I'm an avoider.

I’m an avoider. I avoid homework by procrastinating with online word games. I avoid confrontation by always seeking to please, no matter the consequences to myself. I avoid blogging so I don’t actually have to think through my life and my emotions, because I’m not quite sure what they are. Honestly, I feel like I’ve been avoiding emotions for the last couple weeks, and a part of me knows I’ll continue avoiding these emotions until absolutely necessary. The thing is, we’re leaving Pietermaritzburg tomorrow, and although we’re not necessarily leaving the country tomorrow, we’re leaving everything we know of the country, everyone we’ve come to know and love here.

Today was Thanksgiving, and it was the oddest thing because Thanksgiving isn’t a holiday here. I kept forgetting what day it was, because it didn’t feel like Thanksgiving. However, this changed later on in the day when we had our Farewell/Thanksgiving dinner. It was such a bittersweet time, full of thanks and recognition for all the incredible individuals who have poured into our lives here at African Enterprise, but also starting to understand the reality of saying goodbye. Once again, going with the whole avoider theme, I avoid saying goodbye. Rather than saying goodbye I like to say “See you later” because that way I have to come back! Two of the people we have become very close to while being here are Phillip, our amazing driver, and his wonderful son Musa. We were even blessed enough to plan and be a part of Phillip’s engagement to the woman who is now his fiancé! As I made eye contact with Phillip tonight during a Zulu worship session we had tonight, I saw the sadness in his eyes and what I had been denying for so long hit me: we’re leaving.

I am in the middle of this mess of emotions right now, recognizing the end of one chapter in my life and the start of another. I am in the process of figuring out that my time in this amazing country is not over, preparing for what the Lord has for me in Capetown, and resting in the promises that God will finish the good work He has started in me here. There have been so many other things that have happened in the last two weeks, things like writing my senior seminar paper, having a zip-lining adventure, taking final exams, having an appreciation luncheon for all the African Enterprise staff, spending more time with my fabulous D-group girls, and so much more. Sitting here trying to comprehend leaving this place that has become my home, it’s hard to really describe anything else in detail. Don’t get me wrong, I am nothing but grateful for the blessing it has been to experience this semester abroad, and I recognize what a rare opportunity this is, so none of what I’m feeling takes away from that. I guess it’s just a process…it’s change…and change is never easy.

There’s a big part of me that knows I will be back in this place, whether sooner or later, so that does give me a certain aspect of hope. Also, I recognize how gorgeous Capetown is going to be and all the adventures that lie ahead of me….some of which include bungee jumping, cave exploring, shark diving, ostrich riding, cheetah petting, and much more…so I’m definitely excited about everything that is to come! I know God will continue working in mighty ways!

Thank you all again for your continual love and support…I am so richly blessed by my wonderful friends and family! Lots of love!

Snapshots

Due to the fact that it's been quite a long time since my last post, that so much has happened in the last few weeks, and that a picture says a thousand words, I've decided to make this a picture-focused post...snapshots of the happiness that is my life. So, hopefully you like them and can get an idea of what's been going on through these images and the explanations that go along with them...ENJOY!

Playing with children at the Family Center in Mpophomeni, one of our four clinical sites...I absolutely adore all these children, and we actually were able to do our final community health project here, assessing children and establishing a system of documentation and referral which can hopefully be sustained as they are getting a full-time nurse to come work there in January!

Angiswe, one of the girls at the family center who stayed by my side the whole day, loved to be held, and also loved making silly faces in pictures.

Riding in the back of the buckee (truck) with Kelsey and Sam on the way to the Israel & New Breed concert... riding back there can be terrifying at times, especially if speed bumps are not handled with caution.

ISRAEL! This was such an incredible concert, and really it was more of a worship session than a concert. While being here I have fallen in love with his music and the passion and energy it has for the Lord.

Once again in the back of a buckee, but this time going around on home visits in Mpophomeni. We were way up in the hills and multiple times while driving the back of the buckee fell open...quite an adventure!

Lots of dust came in the back of the buckee as we drove around, completely coating us with dirt and making it somewhat difficult to breath, so Kelsey (being the genius that she is) decided to use her TB mask as protection.

Phillip is our wonderful driver! And here we are celebrating his birthday! Phillip is quite the joker, and always making funny comments. He told me that he's an "old boy," because according to him it goes from boy, to old boy, to man, to old man...and he doesn't feel old enough to be a man (because according to him men don't have as much fun as old boys)...therefore, he is an old boy.

Melody and I doing out best bird impressions...

Rachel, being Rachel...and me doing my best to imitate her. Behind us are some of the "Bushman" cave paintings. The bushman were some of the natives to South Africa, and we went to this site with our whole group as part of out Culture and History of South Africa class.

My fabulous D-Group! Who I love and adore more than I could possibly say...From left to right: Carrie, Melody (who's co-leading with me), Kelsey E., Kimmi, Britni, myself, Andrea, and Brenna!

Hanging out in the Drakensburg Mountains after our Bushman cave painting trip...I love our group so much.

All the nurses got to go back to the Drakensberg mountains and camp out in a cave! Our group was led by the pastor of one of our nursing professors, and here we are all packed up and ready to go.

I love wide open spaces...especially when they're green. This was taken at the edge of a cliff, about three hours into our hike up to the cave.

So incredibly green...it blows my mind.

Briana at the cave! And the "cave" actually turned out to be more of an overhang, but it was still awesome, and I had never really slept outside like that without some sort of tent or something, so it was a new experience for me!

There was a natural pool very near our cave which we decided to go swimming...the water was absolutely freezing, so needless to say we didn't stay in for very long, but it was still so much fun!

Reagen (one of our student life coordinators, who is ridiculously awesome) driving our safari vehicle! He actually let me steer for a little while, which was quite exciting.

Dung beetle! Actually, despite the conditions of their occupation (rolling dung into compacted balls), I actually find these little guys to be really cool, and kind of cute...I know, I'm weird, what can I say.

Everybody say "awwww" to the baby giraffe. We saw A LOT of giraffes, which have become one of my new favorite animals.

Impala. There were a lot of these as well...they are quite graceful, and very skiddish.

The fabulous girls I got to share in the safari adventure with!

Zebra and impala grazing...I also have fallen in love with zebra while being here. Oh yeah, and I found out that they are actually black with white stripes, because apparently (according to our insanely knowledgeable guide) if you shave them their skin is black.

So gorgeous. Sometimes God literally takes my breath away.

Hippos lurking in the water. They look cute, but they are actually incredibly dangerous... but I have to say, I have a hard time taking them seriously with those cute little ears.

White rhino! We actually didn't get to see any black rhino while we were there, because they're a lot more rare, but they are such powerful looking creatures...I think they're fantastic.

Buffalo hanging out in the grass. It was so amazing to see so many of them together in the herd. They are also quite majestic and powerful looking animals...I wouldn't want to mess with one of them.

Nice kitty.
It was definitely an awesome experience being in an open vehicle so close to lions, but apparently they don't have the ability to distinguish specific people within the vehicle if everyone is sitting down...it is only if someone stands up that the lion can pinpoint them, so I simply stayed seated and was just fine.

I got to sit up in front of the safari vehicle for a while, in the "tracker" seat, which was SO much fun...definitely a better view from up there!

Francis, our incredible Community Engagement professor, and his wife Rose. We are so blessed to have him, and although I am not able to be in the Community Engagement class, I have been so blessed by all my interactions with him and always benefit from his wisdom and experience which he so beautifully shares with us.

Creativity with Rachel's sunglasses...trying to see how many people we could fit into the reflection. We were actually stuck on the side of the road at this time, waiting for one of our vehicles to get fixed, so evidently boredom inspires creativity.

Well, that's obviously not EVERYTHING that's been going on, but that's the basics, and hopefully it won't be long before I can give another written update of all the amazing things that are happening here...God is so good, and He is continuing to work in mighty ways. I feel so blessed to be here and give thanks every day for the opportunity to experience this amazing country! Thank you all again for your support...much love!

The Roller Coaster We Call Life

Sometimes I feel like I’m speeding through life, unable to slow down, stuck in this seat that constantly rises up and falls down, leaving me never knowing what will happen next. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does tend to be exhausting. In these last couple weeks I’ve certainly felt a little jolted, but the incredible thing about God is that at the end of the day, as long as I turn to Him, everything seems to slow down and level out enough for me to remember that He’s in control…and that gives me the most incredible sense of peace. So, now I’m going to try to summarize some of the craziness that has been my life for the last few weeks…

Two weeks ago we had homecoming week, and each day we had a theme and dressed accordingly…and it was amazing, because I feel like I have this crazy, random, awkward, ridiculous side of me that has been repressed, and it emerges in times like this. Monday was “backwards inside-out” day, Tuesday was then “crazy hair/clashing clothes” day, and Wednesday was “black and white” day, because it needed to be something a little more normal since we were going to a concert that day. We left early in the afternoon and drove for a few hours to go see the world famous Drakensburg boy’s choir. There really is no way to describe the power, beauty, mystery, and wonder in music…you have to hear it yourself…but I can just say that I left beaming from ear to ear, filled with the incredible joy that music always tends to bring me. They sang all sorts of songs, everything from Queen’s We Will Rock You (which was hilarious with their awesome South African accents…), to Circle of Life from The Lion King, to a whole section of traditional Zulu songs…but to make a long story short, it was incredible, and I bought some CDs so I can take the incredibleness home with me!

Thursday was “twin” day, so I dressed up to match my roommate, but then later in the afternoon changed into grubby clothes to play our homecoming football game! It was SO much fun, and an awesome bonding time for everyone. I mean, my team lost, but winning isn’t everything…or at least that’s what my mom used to tell me. Then, the greatness the day continued, because later that night we had an air-band competition between chalets, which actually turned into more of a dance competition, and it was awesome! My chalet did the song “Battlefield” and we had bamboo sticks that we fought with, and we also brought out our Bibles for the part in the song where it talks about getting your “armor,” and it was basically an epic dance. Once again, we didn’t win, and all the other chalets had hilariously wonderful dances as well, but we decided that no matter what, boys are always funnier than girls, so the boys ended up winning that night.

Friday was the day of the actual homecoming dance! During the day each chalet was assigned to a color (my chalet was pink), but then later on that night we all dressed in tacky outfits for the dance…because it was a “tacky” homecoming dance…once again, ridiculous, but so much fun. We danced the night away in our awkward outfits, took crazy pictures, voted for our own king and queen (who both ended up being girls), and made fools of ourselves. And as amazing as this all was, the weekend got even better! On Saturday six of us had the opportunity to go to Durban to see an Israel Houghton and New Breed concert, which for those of you who don’t know is gospel music. Once again, there’s no way for me to describe the power of musical worship, led by people blessed by the Lord with talents that they humbly yet passionately share, and use to lead others into His presence. I know that I was blessed that night, drawn closer to God, encouraged, challenged, affirmed, excited, and uplifted by the Holy Spirit.

It’s incredible how quickly our minds can being us down. Literally, within an hour of that amazing, God-filled concert, our group was hanging out with some South African friends we had made earlier in the trip, and I started feeling attacked. It seemed like every thought that came into my head was negative, every interaction I had gave me some reason to doubt myself or question the effect of my Christian walk on those around me…and the more I thought about it, the more frustrated I would be with myself, and the downward spiral of negative thoughts would continue. I don’t even know how to explain it, and I couldn’t understand where these thoughts were coming from, but all I knew was that as we left Durban to drive home, all I wanted to do was be by myself and cry…ashamed of my own instability, weakness, and inability to hold fast to truth rather than believe lies meant to make me ineffective as a follower of Christ.

It’s funny though, how God knows exactly what we need…and it’s often very different than what we think we need. As much as I wanted to be alone with my thoughts and wrestle through them with God, what I really needed was to talk them out and be truly vulnerable. I didn’t want to do it, but when my friend asked me the simple question on the ride home, “How are you doing?” I basically broke down. Crying my eyes out and struggling to express my jumbled thoughts, I allowed myself to really be broken, and being broken is not fun. Being broken is painful and humbling. However, I’ve learned through the years, and even more through this trip, that God can only mend the broken, He can only heal the wounded, and His power can only be made perfect in our weakness. Not an easy truth to accept at times, but really the only one that lifts me up and gives me the hope, joy, and peace to face each day with Him by my side…blessed assurance, Jesus is mine.

There’s a lot more that’s been going on, but that’s the gist of last week and what God’s been doing in my heart lately…thank you to all of you for your prayers and support…I am so blessed by you! Lots of love!

“Let the Little Children Come To Me”

Looking into the wide, innocent, and playful eyes of a child, there is no choice but to feel the purest sense of joy. Imagine being surrounded by them, with two attempting to braid your hair, three sitting on your lap, one playing with your face, and many others running around the room singing songs and releasing their over-abundance of energy in various ways. There is nothing like the genuine nature of a child’s affection, unbiased and uncorrupted by the world’s selfishness, hypocrisy, and pride. I got to experience this in the purest sense, and of course children are not perfect, they can be dirty, snotty, exhausting, and unrelenting in their desire for attention, but I fell in love with the children I got to work with at the Ethembeni Family Center this week. They reminded me that innocence is beautiful, curiosity is productive, and joy is a way of life.

Over the course of the last couple weeks I have gotten to spend my clinical days in a variety of ways. I spent one day at Caprisa, which is an HIV/AIDS clinic funded by PEPFAR (the U.S. “President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief”). Two of my other clinical days I served at Ethembeni, a ministry that serves as a hospice with four beds, as well as having a home care ministry and a family center which takes care of children from child-headed households. Another clinical day was spent carrying out a teaching project at a local high school. Many exciting experiences to say the least! The more time I spend in clinics, the more I learn about HIV/AIDS and the way it is treated and dealt with in various patients, the more my heart is broken for these people and the suffering they endure so bravely. It is certainly incredible to see the availability of treatment to those whose condition is severe enough, and that it is provided freely. Although there are many issues within the system and difficulty with compliance regarding the medication regimen, lives are being touched and care is being provided to so many who would not be able to receive it otherwise.

The time I got to spend at Ethembeni in the past few weeks was mostly spent doing home visits. Teams of two are sent out, with one care worker from Ethembeni and one member from a local church, and each group visits four homes. Overall there are 65 families being served through this ministry, and the criteria for those who receive these home visits mostly have to do with positive HIV status and lack of income. Mpophomeni, the town where Ethembeni is located, has an 80% unemployment rate, and a staggering amount of HIV/AIDS. During the home visits I was able to attend, we would bring a significant amount of food for the family, talk about how the individual was doing physically, emotionally, and spiritually, read a passage from the Bible, and then pray together. This focus on spirituality and the lack of actual medical care was definitely an adjustment, but something that is helping to teach me the balance needed when providing holistic care between every aspect of the person. Besides these home visits however, like I mentioned earlier, one day I was able to go to the Family Center and spend time with the children there. Most of these are children who are either orphaned, are living with a grandparent, or are running the household, taking care of their younger siblings. The Family Center provides a place for the children to go during the day, while also giving them a hearty lunch, and packing meals for them to take home for dinner and for breakfast the next morning. There is a large age-range, with the younger children there all day and the older children coming later in the day once they have finished with school. Once again, there was not necessarily a lot of medical care provided in this setting, but these children certainly touched my heart, and I was blessed to be able to show them some love in the limited time I was there.

The other very exciting clinical day was spent at Ethembeni High School when we all presented the teaching projects we had prepared in the states. We were broken up into four groups whose topics were basic hygiene, dental health, communicable diseases, and menstruation. We went around to five different classes of either graders throughout the day and spoke on these subjects to each class. I was a part of the communicable disease group, and I was presenting on respiratory infection, with the other girls in my group presenting on diarrheal disease and HIV/AIDS. The presentations went incredibly well, the students were attentive, interactive, and for the most part seemed to soak up what we had to say. This project not only educated the students we were with, but it boosted our confidence as well and taught us more about how to assess an situation and present information in an appropriate way based on setting and audience. Education is such an essential aspect of community health, and this experience certainly enhanced my understanding of that fact and my own ability to present the information.

Besides clinical, another exciting event that took place last weekend was a trip we all got to go on to see some of the battlefields we have been studying about in our History and Culture of South Africa class. Leaving Friday morning, first we drove for about three hours to visit The Battle of Blood River. I’m not going to go into all the historical details, even though they are quite fascinating, but I will simply say it was a wonderful experience, I learned a ton (especially about the reconciliation that has taken place between blacks and whites over the years), and we had an incredible older man named Tony, who was basically a guru in South African history, teaching us as we went. We then stayed overnight in the most adorable little Bed & Breakfast and woke up early the next morning to visit two more battlefield sites which each had their own amazing stories. When we had finished we drove the three hours back, arriving slightly exhausted and having thoroughly enjoyed the weekend, but also having quite a lot of homework and not a lot of time to accomplish it. Therefore, I skipped church for the first time last Sunday, but that is not something I am going to make a habit of! In fact, this weekend our “excursion” was canceled due to uncooperative weather, so I have been able to get a little caught up on work and am looking forward to getting back to church tomorrow!

On one final note, I have to say that I experienced God this week in one of the most incredible ways I have ever experienced Him. It is difficult to explain because I cannot go into details about the situation, but to put it simply, I literally saw the hand of God in my life. I feel like in this life God is constantly working, and we are mostly unaware…but there are those moments, those times when everything makes sense, and it is so blatantly clear that God has orchestrated the occurrences of your life so perfectly, so beautifully, and with such intentionality that there is no explanation outside of Him. I feel that those moments are His blessing to us, His way of proving once again that He is God, and He is good, and He has a plan and a purpose that is beyond our understanding. I know this all must sound quite vague, but I was beyond blessed this week, and I just pray that I will continue to rest and rejoice in the Author of my life…whether I can see his hand at work or not.

Be blessed this week! Choose joy!

Bravery

Later on this week I'll post a more thorough explanation of all the wonderful things that have been taking place here over the past week, but for now I just wanted to share something that's been on my heart recently. This is actually a song called Bravery that I wrote in regards to the South African people I've come in contact with so far...whether that be through clinical, church, or just daily life...and it flows a lot better as a song than a poem, but I just wanted to share my thoughts.

I’ve seen the face of bravery,
And it wasn’t what I thought it’d be,
I’ve seen the eyes that challenge fear,
But aren’t afraid to shed a tear,
I’ve seen skin that weathers well,
Each line that forms has stories to tell,
I’ve seen hands that work through pain,
And smiles that choose to stay,
Despite what lies ahead...

I’ve seen strength among the weak
I’ve seen joy in midst of sorrow
Riches in the poorest place
I’ve seen courage through despair
I’ve seen cripples take a stand
Bravery like none other
Beauty unsurpassed
Life lived for today
‘Cause tomorrow might not last

I’ve heard the sound of serenity,
And it transformed what I knew of peace,
I’ve heard the cries of grateful souls,
Broken down by grace bestowed,
I’ve heard songs that fill the air,
And those who hear can’t help but share,
I’ve heard words that make life new,
And winds that whisper truth
Despite what this world says...

I’ve seen strength among the weak
I’ve seen joy in midst of sorrow
Riches in the poorest place
I’ve seen courage through despair
I’ve seen cripples take a stand
Bravery like none other
Beauty unsurpassed
Life lived for today
‘Cause tomorrow might not last

This place has changed my heart, has turned my world upside down,
This place has shown me life’s not what you think it’s about,
In this place I’ve seen people who’ve overcome more than I could ever dream,
And in this place I’ve seen the face of bravery.

Cow Manure: More Useful Than You Might Think

The weeks are going by quicker, and the weekends even more so. Looking back each week sometimes it’s hard to know where to start, but I’ll do my best. I was actually kind of sick this week…nothing serious, just an incredibly annoying runny nose, sore throat, and a bit of a cough, enough to knock me out for a couple days. Although I was supposed to go to clinical twice this week, I ended up skipping a day to stay home and rest, which I hated doing, but my mother’s words, “it’s in the better part of wisdom” kept running through my head, so I just went with it. On Wednesday, when I actually got to go to the clinic, I was able to help out with some blood draws, which I was very much looking forward to. Doing blood draws and giving injections are really the only “skills” (so to speak) in community health, as much of it involves assessment and a whole lot of teaching. Therefore, whenever we get to do blood draws it’s a very exciting experience. In the two that I was able to do I didn’t mess up, blow through any veins, or stick anything with the needle that wasn’t meant to be stuck, so that was good. It is certainly a surreal experience however drawing up HIV/AIDS blood into vials, and being so close to contaminated needles. More so than the blood itself, it is mind-numbing to see face after face, person after person, coming in to get their blood drawn, and knowing that each of them has HIV/AIDS, a horrible, debilitating, life-threatening, humiliating, painful, stigmatized, incurable disease…and the more I see them as people rather than patients, the more difficult it will become, but the kind of difficult I feel like I need to experience.

Besides clinical, there really wasn’t a whole lot that happened in relation to school this week. We were able to have a prayer walk on Thursday night in which we went to various rooms and buildings on the campus and prayed for what would take place in those places, the conversations that would occur, the people who would be serving or teaching us, and overall that God would move in mighty ways in everything said and done throughout this semester. It was a wonderful night, and a great time of recognition for what the Lord can do and will do as we walk with Him through this life, lifting everything up to Him in prayer.

Each weekend we have some sort of excursion we go on, and this weekend was quite exciting. We went on a “Zulu field trip” to Ecabanzini, where we stayed for a day and a half and learned all about traditional Zulu culture. The site where we stayed was absolutely beautiful, and we were split up into groups to stay in different “huts” for the night. We learned about the structure of their homes, the way the huts are organized, the way they use cow manure to make their own methane gas (which basically never runs out, as the cows never run out of dung to provide). Along with this ingenious use for cow manure, there was another use for it that we learned about: cleaning the floors. Because of the material their floors are made of, when they get dirty, you can’t simply clean them with water, because it just turns to mud. Because of this, they take cow manure, and cover the floor in a thin layer, which takes the dirt away and “cleans” it. That’s actually not all you can do with cow manure…there’s more! Due to the fact that they just feed their cows grass and not all the nasty things we do, the manure is actually an antiseptic, and they use it to put on baby’s umbilical cords to keep them from getting infected. True story.

Well, along with playing with cow dung, we got to have a wonderful Zulu meal, practice some Zulu dancing, hang out with Zulu cows (which slept in a corral right outside where we were sleeping…I basically woke up to mooing cows), make pottery, bead jewelry, learn how to “stick fight,” and attempt to speak Zulu with the Zulu people dressed up in their awesome traditional outfits. Needless to say, it was quite the experience! So, after leaving on Saturday afternoon, we got back to campus and had about an hour to eat and get cleaned up before heading off to Durban to go to a professional rugby game! It was the Sharks against the Lions, and we all dressed up in Sharks colors (basically black and white), and the Sharks won! It was so great! I’d never really seen rugby before, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I felt like I somewhat understood what was going on, which is not true of many sports out there for me.

After a long Friday and Saturday, Sunday arrives, and although it is a day of rest, it was pretty packed as well. I went to the same church I’ve been going to in the morning, and it once again was wonderful…so wonderful that I decided to go back again Sunday night. So I had a few hours in the afternoon to get some work done, but then I headed right back to church…and it was neat because they actually asked the APU people to sing a couple songs, so I ended up singing a song in church, which was exciting. I have never felt so welcome and comfortable in a church before…and like everyone in there loves me. It’s fantastic. God is good, and He’s teaching me more and more about the Holy Spirit. I feel like sometimes in the states (or at least in the churches I’ve been to) there is an emphasis on God the Father and Jesus the Son, but then the Holy Spirit doesn’t really get much attention…well, that is not the case here, and I love it!

Well, it’s late, so I bid you all adieu, and pray that the Lord is blessing you and keeping you in His mighty grasp! Love to all!

Ngiya Jabula = "I Am Happy"

This week has been a blur of classes, clinicals, music, tea, chapel, homework (not as prominent as it should have been), and finding God all around me. It all started Sunday, when I was able to attend one of the three churches we are provided rides to, and it was absolutely incredible. The church is called God’s Family Life Center, and from the second I walked in the door I could feel the Holy Spirit moving and felt so welcomed by everyone around me. The worship was amazing, passionate, gospel-ish, with dancing, clapping, and endless joy. I felt so comfortable worshipping, and it truly blessed me. The pastor was also incredible in His passion for the Lord, and his knowledge of scripture. He knew the Bible backward and forward, and he quoted different verses all throughout his message, even though it was based on one specific passage. It was so great to hear Truth spoken so plainly, and to be greeted by everyone so openly! Everyone gave hugs when greeting each other, and there’s nothing that helps you feel more like part of a family than by receiving a hug from someone you’ve just met. It actually turned out that there was an outreach service that same night, and I ended up going with a couple other students. If the first service I attended hadn’t made me fall completely in love with this body of believers, that night certainly did the trick. It was once again an amazing time of worship, testimonies, praise dance, prayer, anointing, and overall glorifying God through song, dance, and spoken word. Even though this is the first church I’ve attended, and they suggest maybe trying all three and then picking one that you want to consistently attend, I’m pretty sure I’m just going to stick with what I’ve got…because I already can’t wait to go back on Sunday!

Monday is a heavy class-load day, so it was basically filled with lectures, all of which are going very well so far, and then that night a bunch of us did a Turbo Jam kickboxing video, as well as a P90X Ab Ripper workout video, which almost killed me, while feeling great at the same time. Exercise will hopefully remain a consistent activity while staying here. Tuesday and Wednesday were long days because they were two back-to-back clinical days. Normally we go on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but Thursday was a national holiday this week (Heritage Day), so we switched it up. Tuesday I was in the Prevention of Mother To Child Transmission (PMTCT) clinic, and I definitely learned a lot about HIV/AIDS and the risks of pregnancy, available treatment, and prevention methods implemented in the clinic. There was not a whole lot I could do as far as interactive patient care, but I did some record keeping, history taking from a few patients, and got to learn many things from the nurses working there. Wednesday I went to the ARV (anti-retroviral) clinic, which is in charge of monitoring HIV/AIDS patients, keeping their blood tests up to date (which include CD4 count, viral load, full blood count, and liver function tests), as well as providing medications to those receiving treatment. Due to the holiday on Thursday, things were CRAZY in the clinic because everyone who would have come on Thursday was added to Wednesday. Because of this, there wasn’t much I could do to help besides simple record-keeping, as the patients were basically herded like cattle, as fast as they could go through the clinic. The second half of the day, in order to learn as much as possible from the experience rather than just doing paperwork the whole time, I sat in a room with a doctor and was able to observe her as she saw each patient individually and learn from her as she talked me through everything. It was truly helpful getting her perspective on the matter and learning from the experiences she’s had. One thing she told me that really stuck was that within the clinic where we were working, 90-95% of the people have HIV/AIDS. Now, they don’t necessarily know this, since many people haven’t been tested, but she was confident that this statistic was correct. Well, regardless of the exact percentage, the point is that HIV/AIDS is extremely prevalent here. In fact, the doctor also told me that KwaZulu-Natal (the province we’re staying in right now) has a higher rate of HIV/AIDS than any other province in South Africa. I know I am going to learn so much, but most of all I know I’m going to be broken down by the devastation and suffering around me caused by this horrible disease.

After those two clinical days, Thurday was a day off from classes, which was much needed. I basically slept in, played guitar for quite a while, did absolutely no homework, a group of us went out to dinner at a pizza place (because some of us were craving pizza - and I ended up ordering one with bananas on it...it was amazing!), and then I had chapel worship practice, followed by an awesome gospel jam session…which consisted of blasting gospel music in the chapel room, while we danced around, singing and clapping our little hearts out…it was fabulous. Friday, just like Monday, is a heavier class-load day, so I was busy with that most of the day. However, tonight a bunch of us went out to a youth outreach to support Fox Fire, a ministry associated with African Enterprise (the facility where we’re living). Fox Fire is composed of college-aged students who dance and sing, and in their performance present the gospel. Well, we didn’t really know what we were getting into, but it turned out to be a bunch of different groups singing, dancing, and doing drama, but there was one choir in particular which sang at the end, and it basically blew my mind. Some of the most incredible singing I’ve ever heard, and it truly brought joy to my soul and put the biggest smile on my face for the longest time. Right after the performance I asked Phillip, our wonderful driver, how to say, “I am happy” in Zulu, and he told me it is Ngiya Jabula. I kept repeating that phrase all the way home. Music continues to be a central and powerful force in this trip, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Today was “Durban Day,” so we all loaded into cars and went to Durban to shop and enjoy the beautiful beach! We all loaded up on souvenirs for family, friends, and ourselves, and then headed over to the water. It was a wonderfully sunny day, and I think we all enjoyed being introduced to the Indian Ocean…it was quite crowded, and there is only a small portion of water that people are allowed to swim in, so it was ridiculously crowded...also, we always seem to stand out when all of us travel as a group, but it was a very relaxing day none the less. Anyway, homework awaits! So until next time, I hope and pray God blesses you and fills you with His endless joy!