Written on 02/112/2012
So I have reached the 3 month mark… ¼ of the way through my year
away. Life at Bethany is very much
routine, some days it can be a little boring but I don’t think I could handle
drama everyday! However there has
been drama obviously… The bunk bed broke, Lisa jumped on the top and SNAP… you
can imagine what happened next! Oh and our flat flooded. I don’t mean a little water got on the
floor, I mean my feet were immersed in water. We had to rip the carpet up, my mattress was waterlogged and
the dampness started to set in.
The smell was horrendous. A
trip to town and R200 later, we were armed with scented candles, scented sticks
and air fresheners.
So what’s new here? Well we’re all busy getting ready for Christmas! We
are currently putting up the decoration around the home and starting to
organise the Christmas party we are going to have on 22nd. The three of us won’t be here on actual
Christmas day but we still wanted to celebrate with the kids, so Christmas day
has been changed (they’ll never know!!).
We’re going to dress up like Santa on the night of the 21st
and put little presents on the end of each of their beds for them to wake up
to. It’s going to be odd doing
this, as for the past 18 years of my life I’ve always had this done for me (yes
that’s right, I still had a stocking at the age of 18, not ashamed of
it!!) Although I still may put my
stocking out and hope that Santa comes, if he doesn’t… well then I know my
whole childhood was a lie!! Mum
was really cute and sent the three of us advent calendars! Possibly the best surprise ever J and Christmas parcels are on there way
from family. So even though I
won’t be with my family at Christmas, I know they’re thinking of me.
We had a new arrival at Bethany, she’s two months old and weights about
the same as a bag of sugar and fits on my forearm. When she first arrived I thought she was old days old. She was abandoned at Nelson Mandela
hospital after being very premature and very ill. I know it sounds awful but she is so underweight that her
eyes are too big for her face and look like they are about to pop out. However she’s making really good
progress since being her and is gradually putting on weight. With admissions also comes
discharges. It’s never easy to say
goodbye to a child but knowing that they are going to a better place is very
comforting. Last month we had a
child adopted which was fantastic because adoption rates are decreasing in
South Africa. Also our eldest
children are getting ready to leave over the next two months, with the first
leaving tomorrow. Amanda will be
moving to a children’s village called ‘SOS’. Here she will live in a house with 7 other children and have
a housemother who lives with them permanently. This is such a good set up for
her because it providers her with a more homely environment where she will be
able to receive more one-to-one love and care. A few of the others will also be following to SOS or other
care home. And for a lucky few,
some are being reunited with their families. Which is always an ideal situation.
As for Christmas travels, we leave Umtata on the 23rd and
head Cape Town bound. We will stay
there for 8 nights with around about 45 other Project Trust volunteers from
South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Swaziland. It’s fair to say that I’m a little excited!!! I’m staying in
a backpackers called Two Oceans which costs R85 a night (£7 a night!!!). More money for partying J It’s on Long Street which is the
‘clubbing strip’ if you like of Cape Town. Christmas day will be spent either having lunch at a nice
restaurant with all the vols or having a Braai, then hitting the beach. Kind of gutted I won’t be getting my
mums massive Christmas dinner though!!
New years eve will also be spent here, and from what I’ve heard, Long
Street just turns into one massive street party for the night… BUZZING!! So
after lots of alcohol consumption and partying we will be departing on new
years day – nursing a big hangover I’m sure – and we head for Wilderness on the
Garden Route. Wilderness is as at
sounds, we will be in the middle of a national park surrounded by trees, rivers
and beaches. Time for us to relax
and recover from the madness of Cape Town. Next stop Plettenburg Bay, where I will be doing the world
highest bungee jump (shh don’t tell my mum, she will FREAK!!) At 216m high I will be jumping with
just a rope to save me from plummeting to the rocks that await me below. But so far I haven’t heard of any
deaths so that’s a positive. Last
stop, Jefferys Bay. Along the way
I will be brushing up on my surfing and spending lot of time lying on the
beach. In Jefferys we’re planning on sandboarding, it’s like snowboarding, but
on sand. I took to snowboarding
pretty easy so I’m hoping I will with sandboarding. Other plans are quad biking around a game reserve looking
for the ‘African Big 5’, elephant encounters, shopping and drinking. We will be heading home on 7th
January after a pretty packed 2 weeks off. So yeah… the next month or so I am very much looking forward
to and can’t wait to explore. I
just want to see everything!!!
