And everything is pretty fantastic. There is so much to say about it all, but I don't quite have enough time!
The weather is wonderful, but today it was very windy and colder, it is of course their winter here, and the sun goes down very quickly making it suddenly cold at about 6.
There aren't many local small cafe's, they are all quite big and next to shopping centres, so I am hoping that we will soon have a Briarr(BBQ) and a local boy Moweto (I think that is the spelling) says he will cook for us traditional Xhosa food which would be lovely. In return I will cook an English roast and the Dutch volunteers are cooking Hutspot so it will be interesting for everyone to share their home food. I am very blessed with the other volunteers, they are very considerate and sweet and we are very much like-minded.
So many things are different from England, even in this incredible heat, all the men wear ski hats and jumpers. Everyone is so helpful, they always want to do things for you, but it is mostly because after they can and will demand payment.
Today we went on a tour led by some locals, and it was amazing, but also very eye-opening for everyone. We travelled to Bethelsdorp which is a very poor coloured area and for houses, the people all live in shacks. They are made out of scrap iron and the roof's are kept from being blown off by the wind by old tyres and anything to hand. The government have issued and are building houses, but these houses are no bigger than a garden shed with two rooms and sometimes they are unfinished with people living in them. Some of these houses have no roofs when the people are told it is finished and so they move in to a house with no shelter from the wind and rain. Many houses and buildings have been burnt down and you still see that they are inhabited, with no windows or a door.
We also went passed and eventually stopped at a Gravesite. They stretched out so far until the only houses on the other side looked almost like doll houses. Most of these graves seemed fresh and the soil was very clay-like, so it is hard for it to ever settle, making all of the mounds look fresh, as if many people have died at once. What was extremely hard for me, was that a lot of these graves were small and that of young children, the one that struck me most was a grave for a young child and the stone said, "We shall meet again, never to part again." and the child had been six years old. School had just finished and the children were all walking home in their uniforms and because it is a shortcut they always walk through the graveyard. The symbolocism of a walking, laughing child with their friends on their way home and the small mounds just 2 ft away from me was heartbreaking.
Michael (one of the guides) told us that we must remember these children are still happy, and they still laugh and love, because to them, they are not in a terrible situation; that is all they know. He also said that we must not try to help by giving food or money, and he described why beautifully. He said that a moth coming out of its cocoon is struggling so much and taking such a long time that a person might feel sorry for it and help it tear the cocoon. Once out of the cocoon a moth will spread its wings for the first time, and die. The moth will die because it's heart is not strong enough, it needs to have had the physical experience of breaking out of it's cocoon for it's heart to grow strong enough for it to be able to fly. I think this is a lesson we can all learn and it can apply to every journey in life.
I hope everyone is well! Til' next time x
