AFRICA, THE LAND OF ENDLESS ADVENTURES! (May 3, 2016 update)

Woke up this morning to a sad Jabulani, our Land Rover. Thieves had come in the night, broke out the very back passenger window and stole CJ's camera.

The heart break of it is that she lost ALL HER PHOTOS!  She felt the worth of the camera was less a loss than the photos because they were of all our little orphans in Zimbanwe. I have several photos, but CJ had painstakingly taken individual shots of each and every orphan for their sponsors. We will have to get Janco to take them again when he goes back in July for their next big food delivery. Fortunately no one was hurt. It is just a difficult inconvenience.

This is nurse Mercia (which means "Gift from God") who is one of the sweet ladies who have given me daily I.V.'s of antibiotics.  We are not sure what the cause, maybe allergy to bush I've walked through, or possibly a tiny spider bite but my foot swelled up like Mickey Mouse and something had to be done. Each day it gets better. Their medical capability is quite good here. So, I am comfortable with the progress. 

THE MIRACLE OF A PAIR OF SHOES...

Each year we try to provide shoes for the children at Tshikuyu Primary School. This year we really didn't have enough in the budget, but Sam wanted to sponsor getting the shoes. It is so hot here, and the danger of infecting feet from walking barefooted makes it necessary for these children to have shoes so they can walk to school... And they walk a far distance.

So, we are truly grateful to Sam for her act of kindness for these 11 children. We asked their teachers for their shoes sizes and bought the boys and girls their school shoes.

They literally quiver with excitement when they see the shoes because, often it is their very first pair!  Then there is that little dread that a pair won't fit and it is an all day ordeal to go buy the shoes.  Nine children got the right size.

The largest boy and the tiniest girl tried, but their shoes just would not fit. Their disappointment took us to our knees.  So, we went back to the tried and true way of drawing their feet. The little guys had to wait a week, but we were able to get Anita at Awelani to pick the new shoes up on her next trip in for supplies.  The shoes were delivered to the Principal the night before we left. The children were all happy then.  It was a good ending for a fairy tale.