3rd Grade Poem

Written on this 3rd grade blackboard at one of the schools we work at every week is a poem about children with HIV/AIDS. Recited by the children every day, it talks about how they should not tease or discriminate against children who are HIV+. This is a big issue at the school, where there are dozens of children who are infected with AIDS. In spite of the teachers' best efforts, these children still bear the brunt of relentless teasing by many of the other kids, adding to the huge burden of knowing that you carry in your body a disease that will end your life for too soon.

Pray that God would allow us to help these children find acceptance and love that they need in Him.

Children At Risk

BBC article: Watching Mum Die of AIDS

The article linked above, from the BBC, talks about a young girl whose mother died of AIDS. It is a situation repeated over and over again among the children we are working with here in Durban.

Please pray that God would intervene and protect them.

Education Is Key

We are finding more and more orphans who are not in school because they can't pay the school fees, or they can't afford a uniform, or they don't have their ID's or birth certificates. Pretty hard stuff to accomplish when you're nine years old.

Yesterday, took Sbonelo and nFanafuthi, orphans from the Sea Cow Lake settlements, to get uniforms and enroll in school. $100. for uniforms, another $100. for school fees. Not in our budget. Anyone want to help? Go to the "Give" page on our website and play your part.

Hop, Skip, and a Jump

Today we had soccer practice at one of our after-school programs. The field is about 1/2 mile from the school, so the boys run in a line behind me along the road, then down a dirt trail, jump over a muddy creek, cross another road, in between some shacks, across another creek, and onto the dirt field. By the time we get there, they're all warmed up and ready for practice.

Last week, some of the boys though they would break off from the line and walk to the field, and jump in to practice in their own sweet time...

Not on my team.

They had to sit out and watch as the rest of the boys played. I made sure everyone knew why they were sitting out, then they had to run laps. When they were done, I expected at least some of them to be mad and storm home, maybe threaten to quit the team. Instead, they all stayed and helped gather the balls after practice, each one wanting to hand me a ball personally to put in the bag.

It's always amazing to me how kids in situations of extreme neglect can take discipline as a sign of love. You're thinking you are making enemies out of them, and they end up becoming your most loyal companions! It's been a good year so far - we are looking forward to seeing how we measure up in the next tournament. I'll keep you posted...

A Different Kind of Daily Grind

Today I got a call from Morgan. Since their mother died when he was 12, Morgan has been living alone with his two younger brothers in a squatter camp teeming with a population of over 100,00 people. Together they have literally begged, borrowed and stolen to survive. They have learned to be resourceful, while at the same time not attracting attention to themselves. Over the last few difficult years, they have awakened literally every single morning facing another battle to survive.

Today's battle was food. Morgan told me they were, at the moment, cooking their last bit of maize meal. The $32.USD a month they make delivering newspapers was long gone. I picked them up after school, and brought them enough food to get them through until their next payday.

The boys have attended church where we run a children's Sunday school, but I am taking them to a church nearer to their home this Sunday. I met with the pastor, whose name is Thuks, yesterday to give him the background on their situation. He is a good man with a good heart who grew up in the area, and he is eager to meet them.

Please pray for the welfare and salvation of Morgan and his brothers.