In the middle of nowhere

Dumelang! Lekay? Arrhona..

That’s’ how limited my Pedi knowledge is after almost 4 weeks in Limpopo. And also “Lafisha” which means it’s hot. And I’m telling you, Limpopo is HOT!! Eish, Apel, our first community, was a nightmare concerning weather. You were constantly sweating. Only way to cool down was to throw a bucket of water over you. That helped for about 5 minutes, and my host family would look at me as if I was crazy..:)

Apel was a semi rural community and much more quiet than Mt. Frere. My host family consisted of a grandmother and her 2 year old grandson. It was a new house, but no water or toilet inside the house so that was a big challenge. The roof wasn’t finished neither so there was an opening between the rooms. One night we found a bat inside the house… lol!! But at least there were no chickens to wake me up at 5 am…

But I loved Apel. I couldn’t have asked for a nicer family, and the community members were so positive and enthusiastic to everything we did. It was our first community and of course there were challenges, both with the community and also among our group. But at the end of the day it didn’t matter. Every night I would stand outside brushing my teeth while looking at the stars and thinking how grateful I am for this experience.

We are now in a rural community called Ga- Radingwana. It’s a small community about half an hour from Apel. But the difference is huge. In Apel they had Spar and other shops, but here you only find small spaza shop. The roads are all gravel roads and most of them don’t look like roads at all. Apel was filled with minibus taxies, here you might see 1 or 2 a day. But this place is truly beautiful surrounded by mountains. We went on a hike on Saturday and I felt like home:)

The community is also doing an amazing job in regards to sport development. For such a small place there is so much activity going on and we sometimes wonder if they need us here at all. But they are so eager to improve and learn more, and the volunteers are now busy planning coaching clinics and tournaments. Clare and I are now having so much free time compared to Apel. But this is a good thing because it shows how good the community is organised and how better the program is going for the volunteers.

And my living situation here is just incredible. Together with TK, our chief team leader, I’m staying in a palace. The family consists of our host dad, his daughter and his sister. The house is so beautiful and we have a toilet inside and satellite TV! I am afraid the next three houses will be a disappointment after this.. lol

Sharp sharp guys. I’m doing great, but miss you all so much. I am really excited about seeing Diva and Ann Cecilie in less than two weeks. It is too bad they will not get to visit me in any of the communities, but South Africa is such an amazing country so know they will enjoy it:)

Take care

XXXX