WEEK 17

On Monday, this week I got to go to the Social Welfare Department to meet with the head guy to go over what MYC had been doing with the guidelines from the government and talked about how to get birth certificates for the kids who don't have them yet. So for the rest of Monday, I worked on figuring out who needed birth certificates from our homes and helped write letters to the government with the details of the child's situation as apart of documents we will need when filing for a birth certificate. On Tuesday morning I did that as well but I started not feeling well and ended up being sick from Tuesday afternoon through Thursday! It was similar to the past sickness I had the first month I was here. I had some stomach issues. It was not as bad as the first time but it still was not fun. I didn't really start eating anything until Thursday. You learn a lot about yourself when you are sick. How much you can handle, what kind of sickness you can handle, how you are with other people when your sick, etc. I am not a good sick person. I don't like being sick (not that I know anyone who does) and I don't like doing anything when I'm sick! So God took the opportunity to teach me some things in my sickness. One of the biggest things he taught me and I have a really hard time sharing this because I like to say I'm not but I've been a pretty selfish person at least in my thinking if not in my actions. It's one of the things I've been working on putting others before myself. It's hard sometimes when everyone around you is telling you to do what is best for you and don't worry about anyone else. So it was an eye opening experience for God to show me how my motives don't always line up with my actions. I may do the right things sometimes but my attitude isn't always in line with what I am doing. God just really made me see how much more productive I would be if my attitude and my actions were in line with each other. 

For the end of the week, on Friday, when I was able to go back to work, I continued working on the birth certificate letters. I was unable though to make it to the girl's home because of being sick and then our volunteer car broke down. So hopefully next week I'll be able to post some more pictures of the progress of the home!  

Some rest and relaxation (week 15 and 16)

 The past two weeks a lot has happened and at the same time not a lot has happened. To begin two weeks ago on Tuesday Johannes had a doctor's appointment on with a heart doctor. The doctor did a ct scan and x-rays of his heart and he said it was completely fine and healthy. He shared that Johannes was having panic attacks and that is why he was passing out and so he gave him some medicine to take and said if he is still having problems after some time and he doesn't have any more pills that he can come back and get more. After the doctor's appointment, Johannes and I talked about why he was having these attacks and he didn't share a lot. He said he didn't want to be a burden to anyone and didn't want anyone to worry about him. I tried to encourage him and let him know that it's okay to share what's going on and that if he doesn't share what he's feeling his situation will only get worse. I know what it's like to not want to share your feelings with people, just ask anyone who knows me, I did not share what I truly felt for a long time! I was a pro at hiding my true feelings. So for me hearing him say that he didn't want to bother anyone or have anyone worry about him or that it doesn't really matter, hit home with me and I realized that I had felt those thing at one point in my life too. But how to help him realize that it only gets better once you get out everything into the light can be a hard thing to do. I guess really all you can do is be there to support him and remind him that whenever he is ready to share you are there for him. So that's what I did. So just pray for him that even though it is scary to open up (and he's shared that it scares him) that it could really help him to get better. He doesn't even have to share with me but just that he knows people care about him and he can trust someone enough to share what is on his heart and what is troubling him would really help him out!

Onto another part of the past two weeks: on Thursday, October 11th, all 6 of us volunteers living in "The Palace" took a trip to Durban for about 5 days! It was so wonderful and relaxing. I didn't realize how much I needed to get away and how stressed I had been until we were there and I started to relax. God is a God who provides (Jehovah-Jireh). He knew what I needed way before I even realized it! It was really nice to sit on the beach and enjoy the ocean and the beauty of where we were staying! We were right off the beach so we had a beautiful view and it just was extremely peaceful there! I loved it! It was exactly what I needed when I needed it! We returned to Swaziland on Tuesday, October 16. The rest of the week I worked and not much excitement happened.

Lastly, the girl's home is continuing to move along slowly. It rained really hard on Tuesday night (10/16) and flooded some of the rooms in the house because the ceiling needs fixed but it looks like it didn't do any damage and they were already working on fixing the floor anyway. So, slowly but surely it continues to move along. I am starting to work with MYC and Mary-Kate is as well to come up with the roles of who will do what and be responsible for what when the girl's home is opened so it gives me a little more to do to help get the girl's home started! 

The kitchen floor being redone.

The ceiling of the porch.

The hardest one yet....Week 14

Eish! This week was one of the hardest weeks since I've been here! Johannes, a 19 year old boy who I met 4 years ago when I was here, has a heart condition, which I don't fully understand. This week he passed out twice. I took him to the clinic the first time and the hospital the second time. It took him a while to wake up and respond to the nurse/doctor. Once he woke up, he was groggy, really thirsty and said his stomach hurt. After sometime he would be fine and back to his normal self. One of the doctor's at the hospital said things at home are affecting him and that's why he is having these issues. In other words, his home life is putting too much stress on his heart. So, this week has been rough! I struggled a lot with not knowing what to do or how to help him. I've been praying and he definitely needs prayer. But I felt useless otherwise. He's a great kid, smart, funny, and has great potential! It's been scary for me to have the kids and even adults looking to me to know what to do! It's a lot of pressure to have someone's life in your hands. Obviously, I wanted to help and do whatever I could and be there for him but to be the one to make the decision on what to do is scary! But, I found that since no one else was doing it someone had to step up. Even though I was terrified and would have gladly given that responsibility to someone else, God was there with me and used me even though I felt so inadequate! "And he said to me 'my grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.'" 2 Corinthians 12:9. Looking back on this week, He's the one who got me through. He gave me the support of my housemates. After taking Johannes to the hospital on Thursday night, I had to run home to get the paper that had what medicine the clinic had given him. When I got home, I broke down, Michelle, a volunteer at the home, offered to drive me back to the hospital! She was a really great support by just being there. Knowing I had someone there to support me made me feel better. Also, knowing that those in the States were/are praying for Johannes is a great support. On Friday, Musa, a Swazi friend, took Johannes to get a passport, birth certificate, and an ID, so that if Johannes needs to go to the doctor in South Africa for better care he can go! Johannes looked much better on Friday! He was happy and just overall looked like his normal self. I know he could be fine one minute and not the next but it was nice to see him smiling and enjoying his day! It was a good way to end the week!
On another note, the girl's home is slowly coming along as I've said every other week! But progress is progress and I get excited to go and see each week more of what they have done. I know God's will is in this project and he has great plans, we just have to wait and be patient. I have to serve him in the time of waiting in whatever way that may be. So, even though this week was hard and I wouldn't want to go through it again, I know God had a purpose for it and I have learned a lot through the experience. I have to trust that God has everything in control!

(our internet at home isn't working and the pictures of the home are on my computer. I will post pictures later of this weeks progression. They have finished the ramp and have started working on the kitchen.)