Quite a Welcome!!!

Sunday morning, after four to five hours of rest, we gathered in the dining room of the Pinedene Hotel. The service and food was as excellent as in years past and the surroundings have been renovated in preparation for next year's World Cup held in South Africa. All of us survived the grueling trip with only a few delays checking all of our luggage through the ticket gates and customs. Weighing all carry-ons in Johannesburg, redistributing the weights to meet regulations and finally running to the gate to make the last leg of our journey was a challenge. Rain met us in Durban - for those of you in Phoenix, remember rain???

Church services began at 10:00 with a full house. Children filled the front pews and Laurell and I had two young boys lead us through the Zulu hymnal. The choir moved all of us with their voices and even a neighborhood dog made an appearance with the choir. After services it was next door to the community center with all the children and members of the area to gather for fellowship and cake and tea provided by the ladies of the church. The children had a great time with balloons we provided and also hula hoops. The nursery still has some outside walls and roof to finish, but the community center is nearing completion. Talked to Hans Beier about utilizing some of the propery for a soccer field and thought we could make it one of our projects for next year.

Following the gathering we were off to the Pot and Kettle Restaurant for lunch and some shopping at the market, comprised of local artists and artisans. Jet lag is setting in and a good rest will be welcomed tonight. A 90 minute in-country briefing was conducted by Gavin, our tour director.

Tomorrow at 8:00AM begins our work at the job site with building and interaction with the children.

Technical difficulties when trying to send pictures--will try again tomorrow.

Only monkeys and baboons were spotted today--no giraffes!