31 December 2012

Well, after all, a holiday is a holiday,........

December 23^rd   We attended Mamelodi II Branch.  Memelodi II Branch is the Chocolate Branch.  Please check earlier blogs for the chocolate story from Montana and the Mamelodi II Primary Sharing experience.  Wonderful hugs from this young lady.

The Branch President and the 1st counselor were out of town for the holiday.  The Second counselor is just a young man.  About 15 minutes after the meeting should have started there were 10 or so people there.   So we started.....

By the end of Sacrament meeting there were 47 there. Sister DaBell played the music for Sacrament meeting.  We were called upon to speak with the one speaker who was in attendance, Sister Sharon Mabaso.   Sister DaBell spoke about becoming a joint heir with Christ as we partake of the Sacrament.  I spoke about the birthday of the Prophet Joseph Smith and celebrating the birth of the Savior, Jesus Christ, and the great blessings we have because of both of them.  The Branch planned a Braai (barbeque) for a Christmas celebration.

December 24-26, 2012    We travelled to Mosethla Bush Camp in the Madikwe Game Reserve with Curtis’ and Knudsen’s.  

The Hartbeespoort Dam is about 90 minutes from home and the Church has a camp there.  Young Women and Scouts use it.  Families can, also.

The river is the Crocodile River, and No, Bridger, we did not see any crocociles, but we watched out for them.  It is really this green!

Madikwe is about 4 1/2 hours away.  It is an area of former cattle ranches.  The land became very depleted and was turned into a game reserve by the government.  It has old remnants of the ranches.  The former school is used for a Reserve Headquarters.  There are 17 or so "lodges" of various types run by private ownership.  One is a 5 star Hotel with all the perks. 

The one we stayed at, Mosethla, (which is the name of a tree) is a camping experience without electricity, or running water. 

The water we used was hauled in, and was safe.  We experienced a "donkey boiler" to get hot water for a shower, and the usual camp loo.   The shower was a suspended bucket with a shower nozzle on the bottom.  You let it down, put your water in it and pulled it up.  It was great!

 Our "tent" had two half wooden walls, two full wooden walls, a wooden floor, and was about 4 feet off the ground.  It had a wooden roof and comfortable beds. 

We had a relaxing and exciting time.  We sang Christmas Carols and read the nativity from Luke 2 on Christmas Eve. 

Our driver, Justice, was very patient and drove around the Park for 4 different game drives.   Monday:   4:30 to 8:30 pm, Tuesday:   5:30 to 9:00 am and 4:30 to 8:30 pm  and Wednesday:  5:30 to 9:00 am.  

We saw Lions,

Elephants,

Rhino,

Zebra,

Wildebeests,

Monkeys, Giraffes

Cheetah, (these were being introduced into the reserve and were in an enclosure).

Impala, and many DLA's (deer like animals), many kinds of birds, butterflies,  and on and on.  At one point I (MPD) saw a snake.  I said oh...I just saw a snake back up.  Justice said what did it look like?  I said it was brownish and had a hood.  Maybe it was a Cobra.  Justice said, we cannot go back.  The snake was a spitting cobra and can spit acurately up to 3 meters.  It can cause blindness.  I looked up the snake when we got to camp.  Yes, there was the snake!

 It was very hot and  on Monday, I said, a little rain would be an interesting experience. 

 Well, by the end of the Tuesday evening game drive, we were in the middle of a “typhoon-like” rain storm with lots of lightning and thunder.  Despite the storm, the sunset was spectacular!!!!!

We all got soaked, Justice, the driver was amazed that we all were laughing and enjoying ourselves inspite of the “drenching”.  

These two sisters shall remain unidentified!

This beetle is a Dung Beetle. it is a little smaller than a quarter.  It takes some dung, rolls it into a ball adds some more until it is about baseball size.  Then the female climbs on it and the male starts to roll it.  The female leys eggs as the male rolls it to a good spot.  The ones we saw were rolling the balls 15 feet or so.  It finds the spot it wants and starts to dig a hole.  The "dung ball" and eggs are buried.  Not quite sure how deep or what the male and female do next....I'll ask next game drive.

Besides the beauty and interest of the Game Drives, we enjoyed the fellowship of Knudsen’s and Curtis’, playing Rook, telling stories, and eating good food.

December 28^th    We met with Daniel Mnisi and his wife from Pretoria First Ward and visited with them about self reliance and coached them on their ongoing employment search.



Gareth age 3



December 29th we nannied 3 children 8-3 years for 4 1/2 hours, while their parents attended the temple.  The family is from Botswana. It was the closest we have come to grandparenting since we left the USA.

Lisa age 4

Moses age 8

December 30^th   We taught the 5^th Sunday lesson to the Melchizedek Priesthood and Relief Society  of the Centurion First Ward.  The Topic was Self Reliance and how to achieve Self Reliance as individuals and families.  The Church has so many resources, we need to use our agency and make good choices that will lead to Self Reliance financially, spiritually, emotionally and physically.

December 31, 2012   the Senior Couples held a New Year’s Eve party at the Area Office from 6 to 9 pm featuring a Pot Luck, games and lots of laughs.  Those in charge knew it would be midnight somewhere in the world at 9 pm in South Africa.  We are very thankful for the blessings of 2012!!

28 December 2012

Be it ever so humble, there is no place.....

December 18-20, 2012   We accompanied Elder Eggett to Lesotho by way of Bloemfontein area then to Ladybrand finally to Maseru to complete a Humanitarian project. 

Life is interesting.  On November 11, I met the High Commissioner of Lesotho.  She was visiting the Area Offices and came in to see what the Employment Resource Center was all about.  I explained what we do here.  She was very interested.  Little did I know that in just a few short weeks I would have an unforgettable experience in her country.......



Center is High Commissioner of Lesotho Lineo Ntoane. 
To the right is Thoba Karl-Halla of Public Affairs.  I give piano lessons to her granddaughter, Mazzy.



We spent the nights in Ladybrand at a bed and breakfast called My Housey.  It was Delightful...or Lovely.....filled with antiques, walk ways, flowers and all.

In Ladybrand we met Elder and Sister Holt from Lethbridge Canada who are serving as Member Leadership Service Missionaries.  They supervise 10 missionaries over 5 Branches in Lesotho and around the Bloemfontein District. Elder Holt right Below, Sister Holt yellow blouse.

We crossed the border into Maseru and procured 427 blankets, 1000 toothbrushes, 200 towels, washclothes, bottles of lotion, bottles of shampoo and tubes of toothpaste. 

We left our purchases at the Elders' Flat and headed back into SA to Ladybrand.  Sister Holt served us a delicious roast beef diinner.  The Holt's son married Brittany Dabell, Wes and Diana Hunter Dabell's Daughter. 

Small world, (small b, too) as not only is Wes Dabell Elder DaBell's 2 cousin, but Sister DaBell's family, the Pattersons, and Hunters were well acquainted in Lewisville, Idaho back in the late 1950's.

The next morning we assembled hygiene kits with 6 fulltime Elders.   One of the Elders, center back, is Stafford Smith's son from Idaho Falls. Lindsey, he is Sloan Smith's brother. 

Notice our curious audience?  We had extra toothbrushes and toothpaste we gave to them.

We left the assembled kits with the Elders and decided to explore a little.   This is the Elder's flat.  It is gated and not quite as rough as it looks.

We found ourselves in South Dakota viewing Mount Rushmore.

We went to the town of Teyateyaneng TY for short. 

It is known for its Setsoto Weaving studio and show room.  The work is fantastic! 

We toured the weaving area, and the sales room. The yarn is spun from angora goat hair.  It is surprisingly soft as heavy as the weavings are. We purchased 2.  The larger weavings take more than a month to complete, and all are checked each day for accuracy with the pattern. 

Cayenne, you would love watching the work!



Beautiful showroom!!!!



We saw herdsmen, oxen plowing, donkey carts and gardens that reminded me of my dad's garden! 

Many houses here are round with a thatched roof.  There is stone available, that is cut into rectangles.  They use mud for morter.  In the TY town, there was power, but outside of the town there is none.  A lot of the houses have water collection systems for the rain water.

We went through the Matsupoe-Ficksburg border crossing and then back to Ladybrand.



We found Santa hanging out in Matsupoe the Lesotho side by Ficksburg....who would have guessed!!!



On Thursday, we went back into Lesotho, arranged to park our car at the Setsoto Weavers in TY, and then went with the Red Cross in their high 4 wheel drive pickup.  We were also accompanied by 4 Maseru missionaries in a Chevy S10 size pickup. 

We delivered blankets and hygiene kits to two mountain villages who had sustained great water damage in the recent rain storms.  (rain here is closer to a tropical storm).  

In the first village, Hatjobe, a wall of a home collapsed (this one was not built round) and two children were suffocated underneath the rubble.  Notice the garden in the front.

We saw a lot of roof damage on other homes. 

The Local Government and Chieftanship determined the losses and contacted the Red Cross who then contacted the Church.  The effort was well organized.  50 families received blankets and hygiene kits.  Elder Eggett is in the yellow vest.

We were touched by the humble surroundings and the rugged roads and majestic mountains.   The receipients gathered together, and then had a prayer.  There were "speeches" from a villiage leader, the Red Cross and Elder Eggett.  We were impressed with Elder Eggett’s caring attitude and experience in  humanitarian aid projects.  The people were dressed in their best.  It was an "event."

The Lesotho TV were there to report.  They had an interview with one of the Elders.  He represented us very well.

The people are friendly, and caring.  They look out for each other. 

This young mother is 15. 

Her baby is 6 months old.  The mom is an orphan herself. 

This lady had pretty crude crutches, but wasn't going to miss out. 

These ladies really enjoyed getting to know Elder DaBell, although only one of them spoke English.



The Villiage "Wise Men" 



We then left for our second villiage, Mpunyetsane.  It was higher up.  We sent the Elders back to Maseru.  The road was an interesting interpation of "road." 



You can see some of the damage to the roof here. 

When we reached the villiage, someone who was along the road side hollered into the valley below.  The people slowly started to make their way up the mountain side.  When they have a villiage meeting, someone goes onto the side of a mountain and hollers.  They announce whatever is happening and when, and then the people show up.  THIS IS AMAZING, AS THERE IS CELL SERVICE THROUGHOUT THE AREA.

There were two pumps there, neither works.  We have a water couple here from Vernal, Utah.  (remember from before, Dan Erikson's inlaws, the Merkleys)  They will take a look at the wells and pumps and see if there can be something else done.  They will organize a community board and teach them how to care for their wells and pumps.  In this particular village, they have no well water.  They collect from the rain or puddles in the summer, and I am not sure what they do in the winter. 

This year the spring rains started late, so the crops are not as big as they need to be.  One of the Red Cross drivers said that they have already been notified of the food shortages that will occur.

After the blankets and hygiene kits were passed to this group, they danced for us.

We stopped back at Setsoto Weavers and picked up our car.  We just happened to purchase another weaving.  We returned home Thursday evening through Bethlehem in a torrential rain storm.  Elder Eggett returned to Lesotho on Sunday and finished the project in the town of Qachas Nek on the eastern border of the country.  200 households were assisted.

This building was built by the Chinese as a governmental building of some sort for Lesotho at the request of Lesotho's king in exchange for some land, mining diamonds and things of that sort. The king did not clear it through the parliament.  The parliament rejected the plan.  The Chinese said, "well then, no building."  It sits there empty on the top of the hill.  As Dominic just said, "this is Africa, beautiful, but Africa."

December 21^st    We served in the temple as ordinance workers for the third time.  I (MPD) had child care duty and met charming little three year old who did not speak any English.  We got along famously.  He has now been sealed to his parents for all eternity.

 We continue to learn.  I(RSD) officiated in initiatory work and followed and presented on the 5 pm session.  I appreciate so much the “qualified ordinance workers” who patiently train us and help us become competent in this important work.

Next time, our Christmas celebration in Madikwe, a game reserve. 

Love to you all.  Elder and Sister DaBell