Our last few days in South Africa were spent in East London with family. We had a great time with Kate and Mike, Ruth and Brian and all the kids and was great for Alice to meet all her relatives. We had a big Christmas lunch of roast Buck and a swim in the pool. Unfortunately Alice was sick for four days with a bug, but we still managed to juggle our days around all the vomiting. After a few days with the family we drove up to Kei Mouth where we spent a night in Kate and Mike's neighbour's shack. [View Full Entry]

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A little stiff and sore from our adventure yesterday we slowly packed up and got back on the road. We are heading for the Wild coast. As we drove the temperature change was ridiculous. The rain slowly stopped and teh sun came out. It went from the teens to 30 degrees in about half an hour. Shows was altitude does. We stopped off in east london for some petrol and supplies. Then we headed to the Indian coast - Cintsa for some R&R [View Full Entry]

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"MOLO!" I am in South Africa at an Orphanage called Open Arms. I reside in a tiny town called Komga, about 45 mins away from East London. I absolutely LOVE it here. I am part of one big family...a family of 30 kids that is! We live on top of a hill that overlooks the town, rolling mountains and even the sea. Africa is beautiful in every aspect. The culture is wild and people are generally friendly, though it is still a wise choice to be cautious. I am learning bits and pieces of the language (Xhosa) and am proudly adjusting [View Full Entry]

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...what a journey it has been... Wow....I am REALLY BAD at this whole blogging thing eh?? At this rate, I'll be home for two months before I update you all again. But well what can I say. This has been an experiance that cannot compare to anything else that I have ever done. I will give you a quick update as to what I have been up too since JUNE! After Youth Day finished...and I DIDN'T die.... we were given a much needed break. I was on vacation for most of July. And I certainaly didn't stand still for one second! [View Full Entry]

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We began the day bright and early with a 6:30 departure for the Hewu Development Initiative which is a rural agriculture program sponsored by the University of Fort Hare. We learned how the University of Fort Hare is working with community members to establish economical and sustainable farming practices. We then visited the main campus of the University of Fort Hare which has the distinction of being the university Nelson Mandela attended. Our evening was spent at an art exhibition honoring teacher’s lives. We wrapped up the day with a wonderful dinner and celebration for my 30th bi [View Full Entry]

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After a day of debriefing and travel, we arrived in East London this evening. We stopped briefly at our hotel to check in and freshen up before we were warmly welcomed by ITEC - the Institute of Training and Education for Capacity Building. A team of educators briefed us on the challenges facing education in the Eastern Cape which remains one of the poorest and lowest performing provinces in all of South Africa. Despite the challenges, groups like ITEC are working hard to ensure quality education for all students. [View Full Entry]

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...and why it almost killed me... Well since my last entry on freedom day I haven't really had a moment of rest. In May we had a huge celebration for something called Candlelight memorial day. This day is to celebrate and remember all those people who have lost their lives to HIV/AIDS. My partner Ongezwa and I held a community event, which unlike all the other events we have had so far was just for the people of Tuba. It was a crazy day. We had originally planned on having the event at the high school with a teacher there doing [View Full Entry]

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Von PE ging es dann directly to East London. Kurz gesagt: Ich habe drei wundervolle Tage mit Pool spielen verbracht. Ausserdem gab es das erste Spiel gegen Polen... Manchmal geniesst man einfach die Atmosphaere, die in einem Hostel herrsscht, bleibt, und weiss nicht, warum. Richard oder "Check it out" oder "Listen here" oder "Do me a favour" oder was auch immer... Der Drum-man! macht Dijembes selber und schickt sie nach Europa, wo sie verkauft werden. Der Mann hat das Handtrommelspielen echt drauf. Im September fliegt er nach Deutschland, um unter anderem auch in Hamburg ein paar Auftritte zu [View Full Entry]

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onwards! yesterday morning once the freeze had lifted from the ground i lit my motorcycle up and banged west, buckling through durban, popping, backfiring and wobbling on blown bearings, worn out bushings and a loose chain. the bike has lost metal somewhere, the chain can become no tighter and has resigned to derail over any slight bump of the road, causing me to shutter to a halt and have to toil in the oil and grease to spin it back on to the rusty gear. even on the freeway, the horrid winding freeways of south africa that seem to twist through [View Full Entry]

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Well I must say since it has only been 29 days since my last entry I am definately getting better at this 'blogging' thing. I believe that the last time I wrote we had just celebrated Human Rights Day. And this time we have just finished celebrating 'FREEDOM DAY'. One of the best parts of South Africa is that they have at least one public holiday a month. AND since last month Human Rights Day and Good Friday fell on the same day the government decided to move the day off to this month!! Good luck having that happen in Canada [View Full Entry]

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