pix from our trip

I thought you might like to see a few pix from our trip to Imfloze. We all had a great time. Maria is the one who saw the elephant, she yelled out, "Stop Stop There is a big rock moving!" They were so excited to see the animals. I forget that we have it so good in the states. There are plenty of zoos for us and our kids. These ladies had never seen any of these animals before.




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Sorry it's been so long but Internet has been ???

We now have a new company and things are much better. Anyway, Zandi called me one day last week, I think it was Wednesday, and asked me if I would sew something for her, I have offered to do some repairs for the ladies so I thought it was something like that. When she arrived here she was with her fiancé and handed me a bag of fabric. I was a little taken back, her fiancé needed a new Zion robe before Friday. oh my, you might not know this but they don't use patterns here and I am definitely a pattern person. They did bring me his old one so I asked if I could take it apart and use it to make the new one, they agreed. I told her I wasn't sure if I could do it, "I have faith in you," Well that made me feel good, but it didn't convince me that I could do it. The old one had a small cross maybe an inch and a half... But this time they wanted a larger, much larger cross, and two stars one on each shoulder blade. Well I did my best and here is the result.








They were very happy with it and I'm now making two more. One more for Xolane and one for Maruis. I am still a little nervous but at least I know it is possible .
Our time is passing quickly and there is still a lot to do we only have 36 more days until we leave!
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Emflozi Game Reserve

On Monday we had the opportunity to take the ladies to the Emflozi Game reserve. As they said, "this is a once in a life time for us". As you can see they were thrilled. Our original Intention was to make it a day trip, it was 3 hours each way, but the ladies asked, "can we get overnight accommodations?" well since it really was a once in a life time trip for them we called and were able to get a cottage for them and a chalet for us. They were lovely accommodations. They were thrilled. (On the down side Monica was not able to make it because of a death in the family.




As we entered the reserve we saw zebra right away and then giraffe, that was before we even went through the gate. After we entered the gated area there were warthogs every where, and I do mean every where even in the picnic area and the gift shop. It was amazing you walked past the just like you would your family pets at home, although we were told that are not pets and can act wild.

Anyway I digress, we dropped our thing off at the cottage and had a bite of lunch befor beginning our drive thought the reserve. This was the best part of the trip the ladies are quiet most of the time but they learned very quickly to say, "STOP. BACK UP" This was one of those times, Marie yelled out stop stop stop. And Howard did however we didn't see anything....

"what do you see Maria ?"

" a big rock is moving"

As we looked closer there was an elephant in the bushes so close that all you could see was a gray rock! The first picture I took was so close that all the camera could get was his hind, well not quarter probably mor like eighth. This picture was after we moved away probably 40 feet. We were only about 20 feet away at first. It was great fun.




This picture was the next morning as we were leaving, at 7 am, hoping to get a glimpse of a lion or a leopard, Some kind of deer was in the front yard of the cottage and the back yard had zebra. To Cool!




All on all it was a fabulous trip. They saw animals they had never seen before zebra, giraffe, elephants, water buffalo, Nyala, kudu, Blue wildebeest, rino white and black, wart hog, bush pig, and a baboon. We didn't see the wild dogs or the hyena but we did hear them at night. We loved it too it's very different seeing them up close and personal. I'll put a few of our favorite pictures on the blog tomorrow.

Hope you enjoy them

The young girl in the leopard print is Lena

She is the youngest of the ladies here at Sunbury. Her responsibilities
Consist of rooms 2,3,and 4 as well as the library . She works only 2 1/2
days a week. She lives with her mom,uncle cousin and her two children.
The little girl in the blue T is Lena's little girl. Lena is the most fluent in english and is used as the interpreter for bible clubs. Well for those of us that don't speak Zulu, and that is everyone but Carlene :)



And last but not least at all is Zandi, her intended and their children. The oldest child is actually Zandi's daughter the other two are her sisters two little ones that were left to her. When I asked her about taking a picture she seemed a little embarrassed for me to come because of her house. I told her that she was the reason for the picture not her house. God provides for us all in different ways and I showed her a picture of our little caravan. I think it made her feel a little better knowing I didn't live in a big fancy house. Zandi is also a Zionist and her intended is a Zionist Pastor. Of course I will say that that does not mean that they have a relationship with Jesus. I don't really know where her heart lies.... She knows the Christian lingo but if it's more
than that I don't know.




Please remember all or f the ladies in prayer as they are brought to mind, only Gods knows their hearts.

You do know that there are six ladies..

This is Ellen. I had a little trouble getting her family all together for one picture, as you can see. What can I say about Ellen... Well she is a Zionist and also a widow. Obviously she is the sole provider for her family. You can see that she was just out of church, this is one of the uniform the Zionist wear to church. It always amazes me that they are able to keep them so very white, and they sparkle white. These two boys are her youngest and as you can see she is very proud of them. The picture was taken in front of there home.

As we walked along we found her daughter, what a beauty she looks like her mom don't you think?

Finally we found her oldest, a son, he is the only one that is out of school at this point. Hmmm maybe he helps with the income. I can't remember if she told me that he had a job. Regardless she has a big job raising her family alone.

Ellen also works for me, yes indeed, she cleans for me once a week. Let me tell you if it was this cheep in the states everyone would have a cleaning lady.  She gets R 50 for half of a day, that is less than $5.50.  Yep it true. It's great for me but I do feel a little guilty :/. Ellen doesn't speak a lot of English, but you can tell what she is thinking by the expression on her face. She has a beautiful smile and winning personality. She is trying to teach me a little Zulu and I do mean a little. Angazi (meaning "I don't know") its a good word for me because I can use it often.

Please pray for Ellen and her family. I don't really know where she stands with Jesus, just because one is a Zionist doesn't mean they follow the teaching of the Bible.

Number 3

I told some one recently that there is a definite pecking order and number three is where Maria is. Dorm three is her dorm, and I do mean her dorm. Each lady takes great pride in their dorm and how neat and nice their rooms look. Dorm one is one of the dorms that was upgraded with new duvets and pillow covers along with the new draperies that Laurel made. I will tell you that this is one of my favorite pictures of Marie, it is not always easy to get her to smile. Marie is not Zulu, I can't remember what she said she is, and as far as I know she does not profess to be a Christian. If you think of her please pray for her salvation.

As you can see she has a beautiful family. This picture was taken in her front yard it was lovely, as you can see, and very private. It always amazes me how much every one here loves to have their picture taken even though they don't necessarily get to have a copy.  I asked the other day if she had a camera to take pictures with, "yes on my phone" so of course I asked her how she had them copied, she looked confused for a moment and said , "I don't, they just stay in my phone". I thought of how we take for granted the little things, we can have pictures of our families as well as places we go when ever we want as often as we want.... We are really spoiled and don't even realize it be cause it has become so every day for us. 

More introductions

Monica Kunene
Monica is the lady in white along with her mother in blue, her two daughters in red and green and her three grands. In the lower picture is her 1st  born, a son, her youngest son is not pictured. All told she has 5 children. Monica is most definitely the número uno around here, although Nutonbifuti makes most of the decisions Monica can and will overrule if she is not happy with the decision. Monica has been at Sunbury since the before ZEMA acquired the property. Dorm three is her domaine, the end suit rooms, each room sleeps 5 and has a bathroom, there are 9 rooms in her building. Theses are the most used rooms on camp. Monica is one of the cooks for ZEBS weekend as well.

Monica is busy and serious about her work but when she lets loose she is very funny and can even pull off a gotcha when least expected.