Just an Update

It's been a fairly uneventful week, although I was busier this week than ever before. Here's a recap of what's been happening:

1. On Monday, I started overseeing a group of 10 high school kids from Global Leadership Adventures. GLA takes kids from the U.S., Europe, the Middle East and Africa to the developing world so they can see how other parts of the world operate. The kids are all considered high achievers, and many come from affluent households. They spend mornings in class learning about global issues, from human rights to health issues, economics to entertainment. Their afternoons are spent on community service projects. GLA has high expectations for these kids and really pushes them to learn and grow.

JL Zwane was lucky to get 10 students from the programme. They spend about 3 hours with the Centre 4 days during the week. Our big project is to paint the Stormont Madebela school that I've written about previously. To say it really needs a paint job is like saying I need hair plugs - it's that bad. We're battling weather, so we only had one good painting day. But, it's amazing how much 12-13 people can get done, and it looks better already.

Besides painting, the kids will be doing a beading project, leading an art class for local kids, and helping with a soccer tournament. They all like interacting with the local youth, so the agenda is a good mix of hard work and play. I never knew how exhausting leading a youth group can be, though. I have a lot more respect for people who do that everyday, like teachers.

2. Speaking of teachers, the strike appears to be over. The unions have started to sign off on the government's final offer of 7.5%. School won't start for another two weeks, because it's now school holiday, and districts are scrambling to figure out how to make up the lost time. I have a feeling they'll just write it off.

3. The snow in Johannesburg was much more of a problem than I originally thought. Keep in mind they only got about an inch. But, it shut down the airport for at least one day. They just didn't have any way to move the snow off the runways, so planes couldn't take off or land. Planes flew up there from Cape Town only to turn around and come back (how did they have enough fuel for that?).

4. Edwin took off on Wednesday to go to Mexico and the U.S. (Dallas). Spiwo is also gone for a few days, leaving me in charge of the Centre. I don't really have to do anything different, but it feels a little strange to be responsible for things.

5. Spiwo and I had a meeting with the South Africa country manager for Glaxo SmithKline this week. GSK is the largest seller of HIV medications in the world and it would be great to partner with them in some way. We're submitting a proposal and I'll let you know if anything develops.

6. The garden is growing. It seems to be going a little slowly, but it has been cold lately. I think we'll have something to eat in 4-6 weeks.

I've been here three months as of today. The time has gone by quick and slow at the same time. I miss home, and Cindy's been a real rock in dealing with things back there (including dog ear infections, of all things). But, I can feel that I'm making a difference here, and my own personal sacrifices, as large or small as they may be, are certainly worth it.

I'm off to Stellenbosch this afternoon to accompany Siyaya on a performance for the full GLA group. It'll be fun to see how the full group interacts with a real African performance group with a very strong HIV/AIDS education message.

More to come.