Kokstad Day 2

This morning we went back to the Diocesan Office and were joined by the ladies from the Siyafundisa - Teaching Our Children project. They took us to a very poor area of Kokstad, where houses were made of mud or what ever other materials that could be found. No one had jobs and many made their living and found their food on the nearby rubbish dump. The ladies visit regularly and help the families to get ID Cards and provide health advice. It was another eye-opening experience of the inequality of provision in the country and on how easy it is to be left behind by the system.

In the afternoon we visited an Anglican Convent, this is quite new and the nuns are still working through how they can best serve their communities. At present this is by making clerical vestments but they visit parishes with the Bishop and hope to establish a formal role within the Diocese. There are only 7 nuns at present and currently they are very young compared to nuns in England. most are in their thirties and forties with only one who was in her fifties. (We thought of leaving Claire behind to join them!)

We also spent some time shopping for souvenirs, so parents, siblings don't worry, genuine African gifts will be coming your way!!

This evening Wendy (our host at the B&B) cooked us some traditional African dishes, Babote and Milk Tart - delicious!

We will be meeting the Diocesan Orphans and Vulnerable Children's worker tomorrow morning before we head for Durban and our epic journey home. This will probably be our last post from Africa and we look forward to being reunited with our families on Saturday!