First Free Weekend

Since this is our anniversary weekend, we said goodbye to our new family and headed down to the waterfront to the V and A hotel. My my, it is fancy..Compared to what we are sleeping on this is definitely luxury. A big fluffy bed and fluffy pillows awaited us inside with a lot of bells and whistles. This will be a nice break away for sure. Now Ilove the people in our house...most are going on an extreme sport weekend up to the Eastcoast...we will all share photos on Sunday night. We will have our safari photos to share and they willhave their bunjee, zip, photos to share. I needed a mental break away too..since I am working in a setting with women who have tough lives, and I see going to work the poorest dwellings...I find I need to fill up this weekend. Tonight we have chosen an African restaurant named Mama Africas...they have dancing African style and singing during dinner.

Today I actually got the privedge of Counseling two different women in our center. Most of the time, I just listened to their feelings because I cannot give guidance since i do not know what services are available for the women. They really try to get the women to venture out and get jobs, take care of their paper business and see to their children in school. THey do not want the women to get to lazy and not do for themselves. So they are gentle but they push. The social worker sees the women daily and is there to motherthem and always give help. Today the women had smiles because some big benifactor sent clothes for women and children and babies...they had big smiles And where happy to show "auntie" as they call me their new things. One of the women is a masage therapist and I am going to have her give me reflexology next Monday. The staff all want to come to SF...they have really taken me under their wing. THey were all giggly about my weekend away for my anniversary.

There are many services in the townships there to help thehomeless, the HIV/AIds patients, the abused women, the orphans, the abused children.. THere, amid the dwellings you can see a building providing some service. The biggest problem in SA now are the people immigranting from Zimbawee and other areas such as Ghana...over 1000 weekly. Then they need to get an assylum card to assure they can stay..But the paper work is extensive and it can takedays and days for them. You might wonder, where do they stay until then....onthe streets, under bridges....this is where the crime comes in because the township SA do not want the zimbawees at all...there is so much prejudice between Africans from every area. One of our house mates works at the immigration house so that is why I know so much now about the process.

Hope you are enjoying my blog....until next time..Love, Dianne