Well tomorrow I fly to Africa! Where has that time gone? It really doesn't seem a year since I was going in 2012 and I was so nervous and yet so excited. Feels a bit different this time, not nervous of being alone 6000 miles away as I have done it before and know I will survive, but I do not really know what to expect in so many ways.
I have a full day at work tomorrow and a long to do list tonight, one of which was to write the first page of this blog which I will endeavour to add to each day.
For those of you who don't know, I am flying to Cape Town first to spend a week with Ray and Sue Haakonsen and their family. Ray and Sue founded Beautiful Gate and are now living in the beautiful city of Cape Town which I fell in love with this time last year on my first visit. I am looking forward to seeing my South African family again and renewing my acquaintance with many friends I made there. I will be sharing a room with the lovely Lineo who is 8 and I am really looking forward to seeing how the girls have grown. I am hoping that I will be able to go to visit the girls schools as well as Cannons Creek school which my school have links with. I will also be visiting the Bishop of Paarl who is a friend of a friend so that will be a huge honour.
Next Friday I will be leaving the house at about 3 am to fly up to Bloemfontein to do the hours drive to Maseru (on a good day depending on the border crossing and the roadworks).
It will be a challenging yet exciting week and I hope I will have time to visit some of the beautiful places that I visited last year when I was more of 'a visitor'. This year it will be more like going home. I can't wait to climb Lions Head - a treat I have been promised. Having climbed Table Mountain last year I have decided it cannot be any more difficult (or can it?) The weather will be a little warmer than here - it is about 30 at the moment. It has been hard to pack for summer but I have a fully loaded suitcase - not that many clothes but lots of other stuff. Virgin have kindly given me free extra baggage to take a load of books out to Lesotho but sadly the local airlines were not so generous. I am so grateful to some friends who immediately came up with the extra cash needed to pay for that. I have been blessed by so many friends who have supported this trip. I have been given so many donations to help with buying a printer for the school, extras for treats for people I am staying with, things for Beautiful Gate and little extras for others who I may meet. My aim is to make a difference in the lives of those i will be coming into contact with on a day to day basis. I know I cannot change the world but I believe that by being alongside people in a different culture I can do something to bring light and love and life into their sometimes dark worlds. I look forward to sharing their joys, their sorrows, their fears and their pain..............Africa can be a tough country.
Thank you to all those who will be reading my blog and supporting me through prayer and with your thoughts. Your cards, notes and e mails have been and will be treasured. There will be difficult times and lonely times and very hot times as well as happy and fulfilling times and the thoughts of my friends all over the world supporting me will certainly carry me through the tough days.
I will be flying at 9pm tomorrow night from Heathrow. I will next blog on Friday evening as long as there is internet at the Haakonsen household. I look forward to hearing from you over the next month and thank you for sharing this years journey with me.
with love
Jenny x
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