Journal Entry-May 24, 2007

Well here is an opportunity to give you a glimpse in to my journal. I decided that it would probably just be best to give you an entry to my journal because this day was very eye opening.
So here it is.

May 24, 2007

Today we were running around JoBurg all day. Beth, on Thursdays, runs a clinic where the people of Katlehong can be tested for HIV. There is a doctor who comes in who is a member of Grace Christian Church. So while Beth and Nicolene, the doctor, were at the clinic, Conrad and I went to the school where all the work needs to be done. And as we drove up, all of the kids were assembled out in the open space in their chairs. When we inquired further, we were told that one of their students had just passed away and they were having a memorial for the boy. And we later found out that his sister attends the school as well.



Conrad and I were there so we could get a final measurement for the supplies we are going to buy. Because all of the kids were not in the classrooms this made a three and a half hour job into about an hour job, which was kind of nice. And while we were measuring I heard a noise. It was a quite pleasant noise. It was sweet to the ears. It sounded like a lullaby. I could not understand the words, but the voices were amazing. All of the kids, faculty, and staff raised their voices to lament the passing of this little boy. It was stunning, simply amazing. I told Conrad that I wanted to be in their section when I got to heaven. It was so beautiful I was taken away almost to just daydream about what heaven was going to be like. So after that I was pulled back into reality when I saw the ceiling that needs to be replaced and the windows that were shattered.



So Conrad and I kept measuring away and got the totals for the work day. In the afternoon I ran errands with Conrad and he took me on a dry run to the airport, because I’ll be picking some people up next week. After finishing that, Ruan picked me up and we met some people for dinner. It is nice to be coming back to a place like Johannesburg because there are familiar faces and friends. So it doesn’t feel totally foreign, just a little. But I guess the more time I spend here the less foreign it will seem.