Week 10: In which we become culturally aware.

Hello.

Another week has passed, and what a time we've had.

Most of this week has been focused on outreach - our speaker for the week was only able to get here on Wednesday, so we had some activities in place of our normal classes that aimed to get us more prepared for the things we might face. We had a session on HIV, one on human trafficking and we played a cross-cultural simulation game called 'BaFa BaFa' on Wednesday morning. That was particularly good fun, and highlighted some of the issues that we are very likely to face in the Middle East. It basically involved splitting the class into two groups, with each group taking half an hour to learn the particular language and etiquette of their 'culture'. The groups would then exchange teams of three or four people who had to try and integrate as best they could with the other culture. It was very interesting, and turned a tiny bit 'Lord of the Flies'. Thankfully we only did it for about an hour, and it stopped before the violence got nasty.

We've also been having a lot of meetings with our outreach team, making plans for the next three months and getting to know each other better. Part of our preparations have been to set our hands to fundraising activities - Heather has been heading up a team of eager card-makers who have been selling Christmas cards on the base and at our community meeting on Thursday. I mostly contributed by sitting near all the creativity playing Christmas music out of the computer (I know, too soon), but Heather made some fine specimens that all sold quite quickly. Talented woman. It's been fun to spend time with other students to raise money, I feel like everybody has bonded much more since we've started supporting each other and all contributing to fundraising. It's good.

Also, I played the drums on Thursday night for the first time in about eleven weeks. It was hilarious fun. It made me miss England a bit, a feeling that was compounded by a trip to see Skyfall yesterday. It only just came out, so we've been waiting about a month and we were not disappointed. Probably the highlight of the week.

This was our stall for fundraising! Not sure what my face was doing... (photo courtesy of Lauren Long, thanks!)

Today we went shopping with our outreach team to get some extra bits for Jordan. It's going to be quite cold, so we've been looking for winter clothes in the middle of South African summer. Not an easy job, by any means. We're deeply regretting the smug delight with which we vacuum-sealed all our jumpers and jackets when we packed to come out here, but that's ok. We managed to get a few decent bits on a relatively frugal budget, and we're borrowing some bits from people who are going on outreach to warmer places, like Mozambique.

All in all, an excellent week. Thank you for your emails - if you have sent one it has almost certainly been received, and I will reply as soon as I can. It will probably be the next thing I do, but I don't want to make promises I can't keep (I'm starting to need the toilet, so it might get pushed a little down the 'to do' list).

Anyway, thanks for reading and thank you for all your support - we are hugely grateful to everyone who has sent money, prayed for us or sent us a message to say hello. It's amazing to know that we have such supportive friends and family, we don't take you for granted!

Lots of love,

Sam and Heather

(MJ News: He's been ill this week, so there's no new photo. He continues to be excellent, though.)