Saturday

Blog entry #3 Dec 2016 trip

Any old iPhones laying around (iPhone 4 or better?)?  As our kids get older and start getting into college, they need access to the internet.  Internet here is almost impossible to find – except on smartphones.  We gave 3 out this trip to our older students and I am thrilled to give them access to information at their fingertips!  They can log into their college courses online through blackboard and can message classmates questions or arrange study groups.  Just like any of our US college kiddos.  If you have any old phones – please contact me, I can help you unlock them so they are compatible here.

Every time we enter a store, they have to replenish their stock as soon as we leave!  We went to the wholesale store this morning for more food and then to PEP to buy 35 pairs of shoes for our New Hope orphaned children.  The lady at the register was shocked when we kept putting more and more pairs on the table – so much so that she gave us a discount! (Thanks Sube & Margaret!)
We then delivered 100 reusable Sanitary Pad kits to our New Hope Centre.  They are going to distribute them to the adolescent girls in the area to insure that they are able to go to school during their periods.  (Thanks Kristen and WestWind Church!)

We next delivered food to our feeding center that will last them until we return in March.  The food was so heavy (10 – 50kg bags of rice, beans, sugar, mealies…that’s more than 1,000 lb!) that the car was struggling up the mountainous terrain… but she made it! As we left the New Hope Centre, we watched as kids walked from every direction near and far to get their nutritious meal.  We offer hot meals to all destitute children of the area 6 days a week (the kids can get a meal at their churches on Sunday) – typically totaling over 100 children per day! (Thanks mom!)

As I’m typing this, Erika, Maddy, Karlie and Austin are outside sanitizing used hotel soaps.  Beish collected almost 3,000 used soaps from hotels since our last trip here. We cleaned 550 last night and will clean another 700+ each day the next 3 days.   The sanitized soaps are then distributed to the rural community schools, including our own – New Hope, and given to the children to take home once a week.  We are partnering with the Ministry of Health on this project to eliminate communicable and preventable disease. 

In 20 minutes we are going to go shoot off “crickets” with our eLangeni kids.  Wish me luck staying up late.  This mama of a toddler usually is asleep by 8:30p!! Thanks for following our journey! Happy New Year!!!

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