Leading or Following?

July 7, 2013

How does one do right when the rest of their world is telling them to do wrong? How does one become a leader in a sea of followers? Is leadership a born gift? Are good morals learned and acquired over time or are they innate from within?

 I have been thinking about these questions this week as we (the sisters and volunteers) have begun our winter sports camp. The first day of camp, all of us volunteers were surprised to see a set of young boys and a set of young girls, about 13 or 14 years old, who had arrived early at the community center, rallied up the children and began organizing the games and sports. The way the younger children listen to these leaders was shocking. When these leaders spoke the kids listened. The kids waited so patiently for the leaders to give directions and group everyone up. This sounds like no big deal, right? Well, to me, it is a big deal. The norm for teenagers in this area is not leading a sports camp for kids during their time off of school. Their norm is mischief and things that will lead to trouble. I was in awe of the teenage leaders because they didn’t care whether they were with their friends doing God knows what around town, they were playing with children. I know the younger children look up to them. I am thankful for those young leaders as they will be the ones to make a difference in their community and country someday.

There is one more boy or man I should say, who has come from the community to work at the sports camp with us. He is 26 and used to be a grade 2 teacher and a skills teacher at the school as well as a teacher of the faith at church every Sunday. He had also been a camp leader for the past 6 years. When he showed up Sister Margaret about started to cry. She was so happy to see this guy. She said, “I prayed this morning that he would show up.”  She prayed this because he missed last year’s camp. His brother is part of a gang and is a notorious drugie in the community. After years of being part of the community, teaching children and the faith, he got caught into his brothers net and started doing drugs. He basically fell off the face of the earth for about a year. The sisters put him in their house (my house now) to help him quit and to keep him away from the drugs and his brother. After a year battle, he is off drugs and showed to our camp this week. This is why Sister was so happy to see him.

He called all the volunteers and teen leaders together and held a meeting. He led our conversation about ways to meet the needs of these children, games to play and other organizational topics. He initiated a prayer at the beginning and end. Soon after he begins playing with the kids and organizing the games and sports outside and inside the community center. He was delegating tasks to us and leading our group as if it was his paid job. The interactions he had with us and the children were the best part of all. He had the most easy, gentle way of interacting with everyone he talks to. He engages with the children and he can get them to listen to him, effortlessly. All of the other volunteers and I were thinking, “Who is this shabby looking guy who came out of the woodworks to singlehandedly run the sports camp?” Then we heard his story. His story about begin a leader in the community and then falling into a spell of drugs. That is what has me thinking about leadership and morals. How hard must it have been for him to deny his brother for so many years? How hard must it have been for him to not do what was cool and do what is good? It must have been very tough because when the world around you is telling you and pressuring you in the wrong direction; it’s no cake walk to get around it. I admire this guy’s courage. I admire his born leadership skills to step up and set an example for other guys within the community.

A Whole New Prayer Life

July 7, 2013

Before my life here begun, prayer was something I may have done before bed, before meals, with the students in my class, and in church when I went to mass on Sundays (and other church related holidays/events). Those prayers consisted of thoughtful, meaningful connections with Christ. Most of the time those prayers would be traditional prayers like the Lord's Prayer or the Hail Mary or sometimes a decade of the rosary. In church I would meet Jesus in mass and thoughtfully reflect on the words in gospel readings and the words of the priests during homilies and opening/closing prayers. Many times, I’d talk to God before bed, asking him for help and forgiveness, peace and solace about situations in my life or from that day. All that sounds good, right? Nope, wrong. All that is called the bare minimum, or at least for me it was the bare minimum. And I realized that when I got to Africa. After a few weeks in, I realized that my relationship with God had become a little more personal and that’s exactly what needed to happen. If I was going to live 9,000 miles away from home in the crime ridden slums of Africa, I was seriously going to need God on my right shoulder helping me through each day. I was going to need more than a few traditional, robotic prayers and a feel-good weekly Sunday mass to get me through the first few transitional weeks and then the long months to come.

I noticed my prayer life changing the moment I stepped off the airplane in the Joburg airport. I instantly stopped, checked my swollen ankles, looked around at the herd of people around and I thanked God for landing me here safely. I thanked him for getting me to at least that point on my journey. Then as I went through the customs checkpoint and the man spoke the welcoming words that he did (see my first June blog), I knew it was God saying, "Your Welcome. You're in the right plac. Now keep going". That was the beginning of my new prayer life. From that moment on, I began talking to God all throughout the day. The first few days, our conversations were mostly me saying, "Thank you" and He saying, "Your welcome. Now keep going". And the first few nights our conversations were me asking Him to, "Please let me make it through this night alive". Each bright, sunny morning was His way of saying, "You've got another day, now go get at it!" However, through the past month, there has been a constant each and every day. There isn't a day that goes by when I don't say to God, "Wow, this is amazing." Whether it's my amazement with the wonderful children I meet or the incredible landscapes I see on vacations or the peacefulness of a new simple life, everyday there are things that I find myself telling God, "Wow, this is amazing and you're amazing for creating it."

At night I still try and say some of our traditional prayers, especially the Guardian Angel prayer. I need that guy on my side too, to help God in keeping me safe. This place is scary with a capital S! But at night is when I spend time thinking about my family and friends. As I drift off to sleep, I like to look through pictures on my phone of family and friends. I like to re-read text or email messages between us all. I think about what they would be doing at that point, since its mid-day for them as its bedtime for me. Doing all of that is what keeps me feeling close to them. God gives me peace when I do this. It's like his way of saying, "You're loved, supported and thought about. Now go to sleep because tomorrow, like every other, is a whole new can of worms and you need to get rest!"

Then, the icing on the cake is weekly Sunday mass. Every word the priest says has become more meaningful as I know it is God speaking to me. I have found myself singing louder and prouder with each song with a feeling of "I don't care who can hear my terrible voice!"

So, am I spitting out bibles versus and always glowing and only thinking and saying spiritual things and healing the world now that I'm in Africa and I've got this wonderful new prayer life and closeness to God!! No way, Jose. I am far from that stuff. I still have some of those same struggles and flaws as before. I am imperfect. However, I am also aspirational, with big goals and ambitions. My hope (one of many hopes actually) is that, through my work and mission here and through my new relationship with Christ, I can be the best version of me and be at peace with it. Because once you’re at peace with yourself, you can be at peace with everything else. How wonderful that would be!

Things I Love About South Africa

July 1, 2013

Things I love about South Africa…

1.       The singing and dance of SA are unbelievable. The people’s innate passion for singing and dancing is music to my ears. The singing and dancing is part of many cultures present here. It is like they are born with rhythm that only JLo can imagine! Their singing and dancing is part of their everyday lives. The children at school begin there day with song and dance outside of their classrooms. The teachers lead and the students participate in what looks and sound like a gospel choir yet they don’t rehearse and much of the lyrics are made up by the teachers as they go. The Zulu and Sutoo cultures have the most wonderful traditional song and dance that they do at special ceremonies and events. Church is the best place to hear their glorious music. When they are singing and dancing for the Lord, it gives you goose bumps and makes you want to move mountains (and join in on the fun!).

2.       The many different cultures that make up South Africa are what give it its nickname: the Rainbow Nation. On the outside looking in, you see black and white (and few other colors). But from the inside you see Zulu, Sutoo, Afrikaans, Colored, Black, White, Dutch and many more. Each of these cultures and its people contribute to the fascinating and diverse place that is SA. Although there are divides between many, the people of these different cultures are open to each other’s ways and traditions. It was evident when I walked through the customs line at the airport and the customs police told me to “keep up the good work” after he read my job title and what I’d be doing in his country. It was like his way of saying, “welcome to my country, we are happy to have you here. “

3.       No matter what culture or background they come from, the people of SA have a deep and inspiring pride for their country. The history of this country is rich with leaders who have changed the face of the country (Mandela), sports that lead many of the other countries in the world (football) and a landscape that is beautiful beyond words (CapeTown). I already have pride in this country and I have only been living here for a month.

4.       The children of South Africa are obviously one of my favorite aspects of this country. Where I live, most of the children come from poverty and despair. Yet you would meet them and never know the horror stories behind their amazing smiles and laughter. These children are happy to just be living. They don’t need stuff or entertainment to be happy. They are happy to have another day with their friends and their school.

The children who come from the middle class neighborhood are bright and vivacious. All of these children both rich and poor are the future of this country. I believe a child’s future starts with their education, no matter what their home life is like. Schools here are vital and a positive experience can change the life of a child. Who knows, I could be teaching another Mandela some day!

 

5.       The Salesian Religious Congregation is made up of priests, brothers, sisters and novitiates. The Salesian sisters, specifically, are the largest Catholic religious order of women in the world. They have 16,000 members in 96 different countries. These women dedicate their lives to the service of women and children. They make no wage or income. Their service to their community comes from the love in their hearts and their love for the Lord and His call for us to mission the least of His people.

The 4 sisters that are here in Ennerdale, South Africa are gifts to this community and the surrounding neighborhoods (slums). These women have opened schools and preschools for the poorest of the poor. They work tirelessly every day to make sure they provide the children with the best possible education. However, their schools not only provide education, they provide shelter for the children; they get the children off the streets and into a clean, safe environment. Most importantly, these women make it their job to feed, year-round, the starving children in the community. While the children are out of school for winter and summer breaks, the sisters hold week-long sports camps and they provide them with 2 meals a day. For most of the children, if they were not participating in an event with the sisters or in their school, they would not eat at all. We even drive to the bread factory every day to get the left over bread to give to the children before they go home. These women are like celebrities in the community. They drive through town and people would yell, “sista!” or “don bosco!” The people know what these women do for their community and they look up to them and thank them.

Sister Margaret, Sister Giovanna, Sister Theresa and Sister Caroline have dedicated their lives to feeding, education and loving the poorest children in the country. I feel honored, blessed, inspired, moved and humbled to be working with these Salesian sisters. What a wonderful life they lead. What incredible role models they are for me, the other volunteers and for the rest of the world. I am beyond blessed to be part of their “team”.

 

6.       Cape Town! What a breathtaking place, Cape Town, South Africa. I was fortunate enough to spend a whole week in the Cape. CT is the most southern tip of Africa. It is where the explorers called the Cape of Good Hope. It is where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Indian Ocean. The sites to see here are incredible. Table Mountain sits in the middle of CT. The city blankets the bottom of the mountain. It’s called Table Mountain because it’s flat at the top and looks like a table. The volunteers and I spent a day hiking up the mountain. After 2 hours, we had climbed to the top and witnessed the most beautiful view I have ever seen in my life. It’s like we were on top of the world! You could see on top of all the other mountains and the ocean that stretched for days. It’s like we could see all of South Africa’s shore line. My words really do not do it justice (check out Facebook pics!). At the top is a little restaurant, store and cable car lift. We took it down. If I tried to walk down the mountain, I could imagine my Jell-O-like legs would let me go falling forward down the mountain. I wasn’t ready to die that day!

Other days we spent time shopping at the local craft markets, walking the streets to see the beautiful architecture of the buildings, walking the waterfront harbor (yachts and sailboats and ships galore), eating at some authentic South African restaurants (I ate ostrich) and a visit to the Two Oceans Aquarium. The week was wonderful because the volunteers and I got to see the beauty of South Africa. We got to get out of the slums and into civilization.

7.       And much more! I will add to this list so keep checking!

Little Angels on Earth

June 22, 2013

Well, I finally feel like my mission has begun. This week has given me purpose, fulfillment, joy and laughter. It has truly shown me what it means to serve the least of God’s people. This has been the most rewarding week of my life. This week, my home here in SA has become a temporary home for 3 angels. We have been calling them angels on earth.

Sandile is our 7 year old boy and Bongile and Sebongile are 2 year old twin girls. On Tuesday while at preschool, Bongile begun having terrible bladder problems (I wrote of if in my previous blog). We phoned her parents but got no response and we even went to her home to find her parents. They were nowhere to be found. Later that day, the parents showed up to preschool drunk. The mom was so drunk that she passed out on the ground in front of the school. We knew they weren’t going to take Bongile to the clinic to get checked out so we called the social worker to get involved. The next day the social worker visited the family’s shack to find the parents inside, drunk, and the little boy wondering outside. He had just come back from walking Bongile and Sebongile to school. He didn’t go to school, though. He was filthy dirty and had a terrible cough (come to find out he has TB). The condition of the shack we unbearable the social worker said. She said the smell was so bad that she couldn’t walk inside. She spoke with Sandile a bit and he shared some disturbing details about their lives. The most disturbing thing, she told us, was when he explained that the twins had to eat out of the same food bowl as their rabid dog. She took Sandile with her and told the parents that the children would not be coming home again.

My roommates and I were asked to take these children in for the night. The night turned into a week. They are having trouble finding a foster home. They will never be given back to their parents, ever.

These children had not been bathed in weeks. Sandile took his first shower and the girls took their first bath with us this week. When they eat, they eat every bite plus 2 and 3 more helpings of food. They slept on a mattress in our spare bedroom, for the first time in their lives with blankets and socks on their feet. The scares on their bodies say a lot. They began laughing and showing emotion about 3 days in. Now, they can’t stop laughing and talking and playing and smiling.

It’s hard to put into words how incredible it has been taking care of these angels. They have taught us what it means to be thankful for the countless blessings in our own lives. They have taught us how fortunate we are, where we come from. It has never been so easy to love complete strangers. They have been treated like animals for their short lives. And now, hopefully, they will be placed in a home where they can eat at a table, sleep on a mattress, take warm baths and have clothes on their bodies during the winter.

Tomorrow our little family, all 7 of us, are going to 9:30 mass together. I am looking forward to spending another day with these little angels on earth.

Count Your Blessings

June 18, 2013

Count Your Blessings…and then, keep counting and counting…

 

As much as I want my blog to be inspiring and motivating, I also want it to be real and honest. I think I have balanced it well so far. However, the longer I am here, the more that I see and experience and today I have to be real and honest. It’s probably on the opposite end of inspiring and motivating. Sharing on this blog has become therapy for me and today I need some SERIOUS therapy…

Today was by far the hardest day here. It’s like my heart was broken and then broken again, into little tiny pieces…

 A little 2 year old girl in my preschool class lost all control of her bladder today. She went through 4 or 5 pairs of pants until we didn’t have anything else to give her. Everytime she stood up, it came running down.  So we wrapped a towel around her for the rest of the day. We phoned her parents to come and take her to the clinic. When they came about 5 hours later, the father was high and the mother had passed out on the ground. She was so drunk that she couldn’t stand up. Sister Giovanna and the other teachers think that the little’s girls bladder problem because of some form of infection. The social worker knows her family’s history and shared with me the filthy living conditions at her home (shack).  They also suspect that she has been raped. The heartbreaking part about it is that raping 2 and 3 year olds is a common thing. Often enough the teenage boys (13 and 14) are the ones doing the molesting. It sickening. I went into the office and cried after the stories that the social worker told me about these preschool children.

Then later on in the day, I find out that a boy in 6^th grade was hit and killed by a truck on the highway this weekend while he was begging for food. My heart broke again. I spent all day this past Friday with the 6^th grade class subbing for their teacher who was out for the day. I sat with this boy in a reading group and listened to him read and watched him smile as I told him what a wonderful reader he was. Now, he is no longer with us. I thought that the reaction would be just as traumatic for the other children and teachers as it was for me but that was not the case. The teacher was obviously upset but it was her response that was so shocking to me. She said, “This one really hurt.” This one?! Yes, students not returning for school the next day because they are killed is not an uncommon thing. I could tell this because the other children, his classmates, went about their day as normal. I am sure his close friends and classmates were sad; I don’t doubt that, the atmosphere just didn’t seem changed. It was just like another day for them; just another part of their life: death.

I was given the details about the boy’s death but they are too depressing to share. Let’s just say he wasn’t begging close to home and that he wasn’t alone. It involved drugs, drug dealers, satanic devil worshiping groups, sleeping under bridges and then add the begging for food part. All of those elements were part of the 6^th grade boys last night on earth.

All of the terrible things that I could have ever imagined are nowhere near what actually goes on in the lives of these children. I thought at first that I was just being judgmental about what I have witnessed these past 18 days. However, it’s not a judgment. It is the absolute truth. And I don’t judge these people by their actions and lifestyle. I am simply witnessing a reality and trying my best to share love, a smile and a helping hand to everyone I meet and those willing to except it.

After sharing all of my thoughts and reflecting on my day, I always find myself thinking about all of the countless blessing in my life. I have SO MUCH to be thankful for. Whatever my problems were at home seem to be absolutely nothing in comparison to the problems here. Thank you, God.

A Day in the Life of SISTA!

June 13, 2013

I cannot believe that I have already been here for 13 days. The other volunteers told me that time would fly by but I didn’t think it would fly this fast. Many people back at home have been asking me what I am doing each day. At first, I was just bouncing around from the primary school (Don Bosco Center) to the preschool (the Cresh). Those schools are but a mile and half from each other yet they are in two different towns. The Cresh is in Finetown. Finetown is where the biggest squatter neighborhood is. So the name “fine” town is very ironic to me because the town is FAR from fine. But it’s fine to those who live there; I guess that’s all that matters. I have actually grown quite fond of it. Finetown is where the park is where we go and have Oratory every Friday afternoon and Finetown is also home to most of the beautiful preschoolers at the Cresh.

After a week of bouncing around and getting adjusted to the area and the schools, Sister Giovanna asked me to spend a few weeks at the Cresh. I had previously spoken to her about my background in early childhood education and how my heart is with the younger children. Sister Theresa at the Don Bosco Center agreed that I could spend a few weeks at Cresh and then start teaching grade 7 English in July, after the winter break. My time at the Cresh has been eye-opening (as many of my experiences here have been). I started last week with just observing and sitting in the classes and interacting with the children. Interacting can be difficult because I don’t speak their language and we don’t understand each other, verbally. However, there’s a universal language that children have. They communicate with facial expressions, motions, and most importantly physical touch. Or maybe I’ve just spent way too much time with kids in the past 5 years that I’ve mastered some form of child sign language or mind reading, I don’t know. Either way, I can be with them and speak a different language yet still be able to interact and communicate.

After a few days of observing, Sister Giovanna, who runs the Cresh, asked me to have a workshop with the teachers and to share with them some of my observations and ideas on ways to improve or strengthen the children’s development at their center. This past Tuesday I held the workshop with 8 wonderful, patient, loving and dedicated teachers. We discussed the importance of following the daily schedule as closely as possible in order to create a routine for the children. Routine leads to structure. Most of those children come from a chaotic home life. Structure is vital for their development and success. We also discussed how valuable the 30 minute “indoor time” is. Indoor time is their core learning time inside the classroom. We shared ways to be more efficient with that time in order to get the most out of it. We spoke about their language development and interactions with the teachers and about effective ways to handle bathroom procedures. All of the teachers were open to me and welcomed my ideas. I wanted to come across as an equal. I wanted them to know that I valued the way they do things and that my ideas are not better, just simply different. Sister G saw our success during workshop and asked me to hold a monthly workshop from now on in order to continue our growth together. Since Tuesday’s workshop, I go to the Cresh each day and co-teach with the 3 and 4 year old classroom teachers. We work together to manage the classroom and work on implementing some of the things we discussed during the workshop. I plan to bring them a sweet treat at the end of next week to thank them for allowing me in their classrooms and being open to my presence and ideas.

Around 11:30 each day, when the children finish their lunches, I ride with another volunteer to the bread factory 15 minutes away. There we take the left over loaves of bread from the delivery trucks and we stack as many as we can in the back of our truck. Then we take them back to the schools. The Cresh gets 12 loaves that will be a part of their lunch the next day and Don Bosco Center gets the rest. When the kids at Don Bosco leave to go home each day, they get to take a loaf of bread home with them. For many, it’s their family’s dinner. We do whatever we can to make sure the children are getting fed.

After work all of the volunteers and I head home. It’s usually around 3:30 or 4. Since its winter here, the early mornings are very cold. But in the afternoons, around the time we get off work, the sun is shining brightly and the temperature is warm and beautiful. We go home and sit in our driveway and enjoy the sun (but not too much because apparently too much sun in the winter in SA can cause the flu??) and each other’s company. Then we either head to the sister’s house for dinner and Wi-Fi, or we cook a big meal at our house. Once it’s dark though, we are locked in and winding down. Tonight Amanda and I cooked a meal and then we watched a movie and drank wine. I am enjoying my time here. Different journeys have brought us too this place but we are all making the best out of it. We spend our days with the children at the schools and we spend our nights sharing, laughing, eating and enjoying our time together.  It’s a simple yet fulfilling life. I highly recommend it J

Today is the most wonderful day so far because I got news that one of my best friends, Alissa Mansfield, had her baby today. Emmeline Grace was born healthy and beautiful. I can’t wait until I get to meet her in January! – and hopefully on FaceTime or Skype sometime soon.

Congrats Alissa and Brett! I love you both.

 

 



Home Away from Home

June 9, 2013

One week down and many more to go! I think I have gotten over the initial shock of when I am living and the conditions. Now, I can write about all of the positive and wonderful experiences I am having here because there are many and they definitely outweigh the negatives that I spoke about in earlier posts.

Today we went to a local church and attended Mass. There are at least three local Catholic Churches around my town and close by. People here love their religion and they love their Lord. The church was a little brick building. They bring in the pews and kneelers every Sunday for mass. Every other day the church is like an empty space. But when it is filled with pews and kneelers and people and children and priest the little brick church comes alive to be the most spectacular mass I have ever been to. The priest, who is a Salesian and who works with me at my school and youth group, said mass in their African language called Zulu. Everyone sang and responded in Zulu. The COOLEST part was that I could follow along without skipping a beat! I knew what prayers and responses were being said and what songs were being sung and I could receive communion. To be a complete outsider, 9000 miles away from my own church and speaking a totally different language, I have never felt more a part of the mass before. The mass took 2 hours because of their songs. It was the most beautiful soul/gospel music I have ever heard. I could sing along with them in English. Then they would start dancing in the isles and waving their hands in the air. It was awesome! The children sat together in the front 2 rows and followed along, sang and danced with everyone. They didn’t need a “cry room” or to be taken out for being distracting. Mass and church is a special and important place to them and they were just as a part of it as the rest of the congregation.

 UNIVERSAL: My new favorite part of being part of the Catholic Church. There are so many things that I love about it, but being here in Africa and participating in today’s mass, I have a great appreciation for the beautiful thing that is the Catholic Church’s universality. It is what sets us apart from so many others…no matter where you go in the world; the mass is always the same. You go into Mass and instantly become one with everyone there. It’s like home (and here come the tears). You feel safe knowing that you are just as close to God and your church and your beliefs as you were back at home, half way around the world. 

After mass we have Sunday lunch at the sister’s house. It is our one hot meal of the day (like every other day, we usually get one hot meal a day, at their house). The new volunteers from Ireland finally arrived and joined us for lunch. They two girls are living with us and the boy is living with the Salesian priests and brothers in their house down the road. Now, its 6 girls living in our house representing 4 different countries. We can all speak English but with different accents. It’s really fascinating speaking with them and learning about where they come from and their cultures and life at home.

After we had taken long afternoon naps (which is vital for me because I have not gotten used to the time difference yet so I’m wide awake most nights) my roommate Chrissy and I sat at our kitchen table and had a great convo. I learned from this convo exactly how different I am from these other girls, besides the fact that we are from different countries. I am speaking more about our life journeys and what brought us to South Africa. I am the only one out of the 6 of us, who never dreamed of visiting, much less living, in Africa. Like I had mentioned in my very first post back in April (see April post if you haven’t read it), Africa chose me. I did not choose Africa. The other girls here and mostly Chrissy, have dreamed about visiting, seeing or living in Africa. Chrissy majors in international social work because she wants to be a social worker in Africa someday. She spent a semester in Ghana living and working with the people there. She has a love and deep fascination for all things African. It’s very inspiring how passionate she is about her work an about Africa. I, on the other hand, had no initial interest of visiting, seeing or living in Africa. Chrissy and I were discussing those differences we had and I started to feel bad for not having the deep desire to come here. So I began to doubt myself for a minute. Am I in the right place? Should I have gone somewhere that I really desired and hoped to be living or visiting? Am I just being overly ambitious or being cliché for coming to serve in a poor town in South Africa? Isn’t it too soon to be doubting things? I still have 7 months to go!! All I can do really to keep my own peace about my presence here is to keep reassuring myself (and thanks to the help from all of my supportive family and friends) that this is where God placed me and I am simply answering His call to serve here. It was never in my plan or my dreams and that’s ok. If anything it was part of God’s plan to take me out of my life in the States where I planned and micromanaged every aspect of my life. I think He is trying to show me how wonderful a life can be when you let go of control and simply just live and enagage in the moment you are in and appreiciate the NOW, instead of worrying about the future.

I am not any less than the other volunteers here. It just makes my circumstances and journey a little different. Right?

When I leave here, though, I hope to travel to a few places where I would like to visit while I’m out of the States. Sr. Giovanna who is a Salesain sister, who I work with, is from Italy and tells me about how wonderful it is and that Noto and Sicily are spectacular places to visit. The Salesian sisters have a community there where I could stay and work while visiting. Only time will tell what I will be doing, though. I just continue to pray for guidance and peace. I know that God will lead me on the path I am supposed to be on whether that is more traveling and volunteering or a life teaching in the States OR anything else?!!!  I just know I’m in the right place at the right time and it feels good (minus the cold weather and the lack of heat in any building in my town, that doesn’t feel too good!).

I came across a beautiful quote the other day and it relates to my life here in SA and my April blog post about my “journey to get to this journey”. I read this at night. Its comforting.

“Your journey has molded you for your greater good, and it’s exactly what you needed it to be. Don’t think that you have lost time. It took each and every situation you have encountered to bring you to the now. And the now is right on time” –Asha Tyson