The sight of the Team SLOWLY walking down the hill from Margaret's house at the end of the day dispells all the ideas that this trip is a vacation. After a day of mixing daga, laying block, shoveling sand, carrying cement bags (50 kg), wheel barrows and tools up the hill creates need for a good meal and a good night's sleep. Progress was excellent today in that the weather was superb allowing several walls to be built up to rafter height, and all the blockwork should be finished tomorrow. What follows next is installing the rafters and laying the tin roof. What a view Margaret has of the hills, valley and community.
Heidi, Lisa and Del have been working on the decorative painting inside the community center. Our African Orphans project logo will be represented along with several AIDS symbols.
The new members of the Team have noticed how well the children look after each other. They crave our hugs, attention and photo opportunities. Women carrying five gallon buckets of water on their heads and sacks of flour or rice continue to delight and amaze us.
Today was the first time the ladies were fitted for the reading glasses we provided as evidenced in the above photo. Several ladies could not read clearly before being fitted with readers, and after trying several magnifications they each found one that was perfect, not only in vision but in style and not necessarily in that order! Before, no one was wearing glasses and at one time there were eight ladies sitting on the wall outside of the church all wearing their new specs.
Linda and Norma spent the day teaching sewing to a number of ladies, who thanks to the new glasses were able to thread the needle and sew a straight line. They made small tote bags and proudly displayed tham as they carried them home over the hilly paths. One lady brought her own sewing machine to the classes this morning perched atop her head. She had never used it for two good reasons: she does not have electricity in her home and did not know how to operate the machine. In the future she will be able to visit the community center to further develop her sewing skills.
The church was a hub of activity today with the humming of the sewing machines, the buzz of chatter and the glees of children. The activity in the church could clearly be heard as we walked down the hill.
The children have no problem pronouncing our first and last name but we have extreme difficulty in pronouncing theirs and they are quick to correct me.
In spite of the pictures we include and the pleasant stories we relate, everyday life is hardly bucolic. Recent statistics report that over 1,000 people a day die from the AIDS virus in South Africa, and the area that we are blessed to serve has an infection rate of over 60%. Please pray for the caregivers and children of the Village of Shongweni who live with such a devastating disease and in dire poverty.
Thanks to the people of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Pennsylvania. Delaware, Arizona and beyond for all your generous donations. We could not experience bringing such love and joy to Shongweni without your support.
Submitted by Ken and Laurell Ondrejko
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