To sum up our experience in South Africa within a few paragraphs is extremely difficult. The things we did, the places we went and most of all the people we met along the way touched us deeply and we will never forget them. Although we have been back in Canada for awhile now we still phone and email contacts that we have in South Africa to find out what is going on. It is true what other PLMC members told us, Africa is in our blood now, we feel a strong connectedness with the people there.

How did we get there?

After a year of discernment with the PLMC group, Kathleen and I took leaves of absences from our jobs (nursing and teaching respectively), rented out our house, left the familiarity of Toronto and embarked on a year long adventure. An opportunity of a lifetime for us.

Where did we go?

Our disernment process led us to a well established mission in Mariannhill, a rural area just outside of Durban, South Africa. We stayed in a guesthouse on the property which provided us with very comfortable accomodations. We purchased an old car to help us get around.

What did we do there?

My main role was to teach Maths at St. Francis College, taking over for the Maths teacher who was promoted to principal. So most of my day was spent planning, teaching or marking assignments for the grade 10 and 11 Maths classes. I spend any free time during the school day fixing up all sorts of computer problems around the school and improving the overall setup of the computer network. As well, I made myself available in the school’s library as a resource for students requiring help with Maths, Physics, and any other work that I could help with. I also helped to organize a field trip for grade 10 students to hike in the Drakensburg Mountains.

On a weekly basis, after school, I tutored some learners from the surrounding townships in grade 11 and 12 Maths. These kids were from a program that Kathleen was involved with that helps support orphans and vulnerable children. The good news that came out of this was that they all passed their math course this year for the first time ever. They were really proud of themselves and so was I. Also on a weekly basis we would go to visit the children in the St. Mary’s Hospital Children’s ward after work. This was both very rewarding and very hard as we really grew attached to the children who were there for long periods of time.

We did do some work outside the Mariannhill Mission as well. On some weekends we would drive out to some of the mission stations in more rural areas. We went to the Einsiedln Mission station to fix some of their computer problems and to Emmaus to help teach extra lessons in Maths.

Teaching some of the Sisters at the convent basic computer literacy skills and fixing computers and printers service that I offered from time to time as well.

Kathleen's Description of her job:

I worked with the community outreach program. This organization trains volunteers to provide care to those who are sick with HIV/AIDS at home. They also service people who are unable to care for themselves and can not be kept in hospital. There are 15 townships surrounding Mariannhill that the program services. I spent most of my time working on developing training resources and training volunteers in both palliative care and child care. I did some patient assessments as well however this did not seem to be a big need of the project. The program also has a component dealing with orphans and vulnerable children. The number of orphaned children in the community as a result of aids is astounding. Therefore there was a great need to support our volunteers in working with the children of people who were care recipients of our project later who died. The training resource I developed with respect to orphans and vulnerable children focused on growth and development, children’s needs and rights, facilitating groups of children and the nutritional needs of children between 0-18yrs. I was involved with an orphan and vulnerable children’s group which was based out of a school in KwaNdengezi. This group provided a nutritious meal, and social/emotional support on a weekly basis. In addition to the work I did with the Community Outreach Centre, I also spent a great deal of time after work in the Children’s Ward playing with some very special children. As well I also helped out up at Emmaus Mission teaching Biology and at St. Francis College teaching about HIV/AIDS and sexual health.

General Involvements

There were many less formal involvements that we found were also a very rewarding and important part of our experience. We would take every opportunity we could to learn about the local Zulu customs, traditions and language in order to “build bridges” between the cultures. People were extremely friendly and welcoming and we often found ourselves being invited into their homes to share in traditional celebrations. They were delighted to hear Kathleen sing Zulu songs and participate alongside the other women in the dancing. I would also try to communicate in Zulu the best I could.

We were in a great position while over there to use our contacts from back home to raise donation money and then ensure that the money was spent in a meaningful way. This seemed to happen quite naturally since we were sending email reports of our experiences to friends, family and workmates back home. They would continually ask us how they could help. We raised a total of $3, 800 and it was spent in the following ways:

• Toys for the children in the St. Mary's Hospital
• Support for the Orphan and Vulnerable Children Program to buy food and personal hygiene items which were given to them just before Christmas.
• Help build a grade 1 classroom at Mariannhill Lower Primary School following the collapse of the one they were using.
• Educational toys for the Developmentally Delayed infants in the Physiotherapy Department of St. Mary's Hospital .
• Funds to purchase startup supplies for new Orphan and Vulnerable Children program starting in other communities in the area.
• 140 school shoes and 100 school uniform socks for the children of Mariannhill Lower Primary School who could not afford to purchase them. These children were walking up to 1 hour to get to school in their bare feet! They are now all outfitted with footwear just in time for the colder winter weather.
• Donation to the Home and Family Life Foundation in order to help put on a "Fun Day" event for orphaned and abused children.

Other Fun

Aside from work, as you can see from some of the pictures, we did have time to take in some of the wildlife and the geographic wonders of Southern Africa. Some of these photos are from Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, as well as the Drakensburg Mountians, the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi and Kruger Game Reserves in South Africa.