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