Limpopo-A Trip to Remember

On December 14, I had the opportunity to travel to the Limpopo province with my pastor’s family, the Monama’s.  The Monama’s are originally from Limpopo, which is the northern most province in South Africa.  So they were going back home to visit family and attend some events.  I was lucky enough to tag along.

On our way up, we made several stops to see family and friends of the Monamas.  We picked up Mrs. Monama’s mother at the Johannesburg airport and headed up to her home in Ga-Marishane, a small rural village south of Polokwane in Limpopo.  We arrived late at night, but couldn’t go right to sleep because we were too excited to be in Limpopo and finally at our stop.  The house was beautiful and had a very cozy feel to it.  This is also when I had my first experiences living without running water.  In Ga-Marishane the running water is controlled and only turned on periodically throughout the week in order to conserve.  This means that if you need water for anything, you need a backup plan.  At the house was a large rain water collection tank with a tap, which is where we got our water for cooking, cleaning, drinking and bathing.  Just a short time in Ga-Marishane made me realize the realities of the water crisis in this world, and sure did make me realize how much I have taken for granted.

The next day I was dropped off at fellow YAGM Heather Nelson’s placement site in the rural village of Masealama, east of Polokwane.  She lives at a drop-in center for orphans and vulnerable children operated by the Lutheran church.  And again, Masealama is a village without the services of running water.  In order to obtain water, we had to fill large buckets with water at tanks used by the village and transport them back to the house via wheelbarrow.  This can be a trying task, as the dirt paths and gravel roads pose a difficult time of pushing the water back to where you need it.  During my 3 days at Heather’s site, we visited the local University, went hiking up a nearby mountain, and did some physical work around her site.  Heather also had baked a few dozen Christmas cookies, which were so good that I probably ate over half of them.  She was also constantly playing Christmas music, trying to get in the mood as much as possible despite the summer temperatures and lack of American commercialized holiday festivities. Oh, and did I mention I ate chicken intestines for the first time?  Not too bad!

Intestines via chicken

As the weekend approached, Heather joined me as we met up with the Monama’s again for a weekend full of activities.  On Saturday we attended an 80^th birthday celebration for a woman who attends Rev. Monama’s former parish.  We had the chance to not only meet a lot of great people, but also see the area that Rev. Monama used to serve in his former parish.  That evening we made several stops, seeing old friends and family of the Monama’s.  On Sunday we attended a large church service, with confirmations and baptisms.  Rev. Monama also had the chance to preach and give a sermon in a church that he helped establish.  And in the mix of the service, the Monama family greeted the congregation and called Heather and I up to the front and introduced us as part of the Monama family.  It was a great worship experience.  That afternoon we traveled to a very rural, remote village for a wedding celebration.  I was amazed to see how many people were there despite not seeing many people or a paved road for tens of kilometers.  Heather and I enjoyed sitting back and watching the traditional celebration occur, but we also had our fair share of interested people coming up to talk to us.  It is extremely rare for outsiders, let alone Americans, to be at such an event in such a rural village.  A lot of people wanted to greet us, ask us questions, and show us a good time.  The people were so nice and really made the event a lot of fun.

From left to right: The best man, Rev. Monama, "T-Pain Monama", Groom, Me

That evening we drove back to Maselama to drop Heather off and spend the night before our departure in the morning.  It was also nice because the Monamas could see Dean NJ Sikhwari of the Mphome Circuit of ELCSA.  The Dean and the Monamas have long been friends, and it was a great opportunity for them to catch up.  Dean Sikhwari is an amazing woman, the first woman Dean in ELCSA.  She is full of powerful messages, prayer and has surely been a blessing to ELCSA.

My trip to Limpopo was full activity and I met so many wonderful people.  It was great to see so many places that were important to the Monamas and seeing where someone is from is always nice.  The day we left was somewhat of a sad day, since we had such a great time.  I felt honored to be considered part of the family on this trip, and I will always remember my experiences in Limpopo.