4 birthdays and a safari

Hello everyone!

I hope everyone is doing well! Last week on Thursday the other volunteers and I organized a huge Brai(BBQ) and joint birthday party for the kids at Agape. We ordered a ton of meat from the local butcher and bought 4 cakes and presents for the birthday kids. It was a great night with lots of good home cooked African food and a ton of laughs. One of the older girls braided my hair into snoop dog (that’s a rapper mum) cornrows which looked pretty ridiculous but I ended up keeping them in for a few days because they were pretty convenient... The birthday kids loved their presents and the other kids pied them all in the faces after they were done eating which only added to the laughter of the night. Some of the older kids left for England the next morning because the Agape Children's Choir was invited to sing at Nelson Mandela’s Birthday party. They were all very excited and asked us all how long the flight to London would be( the longer the better they said) The party was sort of a farewell dinner for them as well since we won't get another chance to see them. Some of the kids gave really sweet speeches thanking us for helping them and telling us how much we mean to them. That was defiantly the best part of the night for me. Everything else has been going well here and we are all just trying to finish up the projects we started, for example fixing the pathway so that the van that takes the kids to school can park inside the orphanage (pictures to come) and buying new materials for the homework class (because pencils are scarce).

On the weekend we went to a game reserve and went on a Safari and a boat cruise down the river to see hippos and crocs. Obviously they let us drive the boat, because there are zero safety regulations here but in an attempt to miss the hippos, Sabine (another volunteer) just about drove the boat into the side of the river bank. It was very amusing to say the least. That same day we also visited a cheetah rehabilitation center which helps them recover when they are found injured and then re-releases them back into the wild. Obviously they let us go into the cage and stand a meter away from the cheetah while the reptile expert (the cat expert was away that day) fed the cheetah raw chicken out of the bucket he was holding.... Louise didn't feel comfortable going into the cage so I took one for the team and got some nice close up pictures...The Safari was great too and we saw a ton of animals although our 4:30 am wake up call was not a pleasant experience however seeing all the animals in the wild with our crazy lion OBBSESSED safari guide was worth it.

Tomorrow we are spending the day at the dream center, a hospital specifically for patients who are in the final stages of AIDS. We met some other volunteers from the dream center on the weekend and they said in general the experience has been a difficult one but also one that can be very rewarding as well. I am really looking forward to getting a chance to see the center and spend some quality time with some of the patients and perhaps hear some of their stories as well.

That's all for now
Take care everyone and thanks for reading!

Xoxo
-Margo

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