do not walk any distance in the South African sun

Suzanne and I learned a valuable lesson this last week, not to walk any distance in the South African sun. After what would be considered a short walk and taxi ride to go shopping we came back dehydrated and shaky. We slept three hours and ate salted pop corn, along with drinking lots of water. The next day we got up and caught the morning bus into town. It was not until eating a banana that both of us started to recover. Our electrolytes needed to be recharged. Not a medical term but describes what happened. It brings home the saying,"Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noon day sun."

Suzanne and I are team teaching a Zazi and Brother's for life class at a local church. There are 14 young men and women in the group. The young men number 10 and the young women number 4, if everyone shows up.  They talk about their self image and cultural roles in South Africa. Discussions include relationships, gender roles, domestic violence, human reproduction and health, children, and other topics. The goal is for them to know themselves and learn to respect one another.
We did our first meeting with help from a co worker. The second week was Suzanne and myself. The second week started slow due to they attended church in a neighboring town about 7 to 10 km away and church ran late. And they had to arrange their own transport which met many walked or took a taxi if they could afford to.
Suzanne and I hope for more young women to balance the class. The time of the class may be a factor, 3 to 5 Sunday afternoon.

Suzanne started working with Human Resources and I started helping the Finances Department in Childline.do work for different departments of Childline.

Suzanne and I went out to xsites to teach Permacultural Gardening. Suzanne introduces the subject by talking about nutrition.  I follow by linking nutrition to the garden and Samson, our office partner talks about where to plant what and when, and what grows together. One of the objectives is to teach inter planting and the use of mulch and compost. It is all linked to food security and staying healthy. The other week we went out to sites to teach

In the morning we taught and in the afternoon we did a practical by having the class dig and plant a garden.
The class planted two beds about the size of door frames. One garden is at a school and another is at an orphanage. There were about 34 people in each class. Another goal is for them to teach others. Next quarter we will teach a second part, saving and drying seeds. Then we will ask how many planted gardens and how many used what was taught.

The first group was more responsive than the second. Maybe it was the weather, the first blowing and cold while the second it was much warmer. Or the first just enjoyed themselves more. We do two more on the 16th and 18th.

That is it from me.