The Real Africa

Mulishani from Zambia!

Before I get into it, my phone number while I’m in Zambia is +260 96 858 3910. I’m pretty sure it’s dialed the same as my South Africa number, so from Canada, dial: 011 260 96 858 3910. If that doesn’t work, e-mail and let me know so I can figure it out. Or perhaps you can just google it.
I arrived here finally on Sunday. Let me tell you, it was hectic.
I spent the entire week before coming to Zambia in Bushbuckridge with a woman named Grace in the village of Delani. I wrote about her earlier. It was such an incredible and inspiring time. I’m trying to decide how much include on this blog. Brace yourselves, I think it’s going to be long. She is a widow; her husband died a couple years ago from Aids and as she tells me the stories, she brings me to tears and I can tell it is still so fresh and so painful. She lives with her three children (Memory, Mordeca, and the second born which I can’t remember the name) and her husband’s youngest brother (I’m awful at this name game today). The second born was not around the entire time I was there, as he ran off to the initiation school without his mother’s permission. The initiation school is another topic of discussion, but basically they spend 3 months in the bush learning how to be a man. They miss 3 months of school and most can never catch up. Every day I walked from Delani to Hluvukani to catch the taxi with a man named Petrus. It is about a 4 km walk each way. He is an inspiring man as well. Sometimes I feel so discouraged in South Africa with the behaviour of men. I always thought it was not a stereotype if there were no exceptions. But Petrus is an exception. He works at the clinic with disabled people and also pastors a church. But unlike all other pastors who insist on not having a name, but rather “Pastor”, he ensures he is referred to as “Brother”. One thing that really stood out to me when we walked together is his love for children. I also found this rare. He would greet children as they passed. Greet children. This is a concept also foreign to me with South African men. But Petrus, he is different. I found a new love for South Africa and the work I’m doing. When people like these exist in the communities, I know why I am here.
I left Bushbuckridge on Friday and returned home by 4:00 pm. I busied my butt in the office getting everything settled before I left, hung out with some dear friends, and then packed until 2:00 am. I woke at 4:30 am to head off to Nelspruit to catch the bus to Johannesburg, not knowing that I was heading towards a very frustrating and (now) comical day.

My bus arrived a little late to the airport. I was scheduled to leave at 12:20 pm and arrived only at 10:00 am. The gates close an hour before the flight. The airport in Jo’burg is chaos and big and, I think, poorly organized. So I struggled to find where the heck I was going. I got to the check-in finally and they couldn’t bring up my ticket. I was at the wrong check-in and wasn’t flying with South Africa Airways, but South Africa Airways Airlink. I got to the right check-in and the woman couldn’t find my booking. She asked another woman and she couldn’t find my booking as well. They sent me to the ticket counter and told me to get my … e-something or other. So I went and the woman found my booking but said it was cancelled. (Okay, please let me reiterate I arrived at 10:00 and the gate closes at 11:20 for my flight). The woman said the booking was cancelled because it never got paid. When I booked the ticket I told the travel agent to charge it to Hands’ account, but I guess Hands never paid it. She re-booked it and said I can still have it but will have to pay. I gave her my card. Declined. I could feel a knot in my throat forming, the kind when tears are preparing to come. I searched around for a FNB (my bank in South Africa) to check how much money I had. I went to the ATM – Out of Order – so I had to stand in the line to get to the teller. The ticket cost R4,500. I had R4,000. The day before I had spent R900 on a coordinators meeting that Pepfar is to reimburse me for and a week before I had lent out R3,000. Pity. Oh, I also had no airtime for my phone, so that made things difficult too. I called Lynn and asked him to quickly drive to a FNB and deposit R500. That way it is instantly in my account. Now it was about 30 minutes before the gate closed. Lynn finally deposited the money, but it is too late. It was 11:20. I asked the woman about the next flight. It left the next morning. I asked to book that flight but now it cost R4,900. LUCKILY, Lynn deposited R1,200 so I could pay for the ticket and have R300 leftover. Now I have to figure out where to stay in Jo’burg until tomorrow. Again, luckily (for me but not for them) Lynn and Jayme were spending the weekend in Jo’burg to celebrate Jayme’s birthday and their 6th anniversary. They said I can join them on their anniversary celebrations and stay with them, but I needed to get a shuttle to Pretoria. I went to the shuttle place and the shuttle cost R480. I only had R300. I could feel the knot all day, now my eyes began feeling a little moist. I asked another lady and she tried to help. She brought me in her little office and grabbed a man. The man said he could take me. I said I now just need to go to Sandton (an area in Jo’burg). The lady said she will get her driver since I don’t need to go to Pretoria anymore. This made the man mad because he really wanted to take me. They argued over me a little bit and the man sounded desperate to take me. He said he can take me for R300. I’m feeling a little sketched out at this point, a little stressed out, and ready for a break down. They both stared at me awaiting my decision. I asked the man what he is driving (I just got a sketchy feeling from him). He said it was a shuttle, but I assumed it was a taxi. Jo’burg is dangerous and taking taxi’s also dangerous. I asked him if I was the only one going or if he had other passengers. He said I was the only one. I told him I didn’t feel comfortable going with him alone. He gave me a look like I was crazy. Jayme called and I tried to explain the situation to her, in code, while the two stared at me. She said her and Lynn will just pick me up. The man left the room and then I just broke down and cried in front of the shuttle lady. I was a sad case.
But I spent the evening with Lynn and Jayme, watched some live music (a Nigerian guy who had a sound similar to Ben Harper), and ate great food. I feel bad I joined them on their Anniversary night, but very appreciative of their generous and hospitable character.

I finally arrived to Zambia and it’s beautiful. It’s safe! I can walk around alone! I don’t live in a prison! I spent some time with Jessie before she left, visited some communities, and began preparations for my church team to arrive. I also got to visit Ben and Alicia, my old youth pastors from Lloyd. They are currently in Luanshya (where I am) with an organization called FCE. It was awesome! SO good to catch up and so crazy to catch up in Africa together. Very random. But I’ll be seeing them again on Saturday before they head off.
I’ll stop here. Sorry it was long, but there was a lot to tell.
I’ll be in Zambia until September 3, so feel free to call.
Love you all.

Living Truth airs again

Last year, a church in Toronto came and recorded some of the work Hands is doing in South Africa and Mozambique. They shared the stories of a couple families from each country. They came back again this year to film new stories in Zimbabwe and Mozambique but also to give an update on where the families from last year are now. I would highly suggest watching the Zimbabwe stories. Zim is an incredibly difficult country, as I'm sure you have all heard in the news.
The two families from South Africa are in Bushbuckridge, the area I'm coordinating. I spent a great deal of time preparing for them to do the second filming.
Please watch so you can have a little bit of an insight of what's happening here!!

Dates for broadcast are as follows:

Oct 11 Mozambique
Oct 18 Zimbabwe and South Africa updates

You can check out www.livingtruth.ca for specific broadcast times. Please send this on to your friends at home who have the opportunity to watch.
For Albertans it looks like it will be broadcast on CTS at 4pm MST, but just test this before advertising.

Thanks for your interest and support of this exciting event!

A Glimpse of the Future...

DATE 15JULY09

HANDS AT WORK
GADSBY/KRISTAL MS
PO BOX 3534 WHITE RIVER MPUMALANGA
SOUTH AFRICA
1240

SERVICE DATE FROM TO DEPART ARRIVE


NORTHWEST AIRLINES 16DEC JOHANNESBURG AMSTERDAM 0005 1020
NW 8422 WEDNESDAY O.R. TAMBO INT SCHIPHOL
Q ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: BOEING 777-200/300
KL 0592 FLIGHT OPERATED BY KL KLM ROYAL DUTCH AIRLIN
RESERVATION CONFIRMED

NORTHWEST AIRLINES 16DEC AMSTERDAM MINNEAPOLIS MN 1530 1750
NW 55 WEDNESDAY SCHIPHOL ST PAUL INTL
Q ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A330-300
RESERVATION CONFIRMED

NORTHWEST AIRLINES 16DEC MINNEAPOLIS MN CALGARY AB 2140 2343
NW 1541 WEDNESDAY ST PAUL INTL CALGARY INTL
Q ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A319
RESERVATION CONFIRMED

Nokuzola

If you've kept up with my blogs, you should know Nokuzola.

Please pray for her.

Her granny just passed away unexpectedly. Nokuzola was staying with her granny and her little sister Daphney (8). Now that Zola is studying away from home, we're not sure what's going to happen with Daphney and with the house.

Amazing Grace

I've struggled for the last few months. I've struggled because I miss home but also because it seems like when moving forward there are way more problems and issues than there are successes. Sometimes I wonder if there is any point to what I'm doing.

And then I meet women like Grace.

She's coordinating a village in the Bushbuckridge area. I went to visit her today to see how everything is going. They started a feeding point a couple months ago and have recently developed a large garden to cook at the feeding point and to give vegetables for children to take home.

When I went to see her garden, it exhausted me looking at it because it is so big, the ground is so hard, and because I know trying to get water is a nightmare. I was very encouraged to see an old mkhulu (grandfather) and young girl working the garden. Grace says the gogos and mkhulus that look after the children work hard in the garden. Also, right after the children eat at the feeding point, they all go to the garden to help fetch water and work the ground.

I asked Grace if she is happy. She says she is very happy and that she can't complain. She says she loves her job because she gets to work with many people and help the children. She says all of us are together, me and her are doing the same job, equally important. She then takes me by the hand and walks away from the garden. She says she's HIV positive. Her husband died of Aids and now she stays alone with her 3 children. She lives openly about her status. All the orphans and care workers know about her status. She says she owes it to the children and it is her responsibility to educate them and care for them.

At the feeding point, the most important thing for her is to bring the children up in the way of the Lord. Before they eat, they pray and share Bible stories. I asked her if she's seen a difference since they began helping the children. She says a BIG difference. The children are happy. They used to have no one to open up to and were shy in the beginning. Now they tell them everything. The children tell her about life at home, their struggles, what makes them sad, what makes them happy. She says there were many who didn't go to church and now they have begun going with her!

I told Grace I'm going to come stay with her.

A few stories in the key of D

I could be your hero baby
A couple weekends ago I spent 4 days at a pleasant little secluded guest house in the Sabie mountains to get away. I basically laid in my bed for 4 days. It was great. I read and thought and prayed and relaxed. On the last day, Dave and Marilyn came to pick me up and before we left, we took a stroll to the private waterfall on the property. It was the most beautiful waterfall I've ever seen! I think it was mostly because it was private and could get as close as you wanted. There were a lot of pools and streams to frolic in, not to mention you could climb up the waterfall. Two little weenie dogs belonging to the neighbours followed us there. We were a little scared to have them come along, but thought they wouldn't be stupid enough to get into any trouble.
Ha.
I crossed to the other side of the river using a slippery, but relatively safe way to cross and one of the dogs followed me. The stream was shallow and piddly. After playing enough on the one side I crossed back over but the dog had wandered down a bit. Thinking he'd just follow me, I crossed. The dog wasn't so smart. He decided to cross at the WORST possible spot, where the current was strong and the stream fairly wide. We saw the dog and panicked as he attempted to cross. The stream starting taking him away. We freaked out and tried to run to him but there was really nothing we could do. The little furball was doomed. He got carried into a little pool with a tall rock face on one side and extremely rough death-rapids on the other. He tried to climb the rock but couldn't do it. He started to get closer to the rapids. Ok I won't keep you in suspense any longer. I got to the pool just in time, jumped in, and rescued that little guy.
Thank you, thank you.

This is the first day of my life
After saving the dog, my blood was pumping with adrenaline and I realized I've never skinny dipped before. So Dave left, I took off my clothes, and jumped in. ooooWEEEE. It was the best.

Body massage, body massage, everybody come and get one in my garage
Please be warned this is a very awkward story but Brooke encouraged me to tell it. So I'm going to not mention any names. In fact, I'm going to use the name ... Pracidia. I have a friend named Pracidia from a country in Africa, let's call it The Zamibia. She recently told me she loved giving massages. Stoked on this new information, I took up her offer to give me one. I laid on her bed, took off my shirt, and positioned myself for the best back massage of my life. As she's massaging me, she pokes my boobs from the side and says, "I just love boobs." Feeling a little awkward, but knowing African's are open about breasts, I just let it slide. She keeps massage then says, "Let me see your boobs." Awkward level increasing, I denied her request. She then proceeds to tell me that she'll show me hers. Without hearing my answer to the trade, she lifts her shirt and shows me. Not complying to her demands, she continues to massage me. After she finished, I put my shirt back on and she catches a little glimpse. She exclaims, "OH! YOURS ARE NICE!" Short Pause. "Let me touch them." Short Pause. "I'm not lesbian." NOW how do I react to this? Shortly later, after receiving no action, of all people, Lize enters the room: "What's going on in here?" Pracidia says, "Kristal has nice boobs. Do you want to see them Lize?" If you know Lize you'll know she is the perfect person to throw into this situation because she is the most innocent and most likely to melt in awkwardness upon this question. We kind of just slowly and awkwardly leave the room. I sat on my bed feeling absolutely dirty thinking, "What just happened..."

Pshht.. may I have your attention please. I repeat, may I have your attention please
Today I spoke at an HIV/Aids Symposium to a room full of nurses. Who else spoke at it? Well.. lots of doctors. Lots of well-researched, well-prepared, fancy book-writing doctors. Who would've thought I'd be doing such a bizarre thing.

So close to home.

I'm currently sitting at my desk wearing 3 layers (including plaid flannel) and mittens, drinking Tim Horton's Apple Cinnamon tea left and forgotten in Dave's pocket, listening to Sufjan's Christmas album and just wishing the light drizzle would turn into snow.