overdue pictures

After writing two heavy blogs I figured I would add something a bit lighter. These pictures just need to be on here. The first is the four of us girls and Brian Strassburger a former AV (in the Bronx and then South Africa)

The first two pictures are from right before the filming of our TV debut. Brian and Fr. Tony from the Augustinian Missions Office were accompanied by a crew from the beloved PBS. They where here filming for a documentary program called Visionaries which profiles non profit organizations. Part of the segment will feature the work that the Augustinians do in Philly and then what they do over here and of course what the glorious Augustinian Volunteers do.

They filmed the girls teaching at St. Leos, the four of us playing with the children at St. Theresas, Baba Benji and I delivering food parcels in the valley and then they interviewed the five of us. Don’t worry I’ll sign autographs

The third are my boys at St. Theresas who always always always bring a smile to my face. Please note I’m getting a piggy back from a munchkin

The fourth is a picture of our FRIENDS!! Taken at Sineads birthday. Clearly we wear teaching them flip cup. We are going to the Drakensberg with the boys this weekend to do some hiking and just relax which I couldn’t be more excited about!

Life here is hard, but there are many things and many people that make me smile

Marbles

Now whenever I see a fish being drawn in the dirt (symbolizing the start of a game) I inevitably find a small hand in mine presenting me with a few of their marbles to play with. Every single time I choke back tears.

Tuesday, Spiho, a 9 year old told me to call him “Coach”. When I asked why he explained matter of factly that he was sick of watching me loose and was going to teach me to be good at marbles. Throughout the game I complimented him on his form, his guidance, patience and direction.

At the end of the game (which I won, although I’m pretty sure Hinal and Shaldon let me win) I gave Sphio a hug. As I was in the process of thanking him he opened up my hand, looked me in the eyes and said “a pretty one to start your collection”. I looked down and saw a clear marble, speckled with orange dots.

Although I insisted he take it back he wouldn’t. It was then that I recognized just how much these boys are teaching me about life and love and most importantly sacrifice. My St. Theresa boys provide me with more friendship and self assurance then I often feel like I am bestowing upon them and I am forever grateful.

In the United States a marble is so ordinary and inexpensive. Here they are prized possessions. And to me, my orange speckled marble is not only the start of my collection, but it will symbolize friendship and be forever priceless.

A bit of home

As I mentioned in a brief earlier post we are out of internet for the month. How this could happen considering we are only mid way through February astounds me as much as I’m sure it astounds you. I have very limited knowledge as to how and why the internet in South Africa is so restricted, but it basically boils down to a science: Each household is allotted 3 gigs of bandwidth, once that is used your out of luck. And ironically out of communication with the rest of the world.

It has been challenging and a bit refreshing living without the internet this week. So many things both good and bad have happened and I just wanted to talk to someone about them…

-The children at 1000 Hills memorized “the moose song” and all I wanted to do was call all my Daybreak friends.
-I had a dream about the 35 year old Asian man who liked feet and all I wanted to do was call Meg Scheld and rehash our Sophomore year.
-My boss yelled at me for the first time and all I wanted was consolation from the Moreau’s, from the staff at Siena and all of the higher ups on the third floor at M.C. I wanted to hear that although I was frustrated with work I was a good employee and staff member.
-I saw a young boy, maybe five, get hit by a van. It was the bloodiest mess I have ever seen. All I wanted to do was call my family and cry.
-It was Sineads birthday and all I wanted to do was provide her with a way to get in contact with family and friends.
I wanted so badly to log into skype, put on that very sexy headset and call someone. Instead I felt more out of touch with my life back home then I ever have, but my friends this story has a happy ending.

Tuesday while at the Respite I was asked to show a group of American volunteers around. They told me there were all from the North East and to my surprise one of them was from Vermont. I asked where half expecting it to be some dinky town I had never heard of. He said Williston and I choked on the water I was drinking. Williston, like the town where I lived with Nana, like right near South Burlington, like he went to CVU?

We talked about who we knew, how we were connected and about everything glorious Vermont had to offer. Sam, who was cute as a button and also 17 (so no G, I didn’t get his number, but rather his last name because facebooking him isn’t half as bad) became my new best friend. He rejuvenated my spirit and put a different spin on my week.

As for comforts from home, second in line, but just as important is the one and only Fr. Bob Terranova from the Bronx who arrived in South Africa this afternoon.

Despite my laziness for blogging last year while volunteering in New York City, my year was outstanding. It was full of fruitful experiences and friendships. Besides my darling roommates, whom I miss very much, I was also very close with the four priests that lived next door; Fr. Bob being one of them. The men quickly transitioned from being the priests next door into our very good friends.

Fr. Bob is discerning joining the community of Augustinians living in South Africa and will be staying here for a whole month! Although he is currently napping and I have yet to see him, I could not be more pleased to have him here for the next month!

Last piece of home: We just got the final word that PBS, yes the station that the beloved “Zoom” was on will be arriving in South Africa the first week in March. They produce a show “Visionaries” and will be doing an episode on the work the Augustinians do, and thus the work the Augustinian Volunteers (yeeeeeee) do. I have already picked out my outfit and tried out hair styles for the debut. Just kidding, but I couldn’t be happier!

I got interviewed on live TV on ABC last year and this year PBS. If I do say so myself, this volunteer career of mine is really taking me places.

Dream a little dream

In an effort to bring about additional awareness to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and to encourage dreaming among the masses, members of the KwaZulu Natal community have come together to work on a very special project. “The Dream Chair” as they so fondly refer to it has been a creation in the works for the last 2+ months and I was there to witness the beauty on opening day.

Under the creative eye of Paula, a staff member and in conjunction with the Woza Moya (“Come Spirit”) Shop which is a complementary project tightly associated with the Hillcrest AIDS Respite Center the chair came to life. Thirty women spent countless hours using beads to express hopes, dreams, frustrations, fears and the challenges that HIV/AIDS has presented to them, their families and their community.

The chair will be “sold” to large corporations in the greater Durban area for a month at a time. Along with it the company will receive their own personalized business cards and postcards as a thank you for donating to the project. Businessmen and women, patrons and family members will have an opportunity to visit the chair at each location and take a picture sitting in it. The pictures can be uploaded to the website www.dreamsforafrica.com along with each individual’s dreams. The final destination of the chair is unknown, but there are high hopes that celebrities will take their turn and that one day Nelson Mandela himself will sit in the seat and share his dreams with the community

The chair is the most elaborate, delicate and stunning piece of art work I have ever seen. It is covered from top to bottom with endless colors of beads in all sorts of formations. Some beads spell out words both in English and Zulu, “RECONCILIATION”, “ININGIZIM AFRICA”, “STRENGTH”, “FREEDOM” “DIVIRSITY”, “RESPONSIBILITY” and “PEACE”. Intricate formations were made out of traditional patterns and colors and other beads form the shape of sacred animals, mountains and people. The chair is accompanied by two wings on either side; each in the shape of the continent of Africa.

All of the beads together echo the voices of the community. A shared commitment to the support of all peoples. A hope for strength and endurance. A promise of love.

Yesterday the chair moved throughout the Hillcrest complex; making stops in the horticulture department, publication department, bead shop, second hand shop, feeding scheme and finally making its way down the dusty road to the Respite Unit. The chair in all of its splendour was placed amid the beds and staff members and patients alike were encouraged sit in the chair and share their dream.

Staff members scrambled at the chance to be photographed by a professional while having their turn in the chair. And then slowly one by one patients began to take interest. I have never seen such a profound sight – those who typically can’t walk without help seemed to be running – those who can’t talk were spouting paragraphs. The dreams of the patients were some of the most touching sentiments I have ever heard.

“To make it to my 25th birthday in a few months”
“To get well so I can see my son grow up”
“To get strong so I can teach others how to fight AIDS”
“For others to learn to love me even though I am infected”

As I took my turn sitting in the chair I felt so connected; connected to those who made this chair a reality; to those who had sat in it and those will sit in it; and connected in a deeper sense to Africans. There were smiles and tears as everyone talked about who they hoped would sit in it. Color of skin, male, female, religion, negative, positive, infected or affected….it didn’t matter, all that mattered was that the dream of the chair was made into a reality.

My goal as you’ll soon be able to read on the website was “that all individuals would have the ability to recognize their own, and all others God given potential and that everyone would be able to love without boundaries”

10111

Hold your right hand up. Go ahead, do it! Press your pointer finger into the top joint of your thumb making the sign for “O.K”. You have just learned how to call the police in South Africa.

“If you are not ‘o.k.’ call 1(the thumb) 0 (the pointer and the thumb) 111 (the last three fingers)”

With 1000 Hills comes 1000 Valleys

Bothas Hill where we live sits on top of a mountain that is part of the 1000 Hills Experience. We are surrounded by countless mountains with outstanding views that more often then not make me forget about the valleys below. I have driven through the valley a bit to get to the Zulu Mass or to pick a patient up, but I have not really had time to stop and look around. I have been concerned with where I am going instead of what I am going through.

Dawn my boss at 1000 Hills took me down into the valley the other day so I could begin to experience where the people I work with come from. The deeper we drove, the more I was astounded by what I was encountering. At first stereotypical South Africa was presented: I saw fields with Springboks leaping, women carrying large buckets of water on their heads, thatched roofs and those trees with a flat top that are plastered all over “The Lion King” movie.

Upon deeper viewing I saw these women walking for miles and miles on end to reach the one water pump the government had supplied them with. I saw clusters of poverty stricken homes. I saw public “bathrooms” that the government supplied every few meters, but I also saw their tanks overflowing because the truck that is supposed to empty them every few weeks never shows. I saw adorable children sitting beneath the Africa trees instead of sitting in a classroom.

I was overcome with the beauty that I found tucked amid the devastation. Houses were small, but the yards were kept neat. The hurt and despair that was plastered on the faces of everyone we approached quickly transformed into huge smiles, thumbs up and waving hands as our car slowed and we appreciated them instead of judging.

I still can not fully understand the lifestyle of most of the individuals I work with, but I can visualize where they come from and I can appreciate the effort it takes them to live their lives. I can not understand how a family of 8 lives in such small quarters, without running water and often electricity, but I can see the pride they take in keeping their homes and lawns clean. I can not wholeheartedly understand the time and effort it takes to walk to doctor’s appointments, jobs or grocery stores up hills for many many miles, but I can foster a deeper respect for them as they enter our facility.

I will never be in their situation, I will always have enough or know who to look to if I don’t and that will always separate me from them, but it will also allow me to give of myself wholeheartedly.

I miss unlimited internet and free texting

We are only half way through February and we are already done our allotment of 'bandwidth' for the month. A.K.A our internet is shut off. I'm next door borrowing their computer for a few quick minutes to let everyone know that yes I am alive, no I am not ignoring e-mails, no I have not watched any of the Olympics, yes I miss it and no we can not talk on the phone. We had the biggest lightening storm I have ever seen here the other night and our phone line is also down.

Devastation.

Apparently I have reverted back 100 years, If you wish to contact me before March please uses your ink and quill. A fine young man on a stallion will whisk by your cottage with a lantern in hand to pick up the letter. It will undoubtedly get lost along the way, but with word of mouth, smoke signals and hieroglyphics it will one day reach me....

Until I return to the realm of cyber space....

I smell like chicken breast

Last evening we joined our friends for the home opening game of the Durban Sharks rugby season. (They played the New Zealand Chiefs) There were about 15 of us who met in the stadium parking lot to braai before the game. We brought pasta salad, veggie burgers for the girls and I had a delicious steak. It felt quite comfortable to be tailgating with the boys who also brought along a few new friends. The ABSA stadium stands adjacent to the new World Cup stadium, which is quite a monstrosity. It was an interesting sight to behold I’ll have to put up pictures when I get a chance.

The game, despite a last minute loss, was very exciting. The players were drop dead gorgeous, every one of them! The crowd was energetic and the beer was delicious. It really made me miss getting all dressed up in jerseys and watching games with everyone at Gines.

After the game we met some other friends at a pub near our house and I unfortunately got a migraine so we ended up leaving. I think I was overwhelmed by all the lights and music at the game and I haven’t been feeling well for a few days; a small stomach bug and I’m sure I am dehydrated and exhausted from work (Its been about 100 degrees every day this week)

Its hard being so far from everything comforting and being sick. All I wanted was my mom, my bed, a fan, the notorious “McKennan basin” that I think we’ve all been throwing up in since we were babies and an ice pack. Instead I fumbled between laying on one of our very small couches throwing up in one of our Tupperware containers and our grimy toilet. Instead of a fan I had hot South African heat and a frozen chicken breast in a plastic bag substituted as an ice pack. All the luxuries of volunteering were made very apparent.

For the record we do have two new ice packs, but they were sitting warm in our cooler from the braai. Chicken breasts work well until you open your eyes hours later and you are face to face with a warm, bloody soggy mess. I’m gagging at the thought, as I’m sure you are. I still feel queasy so I unfortunately had to skip out on going to a huge opening celebration of a new church that was just built in one of the valleys near us, but its just as well I’m sure a day of rest will do me good.

If any of you want to fly over here with ginger ale in hand and rub my back I wouldn’t complain…

love love love

Another Valentines Day has come this year I have many valentines

-The boys in my cottage at St. Theresas told me I was all of their valentines which was adorable.

-I have gotten two very sweet valentine’s texts from Tom and Andrew, two of the local South Africans who joined us at the Rugby match last night.

-I was also given very sweet, very amusing cards from the children at St. Leos where the girls teach. One reads “Mag, I love you, you a good girl” another “Happy Valentine Day, valentine is a day for love and to know you a great friend. I do love you, you belong to me”.

-Below is my boyfriend, hes a bit young, but always wants to hold my hand

Wherever you are this Valentines I hope you know that I miss you and love you all very much! Happy Valentines Day from South Africa

baby fever

Fritz and Julie had their baby, a little girl, Ainsley Paige Cope. 5 weeks early, but both Mom and baby are doing really well.

Also, my roommate Mary-Kates brother and wife also had a little girl, Grace Elizabeth

A very exciting time for everyone, although we wish we were home to be with them! Congrats and much love to all of them and my parents who are now Nana and Grandpa for the second time!