you have had this week!
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