Like I titled this, late but not forgotten, March update; I had intended to post an update before I left for holidays but didn’t get there. So my apology to all my readers following my blog and wondering what I did in March.
March started out with busy beginning with the first week. The first Saturday I went to a function at my friend Becky’s church. Her church hosted a “Taste the Nations” night where home/cell groups picked a country and made food dishes and dressed in that country’s style of dress. So amongst the country’s represented where Mozambique, England, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Thailand, USA, India, South Korea, and Afrikaans and Zulu representing South Africa. Some of the dishes I didn’t try since I wasn’t too sure about them but did enjoy food from the Indian, Thailand, England (apple dessert yum yum), Mozambique, Afrikaans, and the USA (fried chicken & corn bread) tables. I didn’t end up trying very much of the African foods since I met up with a very lovely Canadian family from Vancouver. After a while the people started to form a circle and music was soon heard, a violin, guitar, a couple small drums, and someone else shaking a noise shaker. As we stood listening to the music, the gentleman with the shaker (Webster) started pulling people into the circle to dance with him. And as he pulled people in one by one, it wasn’t long for him to tug on my hand and as soon as I put my bag down I joined in on the fun.
After the food, music and dancing we made our way inside for a short program of worship singing, skit, and some cultural sharing. It was a great night and I had fun, even though I didn’t get to finish trying the different foods, it was still a good night.
The Tuesday following the weekend I was invited home for the night with one of my friends from Gateway Christian School, Nokuthula. Nokuthula lives in one of the townships on the outskirts of PMB called Azalea, beside Imbali, with her parents and two younger brothers. To get to her home we had to travel on kombi’s and her kombi rank is an underground location which made me a bit nervous following her through the dimly lit area to her queue line to wait for a kombi to arrive and hop on and find our seats.
Once we finally arrived in her township we walked down her streets to her house which is built of concrete blocks, it doesn’t look like much from the outside, but once you step through the door into the family/lounge it is pretty nice inside. I find that when I drive past these homes, you don’t have any idea what the inside of the house is like. I had no idea of Nokuthula’s place and I found her home very homey and comfortable. Her family had electricity and indoor plumbing which includes a shower and toilet, but the water tap is outside on the house wall, and all the normal appliances we have back home including fridge, stove, microwave and washing machine I found inside. Before we ate dinner we took a little walk down to the store to buy some cold drink and as we walked through her neighbourhood, her neighbours would comment “Nokuthula, why didn’t you tell me you were bringing a friend home, I would have swept up nicer” or “I would have worn a nicer outfit” or “When she’s done at your place can she come over to mine?” I felt like an instant celebrity walking with her to the store and back! I had a lovely time with her family, and I might go back for another night if I have time.
A couple days later, I went with the school principle’s wife (Audrey) and a group of young Americans and Belgium’s out into the rural community and did like an outreach day helping people suffering with TB, helping to sweep their floor in their homes and washing blankets. The first home we stopped at, the man with TB was just diagnosed and had just started his meds so we had to be careful by wearing a mask on face and wearing gloves on our hands since TB is very contagious. We traveled to a few other places where I learn how people in the rural setting try to generate income so they can help support their families. Some of the ways the try and generate income is by growing produce that can hopefully be sold to a local consumer, selling air time for cell phones or maybe investing in purchasing folding chairs to be rented out for wedding or funeral ceremonies. It was a good day and it made me appreciate what we take for granted back home.
Probably one of the best highlights of March or maybe the whole year was when two of us LMCer’s finally met up. Yup, I mean after months of waiting and waiting to finally see a familiar face from home, it finally happened. Jeremy arrived in PMB!!!! Jeremy and his CMU Outtatown program stayed in the cell accommodation building for 10 days. We did spend a little bit time chatting and catching up on our experiences and realized that we both experienced similar things on our travels. One of my most memorable moments of his time here in PMB was joining his group for a traditional African meal prepared by some of the staff at Project Gateway. Some of the food that was prepared for us was, soft meelie (corn on the cob), potato, cooked spinach, steamed bread, beans and most interesting and challenging chicken feet and heads! I couldn’t convince myself to try the head but manage to try a foot. Jeremy on the other hand tried both and everything on his plate where I didn’t. Not enough time to finish it. After the meal we were treated to some African songs and games outside in the car park. The 10 days flew by and I had to say a sad goodbye to him as his team boarded their bus and followed James up to Swaziland to see what MCC is doing there. It was a great time, but then it was time to start getting myself ready for Cape Town.
March started out with busy beginning with the first week. The first Saturday I went to a function at my friend Becky’s church. Her church hosted a “Taste the Nations” night where home/cell groups picked a country and made food dishes and dressed in that country’s style of dress. So amongst the country’s represented where Mozambique, England, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Thailand, USA, India, South Korea, and Afrikaans and Zulu representing South Africa. Some of the dishes I didn’t try since I wasn’t too sure about them but did enjoy food from the Indian, Thailand, England (apple dessert yum yum), Mozambique, Afrikaans, and the USA (fried chicken & corn bread) tables. I didn’t end up trying very much of the African foods since I met up with a very lovely Canadian family from Vancouver. After a while the people started to form a circle and music was soon heard, a violin, guitar, a couple small drums, and someone else shaking a noise shaker. As we stood listening to the music, the gentleman with the shaker (Webster) started pulling people into the circle to dance with him. And as he pulled people in one by one, it wasn’t long for him to tug on my hand and as soon as I put my bag down I joined in on the fun.
After the food, music and dancing we made our way inside for a short program of worship singing, skit, and some cultural sharing. It was a great night and I had fun, even though I didn’t get to finish trying the different foods, it was still a good night.
The Tuesday following the weekend I was invited home for the night with one of my friends from Gateway Christian School, Nokuthula. Nokuthula lives in one of the townships on the outskirts of PMB called Azalea, beside Imbali, with her parents and two younger brothers. To get to her home we had to travel on kombi’s and her kombi rank is an underground location which made me a bit nervous following her through the dimly lit area to her queue line to wait for a kombi to arrive and hop on and find our seats.
Once we finally arrived in her township we walked down her streets to her house which is built of concrete blocks, it doesn’t look like much from the outside, but once you step through the door into the family/lounge it is pretty nice inside. I find that when I drive past these homes, you don’t have any idea what the inside of the house is like. I had no idea of Nokuthula’s place and I found her home very homey and comfortable. Her family had electricity and indoor plumbing which includes a shower and toilet, but the water tap is outside on the house wall, and all the normal appliances we have back home including fridge, stove, microwave and washing machine I found inside. Before we ate dinner we took a little walk down to the store to buy some cold drink and as we walked through her neighbourhood, her neighbours would comment “Nokuthula, why didn’t you tell me you were bringing a friend home, I would have swept up nicer” or “I would have worn a nicer outfit” or “When she’s done at your place can she come over to mine?” I felt like an instant celebrity walking with her to the store and back! I had a lovely time with her family, and I might go back for another night if I have time.
A couple days later, I went with the school principle’s wife (Audrey) and a group of young Americans and Belgium’s out into the rural community and did like an outreach day helping people suffering with TB, helping to sweep their floor in their homes and washing blankets. The first home we stopped at, the man with TB was just diagnosed and had just started his meds so we had to be careful by wearing a mask on face and wearing gloves on our hands since TB is very contagious. We traveled to a few other places where I learn how people in the rural setting try to generate income so they can help support their families. Some of the ways the try and generate income is by growing produce that can hopefully be sold to a local consumer, selling air time for cell phones or maybe investing in purchasing folding chairs to be rented out for wedding or funeral ceremonies. It was a good day and it made me appreciate what we take for granted back home.
Probably one of the best highlights of March or maybe the whole year was when two of us LMCer’s finally met up. Yup, I mean after months of waiting and waiting to finally see a familiar face from home, it finally happened. Jeremy arrived in PMB!!!! Jeremy and his CMU Outtatown program stayed in the cell accommodation building for 10 days. We did spend a little bit time chatting and catching up on our experiences and realized that we both experienced similar things on our travels. One of my most memorable moments of his time here in PMB was joining his group for a traditional African meal prepared by some of the staff at Project Gateway. Some of the food that was prepared for us was, soft meelie (corn on the cob), potato, cooked spinach, steamed bread, beans and most interesting and challenging chicken feet and heads! I couldn’t convince myself to try the head but manage to try a foot. Jeremy on the other hand tried both and everything on his plate where I didn’t. Not enough time to finish it. After the meal we were treated to some African songs and games outside in the car park. The 10 days flew by and I had to say a sad goodbye to him as his team boarded their bus and followed James up to Swaziland to see what MCC is doing there. It was a great time, but then it was time to start getting myself ready for Cape Town.
Signing off....
Stay tuned for Port Elizabeth and Cape Town highlights.
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