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.