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Posted on June 7th, 2007 by admin
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Here again for the rest of our debrief (we started our trip here so we are experiencing a bit of inclusio)….a time to relax and get ready to come back home to Canada!!! We made use of the pool and soccer field daily and will be flying to Frankfurt then Toronto then Winnipeg starting Tuesday … April 10th!!! See you soon!

Posted on April 7th, 2007 by admin
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Ukutula: The Lion Farm.  Where in the world can you visit 40 lions and walk amongst them? Where in the world can you frolic with 4 baby lion cubs every day? This place is Ukutula and it is our reality.  Besides the lions, we’ve been able to handle snakes, go on a safari, go quad biking, swim daily, paintball, and wall climb.  The real reason we are here however, is to begin our group debriefing for the year.  Each student has roughly 20 minutes to tell the rest of the group what they’ve learned this year followed by a time of encouragement and prayer for that individual.  It has been a great time of stories and learning as we see how God has worked in every single student this year.  By the time we left the lion farm, we had completed 28 of 36 students.

Story by Johnny Fukumoto

Posted on April 7th, 2007 by admin
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So after driving through Swaziland, which gave all of us another stamp in our passports, and a 4am wake up call in St. Lucia, we finally arrived at Kruger Park.  When we arrived we had an hour drive in to the park where we saw rhino, leopard, elephants, zebras, and giraffes.  When arriving at our camp site, we set up tents and prepared dinner.  That following morning, Jason and Johnny’s small groups woke up at 4am for a game drive and then got another opportunity at 5pm.  During the game drives, we got to see the “Big 5″: elephants, leopards, white rhino, water buffalo, and lions.

Staying in Kruger Park for 3 days was great to experience a campgroup atmosphere again which reminded me of our canoe trip back in Canada.  Although every day we had to remind each other to “take your malaria pills” we definitely enjoyed that week of great adventure.

Story by Cate Forrer

Posted on April 7th, 2007 by admin
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After spending far too much time in the city, we were ready for another adventure: climbing the Drakensberg Mountains.

The first group to do so was Johnny and Dana’s small groups.  Not being in this group, I cannot describe it.  I was doing service work in Pietermaritzburg at the time.

By the time my group (Jason and Anita’s small groups) got to the mountains, I was becoming very excited.  I had been looking forward to this all semester.  Loading our packs on our backs, we make the 3km hike to the cave with relative ease (relative to the hike to come).  The cave was in fact, our lodging for the duration of our Drakensberg experience.  It was a spacious indentation into a cliff face supported by a pillar of rock.  It overlooked a valley lined with grassy slopes.  Someone commented, “It is as though the mountains are draped in velvet.”

The stars are incredible in the Drakensberg.  They are far from civilization and all its smog and light pollution.  Despite the fact that we did not have it as cold as the other group, few got good sleeps.  The next day we woke with the dawn and ate a sort of oatmeal about which Jason quoted “it’s krusty bread grule.  9 out of 10 orphans cannot tell the difference.”

After we ate we set out on a long hike up Rhino’s Peak, the tallest summit in the vicinity.  We made our way through sharp grass and Alyssa twisted her ankles three times in the first couple of hours.  We were able to periodically stop for ice cold mountain water from the creek which we swam in the day before.

As we went, we lost some members of our team (due to physical challenges) but the rest of us, not intimidated, carried on.  We then had to ascend through a gorge which would be an easier route than the nearby sheer cliff face to our right and left, while trying hard to avoid rockslides as we climbed steep paths nearing the top.  Once, while trying to remove a precarious rock, I was almost taken down the mountain in a slide.  We were more careful after that.

Finally reaching the top, we came to a flat table covered is grass.  On that high plateau we met some Sotho shepherds who showed us some traditonal Sotho stick fighting in exchange for some of Will’s cigarettes.  While we ate, it began to rain.  Geoff (our guide and country partner) to our dismay told us to turn back.  Fortunately for us, we were able to carry on since the clouds missed the gorge which had been the worry.  Trekking across the table top we went to a pinnacle of rock, shaped like a Lion’s horn (do lion’s have horns? Johnny sidenote). 

The view from the top was breathtaking.  On one side we could see the way we had come.  On the other we could see across the border of Lesotho.  We snapped some quick photos and left.  Descending the mountain proved difficult because it became harder to prevent slides of rocks.  We returned to our cave happy to find supper waiting for us.  After another sleepless, starry night, we returnd to the rest of our group and civilization.

Story by Philip Cutmore

Posted on April 7th, 2007 by admin
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We experienced our last host family in Durban where we stayed in the Indian community.  It was another eye-opening experience as we learned more of South Africa’s history and the different groups of people that live in it.  Every morning we had breakfast with our host families and after were dropped off at the church or were picked up by George (our bus driver). 

During the day, speakers came and talked to us.  We got a chance to visit some significant places in the community like the Mahatma Ghandi Center and the Benevolent Home-a center where anyone can go, especially the elderly.  We spent a whole day there and were encouraged to pick a place where we wanted to work.  Some of us played with children and others hung out with older people.  It was a very enjoyable day because we got to serve the community.  All of us had supper together at the church and the rest of each evening was spent with our host families.  Our last day in Durban was spent at Ushaka Water Park.  A day in the water was well appreciated.  Saturday we said goodbye and left.  This experience helped us to really understand and get to know the Indian community of South Africa.

 Story by Marie Munyabarenzi

Posted on April 7th, 2007 by admin
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During our week in Mdumbi, we had classes about knowing ourselves led by our very own fab four.  Day one started with Mr. Fukumoto and his unique teaching style including “the hat of fate” to promote student involvement and visual aids such as Paris Hilton and the Holy Bible.  Johnny talked about personalities and also about the enneagram tests that we had taken the previous week.  The test is based on a series of questions and then puts you into one of 9 personality types.  We got together in those groups based on our results and began to discover more of who we are and why we react to situations the way we do.

The next day Mr. Wicklund opened up his class with story-time based on the Old Testament classic of Joseph.  Through the story we started our discussion on passions and abilities.  Jason challenged us to take a deep look at ourselves and discover what our specific passions and abilities were and how we could use those to further God’s kingdom.

Day 3 included Miss Honderich teaching about spiritual gifts.  We took time to check out the Bible and collectively made a list of some of the spiritual gifts.  The class also had time for personal reflection and a time with our Peer Mentoring Group (PMG) to affirm each other in our gifts and spend time in prayer together.

On the last day of classes, Miss Penner helped us begin to realize the reality of life after Outtatown.  We took time to personally create an action plan for practical things we need to stop, begin, or continue when we get back to Canada.  Anita also led us in our last activity for the week: a time of encouragement with our small groups.  We all spent various amounts of time writing out encouragements for our small group members that included where we perceived their passions and abilities to lie.  We presented these to each other the next day in a time of verbal encouragement.

I think I can speak for most of our site when I say that the whole week was very impactful and it was a great opportunity to learn more about ourselves and how God is working in us.  It was interesting to see our leaders in a direct teaching role and it was an awesome week to learn and reflect with the backdrop of God’s amazing creation and beauty (including the goats, cows and donkeys) around us.

Posted on March 23rd, 2007 by admin
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The week in Jeffrey’s Bay began late due to our unreliable bus (again) which was disappointing for everyone. We pulled up at 1 in the morning exhausted! The next morning (after doing our laundry) we had the opportunity to do one of many adventures. I chose a surfing lesson. The waves were small but perfect for learning and the sun was hot. Armed in our full body wet suits, the 12 of us headed out. We practiced a bit on the sand then got sent out into the water. 2 hours later, we had all stood at least once-riding the wave right to the sand. It was the perfect start to our week.

Later on that week, we had another opportunity for adventure sandboarding on the dunes or horseback riding on the coast of South Africa. Now I hear sandboarding was fun but horseback riding was certainly an adventure. We started by riding at a reasonably slow pace on the trail leading to the ocean. At the end of the trail we faced a huge sand dune that our horses effortlessly climbed up.  When we reached the top, the most unbelievable view awaited us.  Sand dune after sand dune bordering the coastline.  Off we went full tilt along the shore in the sand and waves.  Now you have to understand that these horses are crazy and sometimes unstoppable which leads me to the next part of our adventure.  All of a sudden we hear screaming and I saw Kaylynn hanging onto the horse as best as she could as it took off.  She bounced right off in a fit of screams.  After receiving her medical attention, we found out she’d be alright and that it could have been way worse.  Just another day in Africa.

The week was amazing; it was hot and we played a lot of beach volleyball, did a lot of swimming/surfing, and hit up all the outlet stores (sorry mom I’m coming home broke).  In the end, we all got to do some adventure and relaxing and thoroughly enjoyed Jeffrey’s Bay.

Posted on March 23rd, 2007 by admin
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Posted on March 22nd, 2007 by admin
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It was a bit of a scary ride getting there but our stay in Mdumbi was wonderfully relaxing. Driving there, our bus threatened to roll down one of the many hills several times-but in the end we were all still in one piece and were finally able to focus on the surrounding beauty.

Pocketed in lush green hills, and right beside the ocean, Mdumbi proved to be one of the most beautiful, untouched, and unadulterated places we’ve stayed at so far. We woke up to a rooster crow-and if we were lucky a baa-ing goat-coaxing us out of our beds in our thatch-roofed huts every morning. As days moved on we hung out in hammocks in the main hut, listened to Jack Johnson and played cards in the “Mdumbi Cafe”, or walked down to and along the beach. Most days, it was also normal to see random livestock like cows, horses, and donkeys walking around freely. We all had the chance as well to buy beaded jewelry from the young local artisans, and to experience the warm, fuzzy feeling of charity when they fought over the clothes we donated to them.

All in all, Mdumbi was beautiful and relaxing, and totally conducive to learning about ourselves (which was the goal of the week), as well as God and the world;a total hippie breeding ground, perfect for a bunch of gypsies like us to “find ourselves”.

Story by Deborah Wiens

Posted on March 22nd, 2007 by admin
Filed under: Semester 2, Mdumbi | 2 Comments »