Jeff here. Today was really fun but was more or less a
travel day. We left Paternoster yesterday around 4p.m. and drove to CapeTown—a
beautiful drive. Such a different experience to be driving along and then drive
on a dirt road for 10 miles. I must say, I think I’m getting the hang of left
side driving! Very fun and takes one of those things you do all the time and
makes you see it a little differently. We arrived in Cape Town (traveling on
Nelson Mandela Boulevard) to arrive at our hotel. Had a quick dinner and hit
the sack (but not before I saw the first half of the US vs. Belgium
Match—bummer!).
This morning we had an early start (around 5:30) to catch
the plane to Swaziland. In some ways, we are entering the heart of our trip as
we head to see our sponsor children with World Vision. It was this trip in 2005
that our family fell in love with southern Africa, and our sponsor child
Zwakele in particular. So much spiritual growth has happened in our family
through this one little girl that all of us are filled with excitement beyond
measure. We arrived in Swaziland without a hitch with all our bags in tact
(which is a miracle since I forgot to LOCK OUR BAGS when we reached the
airport—a definite no-no for any Africa travel). We were received by Bongi, our
World Vision friend and Church Relations Officer, and had a great time catching
up and finally making it to our hotel. Another highlight of today was hitting the grocery
store. For her birthday a few months ago, Dayle asked her friends in lieu of
presents to give her donations to buy her sponsor children supplies and gifts.
Her generous friends donated almost $400! After a big trip to the dollar store
in Seattle and Target for dum-dums (imagine a WHOLE SUITCASE FULL OF DUM-DUMS),
we hit the store and bought more food than you could imagine for our two
sponsor children, as well as the child-headed household we are going to meet
tomorrow (imagine a household where both parents have died and the oldest
member of the household is a child him/herself. There are 10’s of thousands of
them in Swaziland due to hiv/AIDS and we will be visiting a family like this
tomorrow). I can honestly say I’ve never seen a more joyous shopping trip. J
Presently we are on
our way to bed, getting gifts ready for our visit tomorrow (we get to see
Zwakele and visit a child headed household), and are filled with excitement.
On a different note, please pray for Violet. She is running
a fever and we think she has picked up some sort of virus. She is doing ok, but
we are a bit worried, as we want her to experience the fullness of our
adventure.
Looking forward to tomorrow!
Jeff (for the family).
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