Update 4

Hello from S.A.,


Our time is approaching in a few months to come home, so we thought we would write an update of the last few months. We will try to get one more out before we leave. Dave has been keeping busy with work and I just finished teaching for the term. The schools here have 4 terms and go to school year round, so at the end of each term we get about a month break. In December I was substituting at school until a friend of mine who was teaching 1st grade got sick and had the leave the school (same school I’ve been volunteering at since we came). I took her position as the 1st grade teacher and have been with the kids since. I love my kids dearly, but that position has taken me away from the orphanage quite a bit. We are going to try to get plugged in there on the weekends and over this break. My 1st graders are learning to read beautifully and it is so neat to see. They are amazing kids and have taught me so much! I will have to say that their favorite times is when “Mr. Lengeman” stops in to visit and brings their class pet, our dog Shumba. There is not much I can do to settle everyone down when they come ;) I have to say that it’s my favorite part as well!

It’s winter here, so things are getting pretty cold. It’s usually about 30 in the morning and then can get up to 65-70 during the day. Lately, its been cold only getting to 45 or so. That doesn’t sound like anything compared to Iowa, but there is no such thing as central heat, so every where you go its cold. Since our house is made of mud, it stays cool all year round, which makes for some very cold nights! Fortunately, we have a fire place that keeps us pretty warm. It’s a very different life of having to go out and collect wood to keep warm for the night.

David is busy building a large dam (lake/pond) outside of town and they are doing great. Unfortunately they are in a section where there is no cell reception, so it is very hard to reach him. Everyday we are reminded that we are not in the states where everything is so wonderfully convenient! They are also building a road up and around a mountain for a farmer. It is a beautiful site, but very scary getting up there! I only went about half way up and it was too much for me. There is about a foot and half between the truck tires and falling off the mountain. It feels like 6 inches! Dave has such a privilege of amazing beauty at all of his job sites. Jed was gone for 3 months doing a silage job in another town, so Dave was running the business back here. Those guys worked very hard and we are all glad that it’s over. It’s very nice to have some pressure relieved now that they are both home.

As we have said in earlier emails, it is very hard to get good consistent workers here and unfortunately many have come and gone lately, which makes more work for David and Jed. Its easy to find a worker, but to keep him is another thing. We thought we were losing a worker a few weeks ago as he got very sick. It would take books to explain the black culture here, but to sum it up, AIDS spreads very quickly because of their lifestyles of multiple partners. All of Jed’s workers have “wives” (not legally, but in their culture) and they all have several girl friends. Their wives know and are fine with it because they do not live with their wives. The workers live where they work and go home to their wife and kids once a month when they get paid. Most likely the wife also has a boyfriend at her home. One of our workers “Mizambon” (which literally translates to potato!) has several girl friends and we tried to explain to him about AIDS, but it does nothing. He had been getting very sick and we knew he had HIV. It is amazing to see what this disease does to these people, and it happens so quickly. Mizambon went to the witch Dr.,slaughtered a cow, and believed he would be healed. You can not understand the demonic things these people believe and live by. We finally got him convinced to go to the hospital and I believe he is now on ARV’s (HIV meds), which greatly improves their state. You would think that this would stop them from promiscuity, but it doesn’t. There are few other workers, who we think are positive as well, which is too common here. It is amazing how you get so used to it and it becomes a part of your daily life. We have learned so much about the disease and know that it’s not easy to get or anything to be afraid of, regardless of the stereotypes. We are not concerned about that in the least as we deal with this every day, but I do get concerned with David at times because he is always getting cuts at work, etc. Dave is very careful, I just stress for him to be extra careful with his cuts.

We were blessed with a wonderful visit from my college friend Morgan! Morgan came for about 10 days and it was amazing to see a familiar face and have an American conversation!! I do not think that we stopped talking the entire time she was here. Morg was a real pro in S.A.! She was very open to a lot and pushed herself for a real adventure. We picked her up at the airport and got home around midnight and then woke up early the next day to take her to a secluded beach at Mckaba (We have talked about this place before. It’s where we spent Christmas). We spent a few days at the rough cottage we usually stay at and Morg took it all well. The only part that was a bit much was the tarantula in the bathroom. On our way there we had a very bad experience that turned into a miracle. Morg and I were riding in the back of the truck and Dave and Shumba were in the front. Shumba was sticking her head out the window and we went over a large bump in the road and she fell out and rolled about 100 meters going 50 mph. When Dave slammed on the breaks we knew something terrible had happened. I have to say that Shumba is Daves best bud and goes every where with him, they are connected at the hip. The lord truly blessed us with her. We ran up to her and she was stiff and her eyes were bugged out of her head. She had a cut on her head and it was a horrible sight. It looked like she was trying to take a breath and then she just stopped. We knew she was dead and we were crushed. David cried in intercession and we laid hands on her and prayed for her. We just kept praying and right before our eyes Shumba jumped up and began to run around as if nothing had happened. It was truly a miracle and only God who brought her back to life. It was amazing! She ran around and ran over to Dave jumping and she has been perfectly fine since. Praise God!

After our Shumba experience we had a great time and were able to relax on the beach and take in the beauty. Dave and I found out about 10 days later that we had got bitten by a tick down there, I’ll explain later. Thankfully we did not know at the time and it was great to get away and show Morgan some of S.A. The next week Morgan went to school with me and Oh did my kids love her! We stopped in at the orphanage and spent some time walking around town and experiencing the S.A. life. We wanted to show her everything in 10 days, but it was not possible. We did as much as we could and it was a blast. Morg and I had some wonderful walks (I have been waiting a year for someone to walk with me out here!) and it was great. Morgan is a nurse, so I wanted her to get some experience in the S.A. hospitals. She was fortunate to hook up with a wonderful Dr. and spent the night shift working with her. There are no regulations of any kind here, so for someone to come along is no biggie. Morgan didn’t only come along, but worked the whole night. She got to give IV’s, stitch wounds, and be in a delivery. We were so happy she could get this experience. Morgan got very little sleep here as she worked the night before, and then went teaching with me the next day. She never complained once and was such a trooper. We were truly blessed to have her.

After the trip to Mckaba, I wasn’t feeling myself for most of Morgan’s trip, but just put it off that I was tired, etc. On her last few days I really started to feel yucky and then had a lymph node swell up. The day after she left I went to the Dr. to find out I had tick bite fever. It usually does not set in until about 10 days after infection. You get terrible headaches, body pains, fevers, etc. It was not fun, but cleared up in a week or two. A few days later David had the same symptoms, only to find out, he too had tick bite fever. He got on the same meds and was feeling better in a few days. Tick bite fever is a big thing here and not so fun to get. I guess it’s just another South African experience.

In the summer season, your winter, is when the snakes come out from hibernating in the mountains. In our area, there are two dominant snakes that are very poisonous. They are called the pufeda and the wrincoles (spelling?). Each can bite and kill you or you can lose a limb. Some people have gotten bitten and survived fine, but it all depends how long it takes you to get to the hospital, etc. They saw 30 min. is max and about 15 for the other. I walked a lot around the farm this summer and every time I went outside I prayed God would protect me from ALL reptiles. Dave and I were very fortunate and had no encounters with snakes, except for seeing some along the road while in our vehicle. Dave ran over one or two, but nothing major. We both despise snakes and would not really know what to do if we encountered some. One Saturday (a week after Morgan left), Dave was gone working several hours away. I heard Shumba barking outside, but I was not bothered in the least because she always does when the farm animals go by our house. I got in the shower, not worried about anything, but as she kept persisting I opened the window (about 25 min later) to find a HUGE snake curled up on the ground outside our window!!! I screamed and had no idea what to do since Dave was gone. The whole time Shumba was barking to get my attention and now that she saw me in the window she was going after it to protect me. It hissed up and I screamed for Shumba and tried to get her inside. I called our grandpa Atsy and he rushed down. He hit the snake over the head to knock it out and then hauled it away in his truck. He could not believe that the snake did not touch Shumba, because it was a full grown wrincoles. These snakes stand on their tales, nearly 5 feet, and spit poison in your eye. They are the most dangerous snake in our area, so I was a little more than freaked! YUCK! I could not get that image out of my head. Thankfully it’s winter and so they have all gone to the mountains to hide out. That is one experience I never want again!



On father’s day Sunday, Dave and I went to a lake outside of town for a picnic. We had a great time and got a big of a shock. Shumba was running around so Dave went to look for her. He was at the top of a hill and turned around quickly motioning me to the truck. I ran to the truck and was worried at what was coming over the hill. Here came Shumba running and a heard of zebras were chasing her with fierce! We could not believe that there were zebras in Kokstad! David was trying to grab Shumba out of the pack, but they were coming with force. We finally got her into the truck and the zebras calmed down. They are so beautiful and were very graceful with us. Dave was able to get really close to one and nearly pet it. We just sat and watched them for awhile, it was very neat. There have been so many of these wonderful experiences here that we will never forget.

Dave and I love our time here, but are also ready to see people at home. We are really craving American food! Living in S.A. is not always easy, but we are so thankful to have each other and to have had an amazing adventure in S.A.

Thank you all for your updates and emails. We have gotten and read all of them. We look forward to seeing you all soon.

Many Blessings

Dave and Molly

*I posted a few pics from Morgan’s trip on our blog. Our blog address is: daveandmollysa@blogspot.com