After a gentle New Year's Eve braai with some of the hospital and NGO staff, we are excited to be starting 2018 in our new neighbourhood (and with our old bikes!).
Many people have been very kind and welcoming. Neighbourhood children have been playing in the yard, and Adam's swing pushing skills have been in high demand. (No pictures of children here, for obvious reasons). We had a long conversation with some very friendly and patient Xhosa neighbours (long in duration due to lack of understanding, not long in content). The English speaking community, mainly based around the hospital, has also been very warm and helpful. It is a relief to have an easier conversation once in a while as otherwise all of our interactions are quite exhausting.
Another challenge is to manage the neighbourhood animals. One stray dog in whose territory we currently reside likes to accompany us on walks, causing great chaos when she crosses into other territories. She was hit by a vehicle and turned up bleeding this morning. It is very distressing not to be able to do much to help, but pests and rabies are real problems here, and there is no real access to the SPCA or similar. We need to adjust our thinking around animals to one that is suitable for this environment, without becoming hardened or cruel.
In happier news we kicked the year off with a run/cycle. It was a wonderful first cycle post-op for Adam, and a great way to begin the new year and see our surroundings, even though the hills and the wind were quite tough going! Adam still isn't allowed to run, but Jo is going ahead with her slow training. At least with Adam on the bike in the same area we keep passing each other to commiserate! A couple of hours later, Adam's back seems to have held up absolutely fine.
At the end of our outing we popped up the road to have a look at the local secondary school. It is a sad sight to behold. Some of the classrooms don't even seem to have doors. It is easy to see why it's incredibly difficult for rural children to "make it" through school.
Of course we also swung by our house. The roof is on, but the little joiny bits between the corrugated panels still need to be attached: at the moment the panels are weighted down with heavy poles, and flapping like crazy in the wind. There has been progress on the inner walls and some plastering, but obviously no-one is working today, so we shall have to wait until tomorrow for a proper update. Definitely not time to move in yet! However, everyone has been very reassuring that we will find a new temporary place to stay once our current hosts return.
That's all for now,
Joanna and Adam