Update from Kestell, Malealea, and Durban

Greetings from Durban, South Africa!

The past week found us passing through Kestell, South Africa on our way to Malealea, Lesotho. In Kestell we stayed with a lovely woman named Vera Anne at the Karma Backpackers lodge. Think of your favorite aunt or uncle's house at Thanksgiving with heaps of family around, delicious food, and great people - and that is what our experience in Kestell was like. Our group felt truly refreshed as we slept in a little bit, went for a hike in the Drakensburg mountains, and had our first "MMT" (scavenger hunt like activity) in a town called Clarens.

We then departed Kestell and headed to the Malealea lodge in Lesotho. In Malealea we stayed in traditional huts http://www.stayinsa.co.za/showimg.php?id=29903 that looked like this. Our group spent two and a half days helping a local community rebuild a road that was washed out during the rainy season. The students continue to amaze Sarah and me, as well as our local contacts with the vigor and ease with which they embrace our new challenges and service projects. They simply engage in any activity we present them and make rapid and powerful connections with local people throughout our program.

Wednesday afternoon, after we finished our service project, we went for a hike and saw cave paintings that were 27,000 years old! We hiked to a nice rock on a freshwater spring and had a snack before heading back to the lodge for dinner. We all appreciated a great feast at the lodge that we didn't have to prepare or clean up - we have been cooking and cleaning nearly every meal for the last 3 weeks so it was awesome to kick back a bit and let someone else do the cooking!

Yesterday we headed back to Kestell from Lesotho and once again had a terrific time with Vera Anne. Her partner, Lucio, made us homemade fettucini (using his Italian genes to perfection) and our group contributed a 3 cheese sauce, salad, and chicken as we feasted and debriefed our time in Lesotho.

This morning we drove about 4 hours to Durban where we are staying at a hostel on a hillside overlooking the beach and the ocean - easily one of the nicest hostels I have ever stayed in. The Blue Sky Mining Co. hostel and a little warm weather were just what we needed to get over the frigid temperatures we faced in Lesotho. This afternoon we went to the Arayan Benevolent Home just outside of Durban and spent the afternoon running games and playing with the kids. Again, it was remarkable how each of our students immediately rounded up a group of kids and led them in activities ranging from volleyball to duck duck goose. Our students seem to have endless amounts of positive energy!

Sarah and I look forward to a positive, healthy, reflective, and productive final week of the program. We are confident our group will continue to acheive great things as we make our way to Cape Town.

I can smell the burgers and sweet potato fries that they cooked for dinner tonight so I must run along.

Much Love from Durban,

BSA 2009

Student Notes

Josh and Toni: are keeping the group laughing every day. They did a piece in the group talent show in which they impersonated each other, which had everyone rolling on the floor.

Megan: has made wonderful connections with people we met along the way. During our service project in Malealea she bonded with the women we were working with, speaking through a translator to learn about them and their lives.

Winnie: has opened up to the group much more over the past week. The quiet Winnie we used to know has started piping up more and more with surprising and hilarious comments! And even though the physical labor was a challenge, she stepped right up to dig and push the wheelbarrow during our three days building a road.

Maia: reaches out and is friendly and caring to everyone in the group. More and more, she has started reaching out to people that the group meets along the way as well.

Ben: has really stepped up his involvement in the daily tasks of the group this past week. If someone asks for volunteers for cooking, packing the van, organizing snacks, etc, Ben raises his hand.

Freddy: brings positive enthusiasm and excitement to everything the group does. During our first day building the road he dove right into the difficult work of digging and breaking rocks. He is always up for a game or challenge, and his enthusiasm is catching!

Ryan: put in great work on the road we were building in Malealea, impressing even the strongest local men with his rock-busting and digging skills. He also has proved wonderful at creating joy and fun wherever he goes. Just one example: he has popularized the song "Rainbow Connection" on our long van rides, and has many group members singing along.

Allie and Maddie: This dynamic duo works hard and brings positive energy to every aspect of group life. As leaders of the day Thursday, they facilitated the group efficiently through unpacking the vans, organizing the food, cooking an amazing dinner, cleaning up, and a wonderful evening activity.

Clara: is friendly to all in the group, and wonderful at connecting and communicating with local people. Already fluent in four languages, she is starting to learn a bit of local Southern African languages as well! She also just cooked an amazing dinner with Winnie and Megan and our hosts at Karma Backpackers.

Jazmin: is wonderful at thinking outside the box on the road and coming up with creative solutions. When she found herself low on clean clothes in Malealea, she did a load of laundry by hand using the group cooler as a basin, and volunteered to wash others' clothes in there as well. She also graced the group with a lovely dance performance on talent show night.


Student Response:
Question: what was your best moment of the week?

Josh: Building the road. Constructing something that benefits the community. When I was wheelbarrowing, a local woman started laughing so I started dancing and she started dancing.

Megan: Talking to the women in Malealea. One of them told me that God tells her to be happy, so she is, and that she's always been really happy. She was really, really cool.

Winnie: Hiking. It was really hard, but I liked it. Nice scenery!

Maia: I had a lot of good moments, but one of my best moments was hiking. Even though I don't really like hiking that much, I still had fun, and I learned that I can still enjoy things I don't like if I'm more positive about it. And I talked to Thirsty (our guide/translator/contact) a lot.

Ben: My most relaxing moment was sitting outside the cafe in Clarens. There was a warm breeze; and the second the breeze hit me it felt like instant relaxation. And it just struck me that "damn, I'm in Africa!" This week I learned that it takes a communal effort to make a big change (like building the road).

Freddy: After hiking so long, hiking a little more and seeing a beautiful little creek. Something so beautiful in a place with so much poverty.

Ryan: Working on the road. Despite there being a language barrier, we all understood the task at hand and communicating became very easy and there was a sense of community.

Allie: When we were working with the community and the women were singing and dancing with us and we got to talk to them and find out about their lives. I found out that the chief solves all their problems so that they don't get divorced. This one woman had been with her husband since she was 15, and now she's 70.

Maddie: I liked talking to this woman about her marriage and what her life was like and how many kids she had. Thirsty (their guide) was translating back and forth for us. I liked finding out about their culture.

Toni: I liked when we went down to visit the women in their village. It was fun because we listened to music, we tasted food and drinks, and we danced.

Clara: Having lunch with the women in Malealea, talking to them, learning seSotho, and learning a seSotho song and singing it to them.

Jazmin: The hike. It was down-to-earth and peaceful. And going in the waterfall. It was the best part of the day, even walking up, even though I complained about it.