Wednesday, February 27, 2008

News Update - Tamara


Received more info from Tamara on the current Memory Books tour, here are the highlights she passed along.

The training at McCord/Sinikithemba Clinic for social workers, child psychologists, etc went very well with 20 in attendance.

Yesterday training at Lily Community Center was conducted with 40 house mothers from Lily and the local Mophela area. Tamara expressed there was a whole lot of unresolved grief that the "gogo's" were carrying for their grandchildren.

Both sites were tremendous and we feel very pleased to have planted the Memory Book and grief counseling seeds.

Tamara is currently at Adam's Mission with Lungile for the last three Memory Book Clubs. She will give them three tubs of supplies for use at Sinikithemba to use in the play area.

While at Lily Tamara browsed the memory books. "Whew!, a lump grew in my throat seeing how precious they are." Some children have already done their hand prints project. The volunteers are doing such a tremendous job organizing them. They already have stored their crowns in their books as well.

Tamara will leave for Cape Town on Sunday, Mar 2nd. She also expresses her continued thanks to Malcolm and Bev who have been wonderful, oh and Chloe, who is the quintessential therapy dog!

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Rwanda and The Congo - Tamara Update

I received an e-mail today from Tamara, she has returned safely to South Africa from her trip North into Rwanda and The Congo. She has much to tell and will be sending images once she gets settled in.

The genocide has left in it's wake many orphans, she received about 1600 memory book orders from her trip up north.

Interesting, while she was in Kigali, it was the same time as President Bush and she saw Airforce One at the airport.

Continue to pray for her as she finishes with her final meetings and starts her return home on March 9th.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Miscellaneous Update

It's great to be home, however South Africa will be forever in our hearts and we can't wait to return. Today's post are some random images from the return trip home.

Stacy, Andrea, Doranna, Beverely and Tamara



South Africa to host FIFA World Cup 2010
The count down has begun




Where to NEXT?




Mission 1 Accomplished.... We are ready for round 2!

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Return Home - Washington DC

Tamara is still over sea's but the rest of us returned home safely. During our layover in DC, Doranna and I set out for a quick tour of the Nation's Capital.

Enjoy a few images and thank you for your prayers and support during our trip.






Friday, February 15, 2008

Video - Bernard Mizeki Primary

Enjoy the video of the children signing their school song. This is an answer to prayer for Tamara.

"When the children began singing a lump grew in my throat, and I became weak kneed because after praying for so long for God to tell me what he was going to do... instead he showed me." {Tamara}


Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Phinda

To our surprise Tamara had a little something in store for us. We were treated to a unbelievable experience. Please enjoy these "few" images from the weekend. I want to give you a glimpse of what we saw and experienced but you must wait for the full "slide show" to see how wonderful Phinda is and can be. Cheers and we will see you all soon when we arrive back home in Portland.
















God's Golden Acre

We visited God's Golden Acre and had Memory Book Club. This was our last location during "this" trip to South Africa. Enjoy the images. We fly out tomorrow for home and look forward to expanding on the story that each image tells.















SOS Childrens' Village

We are back and ready to post more images from our last few days. Today (Tuesday) we visited SOS Childrens' Village. The staff and facilities are impeccable. Our travels today were not scheduled but we were open to follow the direction God had in store for us. Enjoy the images.





Friday, February 8, 2008

Weekend in Richards Bay

We are getting ready to travel north of Durban into the Richards Bay area. I may not be able to post to the blog until Monday night. Tamara tells us we are in for a busy and beautiful next couple of days....

Check in Saturday night / Sunday morning, if I can blog from our location it will be posted by then, if not Monday night / Tuesday, is when I will give everyone the updates.

Cheers

eSimphiwe - "God's Gift"

A visit to Richmond would not be complete without a going to eSimphiwe which means "God's Gift." Daphne has a special place for these children. Believe me when I say there is a magnificent story to be told about eSimphiwe, for now enjoy the images and pray God's blessings on this place.