DUMELANG!
We woke up to a cow-bell-clanging morning. A failed attempt to make pancakes with a microwave resulted in delicious scrambled egg under the watchful eye of Chief Chef Khensani.
A portion of the sunny (yay!) morning was spent doing some hardcore manual labour at the mission. This involved moving the biggest pile of gravel in the world from one end of the compound to not quite the other side! We also swept the spirally-confusing labyrinth.
We then piled into the bus and drove to a traditional “hospital” to visit a sangoma! After seeing her passport, we found out that she was a fresh 81 years young, brimming with wisdom and stories of how she was trained by a snake/fish/human creature in an underwater civilization! It sounds strange now, but we were all captivated in the sacred hut.
On to the centres! A busy afternoon of making banners for the Women’s Day march tomorrow, planting four trees (dihlari) at each centre, developing relationships with the leaders, and dancing and playing with the children. We also served them lunch. They were all so happy and good-spirited. We felt even more welcome and immersed in the culture when we also shared their meals of pap and beans. No cutlery!
Supper-time proved to be a much-needed refuel after an exhausting and rewarding day. The best-tasting Hamburgers (with the help of Vusi and Grace) followed by peaches and custard were on the menu. We shared stories over the braai which sounds so South African but true.
We’ve just had a debriefing, discussing and expressing all our experiences and feelings. Some of the emotions were mutual. We’re all beginning to discover how this dynamic group works together with our strengths and weaknesses.
Hot chocolate and 30 Seconds are calling our names!
-Khensani, Rosie, and Caitlin
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