wellspringsouthafrica2007's Xanga

part 5

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 16:40:53 GMT

every morning we were greeted with this cheery smile

most days, the team split up into several diffferent groups to work on various projects throughout the community. on saturday however, the entire team stayed together and went to k2, for the saturday youth program. weekdays, this is a day care for aids orphans, however on saturday it is opened up for the youth in the community to participate in various activities ranging from learning trade skills to providing a safe place to hang out.

here the team meets with levy
a native of zambia, he is one of the masoyi staff volunteers who help run the saturday program

inside one of the classrooms, the youth learn how to sew and make tablecloths and napkins

chuck, juliet, and meg check out some of the finished goods that the youth have made
the team purchased the colorful t-shirts in the plastics bags which we all wore when we presented our missions report to wellspring

not one to pass up a good deal, lauren picks out some fabric patterns to place an order for some table cloth napkins to bring back home

meanwhile outside, one of the staff members teaches some of the team members some dance moves

stephen and samp try their best to follow along

a few of the kids wanted to get some treats at a nearby shack right outside the k2 grounds
lauren, noah, and juliet and a few of the kids head out

this is the shack right outside of k2
there were tons of shacks just like this along the main road that cuts through the masoyi community

the masoyi girls adored juliet, they wanted a photo specifically with her

back at k2, george snyman (director and founder of hands@work) showed up for a visit

having limited success with the local dances, samp teaches a few of his own

and not to be outdone, one of the youth kids shows off his moves

the kids gather around juliet as she teaches them the art of origami

lining everyone up for a few rounds of the hand squeezing game 'electricty'
stephen gives some instructions

deep in prayer? not exactly
face down, the hand squeezing electrical pulses race through the teams to snatch the bean bag off the ground

in this photo below, lauren shares with george about her desire to get more involved with hands@work as her kids are getting older and she has more free time
george shares with lauren, how they have been praying for someone exactly like her who can go back to america and share with the asian american community what is happening with hands@work in south africa. apparently, he had sent an email to psam and linda specifically about this prayer request, while the team was enroute to south africa which wasn't received yet, since we were without internet access. an amazing prayer request answered!

lauren shared at the missions report readout to wellspring back in august, as well as in a missions spotlight last week at church, how she will be heading up a group that will look into how wellspring and bay area churches can partner with hands@work and the local church in africa.

if you are a wellspringer interested in getting involved
or
if you attend another church other than wellspring, and would like lauren to come speak at your church to learn more about hands@work
please be sure to contact her, or anyone on the team for more information

one of the matriarch figures at k2, ma sylvia puts the finishing touches on some napkins

hands .... at work

back outside, levy meets with a few visitors from USAID and explains to them K2 and the saturday youth program
with recent cuts to finances, hands@work was in the midst of facing pressure that it had not previously experienced
shortly after returning to america, the team learned that these ladies from USAID were able to secure the grant money needed for hands@work, another prayer answered

jenny, juliet, and nikki (george's daughter) watch on as some of the kids play a game similar to jacks

needing minimal supervision, calvin freely roamed the grounds at K2 as quite the wellspring ambassador
here, he shares his ..... rocks

george talks with some of the youth

as team linguist, jungjoo recruits some help from the older kids, to help translate "we fall down" from english to swazi, the local language of masoyi
(had we been in botsawna, or these people spoken setswana, our translation would have been a breeze, courtesy of chris tomlin )

having translated the song rather quickly, jungjoo leads the kids in singing it

teamwork teamwork teamwork......

how do you get everyone of all ages to participate in something?
three words ..... water balloon toss
everyone loved this!

stephen counts down and gives the signal for bombs away

psam, jungjoo, and linda discuss their strategy for staying dry

patty cake queen jenny hangs with the best of them

near the end of the day, we gathered everyone together and psam gave a brief message to the kids

and we tried out the newly translated song, and the kids learned pretty quicky

and what trip to south africa would be complete without a trip to the salon?
here the girls of salon mpumalunga check out linda's roots before giving it a good weave

next customer .... meg

stephen and samp pose with some of the older kids near the end of the day
kat (caucasian girl in center) is a volunteer with wywam (world youth with a mission)
we met a few other wywam folks during our time in south africa

rewind just 2 years ago, k2 was a dirt lot still under construction, there were no laughing kids, or saturday programs for youth
the wellspring 2005 team of 6 helped with the builing/construction to transform k2 to what it is today
great job fellas!

part 4

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 08:20:44 GMT

on friday, we had the opportunity to go and visit kruger national park
the park is about the size of israel, and this place is as lion king as it gets
wild animals in their natural environs, no fences, no gates, you are not allowed to get out of your car

we got there at the crack of dawn, witnessed a south african sunrise in all it's color and splendor

you can hire a paid tour guide in an suv like the one pictured below, but we roamed the park in our own vehicles, at our own pace

the first animal to greet us was this african elephant
throughout the park you could tell where an elephant had been, everything is just trampled in a path
glad this one was at quite a distance, as we were warned that they sometimes charge vehicles

little bird hitches a ride on this roan antelope

in africa, there is what is known as the "big 5"
known for their size and difficulty to hunt, the 5 most prized animals that trophy hunters back in the hey day would hunt - lion, cape buffalo, elephant, rhino, & leopard
we saw the leopard!
due to it's nocturnal and reclusive behavior, it's the hardest of the big 5 to see in the wild
many native south africans have never seen a leopard even after mutliple park visits

a kudu checks us out from the bushes

trying to avoid mufasa, this hyena hides out in the thicket

vervet monkey eats a late morning snack

kudu crosses the road

usually found in trees, to avoid predators, this baboon roams the grounds and got pretty near our cars
it tried to introduce itself to henry, but henry would have none of it

baboons in nearby trees

there are roughly 170,000 impalas in kruger, and i think we saw just about all 170,000
they were pretty much everywhere

hungry hungry hippos take a nap at the watering hole
don't mess with hippos, apparently they kill more people annually than lions

as noah so eloquently sang for us ...... "when i was a young warthoooooog!"
we had to slam on the brakes after this one jumped right in front of the car as it crossed the road
the kruger guidebook pointed out that warthogs have very bad eyesight ....... eesh, no kidding!

there were a few gated visitor centers within the park where we could get out of the car
here we stopped for lunch, stephen and samp set up the grill for some hotdogs we never ended up eating

after lunch, we headed over to the posh visitor center patio cafe
cheers, the team enjoys their afternoon tea (or trader joe's soymilk in calvin's case)

mr and mrs pak discussing stuff

stephen shoots some hippos in the distance

we got back in our cars and followed the road that runs along the river, hoping to see more animals near the water
we spotted this herd of elephants heading towards the river

noah spots something approaching....

a lioness! she was stalking a group of impala and made a charge at them right in front of us!
unfortunately (for her), they scattered in time

my, what long eyelashes you have

as we exited the park, we got out to stretch our legs a bit
psam catches the last drops of sunlight with his camera

during the week, we were usually split up throughout the community, so it was nice to spend a day together as a team
what a privelege it was to see so much of God's creation in their natural habitat
the team (sans me) at the numbi gate exit

part 3

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 18:45:11 GMT

on thursday, one of the projects was in need of a photographer
so i had the unique opportunnity to tag along with the uniform distribution team
i paired up with a 3 masoyi volunteers, and we drove to 6 different elementary schools in the masoyi community
this program provides school uniforms to girls who are in the most need for assistance
from left, vivian, bricks, and noomsa talk with a teacher at the first school we visited

here vivian, the team lead, passes out supplies to the girls

one of the girls tries on her new t-shirt

bricks and noomsa, at the second school we visited, siyafundza primary (elementary)

everywhere we went, kids were attracted to us visitors
looking much different, and toting a large camera around my neck, i especially attracted alot of looks and attention

although only 5 students at this school are receiving uniforms as part of this program, all the kids crowd around to see what's going on

noomsa had to clear them out and make some space

bricks gets out supplies at the 3rd school we visited, zamani primary

noomsa and vivian review the list of zamani students who will be receiving their uniforms

colin, one of the teachers at zamani spoke with me as the uniforms were being distributed
he gave me some insight and background on the school structure in south africa
colin, on the right, talks with the principal

colin explained how when nelson mandela was elected, he mandated that all schools be self sufficient to a certain extent
this meant schools were to plant their own gardens to grow their own food
also, each school would have local volunteers in the community help the day to day needs for the school
the 2 ladies on the right are local community volunteers for this school, helping with the cooking, cleaning, gardening

vivian (upper left) poses with the girls in the program at zamani

the 4th school we visited, mdzimba primary (elementary)
many of the schools we visited, used old tires for the playground

vivian (on right) goes through the list of students with one of the teachers at the 5th school we visited, bambanani primary

the local community volunteers at bambanani school

noomsa hands out uniforms

the girls at bambanani

at the 6th school, tsembanani primary

bricks passes out shoes

the garden at tsembanani, where they grow much of the food they cook and serve to the students

boys getting a drink

distributions are done, noomsa poses with the girls at tsembanani

it's been a long day, noomsa, bricks, and vivian have done a great job
i had them sit on the steps of the school for a team photo
because of their tireless efforts, over 40 girls, in 6 different schools, now have new school uniforms
unlike many of the other masoyi staff i met, vivian didn't speak much to me so i did not know a whole lot about her other than she was the team lead for this project
we later learned from george, that vivian cares for 3 orhpan siblings and was an orphan herself, she's only 22

before we left tsembanani, vivian had one request for a photo with this student
apparently, this girl was deathly ill some time ago, and not expected to live
as you can see, she is healthy and doing well now, and vivian was overjoyed to have a photo of her to show some others who were familiar with this girl

meeting up with the rest of the team at the end of the day
carly came to talk to us about the vision and direction of the footprints organization

calvin and lauren take a stroll before dinner

part 2

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 04:06:25 GMT

we spent much of our time in south africa at 2 orphan daycare centers - 'lula care center' and 'k2'
these kids (ages 1-6) have lost both parents (mostly through aids/hiv), and are cared for by either a grandparent or older sibling at home

on tuesday and wednesday half the team went to k2
there are 3 small classroom buildings (each about the size of a small house) for the 35-40 kids who come each day

in the courtyard at k2, sits this rock plaque, commemorating the opening of k2 in 2005
the "k" in k2 stands for khayalethu, meaning "our home"

when we arrived, class was in session so we had a chance to observe
note - just about all south africans speak at least 2 languages, their own native regional/tribe's language, and english
at this early age, these kids can speak swazii and are just starting to learn english

we were probably a bit of a distraction
these kids were too interested in checking us out, so they weren't paying much attention to the teacher

neither was this handsome little guy

in one of the classroom buildings, there is a small kitchen where snacks and lunch are prepared

on the lot adjacent to k2, the masoyi building team is currently working on a new project
when completed, all 3 k2 classrooms will move into this new building
the existing 3 classrooms will then be used as the new office/hq for masoyi home based care

simon and temba take some measurements of the roof

i spent the better part of tues/wed doing construction work paired with happy (that's his name)
tuesday we were up on the roof measuring and placing these cinderbricks into position
these cinderbricks are no joke, they weigh about 25lbs each!

wednesday we covered over the cinderbrick walls with cement

construction is hard work, so i was glad when tea time rolled around

black/white, rich/poor, young/old, the country stops and breaks for tea time
one of the kids supervises eugene's tea pouring
(see the steam? even these kids drink it piping hot)

kids enjoying their rooibos tea and fried dough snack

i think juliet enjoyed her cup of rooibos tea

having had his fill, tea inspector calvin roams the tables, he likes what he sees

the construction guys having their tea
psam chats with simon, the team lead for the masoyi construction crew
psam first met simon when he came with the 2005 team
now that he returned, he was able to continue building on many of the relationships within the masoyi community

lauren, linda, and juliet lead the kids in some praise songs

duck duck goose, linda gets chased down

goose noah chases after his tagger

games inspector calvin surveys the scene, he likes what he sees here too

with psam playing the guitar we introduced a bouncy ball, for a few rounds of 'hot potato'
whoever was stuck with the ball when the music stopped, had to dance in the middle
usually there is an element of embarassement of having to perform for a crowd
not so with these kids .....wow, could they could dance!
even as young as they are, they each had a distinct style and a few signature moves of their own
this kid used his hands in cobra-like fashion to the delight of the crowd

these kids stole the show!

man, it was so much fun watching them dance!

not sure what she said, but linda has these kids running for their lives

in the afternoon, after the local elementary schools let out, a busload of older kids arrive at k2 for a meal
they too are oprhans, and for most of them the food they receive at school is the only food they receive for the day

back to work, simon and temba on the roof

cinderbricks are heavy stuff, eugene and psam measure and evaluate the quality of each brick

some time next year, God willing, all this wood, scaffolding, and dust will be replaced by a bunch of smiling faces and dancing feet

Wellspring South Africa (part 1)

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 18:42:48 GMT

waiting at JFK airport
henry teaches juliet the rubiks, stephen trying to get the blues lined up (not having much luck)

calvin passes the time by listening to one of psam's sermon podcasts

juliet writes an entry in her journal

as we approached the terminal, we saw these ladies with nifty headgear
turned out to be the emirates flight crew that ushered us from jfk to dubai

somewhere over the atlantic

5 bottles of ginger ale, 60 games of inflight tetris, and 3 servings of curried chicken later, we finally arrived in jo'burg
his second time here, psam is all smiles after de-planing
(as i took this photo, an african airport groundsman approached me and asked if i was korean. "yes", i replied. his friendly repsonse "cah-mah-rah ahn-deh-yo". translation - "put the camera away dude")

the snymans hosted a wonderful feast at their home for the team the day after we arrived
snyman family friend chris prays before the meal

our first meal in south africa
a delicious homemade spread prepared by carolyn

jungjoo and meg chatting with melody, the oldest of the 4 snyman kids

george talking, the guys listening

george discussing the situatuon in other african countries

carolyn introduces us to our first taste of rooibos tea
as a former dutch/english colony, south africans are a tea drinking people
we drank it 4 times a day, everyday ( breakfast, lunch, dinner, and of course ..... tea time )

jenny, chuck, and meg hanging out on the porch, watching the wild monkeys hopping around

linda telling george about reaksa's story and the team that went to cambodia earlier this year

what's in the box? turned out to be a centipede they caught!

when george visited wellspring in october '06, he told the story of how they met nikki as an infant who was near death and eventually brought her into their family
what an amazing living, breathing, laughing testimony of God's love working through the snymans
the lee kids and nikki played everyday
nothing but beautiful smiles and infectious laughter from this foursome the entire time we were there

juliet preparing to go out in the masoyi community for home based care

masoyi home based care
the wellspring team splits up during the week and joins the masoyi staff that serves the community in various ways
the lee's, eugene and i went to the masoyi clinic and teamed with the staff there
there is a short devotion and time of praise and prayer, before leaving the clinic and heading into the community to visit patients at their homes

in the morning, eugene and i teamed with emily
an amazing young woman, she is learning the masoyi model in south africa
after gaining the best practices, she will soon go back to her home country of zimbabwe and implement the masoyi model of home based care there
here she is doing a consult with a grannie (elderly lady) asking about her symptoms, and giving instructions on medication

we vistied another grannie here
made of scrap metal tin and plastic, and no bigger than a typical bedroom, this is her home
she had hiv and TB(tuberculosis) and was too weak to get out of bed
the masoyi staff asked her about her symptoms, and prepared some food for her while we were there
she was given medication and instructions on how to use it
the masoyi staff volunteers sang her favorite song, and there was a time of prayer for her

in the afternoon, eugene and i teamed with a different set of masoyi staff volunteers who were making home visitations as social workers
since the clinic vehicle was needed for more urgent needs, we set off on foot into the community
this road runs through the masoyi community and is the only paved road there
there are nothing but dirt roads branching off on both sides, with shacks and cinderblock homes as far as the eye can see in all directions

there are 5 orphan siblings living in this home
the young man on the right is the oldest sibling providing care, he's only 18
the 2 masoyi staff volunteers on the left talk with him to get an update on how things are going
the staff rely on word of mouth going through the community on how people are doing, and who is in need of care