Last fews days at Agape

So I'm actually sitting in Cape Town right now with Margs and Sabine, we flew in this morning around noon. We finished our work at Agape yesterday and it was so sad saying goodbye to all the kids. For our last day we had all the little ones over and then the older at lunch time to our house to swim in the sun for the afternoon. We made pancakes for about 30 children while they were swimming, it was the perfect afternoon to end things off. It was so sad as they were driving away in the bus, blowing kisses goodbye - we had to promise we'd be back and keep in touch.

This past week since the safari has been one crazy full day after another. We spent Monday and Tuesday on normal schedule with the kids and homework class, but things were a little quieter around since 12 kids are in London. On Wednesday we made a trip to another Be More project site in Pinetown called the Dreamcenter. It is a hospital with 6 floors for patients solely who have been directed from a government hospital with HIV/AIDS and are considered to be a severe case. There are only 2 doctors in the hospital and the hospital cannot prescribe ARVs, the nurses are only allowed to give them to the patients in order to keep them on a schedule. So once a month the patient must make a trip back to their original government hospital to receive their new round of antiretroviral treatment. We split up and visited the floors talking with some patients and spending time listening to music with them. One on floor we werent allowed actually down to the end of the hall because the priest was there and someone had just passed. One of the volunteers had told us that a man had gone to visit his family when trying to get his new dosage of ARVs one day and come back and the trip was such a strain on his body to make it to the hospital that he died when he entered the elevator at the Dreamcenter. Some really sad stories were shared as most of the patients have severe HIV/AIDS including the AIDS dementia and TB. I spent time with this one lady who when I asked to take a photo with her (they LOVE to see pictures of themselves afterwards) took off her robe and had this red dress on underneath - it was so cute. She spoke English very well, most solely speak Zulu and she showed me some beaded bracelets she makes to pass the time. I bought 3 of them from her because they were so gorgeous.

After that on Wednesday my South African mother, Rhona picked myself and Margs up from Agape and took us to her house for the night. She lives right on the beach in one of the houses on the hill, it was stunning. Rhona is on the board of directors for KCA and the only representative that actually lives and work in South Africa reporting on the projects. Kate (from KCA) told me Rhona would become a mother to me here but I didnt realize the extent she meant - she took us in as daughters for the next 2 days! We had an evening talking about KCA, the different projects in South Africa and how life is here for her. She used to be the director at one of the medical schools here but decided to take on the position with KCA and is now Director of the Blue Roof, a KCA HIV clinic in Wentworth. She took us there the next day - its in the midst of moving into a new building about 5 times larger than the one they are in now. It is a clinic owned by KCA solely for counselling, prescriptions and testing for all people in the community. They see on average 55 people a day, mostly adults but some children also. I cant wait to come back and see Rhona and everyone in the new Blue Roof when its all finished - its such a fantastic place. So not only did Rhona take me in, but the rest of her family did too and her son Nowell took us out for the night to a local bar called Bongos, this tiny place but had live music and reminded us of Bru. We had a fantastic day with the Buckley family and cant wait to see Rhona in New York in November for the Black Ball along with the children!!

Thursday night we had 7 of the middle aged boys over for dinner and a movie. They rented Honey and Step Up because they are OBSESSED with dancing and have a new dance instructor. Not only can these children sing but they can dance like you wouldn't believe. So we watched Honey for some "inspiration" I guess you could say for these little 13 year old boy who have moves that are beyond me. So adorable.

Last night we had a final dinner with the 6 of us volunteers together in Hillcrest, the town over from us and just laughed and laughed all night long. There may or may not have been a whipped cream fight in this nice restaurant but the photos will make their way up another time. We made it home just in time to see the beginning of Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday in London, Hyde Park. Literally, I am not joking I felt like a mother watching her children at one of their proudest moments. I could not stop crying and was so overwhelmed by the whole thing. Annie Lennox came on stage and did a speech about AIDS and children in South Africa and then our kids joined her in singing their song "Thina Simunye" or "We are Together" and the kids looked gorgeous. They were all stunning and smiling and lookin genuinely happy. We had paid for the girls to get their hair braided before they left and just little things that we noticed like Siphiwe dancing in the back beside Annie Lennox because hes always dancing or when Nelson Mandela did his speech on stage, Lucia, our little princess was standing beside Geri Halliwell and we thought well of course she is, they are both stars. When Nelson Mandela came on stage with his wife, he was joined by all the kids and some other stars including Geri, Annie Lennox, Will Smith and Jada and it was the perfect feeling for me of this is what these kids deserve. For us seeing them on a day to day basis living in containers with one stove to feed 50 mouths each day, running around in the dirt, no soap in any of the bathrooms and literally they look forward to being able to watch a movie; seeing them perform infront of literally millions, getting the recognition that they deserve - they are all stars. And this what every child here in South Africa should feel like at some point in their life; a star, special, and loved unconditionally (which is what Agape means - unconditional love).

Love you all!
-Lou xoxo

p.s so tomorrow we're renting a car and driving down to Cape Point where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic Ocean and going to see the penguins and I'm driving - on the opposite side of the road - wish us luck!!

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