Lily Times

Hello everybody,  

Hopefully everyone is still enjoying their summer back home; the heat here is starting to really arrive. Last week South Africa was shut down due to snow, as much as 40 cm in some parts! It is amazing how a country can be so crippled when it isn’t prepared in the least to deal with it. At Lily we had a massive hail storm, some nearly the size of ping pong balls! After a few rainy cold days the weather turned around and we are now in the low 30s.  

Thing have been great here, we have been getting to know the kids better and better and by now know at least half of the names! Work here is never what you would expect and varies day to day. Every day I make an effort to start working on the kitchens, but then get sidetracked with an airport run, or helping a staff member, or coaching soccer, or any other random thing that Lily throws at us. I have been doing carpentry with some older boys and have mainly been praying that nobody loses and fingers. Somehow the mitre saw turns itself on even after it has been turned off and unplugged. Funny how nobody ever plugs it in but it still gets turned on… I have been starting to feel a little bad for my old shop teachers! Soccer as always has been fun, Courtney even was helping prepare Boboti for a 2 week New York team that came early in the month. She has also been coaching Lily’s first volleyball team and by now they have started to learn to bump. Hopefully the setting and the spiking comes in the not-too-distant future! We have been going to the beach and trying to surf courtesy of Frank's board on our days off, which has been alot of fun.

Yesterday some staff killed a 5 foot Mozambique spitting cobra. As the weather heats up the snakes start coming out of hibernation looking for food. The Cobras are common here, as well as puff adders and black mambas, all of which are extremely venomous. Black mambas for example have been known to kill giraffes, so we are hoping we don’t run into any of them. Lily has never had a snake bite in 20 years, although last year one boy did get some cobra spit in his eyes…. twice! 

Next week we are hoping to take a few boys to Durban to go ice skating, and watch them try recreating Bambi’s first experience with ice! It should be interesting to say the least. Otherwise we have  no huge plans for the next little bit other than to keep on doing what we have been doing, a bit of everything!

Thank-you for all your prayers and support!

An inefficient way to mix mud.

Put it on

Sand it off

New air compressor for lily. Rylee trying to help.

Snow on the hills!

Court's boboti.

Courtney with volunteers Kristy (left) and Steff (right) in Tala

Beginning of the talent show.

A hail man? Courtney teaching the kids new skills!

With Pete and Siya in the hail.

Typically good for cars.

Rylee at the beach!