Strandfontein Home-stay

We somehow made it to our last homestay. I still cannot believe how fast time went by. We started this new adventure at the Strandfontein Church. Here we were able to get an idea of what our new families were like and share with them just what we had been up to these last few months.

After church, Becca and I met our new family. WE would be staying with Richard and Rachel. They had all of their family; children and grandchildren over for lunch. Despite the normal first day awkwardness I could really tell that this was a family that was filled with love, laughter and joy. Rachel had just come home from a very painful surgery. It was amazing to see how her family rallied around her in support and prayer. Throughout the week we were able to get more and more comfortable with the family and I continued to see Christ’s love shining through them.

Rodney, a man from their church did a conflict resolution workshop with us. This workshop proved to be very interesting and relevant to what we were seeing and experiencing throughout Africa as well as in our community.

The last couple of days our group had the opportunity to make a differenc ein the community. Half of our group went to work in Khayaletsha, a township in Strandfontein, painting a pastor’s house. The other half of our group, the part I was in went to a crèche(children’s nursery) to use our artistic skills one last time. I was even trusted to paint a giraffes leg. At this crèche we found a little kitten in a garbage can. She was named Princess Tinkerbell Elwierda and put smiles on a lot of our faces.

Overall this was an amazing week. I learned a lot about love and how to properly resolve conflict. I really enjoyed the service projects and am happy to get back together with our Outtatown community for the last weeks under the African sun.

Tristan Riordan

Cape Point

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The old lighthouse on the point of Cape Point.

Looking North from down the peninsula.

Cape of Good Hope

More Adventures

Table Mountain!

Ryan Caldwell future Canada Post worker.

We paraglided from along that trail just below the shadow of Lion's Head.

Cape Point from Table Mountain.

Lions Head Peak.

Cape Town from the top of Table Mountain.

Robben Island

Chorus' first time to Robben Island.

Nelson Mandela's old cell.

Table Mountain and Cape Town from Robben Island.

The Lime Quarry where Nelson Mandela worked.

Shark Diving

Rugby Game

Paragliding!

Simonstown

What an awesome week spent in Simonstown, a little town right on the ocean about a half hour out of Cape Town. This week was set aside as an adventure week. On Monday morning at 5:45 AM we left for Paragliding to kick off our week, it was beautiful up on the top of Lion’s Peak. After running off the side of the mountain we glided down with a view of Cape Town, Table Mountain, Robben Island and the beautiful beach. It was a nice relaxing ride.

On Tuesday we left in the morning for Cape Point, which is the South-West tip of Africa, it was beautiful there. We climbed to the top to the lighthouse and after that a small group of us: Steve, Shaun, Charles, Heather and I went for a hike to the Cape of Good Hope, it was a fun adventure.

Wednesday we headed into town and went to see a movie, it was fun to do something that we are so familiar with. We left the mall and went to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned, it was a neat experience. Our tour guide had also been imprisoned there in the 1980s which made his stories more interesting.

Thursday was shark diving. After an hour or so on the boat I started feeling pretty sick. We got there and after an hour or so a shark came. The first 18 people got into the cage in groups of six, the water was murky so they could only really see the shadow of the shark. When it was my turn to go into the cage I thought the shark was gone. Within one minute of being in the cage the diving expert yelled to get down, as I went down I looked out and into the shark’s mouth, it was so scary. Clearly I hadn’t gotten the technique down beaus the people watching thought I lost my fingers because they were too close to the outside of the cage. After I got out, two sharks came and attacked each other in front of the cage, it was awesome!

Friday part of the group went rock climbing and the others spent the day in town. Saturday we headed back to Cape Town to climb Table Mountain, most people climbed up and the others, including myself, ventured up on the gondola, as much as it was the lazy way out, there was no way I was going to make it up climbing, so congratulations to those who did! We concluded our week in Simonstown by going to another movie and relaxing in the afternoon. Between the adventurous and the opportunities to hang out together I would have to say that this week was among my favorites.

Natalie Kay

Photos from our time in Stellenbosch

Aaron's Baptism on Strand Beach.

Stellenbosch

Stellenbosch University

Spending time at Kuyasa in Kayamandi.

Chorus our bus driver with Becca.

The Bianca Choir.

Hanging out at Die Eiland.

Stellenbosch

At the beginning of our two weeks in Stellenbosch we were privileged to have Blaine Greiner join us. We met Blaine in first semester in Calgary/Canmore as he was the speaker for “Boys Week”. The passion to love and help others that Blaine shows is amazing and contagious!

Throughout the two weeks spent in Stellenbosch, many activities were planned for us. Our main focus was on a service project in the township Kayamandi. Other activites we took part in include: hanging out with local university students, lectures at the universities, Johan’s lecture and personal growth exercises, listening to a choir in Kayamandi, and time to check out the local markets.

Kayamandi is a black township located on the North West edge of Stellenbosch. It has a mixture of trials and triumphs, happiness and heartbreak. Our site teamed up with three organizations working within the township: Legacy, Kuyasa, and Prochorus. We divided up into teams of four or five people and each organization got two groups to work with. My group consisted of Tim, Kristen and Tessa, and our guide from Legacy was Joseph. During the beginning of our first week (which was focused on planning the projects) our team was a bit distraught on our plans. After praying about it, we modified our plans a bit and realized how great our new plan was, and we became super pumped. Joseph knew a woman in the community who had no roof on half of her house. She has a five month old baby and was really in need of extra help. We were able to build her a roof and also help out with a few basic necessities she needed. We also built a fence outside of Legacy. For a group of four, with only one boy, two building projects seemed crazy, but it went without a hitch! Kudos to Tim for his patience with us girls.

The second week, we were introduced to a new guide name Princess. Joseph fell ill and had to go on sick leave. We continued to visit him and update him on our work progress. This man is genuinely amazing! He has lived a pretty tough life, yet his heart for the community of Kayamandi only grows bigger. He puts absolutely everything he has into Legacy and Kayamandi (even his health as he was stubborn for a while not to take a couple of days off work), and his love for God is real and pure. Joseph left an imprint on all four of our hearts and in ways, changed our lives for the better.

Regan Bompais