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It is amazing what 12 hours of sleep can do for the human body. Maybe cats could teach us a thing or two. We were determined to stay awake as long as we could last night. We had Tivoed many shows while were gone so went upstairs around 7 pm to catch up on "So You Think You Can Dance". By 7:30 I had checked out and I did not wake up until 7:30 this morning. I felt refreshed so, fortified by my first Starbucks in over three weeks, I balanced my checkbook and tackled the bills. I also went to the bank and turned in 620 Rands and got $62.70 credited back into my checking account. I figured I should try to do those tasks which required me to be alert just in case I crashed later in the day.

Reflecting on our experience in South Africa leaves us with so much to be thankful for. We met wonderful young people who see the value in volunteering and giving back. For me, as a former high school teacher, this was especially gratifying since, much as I loved teaching, I was sometimes discouraged by the self centeredness of teenagers. Most of our volunteers were college age females. There were two older men, Rick and myself. The other guys were in their 20's with the exception of Todd who is 31 and Rick's teenage sons. Never did I hear any of the vounteers complain about our living situation or their placements. They gave so willingly of themselves and I know that they touched the lives of those with whom they worked. For some of them, it may have been their first time so far from home. I think they may have found comfort having parent figures like Dianne, Juanita, and me living with them.

I also met many terrific young South Africans at Etafeni. Dianne and I both agree that the South Africans we met are all glass half full people. South Africa, especially the Western Cape, faces enormous problems. It is estimated that 1,000 people a day are making their way to the Western Cape hoping to find a better way of life for themselves and their families. Many come from other countries in Africa where there is war and/or instability in the government. These outsiders are not welcomed with open arms by South Africans as they are seen as competition for employment. They may end up in one of the already overcrowded townships. There is a recent history of xenophobic violence against them, and unfortunately, there will likely be more in the future as their numbers increase. The young people with whom I worked are all township dwellers and all unemployed. Even with that, it was encouraging to see them coming to class each day. They are all filled with hope that if they work at it, life will be better for them and they may be able to buy a car or a home in the future. Their graduation ceremony was one of the highligts of my experience. To see them dressed up and wearing caps and gowns and smiling was very heartwarming. You would have thought that the certificates they received were gold the way they held them. It was great.

I have a lot of pictures to go through as I took over 970 pictures. Each picture will be a special treasure for me and I know I may have a tough time choosing which pictures to keep. I am so thankful for digital photography so I can review and delete those "what was I thinking when I took this picture" pictures.

A couple of final thoughts for this post. More things I learned in South Africa. Rugby is fairly easy to understand, cricket is not. I read some accounts of cricket matches in the papers and although written in English, I could have used an interpreter as I had no idea what was being said. I suppose people who come from cricket playing countries could say the same about baseball.

Going to close for now. Stay well everyone.
Art