Hi there!

We have had a very exciting week with lots of firsts including: fasting, going to homegroup and for me and Catherine driving partway to work (thankfully we made it in one piece)!

This week Catherine and I have been in Amandlethu, a secondary school with about 2,000 students from grade 8 (age 13 or 14) up to grade 12 (age 17 or 18). We have been teaching a programme called Life Orientation to the grade 8s with Zama, Pumza and Maqhawe. Life Orientation aims to help the children build strong relationships, plan for the future and learn about the dangers of drugs, alcohol and sexual relationships.

Teenage pregnancy is quite a big problem here so it is really important to properly educate the kids and at a young age. The programme is having a noticeable effect because the number of pregnancies has decreased in the 7 years they have been there - when they first started teaching there were 5 pregnant girls in grade 8 alone!

LI are in desperate need of a new car so that they can give out food parcels and do home visits. Unfortunately their vehicle (Tata), after coming out of the garage 2 weeks earlier, gave up the ghost. The Tata has been on its last legs for a while but there just haven't been the funds for a new car, so the whole LI team (including us) decided to fast for 3 days and pray for God to resolve the problem. We did decide to have an evening meal each day so that we weren't fainting all over the place - especially as this is our first time fasting. Having originally planned to break our fast on Wednesday, the 6 of us felt challenged to continue until Friday, when members of the board were meeting to discuss various issues; one of which was the vehicle. At this very moment we are awaiting the return of Zanele from the board meeting - so that we can eat!

This week has been quite full on, the fast only presenting half of the challenge. We've had problems with the electrics, had to break up a fight involving two young boys and a belt, struggled with ill health and have even been peed on by Creche children (more than once!). But we've also seen some amazing things. On thursday, Abi, Pippa, Emma and Catherine helped the team give out 16 food parcels in the community. They came back looking like four drowned rats, but all laughing and full of God's joy. They had spent 2 hours in the rain, running around and handing out food from the back of a borrowed pick up truck. Pippa got to test her amazing reversing skills too! Apparantly the overwhelming thankfulness from GoGos (grandmas), parents and children gave everyone a desperately needed lift in spirit. After all, seeing God's work done is what we're here for!

So that's it for this week! Thanks again for your continued support and prayers.

Lots of love
Hannah x