Mark Jannetta. South Africa Trip. July 1- 18th.

Day 1, 2 ish Travel and more travel, blurred 2 days into one long one; 4 flights, 3 Stopovers and a lot of sitting around finally got me to small airport called Pietermaritzburg 25 hrs away. Fortunately when I got off the plane the guys from ‘Son Skate’ who are hosting the conference, were there to meet me and unfortunately my bag was not. Good start… however we stopped at a petrol station and I was pleased to see it stocked up with English goodies, so dinner was made up of crisps, aero bar and a steak and onion pie to sooth my English soul. With a great exchange rate dinner cost me about $2. We went back to Richard’s house and I was able to catch up on email while they watched the God channel and everything going on in Lakeland. Makes for great discussion!

Real Day 1 We headed over to the church to get some things lined up for the conference. This mostly didn’t involve me so I made good use of the ping pong table till they were done. We then headed out to the mall to get all the food for the weekend ahead. Was interesting to see so many car park attendants, but the jist is you pay them a small charge to watch your car while you are in the mall. We ate Breakfast first for a cool 10 Rand, about $1.50 and then did our shopping. Dudes and shopping is an awkward mix, but we survived and left the mall heavily laden and ready to sleep. Well I was anyway, so that’s what I did: slept. We all gathered at the church for dinner from our fresh supplies and tried to bring some order to kick the conference off with a prayer meeting. There’s about 30+ guys here for the conference with different Son Skate ministries from Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. A large number of them are just teens, not so much leaders. So the talks are being tweaked more to build them up and encourage them than focus on the leaders. You can tell it’s mostly skater kids, as they all left at 10:30pm to go find a sketchy Skatepark to skate till 1am. The more mature (older) of us went to bed! Bradley and myelf found a small room at the back of the church far, far from where all the ‘groms’ were sleeping. A wise move no doubt.

Day 2 SKATE CONFERENCE Managed to get my butt up early and join the leaders to pray. Good to do. After breakfast we had our morning session with everyone. Worship and talk. Each leader shared a little on their neck of the woods. I represented the US as best an English man can. In the break I went and bought much needed underwear. I was happy to see my first real and loose on t streets monkey and thought of Ella and her funny monkey noises. Wish she was here to see it too. Richard informed me they were like a vermin here and would sooner run it over than stop the car to look at it. Nice. Headed back for session two. As Bradley the main coordinator started talking he had a phone call which he took on stage. It was the airport and my bag had arrived. Praise God. That counts as a miracle. After lunch Bradley borrowed a car and drove me to pick up my bag. It took us about an hour and a half, so I got to see some South African countryside… oxen, shacks, forest fires and Africans pee- ing on the road side. All quite normal sites I was assured. By the time we got back everyone else had left to go skate. My eyes were heavy so I did not fight the chance for another good nap, from which I could hardly wake myself from. Dinner was good and boys being boys had a little hot sauce eating contest to finish things up before our evening meeting. I grabbed a much needed shower and change of clothes first. After a few videos and worship it was my time to speak. I shared some personal stories and challenged the guys to build on a foundation of faith. Faith being to believe what God has promised. The guys responded positively and we prayed to end and a few guys hung out to talk and pray some more. After that the English cravings kicked in so we borrowed some BMX’s and did our best to cycle up the hill to the nearest petrol station and buy some chocolate and crisps. All three of us were worn out by the time we got to the top. So unfit! Coming down the hill was just as amusing since Johnty had no brakes on his bike. Ping Pong was next on the agenda and I managed to destroy all the competition. The Anglo- American- Italian-Scotts would be proud. Back to the computer to email and it was 11pm before I knew it. Bed.

Day 3 SKATE OUTREACH The morning session kicked off without me… I managed to sleep through worship despite our room being right next door. Guess I’m still jet lagged. We had some free time, so the guys dispersed in different directions. I took the chance to hone a few more table tennis skills and school the South Africans. Unfortunately one of the kids got arrested for carrying weed and was taken off to jail to learn a lesson. He later rejoined us, but I think this upset a few of the leaders. Today was set for more of an out reach to the local community with a skate and BMX comp. So after lunch I grabbed my board and skated a little with some of the guys. The park is small but we made the most of it and had some fun, before the contest started. Caught myself by surprise landing a big, beautiful fakie tre flip first try. Mostly skated terribly otherwise. The comp consisted of an open format best trick contest on a small quarter pipe area and then a stair set. After several minutes of a few simple tricks and more spectacular bails and those of us spectating felt content to call the skate contest complete and give the bikers a chance. No one got seriously hurt, prizes were awarded and everyone maintained good attitudes, so overall it seemed a success, despite the little drug bust upset earlier. The night finished out with some punk music. Not quite my scene, but I enjoyed watching the guys jumping around and hurling themselves into one another. The highlight though was when one of them got the mic and intermittently throughout the bands performance let off a very low and deep ‘death metal’ style growl. I don’t think the band quite knew how to react. They jut carried on playing. I kept on laughing. Finally managed to talk to Annalise on Skype and then headed to bed once again.

Day 4 CHURCH We were woken at 7am to find there was an early morning church meeting and we had to tidy up and eat breakfast outside...quickly. At 9am the main service began and there was a total contrast between our skaters and the rest of the congregation who were mostly: old, artsy, eccentric, white and well off. They totally made all the skaters feel welcome though and Richard introduced everyone. A couple of the kids spoke and had us rolling in the isles laughing. The pastor spoke a good message although he managed to slam about every other denomination and had a few digs about American Mega Churches. The service was broken up by the occasional snigger of the kids trying not to laugh at some of the more flamboyant goings on by the regulars, who weren’t shy to wave flags, speak out

and share loudly with everyone what they wanted to say. It was strange but with such a warm welcome wasn’t threatening. They called us all up front to have the church pray for us. Bradley and myself hid behind a wall of ‘groms’ just to be safe. As church ended a Graffiti expo started outside in the park and a number of guys came through to spray the park and walls. Again it struck me as quite amazing that a church of this demographic was open to such things. I managed to get myself a sausage roll, Cornish pastie and another Aero bar, so lunch was the best! Watched ‘Indescribable’ with Louis Giglio which was equally as inspiring as my lunch and described the enormity of our universe in Gods hands. A couple of the guys expressed they wanted to give their lives to God so the leaders prayed with them and gave them some words of wisdom on what that really means. This is the last day of the conference and there seems to be a good bond between everyone. No one has fallen out with anyone else and there is continual good natured banter. I think it helps make for much better reception to the messages when presented. I spent the afternoon with some of the Cape Town guys down at a skate park by down town Durban Beach. A real mix of cultures from: white; to Black; to Indian. The Skatepark was a large concrete one… and free. Took me ages to warm up and I got bored so I went for a walk down the beach. Chatted with one of the skaters about local politics and so forth, which was interesting since we hear nothing about it in America. Went back and tried to skate again. This time I really got into it and had a great skate with the kids. We made it back just in time for the final session of the conference. Bradley spoke and it concluded with a ministry prayer time with the teens. Overall a great time.

Day 5 PROJECT O Everyone is leaving so said final goodbyes and played a final few rounds of ping pong while I waited on Martin to come pick me up. Tragically couldn’t win a game to save my life. I packed my bags and while left unguarded Bradley cunningly tied them all up with a shoe lace much to his amusement. I warned him I would have the last laugh though since I had already placed some random items in his luggage like a large lego block and some other garbage lying around in our room. I also tied up his luggage to the car door, but later found out it belonged to Johnty so that back fired a little. Funny none the less. Martin eventually showed up to get me after several phone calls and dodgy navigation by Bradley. He informed me first stop was the vets where we picked up his cat and one of his many dogs. Lucky me had to try and control them both while Martin drove us home. The dog peed on the seat as it got in and the cat cried the whole journey. Life is never dull around Martin and his stories are legendary. Martin and Vashti are good friends who I worked with in New York, are both English and moved to South Africa to start an AIDS orphan ministry in the valley of a thousand hills. www.projecto.org.za The house they live in is huge and perfect for building a visitors program among other things. Martin gave me a tour which included meeting all 7 of his dogs and 5 of his local staff. The property is enclosed with a thick brick wall and electric fence on top of that. Security is no joke here and the entry gate controlled by a security guard. Armed response signs hang every10 foot along the wall. Martin informed me recently a car full of armed men had parked up outside and he expressed his frustration at their gate man who drank too much and didn’t seem to take his job seriously. I felt safe. We entered the house through a number coded doorway and made my way to a room at the top of the stairs where I would stay. Pleasant enough. Keep windows and doors locked Martin informed me, otherwise the monkeys get in and ransack the place. Vashti and Martin have adopted two Zulu boys; Jesse (1) and Joseph (2). They are cute little guys, although really they are not so little. We joked about how big they will be and the fun Martin will have disciplining them when they are twice his size… at age 12. Martin then drove me out to the hills to meet with a couple of his staff and deliver food to 3 of their sponsored kids. Each day they give out food supplies enough to last a month to each child sponsored by someone overseas. Project O has a container in the chiefs compound in one of the villages. The other chiefs do not trust them and have threatened them on occasion. By Gods grace this chief has accepted Martin and is even donating land for them to build self sufficient homes on. The guys pulled out Quad bikes from the container and we headed out to the first hut only a couple hundred meters away. It worked out that it was a boy who Martin had given a skateboard I sent to several months back. He lived with his aunt in a small round hut which was tidy although basic and far from Western standards of normal living. Since it was concrete inside I was able to do a few flip tricks and encouraged him to practice. He is the only kid in the hills with a skateboard and Martin said it practically made him a celebrity there, since he carried it every where he goes. The board looked worn out so I promised to replace it with one I had brought with me. This brought big smiles to his tribal scarred face. Apparently they use razor blades to cut marks in the faces of the kids while they are babies, so a lot of the kids have unique scars on their cheeks. We headed out and delivered to two other homes equally as squalid and basic. The third was some distance away and we took a rugged dirt road along the river front to get to it. I’m not sure how anyone survives in these places, but they do. The river seemed a good source of fish and therefore food, but Martin explained they are very superstitious and believe in seven headed snakes and the like, so mostly the Zulu’s are scared of the water and stay away from it… although he did mention in summer when there is heavier rainfall and the river most dangerous he would see random kids flying down the river in canoes… with no paddles. At each home Nu would do a short life lesson with the kids to teach them life skills and character they will never be taught at home. It seemed each home site consisted of two or three huts: one for living in and one for cooking, with a stove in the middle of it. As we walked in Martin pointed out the bones and skulls suspended above the doorway to ward off evil spirits according to local tradition. Outside the floor was littered with trash while cows, goats and chickens wondered around eating the grass. Martin also showed me the land the chief had promised. It’s right by the water on a big lake. He hopes to get a boat and take the kids on the lake for fun, much like the bike club they started which is hugely popular with the kids as they have nothing to do. A half pipe would be great here, if they can figure out the health insurance side of things, since it is not free and this place is so remote. It was amazing to take it all in and wave at the kids as we drove through the hills on the quads. Such a contrast of beauty and savage existence. For dinner we headed down town through some sketchy streets in Durban and then suddenly entered the parking lot of a sea world type complex, just like you would see in Orlando. We ate at a touristy restaurant there and my friend Madz met up with us. I knew Madz from 10 years ago when I lived n Watford, England. She brought some old photos of all the guys from back then and made me cringe. I don’t remember half of it.

Day 6 DAY OFF Today was more of a day off for everyone so I was able to lie in and get some much desired rest. We rented a car for the next few days as 3 of 4 vehicles are getting fixed. We then went food shopping, ate pies and played with Joseph and Jesse. Vashti provided dinner. I Read some of a book called “How to Win Friends and Influence People’, which is actually very good despite the weird title which makes it sound like it’s a self help book for socially awkward, friendless folks. Martin and I watched a movie.

Day 7 STRIKE South Africa is a funny place. Today all the taxi drives went on strike which brings the country to a stand still as most locals rely on taxis to get around. They are on strike because gas and food prices are too high. Of course this seems to be a global issue at present not a South African one, but none the less they are on strike. Sle texted Martin telling him she could not come in to work as she was threatened by taxi drivers when she did try to get in one who was not on strike. So another day off in essence. We headed to the Mall with the kids for breakfast. People kind of stare at Martin and Vashti when they see a white couple with two Zulu boys. Vashti joked sometimes they quite literally walk into things because they are staring so much. People don’t get it. We took the boys down to the beach and I Skated the park down there again briefly. As we were leaving someone started calling Martins name from a hotel balcony. A guy called Ben working with Soul Survivor was staying there. We went up and talked with him for a while. Soul Survivor is the church I went to in the UK before I came to the States. The boys played on the balcony and pointed out every plane and helicopter that went past. An air show is coming up so plenty of different planes went by. Since Martin skydives and is always at the airport his boys love planes. After dinner another movie ate some more British goodies and skyped Annalise.

Day 8 ORPHANAGE ‘LILY OF THE VALLEY’ Martin put me to work today and I drove Sle and Nu downtown to do a presentation to with a bank where employees are looking for a charity to sponsor. Since I had no idea where to go we used a TomTom which decided not to work properly and took us in big circles for a while. Eventually we got it figured out and were only a little late. This was Sle’s first time presenting anything like this and she was a little intimidated. When the DVD player wouldn’t work and her computer froze I think her confidence crumbled completely. I did my best to feed her appropriate questions to keep things flowing. The staff were very gracious and interested to see more. I then rushed to drop the ladies off back at the house and then head out on my own to visit the orphanage of a friend further out in the country. Since it had no fixed address I could not use the TomTom and had to rely on some written directions. I got lost: nothing new for today. After some interpretation of my directions at a petrol station I drove for a while and finally found the orphanage at the end of a long dirt road next to a game reserve. Ana met me and gave me a tour. The orphanage is well run; one of the best Martin said and possibly the only one in the country to receive any kind of government assistance. For the most part there is no kind of welfare or help for families or kids in need. Relatives are expected to take in orphaned kids. That’s why Project O for example is o effective. No one else is helping. Life is cheap. The orphanage consisted of several huts in good condition, with electric, water and the usual comforts of western living. The kids have a schedule to follow and are well schooled bale to speak English and Zulu. We went over to the boys hut and they pulled out some mini boards they had; a couple of which had no wheels. We brushed off the top of a septic tank as this was the only concrete patch available and I did a few flip tricks for them. I tried to give a basic teaching point on falling, but always get back up and try again. I could tell they were eager to skate, so I handed over my board and another one donated by the Skatepark of Tampa. We left them to it and Ana made lunch for myself and some others. When we were done

the boys knocked on the door and informed us they were going to the front entrance to skate down the hill there. Figured I would join them to see what they meant. It was basically a dried up dirt road full of bumps, holes and sand. I was surprised to see them flying down the road with decent balance. I gave it a go and made it half way before my board came to a sudden stop in sand. They had fun and took turns. I took my board back when I left but gave them the donated one from the SPoT. They were stoked. Driving home was a lot easier. We went out to eat at a place called spurs, much like a TGI Fridays. A family next to us asked if Martin had been in the newspaper which he had and they offered to donate to the ministry. Funny how these things work out.

Day 9 DAY TRIP Madz came to pick me up along with her boyfriend’s son Luke to have a day out. We headed Downtown to Spider surf shop and took a tour. Apparently Mr. Spider makes world famous boards, so it was a privilege to see the facility and each step of the surf board making process. He was upstairs in his own little bay shaping a board by hand. Madz said she once got held up at gun point in that surf shop and was told to open the till. She politely informed them unfortunately she did not work there, but more fortunately she did happen to know how to open it, so she obliged and is still breathing. From there we went to the Skatepark for a while. I enjoyed my skate. This is the most motivated I’ve been to step on my board in years. I’m not sure why but I just really enjoyed the park there. We drove North about an hour to a beach, stopping for Fish n Chips first, which we waited to be cooked nearly as long as our drive to get there. Luke wanted to play piggy in middle so we obliged before going for a climb over the rocks to explore the coastline a little. Madz and I talked about the ‘Good ol’ Watford days’ and Luke convinced us to journey ever further and further along the beach line. We drove back to Durban and once again I found myself at the Mall. Luke played a few arcades, we ate a huge pizza, and played mini golf. Apparently my low score meant nothing as they both had holes in one and I did not, which they kindly rubbed in as much as possible. I said my goodbyes and met Martin and Vashti. We hung out chatting, played with the kids, I read some more and headed for bed.

Day 10 1000 HILLS Willie n Leanna arrived from New York via Johannesburg. They are from www.metroministries.com like Martin, Vashti and myself. Willie is a NY native and has worked there for years. They just got married and are here for their honeymoon. Was really good to see them arrive. As soon as they were settled in we drove out to the thousand hills. The rental car is a little cramped now. Stopped for a pie and snacks. Today is Saturday and they run a bike club for the kids since they have nothing else to do. I gave my little skater his new board and did a few tricks for the kids while they waited to get on the bikes. Martin some how convinced himself it would be ok to let me drive a quad… much to my joy. We loaded up with food and headed out: 3 quad bikes and 1 Landrover strong. I had just met Leanna for the first time and the poor girl had to get on the quad with me. I promised to be nice. We headed out into the hills sometimes on tarmac roads, sometimes on dirt roads, up and down the valleys and hills for what seemed like a lifetime. Our quad bike was a little battered and did not drive too straight, since Martin had lost it down the side of a hill before. I think it scared Leanna a little when we got near the edge of the road at times since it would act like it was running away in its own direction. We stopped for photos then on again for another thousand miles. It began to get really cold and the sun was hiding behind the clouds. By the time we arrived all of us were shivering and regretting our lack of jumpers and sweaters… apart from Willie who rode in the Landrover. Apparently we had gone to the furthest kid on the list. An old lady greeted us and made us welcome. I asked to take a pic and she made me wait while she put on a garment which in her eyes was dressing ‘up’. I snapped some photos and took a peek inside her hut. A dozen or so little checks were running around and pecking away at some lettuce. It was dark and shabby, with a pot in the middle of the room and some beat up furniture with boxes and bedding against the walls. A chicken squawked at me and a cat sat silently in the corner. No electric, running water and definitely no TV. How folks survive here and what they do to not get bored I have no idea. The staff gave the lesson, we left the food and off we went once again for our marathon ride back the other way over the hills and into the cold. With a little experience now I was up for pushing my quad to test its limits so we had more fun coming back, skidding down the gravel tracks, racing along side Martin who gave me scolding looks to get back in line and so forth. He took a sudden right turn and we zoomed right past him and fortunately not into him. For the rest of the day he gave me a hard time, all in good nature of course: “This is why visitors don’t drive the bikes” etc, etc. That just made it more fun to mess with him. By the time we had finished delivering to all the orphans, we were covered in dust and my shoulders were aching. It was quite tiring, but such a blast at the same time. As soon as we got back to the base the Landrover accelerator cable snapped and they had to try and fix it. We were lucky it only happened when we got back to the chiefs compound. We played with the kids some more, refueled with some chips or crisps and I managed to share a few with my little skater boy on the sly. The boys have never seen a kickflip or ollie before, so simple things impress them. I left one of the donated boards from the Skatepark of Tampa with the bikes, so they can all play with it on Saturdays.

Day 11 FAMILY Sunday: usually church of course, but the consensus was to skip it today. I guess it feels too much like work for Willie and Leanna who are on their honeymoon and work ministry 24/7 back at Metro. So we took a family trip down to the beach to have breakfast. I let Little Joe skate my board while holding his hands and now he’s hooked! He has the funniest English accent and calls me ‘Uncle Mark’ (non stop). I took the chance to skate the park once again and the locals recognize me I’ve been so many times, so I chatted with one of the little rippers about life down there. As much as I got to go to the Skatepark on the down side I found myself once again in a mall shopping for groceries. We stocked up on meat, not to mention the usual pies, chocolate and ice-cream then headed home to cook a BBQ known as a ‘Brie’ here. We had a pleasant evening talking about old Metro days, what’s changed and all the rest. Martin cooked a ton of meat, so we got totally stuffed. After much harassment by me we finally started a game of scrabble. I won’t say who won because I would hate to look very prideful. We went to bed early as we have to be up at 3am to go on Safari. Martin informed us he would no longer be addressed as Martin, but ‘Ranger Downs’ come the morning.

Day 12 SAFARI 3am came very quickly and I was greeted by a strange looking figure complete with hat, knife and jacket at the door. Ranger Downs was up and ready to go. It was a 3 hour drive, so we slept and Martin drove… about 100mph. Ok, we tried to sleep. As soon as we entered the game reserve we were greeted by Zebra and Giraffe’s, so it seemed we were on track for seeing all the wildlife on offer. However our high hopes dampened a little after that, as we drove for a good 20 minutes without seeing anything. The scenery was breath taking though as the sun came up breaking through the tree line and the fog hovered over the valleys. Despite the lack of animals on display in what was truly an immense area we were able to have a good time, mostly just listening to the funny comments Martin would make as he adopted the persona of Ranger Downs. Finally we turned down a more obscure dirt track and after a good 15 minutes drive we came to a road block: five Rhino just lying in the middle of the road. Martin crept closer, the girls squealed to go back and we all just cracked up laughing at the strange decision to make between going forward or going back. I was curious to see what they would do if we went closer, but in the end we turned back. It was worth it though as we came across a small crocodile and then a herd of Buffalo walking along the road. We spent most of the day driving through the reserve looking intently for a lion. We never saw one, but anything that moved was immediately assumed to be a lion in our desperation to see one. We did find plenty Springbok, buffalo, wart hogs, various birds, a few monkeys and an elephant though. We even saw 3 bats hanging just above head level at a food kiosk when we stopped for a break. It’s far more fun to see than write about, so I won’t go into any more details. The day finished with a boat ride up a salt water river to see croc’s and Hippos. Then onward home at top speed, with a weary eyed Ranger Downs and some apprehensive passengers. We made it safely though and Martin headed straight for bed having driven nearly all day since 3:30am

Day 14 METRO AFRICA I spent most of the morning online. Very boring, trying to catch up on emails and book a FL hotel for our upcoming visit there. Martin feels sick today. Thinks he has tick fever. So we left him to rest and headed out with the Metro crew to see the kids Sunday School program they do. These are held in the townships where it is a lot more violent and dangerous especially if you are white. One of their sites got held up at gun point a few months ago and Vashti related how she was forced to the ground with an AK47 in her ribs. They stole their truck, almost with one of the babies still in it. Unbelievable that anyone would rob a kids program especially when the kids are there, but they did. The township was huge and densely populated with a range of homes from make shift shacks to nice block construction. Very different from the hills where we delivered food. While they set up the site I went with two of the staff in the truck to cruise the area and hand out fliers. The Sunday School runs much the same format as we did in NY so it was good to see and I felt at home, although it was strange to be a ‘visitor’ and not one of the leaders this time round. The kids came out and played football before it started and interacted much the same as kids any where else in the world do, eager for attention and to play with you. Willie stuck little stickers on them which they loved. Simple things work. The program itself is about one hour and consists of games, songs and Bible teaching. I couldn’t understand as it was in Zulu but it was amazing to hear the kids singing. There’s nothing like it when kids sing worship songs. It’s pure. I did quiet seats which meant rewarding the most attentive kids with pieces of candy. They were all so well behaved it was hard to choose. At the end everyone was given a small candy and they were ecstatic. As we packed up and said goodbye to the kids a girl came past wailing and crying. Vashti investigated thinking something terrible had happened, but it turned out she has just lost her cell phone, most likely stolen. Everyone buys everything on credit here with little understanding of how much they pay in interest, so its probably a big deal in that sense when things go missing as they are still paying for it. Martin is still trying to educate his staff on this, as one of them he relayed had bought several large appliances on credit, but only has one plug outlet.

Willie decided to choose a boy to sponsor. Thinking he would have some elaborate Zulu name he was surprised to find out it was ‘Alex’. There were 8 of us in the truck going home but the staff ladies piled in the backend of the truck telling me Zulu women are tough, so they rode it out squished in with all the sound equipment and boxes. They happily sang together most of the way back. A young English girl called Rachel arrived to stay for 3 months and get some life experience. We took her straight out to dinner with us at Moya’s again. Poor thing was jet lagged, but had no choice. Also ‘Tab’ who worked with Project O for a while came along. It was a fun night and we got our faces painted with what looks like ‘Tipex’. I asked for a manly ‘Male’ Zebra stripe and requested a girly flowery type for Martin. As we left we went up the deck of a fake ship which is part of the marina to see the sharks in the tank below. I really wanted to eat there, where you see the sharks swim by you as you eat, but apparently it’s expensive so we had settled for Moyas instead.

Day 15 1000 HILLS Rachel’s cousin also named Rachel flew in to stay for a while. We went out to hills again driving in Martins Land Rover which was falling apart and smoke poured into the cab as we drove. It caught fire once Martin informed me and a passenger almost fell to their death when the door flew open too. Somehow we made the long drive to the chief’s compound in one piece. We loaded the Quads up as usual. A drunk guy walked out and started declaring his love for little Rachel and trying to hug her. Rachel wasn’t sure what to do. He was getting a little too friendly so one of the staff removed him from the compound more forcibly. Despite Martins criticisms I drove the quad again and drover very calmly. We went out all over the hills and met some families, delivering their months worth of supplies and the staff teaching the kids. I was looking forward to meeting my sponsor child Quackazile and have been practicing her name all week. The ‘Qu’ is a clucking sound you make by sucking your tongue to the roof of your mouth. It’s very strange and hard for me to do, much to everyone’s amusement. As we went out for our last delivery we were stopped by a police car. He asked for driving licenses and so forth. None of us had anything like that. He said it would be a large fine and listed off several things he could charge us with if we were using quads on main roads. Since we were still on a dirt road Martin politely suggested that as we had not reached the main road yet, could he really fine us and that we would just use the dirt roads if it was an issue. However after a few questions his partner said we could go since they like what we were doing. Martin asked if this meant even on the main roads. He said yes, so we did. When we got back, we put everything away and got in the car to go visit Quackazile. Some of the boys came down to the compound with the skateboards, so I got out and went over to say ‘good bye’. They asked me for a few last tricks so I obliged and encouraged them before leaving. Quakazile lived at the top of the hill as you enter the hills area. It was a modest hut with about 3 rooms, very dark and shabby inside; where she lives with her Grandmother and about 4 other kids she takes care of. We went inside and I gave her some gifts. She was very shy and didn’t look at me too much. We talked to her grandmother for a while and asked if she had any needs. She said she needed a school uniform so I made sure we took care of that before saying good bye. After dinner we watched ‘Nacbo Libre’ which I had promised Martin was a great film very similar to his own life. I don’t think it was what he was expecting. Ha! We played scrabble again and I almost didn’t win :) Everyone was tired and worn out so as much as I wanted to hang out late for my last night we went to bed at a normal hour.

Day 16 SAD FAREWELLS Some more English visitors came in; the pastor of a church in Bournemouth, who I had met when I went to see Martin speak back in England a year ago. He is bringing over 20 people with him. Martin was tied up with him for a while and I could see that I was leaving at the right time. It was good to have had his full attention while I was there. They get so busy with everything they do and all the visitors they accommodate too. I downloaded Willies pictures to my laptop, read the book some more and chatted with the visitors before saying my final sad good byes. Martin dropped me off at the airport and I prepared myself for the long trip back. For some reason they put me on two separate planes from Johannesburg to Senegal and then Atlanta when there was actually a single plane I could have taken which takes the same route but would not have required me transferring. This was almost a disaster for me. I got to Senegal and was greeted by a flight attendant who I had to follow to the booking desk. It took forever to sort out where I was meant to be and had to go through all the security nonsense. Communication and organization was terrible. I followed one person then another through security and customs once to the terminal then all the way back to booking, only to turn around and go all the was back again as they tried to locate my bag and search it. I kept my composure, but was getting increasingly frustrated with the chaos of it all. The good part at least was once I did get on the plane I knew my bag had too. I was glad to finally make it home with no delays and see Annalise and Ella waiting for me. Back to my not so modest hut and life goes on…