This was a week of working fairly close to, and in the office--I think that I have mentioned that our office is in our flat. We were able to spend some time reorganizing our files and office set-up. We have literally scores of files on students that were being kept alphabetically in cardboard boxes. That would have worked okay, but the Mission Office recently moved and Sister Gunderson, being the opportunist she is, asked if they had a filing cabinet that they did not need in the new office. They did, and now we have those folders out of the boxes and filed neatly away. Small things are sometimes wonderful. We also had another meeting, here in Durban this time, with our supervisor over PEF Khumbulani Mdletshe from Johannesburg, We found that we are going to have some help in covering PEF for the entire mission. There is a couple in the Bloemfontein Area that will be doing much of the work there, so we will not be spread so thin. We are going to be teaching the required PEF workshops just as soon as we can get them advertised and going. We will be training new teachers at them as well.
Above are some of the young women in the KwaDabeka Ward that were waiting for Seminary to start when we went there for Sister Gunderson to teach piano. Many wards and branches have seminary on Saturdays because of transportation and safety problems on week nights. At our earlier mentioned meeting, the Seminary and Institute people were asked to get daily seminary going in all the wards and branches--likely in a home near the school either before, or just after, school. When asked if they would like that, these girls all said
Yes, very much. They are hungry for the gospel. And for our home-made chocolate chip cookies!
Sunday we drove to the Imbali Branch that is located in the outskirts of Peitermaritzburg about 50Km from Pinetown. These types of houses (above) lined some of the streets in the area. They are basically the African equivalent of adobe. But notice in spite of the home, clean clothes on the line. Imbali in Zulu means
flower and the Imbali Branch was a beautiful flower. The branch president there is a managerial executive with General Motors and is studying to be a lawyer. He is one of the success stories of PEF. He used the loans to partially fund his studies after his mission (four years ago) and landed the job at GM as a result. He is now going on to something bigger and better. The family here, the Mathanjanas, are also PEF successes. She is still a part-time student and we are working with her to renew her loan for January. Their little boy is the same age as Anderson, so Sister Gunderson got to hold him and get her Grandma fix for the day. We had another little boy about 5 and his sister, maybe 3, come sit on our laps during Sacrament Meeting. The little boy was talking to
Grandma lots but totally in Zulu. They were the 2nd Counselor in the branch presidencies children. Brother Mathanjana above was the 1st Counselor.
We drove back to KwaDabeka Ward near Pinetown,
after Sacrament in Imbali, where Sister Gunderson is accompanying the ward choir (pictured here) for their upcoming ward conference. They are amazingly good. Hardly any read music, but they hear and pick it up quickly. The sister in the front row, far left is the director and is very sharp and educated. She wants to do a Christmas cantata. We are unlikely to be able to commit that much time away from our PEF work. Buit maybe something will work.
While some of the moms were singing these boys took advantage of the ever-present basketball hoop at LDS buildings - though I still have yet to see one in their cultural halls:-) I asked them if they were going to be the next Michael Jordan, thinking that they were too young to know who he was, and they immediately replied
Yes! They knew exactly who he was, though basketball is not at all popular here in South Africa.
We got the shock of our life while refueling our car on Saturday. We are not sure how he got to Africa from the Veterans home in Boise but....Not Grandpa Garrison? It was all I could do to restrain Sister Gunderson from jumping out of the car and hugging this guy. From the side, he was a dead ringer for HD. Not so much so from straight on, though she thought so. This gives credence to the adage that somewhere in the world, there is at least one person that looks exactly like you or someone you know. I am not sure how he might have responded to have some Mormon Sister Missionary squeezing the life out of him.
Finally, another stunning picture of African Wildlife. It is only one photo, but as I get slower and slower in my old age, it was the only thing that didn't get away before I could get the camera out and snap the shutter. I know that my grandsons will appreciate it. Winter is the dry season. Wonder if this is some survival tactic and that come the rainy season it will be fine? Probably not, as one of the front legs seems to be missing!
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