"A wind of laughter and fun!"

Our morning drive to Shongweni started with a short stop to Gillitts to purchase a few last minute items at the local hardware store. I think mostly the stop was made to enjoy some of their delicious coffee! Also, right next door to the hardware store is the local Harley Davidson dealership, Valley of 1000 Hills. I, along with other team members, bought souvenir Harley Davidson South Africa t-shirts. It was nice visiting with John, the owner, and telling him about this year's project.

The drive to Shongweni was noticeably cooler as a cold front had blown in and made for an extremely windy day. With all the wind, all painting was done on the inside of the community center. We painted all day applying several coats of white paint over the white primer paint in the center. Other members also made more concrete forms that were needed.

During lunch, I had the privilege of speaking with Pastor Thwala as he was helping me learn and translate more Zulu words. I can understand some of the phonetics of the language, but not all. I am still learning the "clicks" that are made with some of the words. It is a fun language to learn and the locals get a kick out of hearing us try to speak their language!

Word seems to be out that we are in the village as more and more locals and children are coming to the site. One of our team members, Adam, is 14 and loves to play soccer. He played soccer with the local children today for over four hours and made new friends.

The evening is quiet as we are all tired and are eating at the hotel. Peace.
Jen