January 10, 2007
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
By Ben Conner
Hello again friends. Our travels first took us to the Fisantekraal community about 30km outside of Cape Town. We entered into the squatter community and visited the "Won Life" facility that provides health services, education and food to the community. The center is supported by AGAS, a South African gas supplier, and teaches the Word and love of God. We met some of the adorable children that depend on the center for guidance in their pre-school years.
Claire, a manger of the facility, took us into the community of shacks that surround the Won Life center so that we might see the conditions these children live in. What we saw will weigh heavy in our hearts and minds forever. The people of Fisantekraal are being helped but their needs are greater than the resources available to them.
We drove back into Cape Town for a stop by Green Market Square. This is a very popular tourist spot where hand crafted goods are sold right in the center of the city. After we parked the vans downtown (always fun) we walked a few blocks to the square. We enjoyed the shopping and atmosphere for a while and then headed back to the flats for dinner.
Our evening concluded with a drive down to a beautiful beach spot on the outskirts of downtown to watch the sunset. We made our way down to the sand and were surrounded by beautiful plant life, stunning hillside homes and enormous rock formations that stretched into the sea.
Love to all,
Ben
P. S. Happy Sweet Sixteen, Allison! I wish I was home to celebrate with you. I look forward to having you drive me around, especially considering my car is a bit sick right now. I love you and can't wait for us sisters to unite again!
January 9, 2007
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
By Jeff GuerreroToday we hiked Table Mountain. In the morning clouds covered the mountain and the cable cars were shut down due to high winds up top. As the clouds cleared away, the group decided to ditch the idea of climbing to the top of the mountain (because there would be no cable cars to take us down) and decided to take a contour path around the mountain. The day at the mountain began in the Botanical Gardens at the base where we saw a plethora of plant life including Proteas and Ericas, both indigenous to the South Africa. We then made our way to the trail, one of over 100. About the first third of the trial was through a forested area, which provided some shade, and the rest wrapped around Devil's Peak and Table Mountain. Although we were in direct sunlight for a while, we were rewarded with amazing views of Cape Town, the Atlantic, and the surrounding mountains. For some of us this 7-hour hike was a pretty big challenge, but we all made it down safely and decided to take the cable car (which was running by this time of the day) to the top for the best possible views. Having walked around on top of the mountain for about an hour and being much higher than all the surrounding clouds, we called it quits for the day and headed back to the seminary for long-awaited showers and food. And now we are going to bed early!
Miss you all,
Jeff
Update From Mark
By Mark HeunDear Friends (at St. Thomas),
I hope you are having a good day at school.
I vomited yesterday. I felt really bad, but I am feeling better today.
Mark
A Hello From Mark
Monday, January 08, 2007
By Mark HeunDear Friends,
We went to the beach at Cape Point, we walked through the water and on the rocks. It was cold. We went to the Castle of Good Hope. We heard them shoot their guns. We saw cannons and cannon balls.
Mark
January 8, 2007
By Emily DavisToday we truly experienced the meaning of African time. We arrived at Parliament to discover that renovations had been done over Christmas break and unbeknownst to us, our tour had been moved to tomorrow. So, we had to be flexible and decided to spend some time in the botanical gardens behind the Parliament. Almost all of us ended up at a tea house where many of us sampled Rooibos tea, which is supposedly fertilized by bat guano. It was so relaxing to be sipping tea and eating scones among trees and plants that were so foreign to us.
We spent the afternoon in Stellenbosch, a University town that is primarily Afrikaans. We spent some time wandering around in the sun, getting ice cream and checking out the stores. Some of us found a small curio market where we haggled for authentic South African crafts. The rest of the afternoon was spent at Stellenbosch University, speaking with Amanda Gouws, a friend of the Heuns. She is a professor of political science at the University and specializes in gender studies and the transition to democracy of South Africa. While we had had student presentations on these topics, it was great to have this information reinforced and have the gaps filled in.
Amanda, her two daughters, and her husband joined us for dinner at the Delaire Winery, "situated on the crest of the panoramic Helshoogte Mountain Pass, overlooking the Banhoek Valley and framed by the mighty Simonsberg and Groot Drakenstein Mountains." (poetic, I know) We enjoyed Ostrich, Salmon, and Bobotie – a South African dish. We spent half an hour taking pictures of the winery and the surrounding mountains. The winery was kind enough to remain open past their usual 4 pm closing time in order to accommodate us, and we were truly grateful. We enjoyed the food, fellowship, and fine views of the winery. You will all be jealous once you see our extensive collection of pictures.
Much Love,
Emily