Tuesday 17 January 2012

Hot!

I've been in South Africa just over a week now, and the weather is hotting up! Yesterday there was a boiling breeze...which wasn't very welcome! At the weekend I went to a shopping mall about thirty minutes away with another volunteer, and then on Sunday we went to a church in Somerset West (about 40 mins drive) and then we went to the beach :-) It was boiling and I managed to get a very unusual sunburn, because I smothered myself in factor 50 suncream but missed a few places, so I now have pink splodges.

Anyway, the last few days I've been planning a weekly timetable for the children's unit, and speaking to the house mums to see how we can include some different activities into the children's day. I'm enjoying getting to know the house mums and working alongside them :-) Yesterday I went out with Tim and another volunteer to do some sports in the township. Except because it was so hot we didn't play any football ( which was good for me as I think a four year old boy could probably tackle me, such are my football skills). So we sat in the shade and waited for some kids to loiter over. It's hard to see people living in such cramped and poor conditions. To priviledged western eyes it's quite shocking, but at the same time, many people still take pride in their homes and work hard to maintain them and look after them. I even saw a pink shack the other day!! It's hard seeing people who have so much less than you, and to be completely frank, a bad part of me wants to close my eyes to it because it's difficult to see. But God calls us to open our eyes, and reach out to people, not turn our backs on them.

On a lighter note, we watched football in the pub after the beach, and passed two fish and chip shops on the way home, so some things don't change!!

xxxx

1 comment: