Visa update

Just a quick visa progress update - I finally got my medical yesterday. After waiting weeks for the appointment, when I arrived at the surgery I was told that the doctor wasn't in after all! Thankfully a different doctor kindly added me to his list & then happily checked me over, declaring me fit & healthy for my visa application. Hurray! And an added bonus, having been told it could cost me £100 for the xray then £100 for the medical, I've actually paid nothing (if you ignore my tax contributions - and yours!). So now I'm just waiting for a letter to arrive from Clarens stating that I'm going to be volunteering at Dihlabeng Church. As soon as that arrives I will be going to London to put my application in at South Africa House.

I also managed to get my international driving licence at the weekend. It's a pretty strange document - it looks like it's come straight out of WW2!

On Saturday I'm hosting my first of 5 craft fair fundraisers. The last couple of weeks have been a bit manic getting ready for it, but I think I'm there now. All we need is some sunshine so that people can enjoy their cream teas in the garden!

Generous Giving

The last few weeks have been amazing in terms of God's provision for me. So many people have made generous financial gifts to me - thank you all so much! It has been really encouraging to go from not really knowing what was going to happen, to knowing at least how I'm going to pay rent! People always say 'if it's God's will He'll provide.' It sounds like a cliche but now I'm finding the truth in it.

I have my medical next week, and thanks to some friends have managed to track down the specific forms I need the doctor to fill in & it seems I don't need such an indepth medical after all which is good!

Unfortunately I overlooked a couple of things I need for my visa so am now trying to pull everything together so that I can go straight to South Africa House with my application after I have my medical. The most important thing is that an official letter arrives from Dihlabeng Christian Church stating that I will be volunteering with them. Unsuprisingly the whole visa system would appear a little more complicated than originally anticipated - South African Home Affairs department has quite a reputation for red tape!

Calendar update - 14/100 now sold!

I finally had my xray....

Yesterday I finally got around to getting my chest xray done. It was actually a pretty painless experience aside from the part where I couldn't suss-out how to put the gown on. First I tried it backwards, then forwards, then backwards, then forwards at which point the radiographer came to get me and said it needed to go backwards so I had to change it again. Those things really should come with instructions!

So now I have to make a doctor's appointment for 2 weeks time to get the results. I have to prove to the SA authorities that I don't have TB. This seems a little weird as SA is pretty rife with TB so one more person arriving with it wouldn't make much of a difference! While I'm at the doctor's getting the results, he's also going to give me a medical for my visa application. This really does scare me a bit. But I have to have it done, or I can't apply for temporary residence, so I'll just have to be brave.

Quick calendar update - 8/100 sold already!