Blogs from Cape Flats, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa, Africa - page 2

Today was spent helping run 2 focus groups with men from the Eastridge section of Mitchell’s Plain—a Coloured (mixed race) community. The men came in with tattered clothes, several of them smelling of awful body odor. Many of them also had their front 4 teeth missing. I later learned that this is a fad in their community—to get your teeth removed so that is looks like they were punched out. The men had a lot of valuable information to share with us. They talked about how everyone drinks at shebeens, but especially during the weekend. They get paid on Friday, and that is when the party starts. They also talked about how bad tik (meth) use is in their communities. They spoke about how it is children as young as 12 years old up to the ... read more

Upon waking it was a beautiful clear day - perfect for climbing the mountain. Keen as, we got dropped off at the Gorge and started the ascent. No probs - we can do this!!! About 100 metres into the climb, Kristen and I could hardly move while Pete a.k.a. "The Mountain Goat" was powering on. So, we did what every defeated climber does and took the trek around the mountain, down to the base and went up in the comfort of the cable car. Amazing views over Cape Town and the surrounds. The photos don't do it justice. Once on top of the mountain the clouds started rolling in so quickly. The evening was spent at a restuarant called Mama Africa which was sensational. A fabulous African percussion band played and after a few local beverages ... read more

Molo everybody, Wow we can’t believe how fast the time has flown. We are having such a great time in Cape Town, God has been SOOO good. Just a quick catch up from our last post: On Saturday we briefly called in on our Barcelona friends (who are becoming more like family now) had lots of cuddles etc, then we drove all the way down to Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope. It was a beautiful sun scorching day and the drive takes you along some beautiful coastline scenery. Humpback whales were frolicking in the ocean all the way down to the cape, we also stopped off at Boulders Bay to see the penguins - it was nesting time. There were some great markets too. The walk up to the Cape lighthouse was steep and ... read more

We are all very good, went and got a more suitable vehicle - Toyota Hi-Lux (very, very nice). Went into Barcelona today NO SWEAT at all. We are falling in love with these wonderful children and the people of Barcelona. I am only allowed a vrief time tonit as the girls want to get on...you guessed it...Bebo! Karis, Jesse, Tim we love you and miss you (but keep the house tidy please) and tell Rob n Rachel n Isabella n Sione we love and miss them too. Tomorrow we off to Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela spent 20+ years in prison) and then tomorrow night the girls may join a youth group (a great guy who is also working to support Barcelona Project, his daughter runs the youth (will check out and see). Okay love and ... read more

Molo everyone, Well we are here and it is nothing less than AMAZING!!! We have had incredible adventures thus far, and can't wait to get back home and share them with you all. Hopefully we can share some photos with you soon. Our trip from Malaysia to Cape Town was SO exciting, the girls were asleep (just as well) while Brian and I were trying to catch our dinners from flying over to the next aisle - it was so, so, so turbulent (10 hours of it) talk about stretching your faith! Any way the local Malaysians seemed to be quite relaxed about it all - so we figured it must be the norm for crossing that vast ocean. When we arrived we found out that GOD had blessed us with a new WHITE MERCEDES BENZ ... read more