I am back from my incredible journey.  It was so amazing that I can honestly say that I would rather still be there... but I know that I will readjust eventually.

I've been here for 24 hours and am pretty out of it.  Today Ben is driving me around to run a few errands because I'm not sure how I'd do with that.  It has been great spending time with him - we've both grown up a bit while I was away.  I'm really looking forward to Sam coming back on Saturday night from his mission trip to San Francisco.  

I feel so connected to my group that I am mentally keeping track of their every move as they travel back here today/tomorrow.  Right now they've just taken off from Johannesburg for the 18 hour trip to Atlanta.... They'll be in Chicago by noon tomorrow.  Today Ben and I dropped off his car at Zimbric VW and I told a guy there that I felt like hugging him.  He's Alyssa's brother and I'm sure he thought I was nuts!  (he doesn't know me at all)

Amazing what a month with a small group of people will do.  Especially when you are working so hard to make a difference in the lives of others... you don't realize what a difference everyone else is making in your own life.

Thanks for reading.  If you want to read more, check out africanyouthoutreach.org  You can see the organization, see the blog by Ken, and look for the link to iNgwavuma Orphan Care - the place where all of this amazing stuff happened!

Take care,

Cheri

Cape Town:

Well, we were in a beautiful city with beautiful weather.  Everyone told us how awful the weather is in Cape Town... we lucked out.  On my only day in Cape Town three of us (Ken, Alyssa and myself) climbed Table Mountain!  Wow, what a work out.  It was a great accomplishment for me.  Coming down took almost as long as going up.  I don't think that any of the pictures I took could do it justice.  It was fantastic.

After that we went down to the wharf and had an incredible meal together.  It was very fancy.  It was a good way to end.  The three of them stayed two more days, hopefully having just as much fun and enjoying good weather, too.

Hi Everyone,
Well, we've come full circle. Today we're putting Danielle on the plane to Atlanta and the rest of us are flying to Cape Town. I'm staying two nights (only one day to see Cape Town since we arrive tonight and I leave fairly early on Tuesday for Home) Everyone else will stay four nights.
This past week had many many ups and downs for me. On Monday night we were invited to dinner at Pastor Gibson's house. His wife cooked a huge meal with at least 7 different dishes. We ate by candle light because they have no electricity. Gibson is an incredible man with great vision. He showed us a plan for a brick making company that will provide local jobs. His proposal requires a down payment of less than 8,000 US dollars (10%) so he is applying for a separate loan for that. That's all it would take to create a whole business! He also shared a vision for creating a boarding school for orphans - to help remove them from the abusive situations that they are often in. He ended the evening reading to us from Philippians and then praying. We were all moved - it was an unforgettable experience. We worked really hard to complete a second play structure at another satellite office for the iNgwavuma Orphan care. We learned so much about all of the outreach they are doing. They employ 92 people right now and I think they are growing and plan to be up to 150 within a year. The second building site was 40 minutes drive in the complete opposite direction from our camps and our first building site. This time we came down out of the mountains and drove into a very flat sandy area - very desert like. Once we were off the road we were in an area with lots of road/paths that weaved in and out among scrub, animals, a few homes, etc. We saw only a few vehicles total in the 3 days that we worked at the site. We got terribly lost coming out one of the days, but eventually found our way home. The construction went well although we didn't finish due to numerous mechanical/tool problems! We had to do a lot of problem solving just to get as far as we did (on both play structures) and Ken was a true construction foreman - we all learned a lot. On Wednesday of last week we arranged to meet our camp kids during lunch breaks at their schools. At the primary school the principal was extremely resistant to our visit but we just held our ground. We brought sandwiches and apples for the kids and felt that we had to hide them around the back of a building to let them eat. We got more pictures and last hugs. Then we went off to the high school to visit the kids from our second camp. That principal was the complete opposite! He gave us the "hall" where we had held the camps and we fed the kids and played familiar games with them (those we had taught during the camp) The principal played with us! He is a very cool man. I had a chance to talk to him for quite a while and asked what he thought was the biggest need for his school. He really wants a computer. They have solar panels (no electricity) so they could use one. I really want to try to make that happen for that school. Anyway, we had more hugs and another tearful goodbye.
That night we grilled outside of our living space and invited some of our new friends - it was a blast. On Thursday we completed our work as best as we could, said many goodbyes, and left iNgwavuma. That was so hard.
We had planned to go to the Drakensbergs Mountainsfor the weekend but decided not to because of the distance. We ended up at Itala Game Reserve and most of us agree that it was the very best weekend spot of our entire trip! We arrived in the dark and the next morning we walked out of our Chalet (3 bedroom, 2 bath, full kitchen, dining room, living room TV, all for R250 each - divide by 8 to see how much we spent per night ; ) to look straight up at a cliff - felt like a mini grand canyon. Incredible!! 4 of us went on a really great hike that afternoon. It was amazingly beautiful. We took a game drive with a guide - it became a night drive about half way through and we tried to spot animals with a spot light. We didn't see as much as we'd hoped. And we are leaving south Africa seeing 4 of the big five - with leopard being the only one we didn't see. We had great meals in the restaurant there. We had planned on only one night and quickly changed it to 2 nights. On Sat. we made the long drive back here to Joburg where we checked in to the first place we stayed exactly one month ago. This morning we ate breakfast at the same bakery that we ate at back in June, and now we're at the mall until we go to the airport.
so that's that.
Cape Town is supposed to be cold... Ken and I might go see the movie Batman if the weather is bad:)
And that's the thing. After living among the so very poor for a month - going without some of my own creature comforts - getting to know people, feeling as if the SPAR (grocery store) is OUR store, feeling completely comfortable being stared at, being waved at by smiling people whenever we drive by, not wanting the time to ever end, wanting to do so much more than we did ---how easy it is to hop on a plane and plan to go to an IMAX to see a movie. This experience was truly life changing, and yet back at home life will go on... I think a little less frivolously on the outside... and a lot more contemplatively on the inside.
thanks for reading!
Cheri

Well, today we had an incredible afternoon at the beach - just hanging out together, reading, listening to music, playing in the Indian Ocean. This evening we watched this incredible cultural dancing - they wore skins, played loud drums, etc. It was amazing. Tomorrow we'll drive up the coast to a different section of this area before driving back to Ingwavuma for our last work week. We've been invited to a local pastor's home for dinner on Monday evening. On Thursday afternoon we'll leave for the Drakensburg Mountains for the weekend. Then back to Johannesburg for our flight to Cape Town. Danielle will go home at that time - I can't imagine what it will be like even for a few days without her! Love that girl.
Anyway, hopefully I'll have internet access again in the mountains. Otherwise the next chance will be in Cape Town on the 28th.
I had a bigger blog ready to go yesterday but lost it... sorry about that!
Take care everyone,
Cheri

Hi everyone,
Well, another week went by - this time we spent most of the week building a play structure at a satelite office about 40 minutes or so from where we stay - on incredibly rocky roads. The same road we traveled everyday for our camps but a little farther. It was sometimes a very frustrating experience because of tools, etc. We dug holes in very rocky soil and then made concrete from mix, water, stones. and sand - to hold the basic beams in place. That was two days itself. The next day the rest of the team build the platform about 5 feet off the ground while I tagged along with Paul - one of the "heads" of the Ingwavuma Orphan Care. We went to film for a short video that he's putting together. He has the goal of making about 100 videos that will be accessible through their website so that people can see the many many MANY things that the IOC does for this area. We were filming a man who has been running a leadership seminar for 100 local pastors for the past 6 months. Next week they "graduate". Jimmy, the man running the seminar, is extremely dynamic. I could have listened to him for a long time and he was speaking Zulu! Anyway, the next day was today. Three of us build the stairs and guardrails for the playset while Alyssa and Danielle were at the clinic. Alyssa had something majorly big in her eye and needed a doctor to remove it. They had an amazing experience there - spending the better part of the day in line to be seen. Watching people who seemed close to death, prisoners in shackles, patients who didn't know where they were, etc in a huge waiting room. There was singing and praying - spontaneously from those waiting. Meanwhile, because it was Alyssa at the clinic, I had my first driving experience - left side of the road in a manual transmission (meaning I was shifting with my left hand). I found it to be not as hard as I had thought because of all of the hours I've spent riding and the car... it was certainly easier than it would have been if I had been trying it when we first arrived as Alyssa did. Tonight we're having a surprise party for Alyssa because she's been an amazing driver - and she misses out on a lot of scenery because of that.
Next week we'll be finishing our playset and building another one at yet another satelite site. Originally I would have been going home on Saturday! Can't picture that at all. As it is I now have tickets home on the 29th and will arrive in Milwaukee on the 30th. It's possible that this will change if my travel agent can get me a 30th or 31st flight.
I'm typing this from the internet cafe of the Backpackers Hostel that we're staying at for this weekend. It looks like it'll be a lot of fun. Tomorrow we're going horseback riding on the beach - not sure if that's the St. Lucia beach ( saltwater lake) or the Indian Ocean. Either way we'll be experiencing the Indian Ocean in some way this weekend... isn't that amazing?? Look for St. Lucia on the South African map - north of Durban on the east coast.
Can't say enough good things about the group of people I'm with. I wish we could do this forever... it's hard to think of it ending. Hard to think of the regular life of a spoiled American that I normally lead. Unfortunately I think it'll be so easy to live it again. But I sure will appreciate it so so much more.
Take care everyone - look again this weekend for another email/posting.
Cheri

Hi all,
Well, I couldn't get internet access last weekend - we took turns and some of us just didn't get a chance. If you don't hear from me you could always go to Ken's blog - he's probably more detailed than I am. Go to africanyouthoutreach.org and look for all of our blogs and then just click on Ken's.
Anyway, we've now held both weeks of our camp. the first week was really great. the kids ranged from 10-15, with most 11-15. Rebecca (founder of ayo) led the first 2 days with us jumping in once in a while. That was really good to experience because there is a trick to working with translators - knowing how much to say at once, etc. WE worked with 6-8 translators - and they are really fun people. Some components that we added to the camp included small groups - we divided the kids into 5 groups of about 5 the first week and 7 the second week. It helped us all make connnections and learn the names of the kids. (that was quite a challenge when kids' names had clicks in them:) Anyway, our content was self esteem, HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections, condom use, drugs and alcohol, rape (tough topic when girls in south africa are more likely to be raped than to learn to read). WE did a ton of fun things in between all of the heavy stuff. They all made hero books - a 9 step process where they examined positive aspects of their lives. The second week seemed to be intimidating to me, at least, because the kids were 15-26 with the concentration around 18. I don't have experience with that age or these topics with that age, so I was worried. It was incredible though, they were a wonderful group and the rest of our team did an awesome job with the teaching. WE really are a great team. This group of kids had more english speakers, so it was fun to interact with some of them without interpreters. The last day, Thursday, was pretty hard at the end. We had a traditional braai - cooked out over a fire and had great food. When everything was cleaned up the kids were grouped together and sang to us - and said wonderful things to us. All but Ken got into the car sobbing - We plan to go to their school next week or the week after to visit and reconnect. Same for the younger kids from the first week.
The next two weeks we'll be doing a variety of things - translating some stories the older kids wrote, building a play structure and the new Ingwavuma Orphan Care site, I'm going along with some video - ographers who are doing something that they might want input on or else want to help me get more video - not exactly sure, we will also do some home visits. WE're all looking forward to that as well.
So the big news for me is that I'm not coming home as planned. I will be calling the travel agent to arrange a change in my ticket. I'll stay for the last week and then continue to Cape Town for 3 days with my friends. After that I don't know how I'll leave. I am in love with this place and everything we've done.
I want to write about our fun weekends - we've seen so many animals and we've taken so many pictures. We have a blast together every day and night. Yesterday one of my highlights was getting so close to a hippo that she blew snot on me. (not in the wild but not in a zoo, either) I'll try to post again tomorrow and write about the weekends.
Cheri

Hi everyone!
Since today is the last day of the month, we have all been given access to the Orphan Care's internet. After today they'll have to conserve it because they get a monthly alottment.
We arrived here last night in pitch black darkness after 8 hours drive from Jo-burg. The road were pretty good but narrow. The closer we got, the more beautiful it was - mountains etc.
Once we arrived we lugged everything to our very tiny rooms, dealt with a very large spider, and got some sleep. The toilets flush but there is no hot water. My next shower will either be very cold or not until Friday night! We spent the day preparing for our first day of camp tomorrow. We've met several of the workers here - all very nice.
This morning when I came out of our room I could hear drumming/singing - across a valley a small group of kids were probably celebrating their break from school. Caught it on video - as I zoomed in I realized that they were dancing as well.
We also shopped for our food - not Piggly Wiggly!! Our meals will be simple and different! The local pastor came to meet us and invite us to worship with them on Sunday. Unfortunately we will probably be out of town.
Anyway, besides the big spiders we're doing really well.
Take care everyone,
Cheri

Hi everyone,
Well, not sure if this will work today. We're all packed up here in Johannesburg and about to load the cars for our 8 hour drive to Ingwavuma. We barely fit in the cars with all of our suitcases and donation bags - clearly no space for the drive to see out the back. Tricky when she is working so hard to drive on the left! She (Alyssa) is fantastic. Not sure what I'll do if she can't drive because I think I'm the next candidate!
This morning we're going to the market for some souvenier shopping. Last night we had a working evening, preparing for our camp starting on Tuesday. We reviewed all STIs and drugs, made books, rolled balls of yarn for power dolls, and had lots of fun. We adopted Brad, a peace corp worker staying here, and he was a ton of help with all of the work.
Not sure when the next internet access will be.. hopefully next weekend!
Take care everyone! Thank you for all of your prayers and positive thoughts - they're felt way over here!
Cheri

Hi everyone,
I am here! This is already the most incredible experience! Our flights and travels have worked out perfectly so far. Long and gruelly but not problems. Today, Friday, we were treated to our first animal experiences. Our leaders wanted us to have some up close and personal time with cheetahs and took us to a cheetah reserve - at this place they have many endangered species. We took hundreds, probably over a thousand between the seven of us, pictures of cheetahs, wild dogs, honey badgers, vultures, and more. We got to pet a cheetah (pictures to prove it). I adopted a wild dog puppy (financial support - Pfeffer is still an only dog). After that we were taken by surprise when we took the long way back to Johannesburg and went to a lion park. When we pulled in a giraffe walked up to our car. As I was taking photos the giraffe got so close that I only had his legs - and then his head was in the window! It was incredible! Then we drove through lion reserves and took so many awesome photos - can't describe it. We had a chance to walk in a small area with lion cubs - petting them. They are so playful. We drove through the rest of the park and saw zebras, springbok, ostrich, and more. While all of these animals were contained, it was a great chance to see them up close in a non-zoo setting.
We've had awesome food as well. We're staying at the Ritz backpackers lodge - a hostel that is very fun. Today's weather was really warm - at least 70. As soon as the sun goes down it is COLD, though! The dorm I'm staying in has panes out of two of the windows so it was a cold night last night and will be for the next 2, I'm sure.
Sat. we'll be shopping for supplies for our teaching, and then we'll do another tourist thing. Sunday we'll be driving 8 hours to Ingwavuma. Monday we'll be planning and getting all ready to start the camp on Tuesday. WE are all really excited! While 3 of us decided to be added to our car rental, we've elected Alyssa to be our permanent driver - it is driving on the left with the steering wheel on the right. Our constant reminder in the car is "hug the left" - it is all very counter intuitive! (since it is stick shift she also has to shift with the left hand:) I'm not sure if I'm brave enough to try it after watching her drive on the "normal" side of the road more often than we want her to!
The city of Johannesburg is very beautiful and also sad - the desparity between the so very rich and the so very poor, sometimes within yards of each other. Sobering.
Anyway, I'm happy to have this chance to post here. Hopefully there will be more chances!
Go ahead and email me if you want. If I have a chance to buy more minutes on the computer I will be able to check that.
Love,
Cheri

June 24

Well, tomorrow is take-off!  I am sort of packed - lots to do today!  On Sunday we all met with our donations and started packing our big army surplus bags.  We ended up with so many donations that we'll be shipping some of it!

We also had a gathering for our families on Sunday.  It was great to meet everyone's important people, share some food and conversation, and hang out together.

Again, ngibonga kakhula (I thank you very much) for all of your support, donations, prayers, and notes and phone calls of encouragement.  Wish for me a warmer South African winter than Wisconsin winter of '08!

I hope to be able to post here from Johannesburg between July 26-July 29 before we head off for Ingwavuma.  After that, we'll hope for more internet access but who knows!

Cheri

14 days to go! Our team is going to be ready for anything now that we've taken our self defense class through Impact Chicago. I highly recommend this organization - our trainers were incredible (Mark and Martha).
Right now, besides finishing the school year in my own classroom and trying to prepare for a graduation party and having ALL of my basement carpet removed due to water damage, I am trying to focus on collecting donated items that we'll be taking in duffle bags. Thanks to everyone at my church (Sun Prairie United Methodist Church) and in my school district (Monona Grove) for all of the medical supplies, school supplies, beanie babies, hand knit hats, etc. that I've gotten so far.

it's getting a little closer

Just over a month to go!  Everyone else is now set up with their own blogs.  If you did not access this through the AYO site, you can visit Africanyouthoutreach.org to get the links to everyone's blog.

We all had a blast at Drumming For Hope 2008 - the AYO benefit on May 10.  The drumming circle, Wadoma and The Figureheads were awesome!

We've just begun learning the curriculum that we'll be teaching in our camps.  Everyone is now CPR/First Aid certified.  Soon we'll all be taking a self defense course and of course we are continuing with Zulu lessons.  Zulu is a very fun language.  Francis, our Zulu instructor, is incredibly patient with us.  I think one of the biggest benefits will be being able to read and pronounce the kids' names much easier than without the background we're getting.  

Preparing for the trip

Sanibonani everyone! I am learning Zulu with my team. Sanibonani is a greeting to you and your family.
Ngiyabonga!  I thank you so much for making a donation to African Youth Outreach for our camps this summer. Watch here for updates!
Cheri