Afrika Afrika!

Well I'm finally able to update my blog! The internet here is tricky and until now I didn't have enough time online on a stable connection to write anything. But, hurray, I now have my own connection in my new flat!

The last few weeks have been a complete emotional rollercoaster! There have been some amazing highs, but also some rock-bottom lows. I think I'll get those out of the way first.....

My birthday - this will feature on both the low & high list, but inevitably I woke up feeling low. It's never going to be nice waking up on your own on the other side of the world and realise that you're now very nearly 30!

My car - again this will feature on both the low & high list. A friend has very generously lent me the money to buy a car. Second hand cars here are incredibly expensive, but consequently hold their value. One of the elders at church asked if he could choose me a car to try and ensure that I didn't get ripped off. Buying cars here is a mission - there are no MOTs, you very rarely get a service history or find out how many owners etc. Anyway having chosen a car, he then got his usual mechanic to check it over who said that it was in good condition but the front brakes and handbrake needed tweeking. So we agreed that I would buy the car as long as this was sorted out. I picked the car up on my birthday (a Wednesday). For the next few days I felt that the brakes weren't working well so I decided that on the following Monday I would take it back to the garage (which of course is half an hour away in Bethlehem) to get the checked. But on the Sunday the brakes actually failed. A guy from church spent the whole afternoon with my car jacked up on his drive looking at it, and discovered that the one of the back brake pads was completely mis-shapen which had caused all the brake fluid to leak out. He did a temporary fix for me, and I took it to the garage on the Monday to be properly fixed. I left on Monday night feeling good because fixing the back brakes meant that now the hand brake was also working well. However my peace was short-lived. On Tuesday afternoon the clutch cable snapped! So then Steve arranged for the car to be collected by the mechanic. Having said they would come on Wednesday morning, they finally arrived at 4pm so I wasted a whole day waiting at home for them. In the meantime I had also noticed that the car had absolutely no oil in the engine. So in the end I paid for a complete service for my own peace of mind. Then when I finally got my registration documents this week I had trouble getting my new tax disc, so the saga continues.....

My bank card - one of my bank cards has been cloned and used in the UK. In itself it's not a big deal as thankfully the bank spotted it before they spent all my money. But it's just such a hassle trying to sort it out from here. I was told that the money was going to be refunded and that I'd get a new card etc, but now it seems it might not be that straight forward. And of course I can't risk having my bank card and PIN posted here, so I have to wait for my next visitor to get it.

Headaches - I think because I've been feeling stressed about things (car, moving etc) the last couple of weeks I've been battling quite a few headaches. With everything that's been happening I've been feeling at times overwhelmed by the enormity of what I'm doing. Why did I ever think it would be easy for a single english girl to move to Africa & try and buy a car for instance?!


But enough moaning, here are some of the highs:

My birthday - once I'd got through the stress of the morning, and picking up my car (spending 5 hours in Bethlehem waiting for it), I had a fantastic braai (bbq). I'd invited loads of people and we had a great time together. Hopefully there'll be photos on facebook soon.

My car - despite all the hassle, having a car here makes such a difference to life in Clarens. It's wonderful to be able to go and do my food shop whenever I have time rather than rearranging my schedule to fit in with a lift.

My visitors - since last blogging, I have had a number of visitors. I had Dave & Anj, John & Val and Jenny from Hatfield. They spent a week in Clarens, then a week in Maseru before finishing their trip with another couple of nights in Clarens. It was really fun to have them around. Those of you who know them will understand the kind of impression they leave! A particularly stand out moment was Anj playing with the kids at Mapheo - all the leaders were in awe of her ability to draw the little girls into a game with their 'babies'. On their last night we went out for a posh dinner to end their holiday and celebrate my birthday - thanks guys! Then last week I had 2 of my most favourite people in the world here - Tally & Mary. Unfortunately because of wedding dress fittings (it's a long story which I won't go into here) Tally could only stay one night, but Mary stayed on for a couple more. We had a great time together. It was hard to say goodbye, especially since I can't get to Tally's wedding in April to be her bridesmaid so when I see her in July she'll already be Mrs Ottewell.

Cell group in Lesotho - while Mary was here we went along to a cell group in the Lesotho highlands. It was such a truly African experience. I was driving one vehicle while another english guy, Dave, was driving a landrover through. We were taking 2 cars as there are so many people to pick up along the way. Unfortunately when we got to the border, we had just gone past the point of no return on the SA side when the landrover broke down. After trying to sort it we agreed that Mary & I would drive through the border, then straight back again into SA to the point where we had phone reception so that we could call for help. We got through to Lesotho fine, but coming straight back through to SA caused us some issues. The lady at the border post just could not understand what we were doing and was not happy about it. After holding onto my passport for a while, she finally relented. As we were driving through no-man's land back to the SA side we came across the guys who had decided to walk through the border and leave the car behind. So then we had to go straight through the border a second time! Thankfully this time on the Lesotho side, Fusi who is Basotho was with us so he could explain to the border official what we were doing coming back again so soon. By this time we were running over an hour late. We drove through to the normal pick up points to collect people - it was great to see old friends again - then set off on the drive to Mocochello (if anyone from Lesotho is reading I apologise for the spelling!) We hadn't realised how far it would be. I was driving and it was of course all dirt tracks as very few roads are tarmaced in Lesotho. The drive was spectacular. We drove for about an hour into the mountains, up and down passes, through the most lush valleys. We saw a few taxis on the road, but it was mainly donkeys, people, and cattle. In the highlands there are a lot of traditional herd boys still. They wear a particular blanket, and spend their days looking after cattle. It really is another world. When we finally got to the village we had a great time meeting as a cell group. We had a vibrant time of praise and worship, then Dave shared a word about Father God. There's no electricity in these areas, so by the end it was very dark inside the house. We were sitting on upturned bricks as there were no chairs. But the people are so full of joy. It is always a privilege to be able to go to meet with them. As we left a storm was brewing, so the drive home was hectic as we tried to beat it. Driving on those roads in the dark is exhausting, so part way home me and Dave swapped and Me & Mary sat in the open back of the bukkie. I'm now covered in bruises from the bumping but it was fun. We got home just ahead of the storm and managed to push start the landrover at the border. Pete West who owns it had come to meet us and got permission to push it through no-mans land then turn back. It was a classic end to a very African experience!

Moving into my flat - on Monday I moved into my flat so I can finally unpack. I'm still surrounded by stuff as I've barely been here since then, but it's good to know that this is home for at least the next six months. I can stop living out of a suitcase & really put my roots down.

HIV training course - I'm currently studying an HIV course with a small group of people from church & Rehobothe in Lesotho. It's run by the Desmond Tutu trust and once we have completed it we are qualified to test people for HIV. It's been really good discussing stuff as a group. The situation here is getting worse. Infection rates are rising, there are currently no ARVs available in the Free State, and we have just heard that the state counsellors who were working at the small clinic in Clarens are being sent to work in Bethlehem instead. So that means that at the moment if someone attends the clinic for a test no one counsels them before or after, and if they are positive there are no medicines avialable anyway. We are very blessed to have a doctor serving here at the moment so he is helping to train us in how to handle this sort of situation, and how to be an advocate for people to ensure that they get the right treatment. We have been talking about the possibility of turning the church into a clinic a couple of mornings a week or something like that to help the community. Because of the work of People of Hope and Mapheo the church is well respected in the community so this could be a really good opportunity for us.


Well that's a long enough post for now! I will post again soon with details of another of the projects which I'm working with. Thanks for reading!