Christmas Day

Christmas in Ndawana...



On Christmas day, women in the village start cooking early in the morning. They prepare large amounts of food...stew, pap (mealie meal), rice, butternut, dombolo, cake, custard and jelly. They prepare enough food for all of their guests, since after church, neighbors will visit each house. Children open their presents if there are presents; usually gifts are practical gifts of clothing, not the latest toys as you would see in North America.




Alcoholism in the village is rampant. For some, Christmas is little more than a drunken stupor...we arrived in the village at 8 am and already the bottle stores and taverns were busy. Ndawana used to have Christmas concerts and community celebrations, but in recent years those have been cancelled due to excessive drinking of some community members, and associated violence.

We spent the hot, sunny Christmas morning with Zinkle, Thokozo, Emihle, and the house mothers Lulu and Thanda...the kids were excited and gave us a fashion show after they checked out their new clothing. We made an attempt at going to church, but the service was delayed..and delayed...so we went home and spent the rest of the afternoon in the sun.

Christmas In Africa

It looks like we are having a green Christmas here in South Africa
(surprise, surprise). I have to say I miss snow! Just a little. It doesn't even remotely feel like Christmas! The weather here changes as quickly as Alberta weather, since we are in the gorgeous Drakensberg mountains. I have worn long underwear and a toque on at least 2 occasions. Who would have thought, in Africa. But we have just as many roasting hot days...my nose is permanently sunburnt.



Russ and I are both having a great time volunteering. With Edzimkulu, I have been working in the Orphan Support program (arranging and delivering food packages to children who have lost their parents to AIDS, and assisting with grant applications), and the Health program, where I work with patients with HIV and/or, helping them access ARV's, as well as working with children and adults with disabilities in the village. The village we work in, Ndawana, has about 5000 people spread over 40 hilly km. Homes have no running water, no phone lines, and most have no electricity although the community centre has solar power. The roads are dirt and have potholes large enough to swallow innocent little girls like me:) Imagine being in a wheelchair on that terrain.

In the last 3 months, I have had so many experiences that I will never forget. I have learned to drive on the left side of the road, been stopped by police holding semi-automatic weapons twice, had Zulu/Xhosa cooking lessons, been given a new name, and I have thought "I am so lucky to be here" thousands of times. I have learned to wrap my tongue around 2 "click" sounds and am struggling with a third. I have had my
heart stolen by a neglected 9 year old girl with cerebral palsy. I have met witches and sangomas (traditional healers). Oh yeah, and I climbed a big mountain. And I'm only halfway through my journey! Crazy...