a lifetime in a week

This is Grace updating for David. Internet is a bit "iffy" right now, so he's given me a quick update over the phone. Praise God for phones. The picture is from Hands at Work-Africa's flickr photo site.

Sanibonani ! Hello!

It's night... I'm staying for a couple days, back at the team base... I'm looking out at the hills and they are covered by flickering lights... this is a traditional community of about 250,000, run by elders and is scattered across the mountains... it looks like there are thousands of candles lighting up the hills. there are also fires The people in the community are terrified of frogs and snakes, so they burn off the grass to make sure they can see them coming. This gives me a good view of the village.

It's strange to see all the involvement here from the US and UN and various other organizations. They are everywhere, and still seem to be missing some vital areas. Hands at Work is so different... going to the places of biggest need, with the least support.

Building the community through the churches there, so that when they are finished the work, the church can carry on ministering.

The poverty has been overwhelming.

Staying this past week in a village, in a small block "house" which is just like a rough shed, it was the lap of luxury compared to some of the homes around. Our garbage dump is cleaner in comparison to some of the areas here. I stayed with 2 boys whose parents have died of Aids, Mduduzi (M-du-du-zi) and Sibusiso(See-boo-see-so) The boy's sister Thuli would come by to make meals for them. Apparently men don't cook here.

Every meal was a type of powdered corn meal, mushed together and ground and arranged in a heap, you grab a little bit and form it into a ball that you then dip into a type of gravy like sauce.

The home had no running water, no electricity, one bed -which we all shared. It gets dark here about 5:30 pm... no electricity means nothing to do after dark. We had a few small candles which made the whole situation very strange... there were none of the normal "comforts"... but they did have plenty of cockroaches! but they really make do with nothing it makes me feel ashamed

how happy they can be with nothing and I'm constantly on the search for entertainment.

The lack of toilet paper + my left handedness + the cultural way of eating with only their hands + the idea of the "dirty hand" being the left - had earned me the name of "poop eater" from the two boys and a long discussion with them on why I wasn't in fact a poop eater...

I like their other nickname for me just a little better - "big show" after the WWE wrestler, because of my height. No they don't have a t.v. or anything, but that kind of stuff somehow gets around amongst their friends and the people here the kids love wrestling.

In the days we would go to the orphange, cooking for and feeding the children in groups... first the little babies, then the small children and then after school, the school age kids would come for food and we would feed them probably the only meal they would eat that day, and help with homework. We gave the kids some sidewalk chalk, they ended up grinding it up on the ground and using it to paint their faces. Pretty cute, really funny. We also worked with some locals to build cinderblock house for a couple of young boys because the house they were living in I'm sure most of you would'nt even allow your pets to sleep in.

I haven't seen too much wildlife here, apart from snakes. There have been some pythons and spitting Cobras and massive spiders, but the locals here get to killing those pretty quick!

I expected to see bicycles, but apart from vehicles. People walk - everywhere! It all seems to be uphill.

I've seen women carrying heavier weights on their heads than I think I could carry. I don't know how their spines handle it.

I walked by a boy, maybe only 5 years old who was washing clothes in what looked like a puddle of water and singing happily to himself. As I walked by he nodded to me and said "how are you, how are you?" probably the only English he knows. He was such a cute kid.

Greetings here are important. You are expected to say hello to everyone you meet and ask them how they are. Shaking hands with everybody in the room. I learned quickly Sanibona yebo, unjani... hello, how are you? And have probably already used it a hundred times.

On Sunday Mduduzi, Sibusiso, and I walked to church a couple miles from the house. Coming back from church, we passed by about 13 children - all of them started shouting 'how are you? how are you?" The older brother, Mduduzi said "they want to know how you are..." So of course I said "I'm fine, how are you?" - this earned me a type of celebrity status and the kids started following us back to the village.

These kids are amazing. The two boys I stayed with are awesome and they have such an amazing attitude. Most of the children I have met are not only orphaned, but unwanted... the children whose parents have died of Aids. Life is hard for them. It amazes me how they can be so happy and free, in spite of the stigma, despite the poverty. God has given them a spirit of joy, deep down, that carries them through.

Working with children it's inevitable you catch any colds that they have - this has been the case for Dave.

So please pray that David regains his health quickly, and is able to adjust to all the changes. Pray for these children and the work of "Hands at Work- Africa"