March 10, 2009

Well hello folks. I’m sad to inform you that my sickness plague has in fact returned for a second round, but I’m making it.
We had our first day at our service sites today, and I’m totally pumped. We’re looking to do some great things, and I am stoked to see what God does! For the first little bit of today we did a lot of planning and brainstorming, then my group of 4 got to head into the township right down the road. We picked up some people from the HIV/AIDS clinic and took them home. We got to see their homes, and smile with them (language barriers keep from a lot of communication). It’s so crazy to have interaction with someone who you know has HIV, not necessarily because they are degenerating at a pace faster than they should, but because I’m from a society where people with AIDS or HIV might as well be aliens…but they’re real people. They’re people you can laugh with, people who eat just like we do, and who put their pants on one leg at a time (unless of course it’s a skirt or a dress). It was very eye-opening. I found myself constantly thinking, ‘it shouldn’t be like this.’ People shouldn’t have AIDS, people shouldn’t be dying, it just shouldn’t be this way.
Upon returning, we had our lunches, and then got to meet our field-workin’ ladies that we are going to be with every Monday and Tuesday night. They were awesome! Our translator Pandile was able to help us communicate with them, and we were able to get an idea of what their lives are like, play some games with them, and sing some songs. There were 11 ladies total. They all work in the fields at Walk in the Light. That’s one of the things the ministry does is offer vegetable gardens to women. These 11 ladies, probably ranging from 30 to 60 years of age, make me so excited to dig further into the ministry. It was a spectacular day…minus the stomach and headaches haha.
That’s about it for now. Please pray for healing amongst our group. Sickness is spreading like wildfire and this is a horrible time with the service sites starting. Thanks y’all! See ya!