Halfway point of our adventure in South Africa

We are now past the halfway point of our stay here having been here more than 6-weeks. On Saturday Lydia took me to the La Motte winery for a wonderful lunch. This winery is owned and operated by the wealthiest family in the Cape area and recently opened a restaurant on the premises. In the evening we were invited over to the Pederson’s (principal of the academy) for a fish braai. On Sunday we went to Mountain View Church and enjoyed a wonderful time worshiping in English this time.

The tractor has been hard at work mowing down the high grass and hauling some familiar girls around the grounds. We started work on building the stand for our braai and fixing up the tractor barn.
Some of the boys are interested in pursuing a career in engineering and were very interested in how thing are designed, so Phil spent some time showing them how it is done using parametric design tools. They each got a chance to create a part on the computer.

The driveways, parking lots and perimeter path are now finished and the dust problem is much better. We got several of the bicycles fixed with the money we received from selling the pears. The kids love riding them around the new perimeter path. We are having a great time interacting with the kids, teaching the interested ones a fun lesson or two and mentoring them in a way they perhaps never got at “home”.

Dennis and Susan Wadley, the founders of Bridges of Hope arrived here for a short visit on Tuesday and have had a very full schedule while they are here. We have enjoyed a few meals together with them and always love hearing what God is doing here in South Africa.
This week at home, our son Mark got an opportunity to shake president Obama's hand as he visited Intel’s wafer fabrication facility in Hillsboro, Oregon. We were able to watch Obama’s address to the audience live while we are here in South Africa. Amazing!

Some relevant and interesting links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42DnTTBiHfY&feature=player_embedded#at=60
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/02/19/weekly-address-winning-future-intel
http://www.olsonduncan.com/bridgesofhope/

Phil & Lydia's fifth week is SA

This week Phil and Bill began building the patio cover by the pool. We got a lot done before the wooden stringers ran out and we had to order some more. The pool also got finished and the kids have been enjoying it every afternoon after school. It has been pretty hot.
On Saturday Phil drove the girls to the Biscuit Mill Market in Cape Town. Pandora and Kathy then went with Debby to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was held prisoner for 27-years during Apartheid.
On Sunday we went to visit Saint Paul’s Church in Philippi. We had a great time there worshiping with the saints even though most of the words were in Xhosa. On the way home we stopped in Summerset West to purchase some more items for the Retreat Center including; umbrellas and bases for the tables out front, two wooden lawn chairs, a built-in braai, some paving stones and a gas powered blower to clean up the copious amounts of dust and leaves that collect regularly on the patios.
Wednesday we had stone tables, benches and fountains delivered. It took several men to unload them as they were quite heavy.
On Thursday Pandora and Kathy left to return back to their homes. We sure enjoyed having them here for their short stay. They accomplished a lot while they were here. This place will never look the same again. Thank you Pandora and Kathy!
The driveways are now finished and the path around the perimeter is ready to be paved. The path provides a very nice place to walk and ride bicycles. We have also been using the tractor with the mower to get the field under control and James has been using the tilting trailer to move dirt and dump the rubble where we need to fill in the area hoping to build an amphitheater there soon.

Here are some interesting links:

History of Apartheid in South Africa
http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~cale/cs201/apartheid.hist.html
Bill Duncan’s blog
http://www.olsonduncan.com/bridgesofhope

Fourth week in South Africa

This is now our fourth week at Bridges of Hope. On Saturday, friends Pandora and Kathy arrived to help out with coordinating the improvements we are making and to do some art projects as well. On Sunday we took the academy kids to church at the Rock in Paarl, about a 30-minute drive from here. In the afternoon Stephanie and Kristie (two of the teachers) set up a slip and slide on the soccer field. The girls had a blast keeping wet and cool since the pool is still out of commission. In the evening, the vice principal, Peter Sayers, did a braai (South African BBQ) for all the kids and those of us at the retreat center as well.
Pandora and Kathy have been busy with their projects, purchasing appliances, paints and working on crafts with the girls as well.
Late on Monday we finally got the Lamborghini tractor we had been waiting for. Since then we have started using it to knock down the weeds with the bush-hog and removing rocks and rubble using the trailer. The wood for the patio cover arrived late Tuesday so today Phil and Bill were staining it before it goes up.
The pool is now almost finished. Only thing remaining is to finish setting the cobble stones around the perimeter which should be completed on Thursday. The kitchen and bathrooms are still being worked on. The walls of the buildings here are solid brick and concrete so moving walls, doors and electrical outlets is very time consuming and dusty. We will all be glad when the demolition is finished.
Pastor Mlucki and Lulama from the township of Philippi came for a visit on Wednesday and stayed for lunch. We had a great visit with them.