Negotiations with Traditional Authorities

Site of meeting of the Queen's Council, Modjadji, in Limpopo Province.

Negotiating team prepares humanitarian projects presentation to Queen's Council.


One of the Queen's emissaries enjoys warm lunch of mealie pap, cooked pumpkin, gravy with mystery meat, under shade tree in
95 degree weather. Iced sodas are always in good taste.


Roadside market crew stands by to sell freshly picked mangoes.

Limpopo Province

Back to the farm for the first two women, employed as tomato workers at South Africa's largest tomato farm,
ZZ2 [pronounced zed-zed-two] in northeastern Limpopo Province.

This enormous baobab tree is 6,000 years, measures 45 meters at its base, and houses a cave-like hollow in its heart.

The heavy lifting is done by women, this one on her way home from "town."

Christmas Safari

Joburg closes down mid-December to the beginning of new year, giving us opportunity to explore favorite places. Ten missionaries visited Mosetlha Bush Camp to view spectacular landscape and animals. When a feisty female elephant began to charge front of vehicle, our guide Johnny reversed at lightning speed = reason to carry weapon.

Sunday at Hospital View in Tembisa

Sunday


We spend Sundays at Hospital View Ward in Tembisa Township. Here you see my motivated, diligent piano students learning to play hymns with both hands. Back row: Lesego, I, Palesa [one year old baby nests in towel draped around her torso]. Front row: Lettie [kindly holding Happy's newborn], Dixie [graduating high school with plans to study electrical engineering at university], and Happy, who usually has an ear to ear smile, but is serious about "Come, Come, Ye Saints."

These precious children comprise the Primary, where I accompany Christmas songs on electric keyboard.

John advises Elder Kelly [Australia] and Elder Rijken [Holland] before they visit investigators in Hospital View.

Happy day. It's baptism of dressed in white new member on 1 November. Sadly, her baby [wrapped in pink blanket] passed away one week later.

Bloom Where You're Planted

Waiting for the TELKOM technician, who promised to appear four days ago, we may have solved problem with 60 year old wiring in flat ourselves. All these gadgets for internet and Vonage!

No fertilizer? Farmer John experiments with expired orange juice on tomatoes in patio planter boxes outside our office. The city is becoming a forest of purple jacaranda trees. Here, they pronounce it
"JACK-A-RANDA"...jarring to Spanish speakers.

Women in Africa

African women do the work, like every other place in the world.
I never met a carbohydrate I didn't like!

Drakensberg Boys Choir

Four hours east of us, in the Drakensberg Mountains, we attended the Boys Choir concert, featuring sacred, classical, popular and ethnic tunes. The boys range in age from 10-16. The young man in second photo approached us, "I'm from Durban, the only Mormon in the school." Last photo shows boys in formal attire.

Drakensberg Hike

They say Drakensberg is the pearl of South Africa. We agree [but Capetown is on our list of places to visit]. Hiking at Monk's Cowl was glorious...and safe.

Executive Decision

Picasa is my friend. From now on, I'll rely on default blog posting with just four photos [if a picture is worth a thousand words, that should be enough information?].
No matter how I worked it, my text and photos from "My Favorite Things" would not align properly. I welcome suggestions.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

Our able office administrator Annette on Secretary’s Day, poses with beautiful Siberian iris arrangement. She is my Mother Teresa.

The 50 year old porcelain kitchen sink developed a crack that leaked water = a new sink for us. Here Greg and helper undertake installation of new stainless steel.











Anges was an early music student who would like to learn composition and arrangement. So would I! Here, he poses [far left] with girlfriend Ariel from Congo home visiting Joburg with her mother. Go Anges! The major obstacle is his finding “lobola” [dowry] on his 80 cents an hour security guard job.














Veterans of Tannenweg, Bad Vilbel, Frankfurt. Who would have guessed that three of us couples lived there in different epochs, and loved it.




















Hospital View Branch piano students are enthused and diligent. The Primary children appreciate a pianist; they otherwise rely on a CD to learn children's songs.




























































Brett and Tamiko Sher own and operate Mjita Trading Company, selling African textile and leather products. They invited the LDS missionary sisters to their home for a “look-see,” and an opportunity to purchase leftover inventory. Liz and Judy, seated in front of me, are longtime friends now staying in Joburg on church assignments.



Houghton Estates is three blocks from where we “stay” [reside]. It’s a mostly high-end residential area that goes to great lengths to be secure, which makes it a good place to walk, because you’ll find a guard station every house. Their security includes high walls, double high walls, with electric wires, massive gates, and often guard houses manned 24/7. They all subscribe to Houghton Community Action Protection, an agency that will respond urgently to a panic button.



On the other side of the tracks, you will find our residence, Duke’s Court [sounds kind of regal, but is not, but will do], facing Killarney Mall, where we are frequent flyers at PicknPay Grocery Market and Woolworth’s Food Center.