Just Another Update

Hello again,

I am glad so many of you enjoyed my last blog. It is nice to have a vent session every now and again, especially if it brings some laughter. For those of you who were left wondering, I had to take my car to get new tires. I laughed again myself when the technician took one of my tires off, and it was BULGING in two spots on the inside. I am just glad it didn’t completely rip open while I was driving.

I thought that I would explain a bit about what exactly I will be doing while I am here. As much as I have complained about my car, it has actually been such a blessing to have it.  I have been able to get much more involved and get the ball rolling on what I will be doing and have already started doing. Here is a brief (not so much) description:

1. Teaching Human Trafficking Prevention- A friend of mine created a tool called Traffick Proof. It educates people who are at risk for being trafficked on how to recognize signs of human trafficking, it empowers them to take preventative measures, and it teaches them how to report trafficking and get help if victimized. I will probably spend about half of my time going around Cape Town and teaching this. I started this week by teaching a small group of refugees from Burundi. They were astonished as I read some of the statistics. Then, as time went on, they started recognizing and remembering times when people they knew had been trafficked. Many of them had stories. One woman spoke of a refugee family here in Cape Town that sent a relative to the hospital. The hospital called the family to tell them the relative had died. The family later found out that the man had actually been killed in the hospital for his internal organs. Can you believe that even human internal organs are being trafficked! People are being killed, especially the refugees here in Cape Town, so others can make money off of their internal organs. I have heard of this, but until yesterday I have never known anyone who has come into contact with it. Other woman had stories of girls they knew that claimed to have gotten a job overseas or as a domestic worker and they were never heard from again. There are more slaves today (sex slaves, labor slaves, etc…because of human trafficking) than when slavery was actually legal. This is unbelievable to me. Can you tell I am passionate about this oneJ You can read more about this at http://www.justiceacts.org/ .

2. Vulnerable Children’s Project- In the township I am working in, we have identified about twenty children who have lost at least one parent to HIV/AIDS. Many of these kids have lost both parents and are now looked after by an older sibling or an auntie, as they call them. Each of the kids are sponsored and given a food parcel each week. Today I met with a lady who is taking care of her niece. The young girl’s mother died abruptly and her father has never been around. Her auntie is her only family. My job is to go and interview the families who are eligible for sponsorship. I love going into the township and just meeting the people and talking to them. Today I sat and talked to Asanda, the young girl’s Auntie. Asanda runs a day care. We sat in two plastic children’s chairs in her tiny shack and talked while about thirty kids were running around us. Those are the African moments that I love.

3. Teaching English- I am teaching English to about ten of our vulnerable children. I will be teaching twice a week after school. In April I will also start teaching English to the high school students who need extra help. I am very excited to be teaching in a regular classroom again, even if it just a few hours a week.

4. Last but not least, I will be the contact person between the teams of volunteers from YWAM and All Nations and the Masiphumelele High School. This just requires me to let the school know when teams are coming and going, and to let the teams know what exactly the school’s needs are.

I met with the high school English teacher today, and she asked me to come and share Traffick Proof with her twelfth graders and ninth graders next week. She also asked me if I would like to come and teach Traffick Proof to her church on an upcoming Sunday. I am excited, but honestly a little nervous about this! I don’t think I was prepared for the amount of public speaking that has been requested and required of me. Maybe you guys could pray that God gives me the grace to speak eloquently and confidently, as my public speaking skills are rusty, and the requests to teach about human trafficking are a bit overwhelming.

As I have said many times before, if you are still reading, thank you and GOD BLESS YOU! If I were you, and I was at work, I think you would have lost me on my Traffick Proof definitionJ Love you guys, and PLEASE tell me how things are back home. I love to hear about home.

Christina