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| A fun side light to our meeting. Sister DaBell has been teaching these children piano for the past six months. They are learning to play primary songs for the most part. These children are very special to us as we have gotten to know them so well. We have worked with their parents for the past 18 months. Thoba Karl Halla (Mazzy's granny) has been in our office and Dominic Tshabalala has been the National Public Affairs Director for South Africa (father of the rest.) We were invited to their very first piano recital. |
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| Mazzy with proud Granny Thoba taking the picture. |
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| Tondo--Dominic's oldest daughter. |
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| Dominic practices on his own with his children helping him. He played a simple hymn for us. They are all so excited to learn how to play the piano. |
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| A fun time for everyone. And our piano has found a home. We will be leaving it at the Tsabalala residence. They promise to come to Utah someday so we can hear them play. They have 5 children with one more on the way. Dominic's story is quite amazing. As a child, his father disappeared and most likely was killed during the Apartheid uprising. His mother was a maid for a white family in Johannesburg (about 30K from Soweto, the township where he lived with his Grandma.) He saw her once a year. And despite all this and much more, he is a loving and involved father. He and Moiponi (his wife) have 5 delightful children and a wonderful family. |
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| We returned to Capetown and our missionary work here. In January, 674 homes burned to the ground in this township. People have been living at the local recreation center and with family and friends since then. It is now March and the city and other non-profit organizations have been trying to erect temporary housing for many people. Only 100 homes are legal in this area. They build structures on top of other structures and to the side. So much so that when the fire broke out the fire trucks could not get to the fire because the roads all had homes on them. People are really quite destitute in this township. |
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| A local church house. |
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| This is home to 1000's of families. No electricity, running water, bathroom facilities, and their floor is often times dirt. |
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| This area is open everyday for business. They barbecue Chicken and Sausages on large cook stoves. |
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| I loved this picture of a grandma walking down the street. She looks like she might be looking for her grandchildren. MANY grandmothers raise the children in this community. |
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| This would be the community bathroom. Not a lot of privacy or convenience. |
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| These are waiting to be installed for the temporary housing area. |
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| Here Elder is trying to find a way to help the people. We have met a lot of road blocks but will keep trying. |
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| This is the size of the home. 18 square meters. That would be smaller than most kitchens in America. They refer to them as shacks but it is still home to them. Notice they sit on the sand. We're trying to find a way to buy linoleum to put on the floor but so far that hasn't worked. |
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| Here we see a lot of the people who have been displaced out working to build the new homes. Approximately 1/3 of the families in need are single mothers. That is such a problem here. Young girls (15-18) with a baby trying to survive on their own. If you catch the tone of this post, it is quite sobering for an American to see the challenges these people face each day. And in spite of all the hardship, they an unequivocally the kindest and friendliest people I have ever met. I will certainly miss their smiles. I can honestly say, "I found my smile in Africa." And I also found by far the greatest example of daily humility and love for the Savior in Africa. |
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