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These past two months have flown past and the saying that time flies when you’re having fun is, in my case, a complete understatement.

I started out following Amy around seeing what she did before she left for Australia. Then when she left it felt as if I was thrown in the deep end, and did everything by myself. It was difficult in the beginning but everyone was really supportive of me and helped me a lot. The saying “this is Africa” is often used after a bad day, because sometimes we can’t control everything that goes wrong - we are in Africa where it often takes time to get things done, but we get it done, never-the-less.

Leah Egginton roped me in as soon as she could. I’m now taking over a couple of her responsibilities as she prepares to leave. Since I am often out at Mariannhill during the week, I can help with the greeting cards project, Afrikono, and so she has made me the production manager. This means that I am overseeing the project, and making sure everyone is happy. I also do the posting of the cards and anything else that needs to be done to keep the project running smoothly.

Our Mariannhill creche is now up and running, although there are still a couple of things that need work. I currently visit the school four times a week, and visit Lamontville once a week. Precious _ and Precious _, the teachers that are working at Mariannhill crèche, are doing an excellent job. They are both eager to learn and are working well together and with communicating and solving problems when they arise.

The above picture was taken during the only quiet moment I’ve had during the past two weeks – and it’s understandable why: the children at Mariannhill crèche had just fallen asleep and we could finally take a breather.

At the moment, Lamontville crèche needs much more attention than Mariannhill crèche for the simple reason of organisation. I tried to organise it before the opening of Mariannhill crèche, but unfortunately I need to bethere often to implement better organisation and teaching methods. I am hoping that the following month will give me enough time to get Mariannhill crèche running smoothly, so that I can spend more time organising everything at Lamontville crèche. Once this happens I will be able to spend more time in Lamontville, and hopefully help them to enhance their ways of working together, as well as methods of organisation, e.g. organising the toys in a way that nothing gets lost or damaged, as is the case at the moment. I would also like to spend more time with the teachers to show them how to use equipment. Unfortunately there is a lot of useful equipment that is not being utilised correctly, because they have never been taught how or when to use it. For instance, puzzles, which are expensive, are being thrown around the classroom like balls and are not being used to develop the children’s fine motor skills.

In the following two months I would like to have Lamontville crèche running smoothly and sustainably, so that I will be able to visit Margate and Cando on a regular basis to develop the crèches there.

I have a lot of work ahead of me, a ‘mountain’ of work, as some would say, but every now and then I remember the scripture: Matthew 17:20, where Jesus says even if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can command the mountains to move, and they will move - for nothing is impossible when you have faith.

God has shown me a lot through my work with the Lamontville and Mariannhill crèches, for example, the importance of rest. I have been up until 1am for the past two weeks sorting out paper work and other things that I hadn’t finished during the day. I still went out to the crèches during the day - taking a reading class at Lamontville on Tuesdays, working at the BEC on Thursdays, and taking the Lamontville youth on Fridays. In the few minutes I had to spare, I went out to buy groceries for the Mariannhill crèche, printed newsletters for Lamontville, and continued my normal weekly activities, like attending bible class etc. This past weekend I had a family reunion in the Drakensberg, and started worrying about how I was going to finish all my work while I was 2½ hours from home. I took my papers and a borrowed laptop with me, intending on finishing up some outstanding paperwork while I was away. Well, God had another plan, as usual! I started working on the laptop in the car on the way there, and ¾ of the way there I was the battery die on me, only to discover that the charger was not in the bag! All I could do was relax and enjoy spending time with my family – recharge my own batteries while mentally preparing myself for Monday morning.

I think sometimes we can get very particular about doing things a certain way or upset about things not going our way, but something I’ve realised is that it often turns out much better if it’s done God’s way. ‘Lean not unto thine own understanding but in all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.’ (Proverbs 3:5-6) This is so true!

The above picture was taken on a Tuesday afternoon when I had finished my English Reading Class at Lamontville crèche, I came out to put my things into the car and found these girls who had stayed behind laughing at the back wheel of the car. I was very confused, thinking something was wrong with my tyre. When I went over to see what they were doing, I realised that they were laughing at the distorted reflection of themselves on the car! It made me realise that positivity is an internal choice of the individual and not the external influences which different circumstances bring.