Durban to Pietermaritzburg

Had minimal sleep last night due to a ferocious storm on the Cape which lasted most of the night. Up at 4.00am and by 5.00am when we set off by car to the airport it was still pretty wild. The lightning show was simply breathtaking enroute.

Thankfully the storm was blowing itself out, and our flight to Durban was not affected. After a 2 hour flight we arrived to a grey and humid Durban at 8.30 am.

Our first visit was to EngageHIV's partner Indlela based in Durban North. Indlela is a Zulu word for 'The Way' and is a not for profit organisation linked to a thriving local church that provides help to the local community in 4 ways: -

1. Life Skills and HIV prevention training in local schools.
2. Door of hope - Christian counselling service.
3. Fair Havens - transition homes for abandoned babies.
4. Feeding Programme - ongoing daily nourishment for over 500 kids in crisis.

We then visited a local school in the Amaoti township community of over 900 kids; in some cases with over 80 in a class. Many of the classrooms were being painted up by Soul Survivor gap year volunteers from the UK, and we were introduced the teachers and children who had benefited from the Life Skills and HIV prevention training.

This programme has now been running for 4 years. One of the significant outcomes is that they've seen the number of teenage pregnancies in the school drop from between 20-30 per year previously, to almost none this year.

We returned to Indlela's offices for lunch, then headed 70km north to Pietermaritzburg.

We spent the evening as guests of Rob and Debbie who help out at CCP - an HIV AIDS outreach on the edge of Pietermaritzburg. We're seeing their work amongst school children tomorrow.

No pictures today through lack of wi fi. Must do better tomorrow!

-- Posted from my iPhone

Quiet Sunday in Llandudno

Today I had time to relax before our trip to KwaZulu-Natal early tomorrow. The sun shone all day but the wind has been relentlessly gale force setting off alarms all over the neighbourhood.

Attended Camps Bay United Church in the morning with my hosts the Davissons for the 9.30am service. This was their 2nd service of the day, the first was at 8.00am - can you believe it?!

The church was very welcoming and contemporary in style, and Pastor Steve spoke about the amazing opportunities for ministry associated with the significant events happening around Cape Town in the next 12 months, not least the World Cup.

I was disgruntled to discover that I'd missed Tree63 who had been playing at a beach outreach 'Spring Tide', attended by 6000+ young people and organised by the church the night before. Tree63 are a great Christian band last seen in Belfast at the Franklin Graham event.

Llandudno beach




Then it was a swim before lunch with the Davissons, then spent the afternoon reading the amazing story of the making of the Compassion Art album - a great encouragment for us all to make sure our worship is accompanied with action to help the poor and oppressed in society.

The wind is still howling around table mountain, trying to rip the shutters off my window. Up again at 4.00am for flight to Durban.

Talk again soon.

Trevor


-- Posted from my iPhone

Flying down to the Cape

After a rather unsatisfactory attempt to doze for a couple of hours in Dubai Airport it was early morning and I found myself chatting to a retired academic from Scotland who was heading down to the Cape to visit his brother.




The flight down the east coast of Africa was been relatively uneventful (except when my neighbour decided to spill her pepsi all over the place!) with plenty of opportunity to catch up on lost sleep thankfully. 10 hours down from Dubai in a Boeing 777 - makes one realise how vast a continent Africa really is. We skirted the coast of Somalia, Ethiopea, Sudan and Kenya before veering overland near Dar es Salaam towards Johannesburg and on down to Cape Town.

Cape Town International Airport is undergoing a big upgrade to cope with the influx of World Cup Football fans next year. It's very impressive. The drive from the airport towards the city however is less impressive. A large township of shanty town style shacks is almost immediately visible on the left of the motorway. It is these communities that are most affected by the HIV/AIDS crisis that has gripped sub-sarahan Africa. Unfortunately it was only recently that the South African government admitted that it had a problem with HIV. Thankfully things are now changing in that regard.

Overall there is a very relaxed feel to Cape Town. I'm staying tonight with good friends in the beautiful village of Llandudno on the outskirts. This is the view from my bedroom of Table Mountain. Impressive huh?




No putting the clocks back here apparently, so I'm now 2 hours ahead of UK time.

More tomorrow. Sleep beckons ;-)

-- Posted from my iPhone

Dubai stop

Made it to Dubai tonight. Our flight path took us over Mosel , Kirkuk, and around Baghdad - well known hotspots in the recent Iraq conflict. I couldn't help but contrast the luxury of the Emirates 380 super airbus with 600 channels of in flight entertainment, with the desperate conditions that many of the Iraqi people below must suffer.

Connecting flight to Cape Town leaves in the early hours of tomorrow morning. I fear the contrast with the East African countries we'll pass on the way down will be even greater than that of Iraq.

Dubai Airport is pretty amazing There is an unbelievable range of luxury items on offer. A shoppers paradise if you've got the money!

'til tomorrow. . .

Take care

Trevor.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Final preparations for SA trip

So it's late and I'm almost done with packing. It's always difficult to know what to leave behind on a long haul while desperately trying to travel light. Travelling on e-tickets on 8 flights in total. E-tickets always make me a little nervous especially when flying on unfamiliar airlines. Looking forward to seeing Cape Town and Table Mountain. 'Til tomorrow....


-- Posted from my iPhone

2 days and counting

Heading down to South Africa and KwaZulu-Natal on Friday to see some of the projects supported by the EngageHIV Foundation. See http://www.engagehiv.org


-- Posted from my iPhone

Spring Harvest Holidays - France

For the past 3 years we've travelled as a family to Spring Harvest Holiday camp near St Gilles Croix de Vie in the Vendee region of France. It has been an incredibly relaxing holiday that the kids have thoroughly enjoyed as well.

The campsite is located on the banks of the River Vie near the village of Le Fenouiller. The river which acts as a superb fishing venue is safely protected by a child proof fence.

Beautiful evening sunsets coupled with a 4star campsite, excellent hosts, fantastic restaurants and good company make it a memorable destination for anyone looking for a great holiday.