I have internet on my own computer now! Yay!

Today was fairly quiet. I went into town for some supplies and then went to Theka Thako, an after school program in the community with some of the ASM students. It’s the ASM people’s last week there for this year, so the kids put on quite a production to say thanks and goodbye for this year. They sang and danced and put on a skit about teen pregnancy. My purple hair is quite a hit with the kids.

I have put up some photo’s here.

I woke up at 10:15am, and my sleep was gooooood!

It’s raining.

I bought some eggs yesterday for at about half what they cost at home, so I had eggs for breakfast and then went to one of the classes before lunch.

Lunch was ‘fish pie’ made with fish fingers. Hilarious!

After lunch I got to go with some students to the banana farm again. It’s the last time they’re going out this year, so I was stoked to be able to go along. The main reason I wanted to go was to see Mpumelelo. When I got there she wasn’t in her wheelchair so I was worried I wasn’t going to see her. It turned out that she’d been left at home because it was raining, but her Mama took us to see her. Turns out ’home’ is a one-room house, probably about 12m² big. Mpumelelo was lying in the dark on a grass mat on the floor. That was how she was to spend her day. We got such a wonderful reception when we walked in, she squealed and smiled and wriggled around. Beka and I spent some time talking to and tickling her, and she was having a ball. It really was heartbreaking to see her in that tiny, dark room all alone and it was hard not to burst into tears as I held her there on the floor. Still, there is an unparalleled contentment in her eyes, hard to believe but it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen.

On the way back to the mobile clinic we were amazed at the white white nappies hanging on the clothes lines, still baffled that they can get their laundry so white in such a red place. We spent some time playing with the other kids which was great fun and it’s so nice to get back into the community.

I've put some pics up here.

The flight over was as great as a flight can be. There was a couple who wanted to sit where I was, to be with some friends, so I swapped with them and ended up with a row of four seats to myself! I got to lay out straight and although I didn’t have a huge sleep I was grateful to have my legs up. Flight socks worked a treat too. I tried the ‘fasting for 16 hours when changing time zones’ trick and it seems to have worked well so far. We’ll see if the jet lag sets in later or not.

The flight to Nelspruit from Johannesburg was incredibly short (especially after a 10 hour flight) and quite enjoyable.

The sky was clear when I arrived and the mountain above ASM seemed to be singing. It’s great to be back, but at the same time feels like I haven’t even been away.

Lunch today was pap and wors which made me laugh as it’s about as South African as you can get.

Tonight we went to Spur (steak house) for one of the ASM student’s birthday. I got myself a 270g steak knowing that I may not get another one while I’m in Africa. It was more than satisfactory and for about AU$15, an absolute steal.

Looking forward to a sleep and no alarm to wake me up!