These are a few of my favourite things...

These are a few of my favourite things…

I thought I would do a light hearted reflection this week before a more serious post when I am actually finished. So here are some things I’ve loved…

Favourite Restaurant: Bardellis

This is the place to go if you want amazing food and a slightly crazy atmosphere, so naturally I am taking my family here on Saturday! It is an Italian restaurant that does pizza with cold avocado on top, which is an amazing combination. I have been twice now, both for goodbye meals and had a brilliant time. When we went for Danielle’s meal - we witnessed the manager give every table including ours a free bottle of wine and when he was done pouring them he would smash a bottle on the ground by the fire. This is only a bit safer than it sounds, not near people! Many hilarious memories made there.

Favourite Museum: Slave Lodge

Talked about the Slave Lodge in my touristy blog post in the first half of my trip and have recommended it to all the new volunteers who have come since. The divisive history of South Africa lingers heavily still. When I talk to the young people in the detention facilities it is clear their opinions have been passed down generations.

Favourite Tourist Site: Table Mountain

Can’t wait to take my family to Table Mountain, a second time for all of us. But hopefully first time, weather permitting for us to watch the sun go down. Beautiful doesn’t seem a big enough word to describe the view and peaceful atmosphere at the top. Look forward to reflecting on my trip there and saying goodbye to the mountain I have become so accustom to seeing.

Favourite Workshop in Vredilus: Peer Pressure

One of my early workshops at Vredilus was on peer pressure, I think it was the first topic I talked about there. It involved a match up activity, simply words, definitions and pictures. But with a group of 35 teenage girls with big personalities it was a huge success to see them work together in teams to complete the task.
Something I haven’t seen again in my time here at this facility. Although my workshop this week on Refugee’s involved one of the girls remembering what the UN is. I mention the UN in almost every workshop I do, and when I ask in the other places no one can remember even now what it is. But one girl not only remembered but later in the workshop said ‘we should treat everyone as humans no matter where they come from – with respect!’ this was the best thing to hear.

Favourite Workshop in Lindelani: Dancing

I don’t have a favourite workshop in Lindelani but my favourite part of the workshops we do there is the music. We start every workshop with a group game, then present the information whilst having group discussions, ending with music to chill. In theory the music also gives time for the information to sink in, but I think this is very much in theory rather than reality!
Of all the places the boys at Lindelani always get the most involved when the speaker comes on. Whether they are having a dance off all standing in a circle cheering each other on or doing their own thing in their own space it is fabulous to watch. No matter how the workshop has gone this always brings a smile to my face.

Favourite Workshop in Bonnytoun:

You are going to think I am crazy but my favourite workshop at Bonnytoun was last week in the blue group. We were doing the Refugee and Migration topic, talking about xenophobia a view the majority of them understand and carry without hesitation. Whilst the workshop started optimistically with the boys looking at photos of Refugee camps around Africa and saying they wouldn’t want to live there, and they would help refugees it certainly didn’t end that way.

After talking about legal vs illegal immigration and the difference between a migrant and a refugee I finished by asking them what they would do in a refugee crisis if they were president?

You will not be able to guess the response they confidently gave me.

I was told they would take the refugees as personal slaves, the men would be given drugs to sell – they said it was okay for the men to make money on the side for themselves during this process as long as the majority of the money went to them. The women would keep home and cook for everyone (really encouraging to see the presentation on women’s rights and gender stereo types has sunk in!) and the children would be fed until they were old enough to join one or the other.

I said that funnily enough no world leader that I was aware of is currently taking this approach, they said ‘we know Amy but you asked us what WE would do if WE were running the country.’

At this I had to laugh.

After assuring them they wouldn’t get my vote, I had to step back and appreciate that these young boys were thinking about their opinion and articulating their honest view in response to my question. Whilst obviously I wish they had said we would welcome them with open arms and support them in rebuilding their lives in South Africa that was always a long shot.

They look at people who are different to them and instantly judge, many of them said they would shoot a refugee on sight. This breaks my heart on so many levels, both for the victims of their views of which there are many, but also for their absoluteness in their kill or be killed attitude.

So why was this my favourite workshop? Because they engaged! They listened to the information and formulated opinions, they heard both sides of the argument and decided where they stood. I may be on the opposing side every time but for them to care enough about what I am saying to form an opinion is in itself a success. At the end of every workshop we have to write a report, stating the topic, what we did, how it was received and suggestions and tips – for this workshop my suggestion was to keep going. Keep talking about the difficult topics, keep giving information and hope that one day the information about everyone being a human being deserving of dignity and respect will hit home. Until then we must keep going.

Perhaps I would not have been able to write this way earlier in my trip but this is my mind set as I leave. Keep going and keep hoping that education will bring change in these people’s lives.

This is an activity I found whilst doing research for the Amnesty workshops I did at Alderbrook and have used it in all my refugee workshops, think it is such a brilliant resource. Encourage you to spend a few minuets making the decisions refugee families are having to take - http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32057601

Favourite Workshop in St Anne’s: Public Speaking

I love talking. This will not come as a surprise to anyone. Nor I suspect will the fact that I enjoy analysing and unpicking the way others do public speaking. So to do a workshop on this meets my idea of fun.
Last week I did a workshop at St Anne’s on communication, covered verbal and non -verbal communication and how to plan a talk. We ended the workshop by asking the women to plan and give a 2 minute talk on something they were passionate about (used a lot of the techniques Lesley Cheese taught me a couple of years ago in her workshop! Thank you!).
It was brilliant to see these shy women stand up in front of the group and share. Several of them spoke about their children or family, one lady spoke about why Fathers should have a role in their children’s lives and one on her previous life as a paramedic. All of them were so surprised at the end that they had managed to do it, am so proud of them.
Not looking forward to saying goodbye this week. Unfortunately this week will not only be my final workshop there but also the end of the connection between Projects Abroad and St Anne’s. So pleased I was able to attend in my time here, wish future volunteers could.

I spoke about Mia – I said Mia is my younger sister by 7 years, she loves twirling in pretty dresses and is currently doing her grades in ice skating. I also mentioned the tremendous role she played in my study, couldn’t have got my grades without all those mind map sessions and walks round Dorridge. LOVE YOU!

Favourite Church: Every Nation

Finally my favourite church, I have now been to 9 different churches but sort of 10 because I went to a Hillsong Service and conference service at a different venue.

But my favourite service in all of this took place at the Baxter Theatre with the Every Nation Church, the same church my home group comes from. It was last Sunday, which is Mother’s Day in South Africa and it turns out most of the world apart from the UK and the talk was about empowering women. Was so powerful to hear about the stereotypes and cultural pressure on women in South Africa to be wives and mothers. In addition to this the negative assumptions that would be placed on a Father if they had ‘too much’ of a role in looking after their children. On top of this the limitations the church place on women, all being broken down in one talk with amazing biblical grounding! So pleased I chose to go to this service.

Before the talk even begun, I was in awe. I don’t know if I have ever experienced anything like it before, the sound of enthusiastic African men and women on stage singing their hearts out, layering their voices and dancing was nothing short of incredible. So wish I had filmed some of it, but didn't want to blink and miss part of the experience. 

There are so many other moments and experiences I could mention in this list! Can't wait to catch up with friends and family when I am home and talk in even more detail about my time in South Africa.

Prayer requests:

- To really step back and notice the details and individuals in the projects this week, focus on remembering this experience as best I can.

- For goodbyes to go as smoothly as possible, especially on Friday when I say goodbye to a lot of the friends I have made here.

- Safe travelling for Mum, Dad and Mia as they fly from Heathrow on Friday evening. 

- Safe travelling for Tom as he flies from Port Elizabeth on Monday morning.

- A brilliant family holiday that celebrates my time here and begins the tough transition home. 

A side note LEA is back! YAY! I am no longer the only volunteer on social justice.

Thank you for making it to the end of my eighteenth blog post, have a lovely week! x

Firm foundations

This week more than others I had to really look back over my week and think what is significant, what have I learnt, what do I want to share? There have been so many moments that spring to mind as important and blog worthy, but they don’t neatly fall into a theme or train of thought. The overwhelming back drop to this week is the fact that I have been the only volunteer doing Social Justice. This has been just as strenuous as I imagined but even in the exhaustion God has provided. With brilliant friends joining me on projects and by making wise mind decisions I have got through. Though I am spinning a bit my foundations remain strong.

It is so clear to me that DBT has given me the skills to cope, and more than cope live life to the fullest. DBT stands for dialectical behavioural therapy, which is a meh way of saying our emotions and circumstances are always changing (dialectics) how do we make good decisions (in our relationships with others and with ourselves) keeping calm under pressure and stay true to our values (you work on identifying these in the course) therapy.

I did an intense year long course in this and am a far better/ truer version of myself then I ever have been before.

I didn’t plan to talk about this today, but my therapy has laid such brilliant foundations in my thinking and empowered me to care for myself to the extent that I don’t think I would be on this trip right now without it. DBT is so much more than standard talking therapy, it is probably important to mention at this point that I am writing about this in a bias way – I have found this course to be life changing but it doesn’t work for everyone. Likewise there is therapy I have done in the past and hated and I have to trust people who say it has worked for them.

So what makes DBT different? SKILLS! So many skills! http://dbtselfhelp.com/html/dbt_skills_list.html

Each week you learn a new skill from one of the four topics: Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, Distress Tolerance and Emotional Regulation. You have skills sessions in a group (2hours a week) and 1:1 (1 hour a week). The group sessions start with a mindfulness task to ground you, then you feed back home work (putting the skill you learnt last week into practice) and sharing the skills you used. Then you have a short break before learning a new skill.

Covering the 20-30 skills takes 6 months because you do a 2 week refresher on mindfulness in between each new topic. Some people stop after 6 months or you can do a further 6 months and do the lessons from the beginning but now seriously committing to implementing them - now what you are hearing isn’t all new information. I started the process in March 2015, begun the course in September 2015 and finished October 2016.

From this I learnt how to effectively cope ahead, self soothe, rationalise, weigh up pros and cons and how to lay out what I want from another person. These probably don’t sounds mind blowing things - they aren’t. They are simple things that when you commit to doing change how you look after yourself, how you form positive relationships and how you deal with crisis.

On my trip here I have had to avoid burn out. This is counter intuitive for me. I like saying yes, taking on responsibility and helping others more than I do sleeping, taking deep breaths and making decisions that prioritise my well being over pleasing others. Unfortunately turning up to work half dead doesn’t help anyone. So I have really had to put what I learnt last year into practice.

Mindfulness (observe, describe, and participate):

- Listening to music and really experiencing it, allowing it to fill me up.

- Grounding my thoughts during worship at church.

- Noticing the warmth of my bed, the comfort of a duvet and knowing that so many people near me are struggling to fall asleep in make shift shelters.

- Really listening to the people I am working with/ clients without being judgemental.

Interpersonal Effectiveness:

- Thinking about my body language as I go into the workshops and choosing to go in energised even when I want to curl up and go to sleep.

- Negotiate, particularly when I am in a bigger team in Social Justice. Deciding what direction a workshop should go in or who should have which cases - allowing others to have control over the project.

- Sticking to my values, when making a decision asking myself 'is this helpful?' and 'is this moving towards or away from my values?'

Distress Tolerance:

- Taking deep breaths when I hear/ see/ experience really challenging things or when I am being sent round in circles by a department official on the phone.

- Radical acceptance, for the lack of progress on the cases I am working on and for clients who change their mind all the time or decide to tell you key information at the last minute.

- Self soothe, eating good food and taking a point of noticing the taste, putting on my pj’s early and switching off from work when I am home. Wearing perfume when I go out and using sleep spray at night when I've had a difficult day.

- Vacation, leaving my room when I am getting overwhelmed by emotions or doubts, forcing myself to socialise when I want to hide. Find this really challenging to do, am always making plans here and trying to see and do everything in Cape Town - have had to remind myself of the pros and cons of going through with my plans when I want to just focus on the short term.

Emotional Regulation:

- Sleeping for 9 hours a night, so I can function. Not something I have managed to stick to this week with meals out for friends leaving and early starts to fit lots of things in. Am using cope ahead to give myself some lighter evenings this week to catch up.

- VALIDATION, this is probably the skill I use most. Both validating those I am working with and myself, it is okay to feel an emotion and not know where it comes from. It is also okay to feel an emotion and know that other people might have different problems to you but that doesn’t make what you are going through any less significant in your life. Trying not to ignore my mental health because other people are suffering, in fact taking even more care of my mental health so I am in a strong position to help others.  

Sometimes I want to step off this emotional roller-coaster and run into my comfort zone but these skills help me maintain a sense of control in the instability. I wish everyone in the world could do DBT especially the young people I am working with now! But the chances of them getting group let alone individual therapy is small.

 As I wrote this blog post I wasn’t sure if I was going to come to the end and think about writing something else, but then I remembered that this last week has been Mental Health Awareness Week. This blog is one way I can stand up for people experiencing mental health problems and show support for those who have been or are going through therapy. I absolutely believe that dangerous stigma still exists all over the world, and know that it took me about a year of suffering before I asked for help. If you are struggling with mental health problems or know someone who is, here are some links that I find helpful.

Mind – https://www.mind.org.uk/

Blurt – https://www.blurtitout.org/

NHS – http://www.nhs.uk/livewell/mentalhealth/Pages/Mentalhealthhome.aspx

DBT –https://psychcentral.com/lib/an-overview-of-dialectical-behavior-therapy/

Childline – https://childline.org.uk/

This is a spoken word I have listened to in some dark times it is very powerful and always gives me hope -   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtZp7MQE2ZM

Now some photos to celebrate the brilliant things I have done this week.

Had ice cream after a very full on day last Monday. It was R6 for a HUGE ice cream (35p)

Group trip to the Old Biscuit Mill on Saturday afternoon to eat amazing mac and cheese balls (mushroom, pesto and sundried tomato, regular!)

Skirt appreciation photo with Cheri!

After emotional goodbyes with Cheri I went to Boulders Beach to say hi to the penguins with Ryan and Julia. Was lovely to go to such a calm and peaceful place in the middle of a tiring day.

Finished Saturday with a wine and the BEST pizza, can't wait to take my family here in 2 weeks!

Out on Thursday for Cheri's goodbye meal with house mates and friends. Lovely to look back over the incredible memories of the last two months of living together.

Prayer Requests:

- Energy to get through this next week!

- Collected mind set as I start to say goodbye to young people I won't be seeing next week.

- Safe travels for Danielle as she flies back to the Netherlands this evening.

Thank you for making it to the end of my seventeenth blog post, hope you have a calm week!

Can you believe I get to do this?!

‘Throw yourself into your work and in the same breath surrender the outcomes.’ – Rob Bell

This week I listened to a brilliantly thought provoking podcast by Rob Bell, he talked about the difference between being success orientated, always thinking ‘this is what I am doing next’ or being craft orientated ‘can you believe I get to do this?’.

As someone who plans and likes to constantly weigh up all I do, I definitely fall into the ‘this is what I am doing next’ mind set. It has become habit, an auto pilot choice to ask ‘what’s next?’ just as President Bartlet does! But both of us have something to learn from craft focused people, how much do we miss if we are always chasing the next event, meeting and workshop?

Having heard this on Monday evening after a long day of doing nothing but watch west wing and writing up my journal I thought seriously about grounding myself in the ‘can you believe I get to do this?’ mind set this week. It has made me step back and appreciate just how crazy some of the things I am doing are!

This week I have done the following:

- Watched 8 episodes of west wing in one day (Workers Day, 1^st May)

- Helped a client apply for permeant citizenship for his two daughters

- Done a workshop on volunteering and culture to the boys at Lindelani, by chatting to the boys about countries we have visited I hope they escaped to Greece, New York and Spain even for a few seconds.

- Chatted to Dunstan from Christians in Politics about how we respond to the general election and plans for the future of the Youth Engagement Board.

- Done a couple of workshops on drugs and their effects, before we got there the young people listening had already decided that the high is worth it. One of them said that when all their teeth rot, they would just eat/drink soup.

A lot of the boys spoke enthusiastically about taking ‘tik’ but said they would kill someone who was selling ‘unga’. Tik is a stimulant so keeps gang members alert, whereas ‘unga’ is a depressant and slows you down, taking this gets you exiled because you can’t perform your duties properly. A conversation I don’t remember having in my PSHE lessons.

Found it challenging to hear once again how so many of them have already given up on their lives being any different to how they are currently.

- Been to home group we discussed Peter, and how his situation turned around from denying Jesus three times to professing his love for Jesus three times. Amazing to discuss how God calls each of us to follow him confidently instead of comparing ourselves to others asking ‘why me, what about them?’.

Prayed powerfully with this great group of people for us to see ourselves the way God sees us.

- Chatted to Pablo, a volunteer from the USA about international politics, hard and soft power, global organisations, the UN Security Council and whether a second cold war is emerging? This was in one journey!

- Been to Pollsmoor Prison to attend the prayer walk again, this time with 248 other Christians. We went to two of the men’s units and walked around their court yards praying for them. Was very different from walking around the corridors in the women’s unit. There I felt joy and excitement bounce off the walls as we prayed and saw their smiles.

This time I felt an outpouring of desperation leak out of their dorms – I saw the overcrowding and absence of privacy/ individual space they are given. Found it quite overwhelming to know that some of them will spend decades there. Life in South Africa is a 25 year sentence, but if you have killed more than one person it gets added on – two people is 50 years.

Can’t begin to imagine staying mentally healthy in there for a month, let alone a year. Really had to trust God for miracles to erupt in this place, several of the people who work for Hope Ministries are ex-prisoners and have incredible stories of transformation, I pray for this to become the norm.

Left feeling weighed down by what I had seen, but even more resolute to read up on rehabilitative justice and programmes that actually work when I get home.

- Been to a coffee shop and written up my top 6 reasons for voting Lib Dem, with policy and conference speeches used as references throughout.

- Eaten my first falafel pita bread.

- Started reading a book on the Christian Worldview, examining the theological way of looking at biology, philosophy, ethics, law, politics, economics, history and sociology in comparison to Marxism and Secular Humanism... not something you can read all in one go!

- Visited the Fellowship of Love Ministries Church and spoken for 5 minutes on what I am doing in Cape Town, how I have developed the skills to be here and my dreams for the future. Believing that God places passions on our hearts and snowballs opportunities when we commit to taking the first step. This was part of a service celebrating workers day, several people in the congregation encouraged the young people by sharing how they have ended up doing the jobs they currently are.

- In the same day went to St Martin’s church and heard a brilliant talk about worship. Do we trust that because we have seen God come through for us in the past he can come through for us again? Do we follow his example by surrendering all we are? During the worship I flicked through some really significant moments where God has come through for me and prayed for my week ahead. Challenged myself to thank God in advance for what he will teach me this week as I am the only volunteer in Social Justice.

Looking over this last week there are SO many moments when I can say ‘can you believe I get to do this?’ it is absolutely incredible the people I am meeting, the conversations I am having, and the prayers I am praying. Jesus spent time with those society ignored and more than that shunned and drenched in shame. How amazing that I get to spend so much of my week with people the world has turned a blind eye to.

Can you believe I get to chat to these young people and offer an alternative perspective on life?

Can you believe I get to travel around this diverse city with fabulous friends and take tons of photos?

Can you believe I get to talk so much about Christians in Politics to people who have never before considered politics to be more than an election every few years!

Can you believe I get to go to a high security prison?

Can you believe that in amongst all of this I get to read mind blowing books?

Wow! Wow! Wow!

This is my gap year trip to South Africa, I will always look back on this time knowing it was significant in my life in so many ways. But right now I am not looking back but living it. So instead of hyper planning my last 18 days volunteering, may I keep stepping back and appreciating how crazy my life is right now.

Cheri, Sophie and I at a new food market.

Love spending my weekends in lovely places like this, eating great food and laughing with friends AND appreciating good fairy lights!

Prayer Requests:

- Motivation to keep going at work, this week and potentially next week I am the only volunteer doing social justice. I did this for two weeks at the start of my trip, so I know I can physically do it but it is tough – especially now I know what it is like to have a team around me.

- For all the young people I am working with, may they see God’s love and HUGE hope for them in something I say or do. I trust that God will meet them exactly where they are at and call them by name into his embrace – just as he did with the prodigal son.

- For Cheri as she flies home this weekend, may she go safely. This will be a big goodbye for me as Cheri is my first house mate to leave, after living with her for two months it is going to be difficult to adjust to Brenda's without her crazy excitement filling the space.

Thank you for reading my sixteenth blog post, I hope you have a crazy week! x

She couldn't have waited 2 more days?!

On the 18^th April Theresa May decided it would be a good idea to call a General Election in June.
For some reason my BBC news update was slow that day so I found out from a Joanna, who simply sent me a message saying ‘are you back on the 8^th June?’ I replied ‘no, I’m not back till the 10^th, why?’ she informed me a general election was happening!
I immediately headed over to my news app and read all about it. My initial reaction was shock then outrage, I would not only be missing out of voting in person in my first general election but campaigning for it as well.

Had to wait a while for Sophie (a fellow UK citizen who is politically active) to return to the office to commiserate and discuss the implications of this news. Being a member of the Labour party, this news was even worse for her, as we both predict a Conservative landslide.

Without properly processing the news I had to head off to Lindelani to present a workshop on drugs and their effects. Spent the whole journey staring out the window, thinking about what would happen next.

Over the course of the next couple of days chatted to several friends and fellow Lib Dems and expressed my frustration at not being able to knock and doors and deliver leaflets.
AllI can do is pester people online and donate money, both of which I have done and will continue to do.
In reality I would have needed the PM to move the election a week, because the election would still be held on a Thursday. But then I would want to campaign as well, so could she just put it off a month? Please? Why I wasn’t personally consulted on this I have no idea…

In the local elections and EU referendum last year I sent my head of sixth form links to information about the candidates running/ two sides of the debate, how to register to vote and how to find your nearest polling station. Seeing as I am no longer a student at the school, I thought I would dedicate a blog post to doing just that.

There are two elections happening whilst I am away, the first is this Thursday, the Mayoral Election using Supplementary Voting System. As of Friday morning we will have a mayor for the West Midlands.

Register to vote:https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

What will the mayor do:https://westmidlandscombinedauthority.org.uk/news/west-midlands-mayoral-election-how-to-find-your-polling-station/

Information about candidates-

James Burn Green Party:http://www.jamesburn.org/

Pete Durnnel UKIP:https://petedurnell.com/

Beverly Ann Nielson Liberal Democrats:https://www.facebook.com/beverley.nielsen.39

Sion LLewelyn Labour :http://www.sion-simon.com/

Graham John Steveson Communist Party:http://www.grahamstevenson.me.uk/

Andy Street Conservative Party:https://andy4wm.co.uk/

Information for a proxy vote:https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

Information on Supplementary Voting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngaWCWZHFDA&feature=youtu.be

Then on the 8^th June there is the General Election, where you can vote to decide your local MP using First Past the Post, my least favourite voting system.

Information about the Liberal Democrats:http://www.libdems.org.uk/

Information about Labour:http://www.labour.org.uk/index.php/home/splash

Information about the Conservatives (are you impressed I included them?!):https://www.conservatives.com/

Information about Greens:https://www.greenparty.org.uk/

Information for postal vote:https://www.gov.uk/voting-in-the-uk/postal-voting

Information on FPTP:http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/first-past-the-post/

Register to vote (so important I put it in twice, just in case you missed it the first time):https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

If you want to vote tactically then you can look at the voting history in your constituency and see who is more likely to win out of your preferences - unfortunately this is the way it is until our electoral system changes!

In an earlier blog posts I’ve mentioned Christians in Politics, they are a brilliant organisation that encourage Christians to join political parties. Before the EU referendum they created this clip – whether campaigning in politics is your passion or not please watch this as the national campaigning draws nearer…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23MEShLYoJ4

And since I am writing about politics I thought I would mention that in the last week I visited the South African Parliament. It was fab! Love finding out more about how countries are run. Interestingly here they use proportional representation, and have a clearer distinction between the branches of power with the President elected by MPs not being an MP themselves.

We were taken round the National Assembly, the Apartheid Parliament which is now used by select committees and the National Council of Provinces for delegates from each of the 9 provinces to sit. You know when a house is in session because a rod is placed in drum in the room. The drum is the symbol of parliament because it has always been a way of calling African people together – I love this!

Really enjoyed seeing the similarities and differences between their system and ours. The biggest difference for me was the appearance of parliament, I know that the UK parliament is INCREDIBLY elaborate but appreciated this in a new way as I walked round the formal but distinctly un-palace like décor of this parliament. 

Group photo with Mandela statue outside parliament.

We are allowed to SIT in these seats, and take photos because this room is no longer used as a parliament.

Notice the notebook!

Abbie and I with Mandela - I swished around in this skirt all day!

Prayer Requests:

- For the election campaigns to be overflowing with respect, integrity and dignity.

- For candidates to remember their motives for getting involved in politics in the first place and honour that in their conversations both with the electorate and their fellow candidates.

- For high participation, especially in young people! If you didn’t get to vote in the referendum now is your chance to speak up and be heard, for more information on this check out the Undivided campaign -https://www.weareundivided.co.uk/

- For my peace of mind as I watch the events unfold from afar.

- On a different subject I am doing a short talk at a church in Lavender Hill this Sunday about what I am doing here and the steps I am taking to do the job I want to. They have asked lots of people to do this to celebrate workers day and encourage their young people. The message being trust God to provide opportunities, and work hard to cease them. I have never been to this church, I was invited by some people I met this Sunday who I went to a Hillsong service with. I am eager to go and share how God has used my passions and values to spread his love and to go to a township church. Please pray for the right words to come together in my planning and for my safety as I travel there and back.

Thank you for reading my fourteenth blog post! Have a politically active week! 

Grateful just doesn't cover it

This week I thought I would document my appreciation for brilliant people I have met and chatted to in the last couple of months. It is so true that stressful and difficult moments show you who you can depend on, am so fortunate to have incredible friends and family to share life with. Being the organised person I am, I thought I would categorise and celebrate some of the big positives in my trip.

Family:

I have never appreciated my family’s love and care for me to the same extent as I have here.
Before this the longest I had been away from home was a month, my last trip to Africa, I missed home and valued their encouragement but didn’t depend on them the way I have had to here.
Working in juvenile prisons is not easy, I doubt this will come as a surprise to anyone, but I have needed to be reminded of this regularly.
Hearing violence and murder talked about in such a casual way, seeing the way prison staff treat the young people and then finding the energy to go back and do it all again has been a challenge I couldn’t have done without them.
Getting into work and seeing happy messages or calling home on whatsapp and hearing hard truths mixed in with funny stories about their weeks have kept me sane.

Can't wait to be reunited with these two and take family photos at the Waterfront.

Missing Mia SO much, looking forward to being taught how to ice skate properly when I get back!

Also missing Mum and Dad, will definitely need to take more photos on this holiday - looking through the ones we have together, doesn't leave much choice! This was taken on the day of my Leavers Ball. 

Friends:

Don’t even know where to start. Grateful doesn’t feel like a big enough word to talk about my love for the amazing friends I have been able to pour out my confusion, doubts and joy to.
I have been told that my photos on Facebook make it look like I am having a sunny experience in Cape Town. And this is true, my weekends are filled with beautiful trips around the city, to the waterfront and to many fab food markets. But I am unable to take and share photos of the prisons or my meetings with clients that make up my working week. There have been moments of joy and laughter here don’t get me wrong, but I have had to adjust my aspirations to the reality of how slow change moves here - this has been a horrible thing to do. Almost every week I have caught up with at least one friend from home. This has allowed me to both offload and listen to friend’s stresses and upcoming challenges and jump up and down for each other’s successes. Thank you to absolutely everyone who has taken the time to chat with me, Kara, Charis, Victoria, Harleen, Mary, Family, Joanna, Fiona and Katie lots of love and big hugs to you! 

Can't wait to start planning to meet up with these lovely ladies (Harleen and Mary) for drinks! Thank you for listening to me rant over Facebook, thinking of you as you go back into exam season!

Really enjoyed getting to know Leah (from the USA) for the last few weeks as she has been a brilliant part of the Social Justice Team. Look forward to keeping up with your travels from now until June!

These are the incredible people (Cheri from China and Sophie from Manchester) I live with, they put up with me taking about ginger beer and hot cross bun ice cream on a daily basis!

Julia is a wonderful person I met at Heathfield Baptist Church, she has taken on the role of tour guide and taken me to fabulous places in Cape Town. This was taken on my last day off, we ate the best calamari and chips before this was taken. Thank you so much for making me feel part of your family here! 

Last week we went to Nordhook food market to watch the sun go down, it was beautiful! This is a group photo with Cheri, Sophie, Leah (from Switzerland), Becky (from Australia) and Danielle (from the Netherlands) all of these guys working in the Human Rights Office, some legal and some Social Justice.

Church:

I am aware I dedicated a whole post to church and my experiences here. But it still deserves a place here. It has been such a relief to build strong relationships with fellow Christians here, I knew that having friendships outside of work would be really important for my mental health.
Knowing that volunteers would come and go as their time working on the project finished, I was eager to make friends with people who wouldn’t be going anywhere – Capetownians! I have been blessed with a great church at the bottom of my road, getting to know the families there well has been invaluable. Being able to send out prayer requests, get invited over for amazing food and shown round the city has been the best. Thank you so much for taking me in.

Also to my church families at home, thank you for keeping in touch and caring about both the good and difficult parts of my trip. Being able to send out my blog posts to my home group at Knowle and post on the Olton Hub has been a great way to feel part of life in the UK. To everyone who has sent me an email or commented on one of my posts somewhere, thank you for letting me know what you think. Love hearing from people, whether it is something specific I said that they were interested in or chatting about how their week has been going, it always makes my day brighter.

I know God is big and far bigger than countries borders, but to walk into a church and meet with the same God when I am so far away from home still astounds me. I have both come to church feeling stressed, worn out and on the edge of tears and come energised and full of praise. Knowing that I can be me, in this space and honest about where I am at has made church a really special place in the chaos of my trip.

Music:

When I am writing up a blog post, journal entry or file note at work I listen to music. Being able to turn up Coldplay, Rend Collective and Adele amongst others in these situations have been so helpful.
Here are some of my go to songs:

Vida la Vida –https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tmb7YIKqLeM

Joy –https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDiETOLBvxA

Control –https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFfztu8-bBQ

Hello Hurricane –https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtg24Pgi3_s

Water under the bridge –https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL2wdBLDYaA

Remind me who I am –https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSIVjjY8Ou8

More than conquerors -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p8_4NbrcKA

Time off:

Never before have I worked for so long without a break, I know get why adults find bank holidays so exciting! It feels very grown up to plan what I am going to do with friends on long weekends, when before they have always been part of half terms or a two week Easter holiday. In South Africa I have enjoyed 3 public holidays so far, Human Rights Day, Good Friday and Family Day (Easter Monday) and have 2 more – Freedom Day (This Thursday) and Workers Day (Next Monday). I have also used one of my five days off to spend the day with Julia at Kalk Bay. 

Having these days off help me step back and readdress the balance in my life, choosing to relax and breathe easy for 24 hours. As you can imagine my brain really appreciates these days.

Notebooks:

I couldn’t do this post without mentioning my love of notebooks. Have so far resisted the urge to buy a notebook, but aim to leave Cape Town with at least one to add to my collection.
Obviously I have always loved notebooking, escaping my head and documenting my thoughts is absolutely necessary for me to make sense of my life. I have needed to do this even more here, getting to grip with new people, a new city, new culture and new work was overwhelming so I turned to my notebook. Having discussions with the young people in prison has been fascinating and challenging, so I turned to my notebook. Visiting different churches and hearing a range of talks has been hard to keep track of, so I turned to my notebook.

Being here I have recorded every day in my journal (shout out to Martha for buying this great notebook for my 18^th birthday specifically for my gap year trip, THANK YOU!) and I use my general notebook to document all the church services, home group meetings, museum trips and the 40 acts challenge in (shout out to Dad for buying this for me for my trip to South Africa last time, not knowing that I had already selected that one before this was added to my collection).

Looking forward to reading back through both of these when I am home, when I want to process everything fully. Hope that my doing my scrapbook with all my photos from here will also help me appreciate just how momentous this trip has been and how much I have learnt along the way. I am certainly not aware of this now. 

On Saturday I went from a food market to a book shop to a coffee shop to drink ginger beer and note book, it was glorious! 

Prayer Requests:

- That Tom will really enjoy the second half of his time in Port Elizabeth, making friends and chilling with animals. He has now been in South Africa a month and has five weeks left.

- Not to count down to my family coming too much! I am SO excited to see them, hug them and show them around Cape Town but don’t want this to dominate my last 5 weeks here in a negative way. Want to absorb the last few weeks of my trip just as much as I have did for the first month.

- For all my uni friends studying for their first year exams, may they balance productivity and rest perfectly! 

Thank you for making it to the end of my thirteenth blog post, hope you have a fun filled week.
PS. I am now on the 4th series of West Wing, President Bartlett has just got re-elected, yay!

Touring churches in Cape Town

I have now been in Cape Town for 8 weeks and been to 6 churches. I decided before I came that I would do some exploring and step out of my comfort zone, attending services I wouldn’t think of at home.

This has included:

Heathfield Baptist Church

Hillsong Church

Capricorn Community Church

Holy Redemmer Church

Every Nation Church

St George’s Cathedral

Thought I would use my Easter blog post to talk through my experiences of each of them and what I have learnt so far.

Heathfield Baptist is the church at the bottom of my road and the one I’ve been to most. It is a small church with a congregation of about 40 people, it is very family orientated. Almost everyone is related one way or another, the current pastor is the son of the previous pastor who set up the church years ago. It is a very welcoming place to be, the first time I went I felt like I was introduced to 20 people one after the other. Got to know a few of the young people well through their youth group and young adults meetings and feel at home here. The worship is familiar, which was such a great surprise when I went for the first time. It made me smile as the songs being sung are ones I know by heart but haven’t sung at home for about 5 years. Mighty to save and blessed be your name are both popular!

This church has taught me that familiarity is okay and you are allowed to comfortable in a church. I am always looking for challenge and mind blowing sermons but with work so full on, I think this every week would have been too much. Instead there are friendly services that unpack a different topic or bible story each week. It has been lovely to get to know the families there and be able to walk in on a Sunday and be greeted with hugs.

Hillsong is a huge international church, a very different setting and atmosphere! It takes place in a big building that is set up like a theatre, with a large stage, complex lighting and tiered seating. I went with a couple of other volunteers at the start of my trip.

Ray from the USA who is familiar with Hillsong and a Christian and Chelsea from Manchester who had never been to church before! We went before the uni terms had started up again so it was a bit quieter than normal, but still a couple of hundred people in the congregation. There was loud music with lots of jumping and dancing to start. The sermon from a guest speaker, he was an eccentric guy from Sweden. The topic was ‘fighting the storms’ he spoke about embracing opportunity, travelling light and taking heart. It was an encouraging talk but delivered in a very shouty way, I find this quite distracting as a public speaking snob I spent a lot of the service praying for connection to the message beyond the delivery.

 Left the service with my friends with mixed reactions. On the way home Chealsea asked a bunch of questions, it was interesting to be on the receiving end of this! They included: what is the trinity? What does hallelujah mean? How was Jesus born? What is free will? To name a few!

This church taught me that an overly enthusiastic message can be hard to process, something to watch in my public speaking - and that being part of a big congregation is something I really love but couldn’t do every week.

Capricorn Community Church was brought to my attention to Tim, the minister at my family’s church in Olton. He went to Bible College with the minister of this church years ago and is still in touch. This was the first church I went to that is distinctly different from my previous church experiences. It is situated on the edge of the Vrygrond Township, and has a small congregation from all over Africa. The worship songs were in a range of languages as were the prayers they call themselves a ‘fruit salad church’ that welcomes everyone wherever they are from.

The sermon was on ‘Sex and relationships’ we looked at a range of bible verses and split into groups for discussion on how the community, the church and popular culture view sex, then fed back. Was interesting to hear people’s thoughts and hear Bruce the minister pick apart common misconceptions about the God’s view on sex. Ended powerfully with prayer about moving from condemnation to conviction, looking at repenting and receiving forgiveness. It was clear people were moved by this message. After the service I chatted to Bruce about how he moved with his family from the UK to South Africa over 7 years ago and the work they are doing now. Was great to talk to someone who understood the culture shock I was experiencing at the time.

This church showed me how the church can educate people about God whilst respecting everyone’s different backgrounds and cultures. Preaching truth and shining light into dark places. Look forward to meeting up with Bruce, Louise and their family in the near future for lunch.

Holy Redeemer Church is my host mum, Brenda’s Catholic Church. Here I learnt lots about Catholic tradition and strict order of service. Before this I had only been to a Catholic church for a wedding and christening, so was a very different experience to see a typical Sunday. After hymns, prayers and readings Father Gerard gave the sermon on Lazarus being raised from the dead. He quoted TS Elliot ‘we are always living and partly living’ it was interesting how he unpacked this and challenged us to examine our hearts, looking at what is broken and dead and how we can bring that to Jesus for restoration. He explained that hate, grief and resentment can be moved to acceptance, joy and compassion through the Holy Spirit. We then had more prayers and communion. I had an internal debate on whether I could/should take communion, it used to be that you would only be allowed communion if you were a member of the church. However a few years ago this changed and is no longer a requirement, Brenda said that since I was a practising Christian then I was allowed. I decided that God was bigger than manmade restrictions, the symbolism of communion is one of unity, brothers and sisters in Christ eating bread and drinking wine across denominations and countries.

This church affirmed that Catholicism isn’t for me, I really struggle with the rituals and reciting of prayers throughout a service. I felt like I was in a museum rather than in a church, but I am really glad I went and stepped out of my comfort zone. It was here that I heard about a talk on Prison Alpha to be given the next week, I went to this and it blew my mind. Absolutely shifted my focus and interpretation of my time here (am sure I will talk about this more in another blog post).

Every Nation Church was introduced to me by one of the supervisors at work, it is a student church that takes place on the edge of a university campus in a theatre. I went with a group of volunteers from the office who had varying degrees of experience in a church environment, but all asked to join me as part of their cultural experience of Cape Town. Was good fun to see their reactions to modern worship beautifully filling the theatre at the start of the service.  They all found it very uplifting and enjoyed people dancing and clapping around them. I felt so peaceful at this church, had a brilliant chat with Michael, one of the guys who founded the church. He studied in the UK and spent some time going to Renewal in Solihull, which shows what a small world church is! The sermon was on healing by the Holy Spirit, quite a confusing jump for my friends who had little to no experience of church before.

Filled in a sheet at the end of the service with my details in and asked to be contacted about a connect group in my area. Was contacted by email a couple of days later and went to one about 15 minutes from where I am living. Spent the evening with some really lovely people talking about forgiveness in a really provoking way. Finished the connect group with prayer, God gave these strangers images and messages to share with me, urging me to rest and let go of my endless to do list. Was powerful to hear this from people who had only known me a couple of hours! Looking forward to going back this Wednesday and hopefully for the rest of my weeks here.

This church reminded me of the power of music to connect us to one another and show us more of God in an easy going way. Was amazing to see my friends experience this.

Finally St Georges Cathedral! This is Desmond Tutu’s church, it is very high Anglican (which is the style of all Anglican churches here) I had been told that this style was very similar to Catholic and can see why! It was miles away from Knowle Parish at home in style. I went on Good Friday because I wanted to experience something different on such a significant day. Everything was very formal and sombre, with readings, incredible choral music and processions from the clergy. Found most of the service inaccessible, I felt like everyone else was on the inside and knew the secret language. Found the standing, sitting and kneeling confusing, but am glad I went to such a grand and beautiful church. The stain glass is breath taking. I also appreciated the prayer for those in public office, a prayer that is very pertinent at the moment with calls for President Zuma to step down.

This church showed me how different a church service can be in another country even in a denomination I recognise. I know that the 7:30pm service at Knowle is very relaxed, but I hadn’t realised just how informal it was until now.

Every church I visited showed me something new, I felt more at home in some than others but found peace and solidarity in all. I am in awe of how big God is, and how he reaches people from all over the world in a way they can understand. Just because I find traditional church jarring doesn’t mean it isn’t comforting and though provoking to others, it is important that a range of services are available for people to choose from.

I still have a few churches left on my list to visit, but think this blog post is quite long enough as it is! Would defiantly encourage you to go to a new church over the next month and just embrace the similarities and differences.

Prayer requests:

-       -    I am now adjusting to a new team of people at work, with two good friends leaving the project last week and new volunteers starting, it is all change! I find change very triggering but am really trying to go easy on myself and encourage those who are finding their feet in a daunting project.

-         -  For Mia as she enjoys her Easter Holiday without Tom and me at home, may she love spending time with friends and family!

Thank you for making it to the end of my thirteenth blog post, have a great week.