After creating a sand box for the pre-school, (crèche) I went on a mini (one day) safari.  There are 299 mammal species in South Africa, of which 2 are critically endangered, 11 are endangered, 15 are vulnerable, and 13 are near-threatened. Now, I did not see anywhere close to these numbers, however, I did learn quite a bit about plant and animal life in the eastern cape of South Africa.  For instance, I have been admiring all the lantanas growing in the wild.  Potted plants I love to grow on the deck, however Seattle is just too cool and cloudy even in the summer.  And I have been spotting all the guava trees.  The kids pick the fruit off the trees here and eat them when they are the size of a dime. I can’t imagine how bitter that must taste.  Anyway both of these plants were introduced to here from South America, and because of birds spreading the seed they are considered a weed here, and soon to be noxious. 

I saw the plant where camphor comes from, and it is related to cinnamon.  One of the oldest uses of camphor in its natural state was as a preservative for embalming the dead.  During the era of the Black Plague in Europe, a lump of camphor worn around the neck was said to ward off disease, which was probably a myth. Camphor oil is frequently an ingredient in pain-numbing rubs or ointments.  It helps pain from arthritis, muscle aches and bruising. It also can be used as a stimulant rub, encouraging circulation in stiff or cold limbs. Internally, camphor is a reliable remedy for sinus or lung congestion, and acts as an expectorant when steam with camphor is breathed in. It also can help to reduce fever as an inhalant.  Camphor oil is a key ingredient in antibacterial and astringent cosmetic washes, to reduce acne or oily skin. It also is found in a processed white crystalline form, in which it can be used as a soap-making ingredient, as an insect repellent around the house and as a preservative. Cabinets made from the wood of camphor are popular for natural history collections, as they keep away moths, worms and other insects. In Japan and China, it was used as a varnish, as a paint remover for oil paints, as fragrant oil for burning.

The kind of camphor used in cooking is not the kind used medicinally or around the house. Only camphor labeled edible should be used in cookery. It was a popular ingredient in candies in medieval Europe in its edible form, and still is used in sweet dishes in Indian cooking. It flavored some of the earliest ice cream made in eastern Asia. It is mainly used in traditional Indian recipes now, and is sometimes called raw camphor or green camphor.

Camphor is a strong substance, similar to turpentine, and can be irritating to some people's skin, eyes or nasal tissues. It should be used with care. It is also sold as a burnable resin for use in Hindu religious ceremonies celebrating Shiva. 

I know that was way more than you all wanted to know about one plant, just letting you in on some of the safari details.  So, on with the animals which you will probably find more interesting. I will simply list the animals I saw and give just a little info about each.  Special thanks go to Cindy Sattler for inserting the pictures in these blogs. 

The Blue Wildebeest or Brindled Gnu can reach almost 5 feet high and weigh 500 – 600 lbs.  They mingle well with Zebras, giraffes, and impalas.  Bulls area territorial, so there can also bachelor herds.  They are easily scared so picture is a little blurry.  This animal can achieve speeds of 50 mph.

In the antelope family I saw four different species. The impala, known locally as the MacDonald’s M because on the butt, the black stripes form a letter M with the tail.  They are 90 to 120 lbs depending on gender.  A ram has a rather large harem, so impalas also have bachelor herds. The lambs are kept together in crèches with mama’s taking turns providing child care.  These animals can jump 10 feet high and 12 feet in distance.

The Springbok are a smaller species in the antelope family.  They are 80 – 90 lbs.  These herds can be quite large, also with large bachelor herds.  When trouble is near they just start jumping up and down with what is known as pronking.     

The Kudu is a larger animal in the antelope family.  In this species only the male has horns and depending on gender weigh 330 – 600 lbs.  The kudu stay in small clusters 3 – 10.  Unlike most other antelope, this one stays hidden in the undergrowth of trees, and it has long hair, and a bushy, almost fox like tail.  I don’t know if you can see it in the picture, is has two horizontal stripes underneath the eyes down towards the nose.  Its hide is also striped to help it blend in to its surroundings. 

The last animal in the antelope family I saw was the Blesbok.  Both sexes have horns and weigh between 125 – 160 lbs.  This animal has a delightful wide white stripe down the center of its face.  Unfortunately the picture probably doesn’t allow you to see this.  This species also runs in large herds.  For many centuries these four species of grass feed animals have been providing much meat and adding protein to the diet. Most of these in the antelope family can travel at a speed of 61 mph if needed. 

The next three pictures were of my favorite group of the day, the lions.  A couple of females had cubs and they were adorable.  We drove right into the midst of them.  They were literally 15 – 20 feet from us.  The dominate male of this pride is a white lion, and there were other males hanging around.  Lions weigh between 330 and 525 lbs.  Lions are only found in protected areas of South Africa.  There numbers have been greatly compromised.   Lions travel at a speed of 50 mph.

There are only 20,000 great white rhinos left in the world.  I have been told that so far this year, close to 700 rhinos have been killed for their horns.  Poachers tranquilize them, then cut clear into the skull to get all the horn, thus the animal bleeds to death.  There are endangered.  This male rhino probably weighs a little over three tons.  We drove right up within 10 feet of him and watched him very casually graze the lush grass.  Rhinos can live up to 50 years, and their gestation period is 16 months.  The cow and calf were hidden somewhere and would not come out.  It is estimated that the rhino is from the Miocene era, having been around for some 5 – 23 million years. 

This Ostrich was so intrigued by the blanket I was sitting on.  Ostriches have brains that are smaller in size than their eyeballs.  Males are black and females grey.  They can run up to 40 mph.   They are also from the Miocene period.  Their feet with two toes and very large toe nails almost look dinosaur-ish.

The zebras were fascinating.  No two zebras have the same striped pattern.  They tend to stay in smaller family type groupings, unless seasonally travelling to new grazing regions.  Zebras weigh between 600 and 750 lbs.  Gestation period is 12 months.  New born zebras almost have their adult length in legs.  This allows a new born to hide completely behind its mother.  Zebras can run up to 40 mph. 

The only cheetahs at this game reserve were three kittens whose mother died at three weeks.  These cheetahs are now five years old and completely domesticated.  Cheetahs can live up to 12 years.  They are 75 to 135 lbs and they can travel up to 70 mph.  You should see the claws and teeth on these.  Cheetahs are only found in protected areas of South Africa. 

My last slide for this blog is of the Giraffe, one of my favorite animals.  Depending on gender can weigh between 1500 and 3000 lbs, and range between 14 – 17 feet in height.  They can live up to 28 years and the gestation period is 15 months.  They can run at a speed of 32 mph.  They are only in protected areas in South Africa. 

Well I hope you enjoyed our little safari.  Your legs, knees and back are probably feeling less jostled than mine after a day of four wheeling it over hill and dale.  Catch you later this week.   

Much excitement this past week.  I took a road trip.  I went to Lesotho for three days.  Then came home was down 24 hours with a very bad cough and fever.  Having recovered quickly, we are full swing into Valentine’s Day. 

I mentioned last time I would touch on poverty and education.  There are ten provinces in South Africa.  The Limpopo and Eastern Cape provinces have the highest levels of poverty and the lowest levels of education in South Africa.  Open Arms is in the Eastern Cape Province.  60 to 70% of households have an income less than the poverty income.  Poverty income for one person is (R = Rand) R871, about $93 per month, or for a household of eight, R3241, or $390 per month.  Only 14 – 18 % of the population have passed the 12^th grade.  This all gives me more patience and incentive when working with six and seven year olds who are holding pencils for the first time. 

Touching the subject of poverty and education, this past weekend I went to Lesotho.  Lesotho is called Southern Africa’s “Kingdom in the Sky” with its stunningly beautiful, mountainous country, nestled like an island in the middle of South Africa.  

The region and later the country of Lesotho came into being during the tumultuous early 19^th century with its forced migrations.  King Moshoeshoe the Great and his Basotho people forged a nation that has resisted even more recent pressures as well as its continuous intriguing anomaly in a sea of modernity. 

When crossing the border from South Africa into Lesotho, the two lane paved road with a shoulder stopped and instantly became a one lane dirt path, which for thirty minutes took us through village after village of abject poverty.  We finally found a paved, sort of paved road.  I do not know what I was expecting, however I did know these Basotho-Sotho-Tucana people were folks whose mainstay was cattle and cultivation.  Everyone has a garden.  Even though the landscape is much more rugged and sparse, there is still ample rainfall.   

I saw a sign for a women’s pottery project to help lift their community out of poverty, so I stopped.  Here is a picture of the road taken to get to the project.  You are right there is not road.  

Here is a picture of the two women who saw me driving from quite a distance away and ran waving to encourage me to their establishment. (picture to be uploaded soon) I also went to a Women’s community weaving project to help lift their community out of poverty.  Here are some pictures from the weaver’s center.  They were very talented. 

I also saw some ancient mud cave dwellings that are now protected.  

I also saw some rock paintings that are between 1200 and 1500 years old.  Probably painted with the tip of a springbok horn, a type of antelope.

I stayed in a roundeval at a backpacker’s facility run by the Anglican Church.  Maseru is the capitol with ¾ of a million people.  It is big and not much to look at.  Unemployment is over 45% in Lesotho, yet it has a much higher literacy rate than much of South Africa, near 85%.  The main street in Maseru is called Kingsway named after a visit by the British Royals in 1947.  I did have some tasty Indian food here in Maseru. I also purchased the typical, yet intricate Lesotho woven hat whose design was taken from the shape of a local mountain and the shape of the mud and thatch rondavels that folks live in.  Here are a couple of pictures of some Lesotho children.  

Because this blog entry has so many pictures I will finish this trip in a few days with what I found out about South African on my drive home. 

I close with a picture from a cooking class with four of the home school children. 

We are getting ready for Valentine’s Day.  The local Komga Junior school was to have a dance and some restless children tore up some library chairs.  The deal was that the students who did it would need to come forward and the dance is on, if not it is cancelled.  Well the dance is cancelled and much to our relief the culprits were part of a grade level Open Arms’ does not have students in.  So we are having our own Valentine’s Dance tomorrow, Friday evening.  We are working hard.  I just wrote out, “May God’s love hold you, protect you and guide you” on fifty one valentines.  I am working with the Mama’s in the kitchen to make party finger food, and then we have to decorate.  Much excitement and much to do.  Friends have even been invited.  I will let you know how it all turns out.  Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

Here are a couple of pictures of Resurrection Life church. The first mainly to show the worship space, the second is during the singing in which there are flags the kids can wave while singing.

With the fog, the mist, the rain, it does at times feel like Seattle.  However, it averages 10 – 15 degrees warmer in each season.  This area of South Africa receives about 30 plus inches of rain a year.  It does rain year round, however this includes much sunshine.  The grasslands are so lush, with grass growing over waist high by the end of summer.  In the winter the cool season grasses are predominate.  I can see how cattle became king.  Cattle have been the main source of meat probably for almost 600 years.  Even though there is much wild game here, after cattle were introduced, they flourished and highlighted a family’s wealth. 

Cattle, sheep and goats are loose everywhere: I have personally chased these groups out of Open Arms’ grounds, and they all roam free in the village.  I found this street sign humorous after having to nudge cattle out of the way in the village of Komga.  

Even though cattle are put on a pedestal and used for centuries as sacrifices to the ancestors, they are not considered Holy like cattle in India.  Beef, chicken and mutton are readily available and very affordable for almost all income levels.  The dairy industry is also fairly large here.  We receive about twenty four gallons of milk every other day from a local dairy and for free! AMEN! Now after my first week here I quickly found out that this was right-out-of-the-cow fresh.  It is not homogenized, or pasteurized and it is 100% whole.  No cream has been removed yet.  It is like drinking half-n-half. We also go through about 300 – 350 eggs a week bought locally.    

I went out to a cattle ranch with a friend of Open Arms who is a retired Police chief and raises cattle as a hobby.   His cattle are well tended, every color and stripe, and the breed is called Nguni.  One picture shows the variety, and the other a new born calf with great markings. 

A lot of fruit is grown fairly local; apples, pears, peaches, mangoes, avocados, oranges, lemons, and a few places in South Africa grow bananas and pomegranates.  Grenadellas are a new fruit I have tried and love. They are the size of kiwi and grow on vines like a kiwi.  It has a purplish to grey skin which is removed to reveal the light colored flesh with small flat black seeds.  It makes an excellent drink similar to lemonade, it is great in yogurt, and I have heard makes a great cheesecake. 

I am learning more about the poverty level and education level in this area.  I will send notes on that next.  I close with a picture from open arms which was so clear that I could see the Indian Ocean.  It is really there, the dark blue horizontal stripe underneath that lovely blue sky. 

I need to send a picture of the little church Open Arms attends, Resurrection Life Church. I explained a little about this church in an earlier blog. Last Sunday there were around 90 in worship with 40 coming from Open Arms. I went in to help with Children’s Church. In the 5 – 8 year old group where I volunteered there were 31 children, 17 from open arms, plus nine children who spoke no English. I have to say, that the children from Open Arms conduct themselves so well. They knew the previous week’s lessons, participated, helped out, etc. I have been really impressed with how the children act in the community when away from Open Arms. The past week has been very busy. The eleven babies had to be moved out of their current two rooms and placed into one room – small and cramped says it all. The floors in their rooms are being torn out and a new floor poured and then laid. This will be a three week process. The eleven babies have been moved to the back room of the New House where ten girls ages 5 – 8 live. These girls are now doubled up. It is crowded. This week we also said goodbye to a volunteer who has been here for six months and hello to a new volunteer who has come for about six weeks. Lots happened this week. HIV/AIDS is still affecting much of Africa. Additionally, in South Africa Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder, (FASD) is said to be climbing at a rate that now affects 8% of all children, currently around 6 million children. I have been learning a lot about Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). As most you probably know, FASD babies are smaller than other children their age. They have smaller heads as the brain has been stunted in the womb. As babies, toddlers, and children they will grow and mature slower. FASD can also lead to additional health issues; vision problems, dyslexia, dental problems, kidney and heart problems. The worst damage is during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy where all areas of the brain are affected in its early stage of development. Other early developing organs like the heart, kidney, lungs, and liver can also be affected. At Open Arms, it is thought that 20 – 25% of the children are placed somewhere on the spectrum with FASD. These children act first and process later. The hard part is to distinguishing between learning impairment and hyperactivity linked to brain damage caused by FASD and not other behavioral problems. There are many symptoms and signs: poor fine motor and large muscle development, language delays, poor memory, hyperactivity, easily distracted, poor growth, stubbornness, inability to adapt, very poor sense of boundaries – personal, social, sexual. These children are beautiful and loving. All the children treat each other well, protecting one another. The older children take on the responsibility of checking and caring for the younger children. FASD children are very trusting of strangers, a good thing at Open Arms, a questionable thing as FASD children go socially out in the world. These beautiful children respond well to calming voices, clear instructions, repetition, group projects like reading out loud, singing, games, and directed activities. I am currently 700 pages into James Michener’s The Covenant. This 1254 page book is well written historical fiction on South Africa. It is a great read. For my next read I have down loaded, History in an Hour, South Africa. It looks like we will be going to the coast sometime in the next day or two with the children. YEA! One note of surprise, there are SLUGS here! I have sent two pictures of the blue Agapanthus flower which are prevalent at Open Arms.

I end with an adorable picture of our youngest baby in a mountain of nappies, (diapers).