Happy Birthday Dad!

Well, its been a little while since I’ve written, but things here are going really well! This morning I had a meeting with the Director of the Silvermine Music Academy which is connected with one of the local primary schools. It was a great meeting and good way to get some ideas and feedback as well as some very helpful and useful contacts for the Mobile Music Academy to use. This Saturday is actually the big breakfast fundraiser for the MMA and we’ve been a little busy getting everything together for that. Hopefully that will go well and regardless of how much money it brings in, it will be a great way just to get our name out there and raise some awareness about what the academy is and what we are doing. Regardless, it should be fun!

This past Friday we started something new. From now on Fridays will be work project days for the volunteers. Friday is generally a half work day for most people in SA and so instead of just working half days, we’re going to use all of Friday to do work projects in the townships. So, this past Friday, I went with the other volunteers and the volunteer coordinators (Mike and Pam Talley from Brentwood Baptist) to rebuild a lady’s ceiling in Capricorn. We spent the day taking out her old ceiling, which is just sheetrock nailed to cross boards, all underneath a tin roof. We then added some more support boards and began putting up new “rhino board” ceiling panels. We also spent some time helping redo her herb garden and added some new plants for her to use. Its hard to go into these houses (shacks) and not feel incredibly humbled, guilty, and even ashamed. This lady’s house was a very small shack with two small rooms. Her bedroom was divided in two by an extra sheetrock panel, one side with her bed, the other was her bathroom. It makes you feel those emotions because of how much we take for granted and it throws into perspective how trivial many of our “needs” and problems really are. Maggie is fortunate to have a sink with running water, minimal electricity and a microwave, but many of the people living in these communities aren’t as fortunate. The inspiring part for me is always how high spirited the people are who live in these conditions. Most of us, I don’t think, would consider Maggie to be all that fortunate, but the reality is that she is. She has a roof over her head, a bed, running water, food and she is proud of these things and her house, her garden and her awesome little dog, Yupi. I’m always reminded of what “taking things for granted” really means when I spend time with the people in the townships and spend time visiting them in their homes. It’s such a great experience and I’ve met some very cool people. It keeps my in check with reality.

Last Monday we went into Cape Town to see Ryan Dalton, a Nashville guy, in concert. Ryan moved here 8 years ago and is musician who works with the kids on the streets around Cape Town. He’s started using rap music and hip-hop as both a form of outreach and to create awareness of the very real and very unfortunate things that are taking place in these kids lives. He’s signed a record deal and his concert was a lot of fun. He’s very talented and does a great job with the message in his songs. We had a lot of fun.

Tonight we are going to Pat Ball’s house, a US volunteer who now lives here, to have “taco night”. I’m looking forward to some really good American style tacos! Also, Thursday we are moving out of the place we are in now and into the Team House for a few months. The Crags, where we are now, was only temporary and the lease is up, so until we find our permanent location we will be living at the Team House. The Team House is pretty awesome and just on the other side of the peninsula on a really cool beach, so moving there is ok with us! But that just means we have to pack up again and move, but its no big deal. We’ll have to move again in a couple months, which, including my initial move-in when I got here will be our 4th move. Crazy! But we’re looking forward to living there, with two more volunteers and the team house manager who is a friend of ours.

That’s all for now! Feel free to give my dad a hard time for being so old (54)! I’m sure he’ll appreciate that. ;)

Miss you all!