Halfway Through Winter

We have just reached the half-way point of winter and so far it has been surprisingly mild.  Most of the days warm up in the mid-to-high 60’s and sometimes the 70’s, but the evenings get quite cool.  So far we have survived without using our heaters by just adding sweaters, jackets or blankets. In many ways it is more comfortable than the hot summers.  We have forgotten how hot it got in the summer but we’ll get one more chance to remember it!

So far we have only talked to Dan, but it sounds like everyone had a great time at the Pismo reunion.  We’re sorry we were not there to enjoy the fun. But there is always next time, I guess.  We are now convinced that things work better when you guys plan them rather than when we do.  Let us know how each of you enjoyed it and send a few photos if you have them.

This past week we have been plagued with no-shows which usually mean a lot of wasted time and driving.  Dependability is not a strong point here so even when you are helping someone at their request, it is not uncommon for them to be no-shows.   I guess it is a cultural thing because it is very common.  And even though everyone has a cell phone, they rarely let you know they will not be there.  And if they do, they send a text and ask you to call them because they can do that for free while calling cost money which most of them don’t have.  We have learned to roll with it—at least most of the time.

Mom has been teaching a lot of the ladies and young singles how to sew.  We had several ladies here the other day making shopping bags and several finished one—their first sewing product.  They were extremely excited about their successes.  It’s good to see them learn something and be successful at it.

We have been working a little more with Perpetual Education Fund (PEF).  We have about 6 people we are working with presently.  We helped one young lady get into college and it looks like she might get a grant and be able to complete school without a loan.  That would be great news for her if it works out.  It’s always better if they can complete schooling without a loan.  There appears to be quite a lot of government grants and scholarships for people in the villages.  We are learning quite a bit as we go along.  We are expecting someone shortly from Zimbabwe for PEF help.

We have had a lot of activity here at our apartment complex.  One of the apartments’ ceiling started to drop on the second floor, and an investigation uncovered that one of the roof trusses had broken and causing the ceiling to sag.  So they removed all the ceiling and have had a lot of workers here all week repairing that apartment and doing repairs on the other apartments as well.  Luckily we are on the first floor so we have not had as much excitement (pain) as those upstairs.
Tomorrow we are leaving for a long day to Mokopane and back, with a brief stop to Polokwane.  It is about 6-7 hours driving time, but we are looking forward to getting out. 

We hope all of you are doing well, and recovering from a fun week.