Tomorrow is the last day of week three. We are well over halfway through our service sites. So crazy ridiculous. And you don't even know what I've been doing because I've been doing a terrible job at keeping my blog updated.
Typical Day at Walk in the Light:
8:00am- leave campus
8:30-9:30- someone leads a devotion, prayer and such, walk into the township
9:30-1:00- work on the house we're building, home visits, various other miscellaneous tasks
1:00-2:30- lunch, hangout time, nap, plan the remainder of the afternoon
2:30-4:00 or 5:00- Activities with community members depending on the day. Games, songs, soccer, prayer, Bible studies, and talks with little kids, old ladies, or 17-24 year olds.
The first few days of working were challenging because much of the work was so similar to my job last summer. I didn't feel like I was doing anything too special. The relationships with the people in the township are what have made me really grow to love the ministry of Walk in the Light and the town of Haniville. There are so many amazing people. Building the house has been awesome, and I'm loving the visual results at the end of every day (both with the house and the joyfulness of the lady we're building it for). However, building the house has been the most tangible of our work, but for me, it has not been the most satisfying. What has been truly humbling and meaningful for me has been our encouragement of the people already making a difference in the community. Last Friday, we met with the 17-24 year old youth group and talked to them about their work in the community, and it was amazing. They are so passionate and motivated, and they are full of ideas and the energy to match. I don't know what my expectations were previously; I don't think I believed we could change and entire community in 3.5 weeks, and if I did, I'm an idiot. We are building a house for a family and that will change their life for the better, but the big changes in the whole of the community will be the work of the amazing people we first met last week. I believe these changes will come from people my age, Snash and Tash and Alfred and Sihle, with a little bit of hip-hop and lots of prayer and love.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Two telephone related lessons
1. When cutting down huge pieces of bamboo, be careful that they fall in a direction in which they will avoid crashing down on telephone lines.
2. Reader, hopefully you know how to play telephone. Well, telephone is way funnier when played in spite of a language barrier. A four-click Zulu word became gibberish immediately, and "Jonah and the Whale" became "to know is the way." And "I choose you, Pikachu" became "Jesus is a penguin."
2. Reader, hopefully you know how to play telephone. Well, telephone is way funnier when played in spite of a language barrier. A four-click Zulu word became gibberish immediately, and "Jonah and the Whale" became "to know is the way." And "I choose you, Pikachu" became "Jesus is a penguin."
Monday, March 14, 2011
A brief update on the past week
This past week was filled with lots of planning, stress, and work, but it ended so great.
Monday through Wednesday we had our community engagement class for 7 hours each day.
Thursday we finally started at our service sites. We only had two days which wasn't quite enough to start a large project, so we pretty much just did yard work and manual labor type stuff. Tomorrow we will start building a house, and we will begin to be more involved with the people in the township. The first two days weren't very eventful, but I can tell the next three weeks will be awesome.
Earlier in the week i found out that I got an RA position in the upperclassmen apartments for next year. I am very excited to room with my good friend, Dan. I also figured out my schedule for next semester which is such a huge relief.
On Saturday and Sunday, almost all the guys and a few girls went to Durban. Durban is such an awesome beach town, and it was so nice to be away from campus for two days. We had all been getting cabin fever pretty badly, and a weekend away did us all well. We spent lots of time at the beach, found a pretty good Mexican restaurant, bought some awesome stuff at a really cheap market, got stuck in possibly the biggest thunderstorm I have ever seen, and went to a sports bar to watch South Africa come back to upset India in a very exciting cricket game.
Monday through Wednesday we had our community engagement class for 7 hours each day.
Thursday we finally started at our service sites. We only had two days which wasn't quite enough to start a large project, so we pretty much just did yard work and manual labor type stuff. Tomorrow we will start building a house, and we will begin to be more involved with the people in the township. The first two days weren't very eventful, but I can tell the next three weeks will be awesome.
Earlier in the week i found out that I got an RA position in the upperclassmen apartments for next year. I am very excited to room with my good friend, Dan. I also figured out my schedule for next semester which is such a huge relief.
On Saturday and Sunday, almost all the guys and a few girls went to Durban. Durban is such an awesome beach town, and it was so nice to be away from campus for two days. We had all been getting cabin fever pretty badly, and a weekend away did us all well. We spent lots of time at the beach, found a pretty good Mexican restaurant, bought some awesome stuff at a really cheap market, got stuck in possibly the biggest thunderstorm I have ever seen, and went to a sports bar to watch South Africa come back to upset India in a very exciting cricket game.
Friday, March 4, 2011
I feel so cultured and awesome...
I just watched so much cricket. And better yet is that I now understand most of it. The world cup is going on and South Africa is doing awesome. My past two hours were spent with a bunch of guys watching the cricket world cup, eating food, playing pool, and watching youtube videos of people raising lions. I'm feeling a very odd combination of sophisticated and manly. I'm not sure if I want to charge at a castle with my chariot led by bears mounted with rocket launchers, or if I want to grab my pipe, scarf, peacoat, monocle, and a glass of wine and sit by the fire in a huge chair to read some Thoreau.
It's weird having to plan real world things here
At least I'm not having four skype interviews every week for summer jobs like a lot of other people here.
However, my summer job plans and such are indeed quite up in the air.
I find out if I get an RA position in 3 days!
Academic advising starts in 3 days as well and registration for next fall is at the end of the month.
The class times and professors for next semester are now posted so I looked through those and wrote down all my potential classes. I still need one general education class (theology), two more youth ministries classes, and nine more english classes before graduation.
Some great news I figured out today:
If I don't add a screenwriting minor and if I CLEP out of Spanish, then I can study abroad again as long as I take at least 6 units of English abroad, and I could still graduate a semester early.
Gooo
However, my summer job plans and such are indeed quite up in the air.
I find out if I get an RA position in 3 days!
Academic advising starts in 3 days as well and registration for next fall is at the end of the month.
The class times and professors for next semester are now posted so I looked through those and wrote down all my potential classes. I still need one general education class (theology), two more youth ministries classes, and nine more english classes before graduation.
Some great news I figured out today:
If I don't add a screenwriting minor and if I CLEP out of Spanish, then I can study abroad again as long as I take at least 6 units of English abroad, and I could still graduate a semester early.
Gooo
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