Jan 15, 2012
Well I’m finally here in Botswana, Africa, living in the capitol city Gaborone! I cannot believe that my 6 months has finally begun after all this waiting and planning! This has been a great adventure from the start.
I do apologize, however for the delay in this first update. Wedon’t have internet access in the flat that Sandy and I share, like Ithought we would! So, I have to go to the African Women’s Fellowshipoffice to actually send emails to everybody.
I also discovered yesterday that I had the wrong adapter to plug mycomputer into the wall. Today after church at the Cathedral though, my friend Sandra Zarins wheeled me over to a large store called Riverwalk, where wewere told by some of our new American friends, who just moved here fromWisconsin and live in another part of the apartment complex, that Icould find the 2-3 adapter. We located one that was right for my computer.Success! I found two of them and Ibought them both- just in case I lose one!
My friend, Sandra Zarins, whom I mentioned above, traveled with me. She lives in Gabarone and works for the Anglican Church here. ON Tuesday afternoon her friend, Yuri, drove us to St. Louis and dropped us off at the Airport Quality Inn right near the St. Louis Airport.
Well, I want to quickly back up and let everyone know, if anyone wants to go toSouth Africa now, you have to get a yellow fever vaccination! Mom washelping me with looking up some last minute things and she saw that inorder to get into South Africa at all, even if you are flying on aplane that does not let you off in Senegal (like South AfricanAirlines) that it is now required for everyone to get yellowfever vaccination or they don’t get into the country! This was a rule thatbegan this year. Thank God Mom saw that and saved our trip. So, we got our shots right away the next morning. Whew!!
Back to the story ,the hotel as nice, but the bathroom in our room was very small and the manual chair could not get into it.
In order for me to use the restroom, I had to get out of my chair and walk in. Sandy came in after me pushing the folded wheelchair. Then I got back into the chair by myself once she unfolded it and walked onto the toilet. Learning this stuff was very good for both of us and Sandy told me that I was going to help her become more aware of how many places were un-handicap-accessible that she hadn't even noticed. We had fun as we talked a lot and shared stories about the holidays with our families over dinner. We continued to talk and laugh late into the night.
At my suggestion, which Sandy agreed to, we are going to do morning devotions together once we are settled in her flat. Since Sandy is an earlier riser anyway, she had no problem praying with me in the morning. I need that fellowship. Maybe she does, too.
The next day at about 5 am Yuri came to pick us up and take us to the airport. He understood how difficult it would be for Sandy to push me, the 2 suitcases, the laptop, and the 2 carry-ons. We were so grateful to him for this. Even though our flight was not till 8 am Sandy and I wanted to get through security before the line got too long and the crowd too much. After we got our 2 suitcases taken care of Yuri gave us some extra money for breakfast, which was really cool since we had not eaten anything before we left the hotel.
I was really glad we opted to go early because we got through security with no hassle. Being born without arms and legs means security inspection is rather exciting for me. I’m set aside from the other passengers and I’m always patted down from both front and back. When they rub my back it feels really nice because I practically get a free back massage- how fun that is!! One of the great advantages of being disabled!! It seems so funny that they make such a big deal out of me when I’m the last person on earth that would be a physical threat to anybody!
Sandy says that I’m going to make huge impact on the people in Botswana, simply by making them more aware of the mental and physically handicapped who are around them, butmostly hidden away at home. Even the churches aren’t very wheelchair friendly. At around 8:30 am we boarded the plane to Washington DC. I was the first to be loaded on because it takes a few minutes to swap from my manual wheelchair into the airplane wheelchair. This always takes awhile because the chair I’m put in is wider than the aisles, so they are always getting stuck! But we managed and we settled nicely .
On the plane some of the hosts wanted to know what I was going to do in Botswana. This gave me an opportunity to tell them about the ICS program and that I intend to empower the disabled in their own Christian ministry through art, music, and drama. They really appreciated this and wished me the best in this call to serve. One of the hosts was a man from South India. He and I talked a lot about the disabled and the ICS Major. I liked him very much and he was very encouraging to me.
Once we arrived at Dulles, our 17 hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa was still 5 hours away. So, Sandy and I got some lunch at a Chinese restaurant in the airport and spent more time talking avbout sandy's life, and all the places she has lived before, including Saudi Arabia. I love her aggressiveness and go-for-it attitude.At about 6 pm we boarded our plane to Jo-burg and I was again the first to get on. Once again the airport chair was too wide for the aisle. They really need to design a new way for getting disabled in and out ofthe planes because it really would make travelling for us a lot easier, and for the hosts. It is also difficult to use the bathrooms on the plane because there is not enough room to move around easily.We flew for 17 hours but I felt like it was much longer. Sandy said this was the part she liked the least.
But we finally got there and I could not believe it! I was finally was in Africa- adream I had for several years and not only that, I was finally doing my 6 months abroad. I almost asked Sandy to pinch me because I was so shocked! When we got off the plane in Jo-burg we were greeted by Sandy’s good friend Thembi, from the African Women’s Fellowship. She’d recently moved to Jo- burg with her family. She drove us to a small hotel near to the Jo-burg Airport. Sandy and I kept saying that it was so nice to sleep in actual beds again after 17 long hours on the plane! After we got settled in the hotel room we enjoyed cups of tea (the English influence!) and shared a lovely talk with Thembi. Soon after Thembi left Sandy and I went down for dinner, then went back to our room and went to bed.
That night I spent some serious time with the Lord praising Him for all He has done for me and for all the trials He allowed me to experience to get me to this moment in my life. It hasreally strengthened me and made me more eager to face new challenges. I have also had a great time with Sandy and we are growing in our friendship. I really commend her because traveling with someone like me isn’t easy at all especially someone as old as my Mom. But she has been a wonderful sport and kept an amazing attitude through the whole trip and beyond. For this I praise and thank the Lord for her.
We woke up the next morning to beautiful mountains and blue sky and I was ready to sing “The Hills are alive with the sound of music”. That morning I took a nice long shower –since I won’t have another one like it for 6 whole months!Thembi came at around 11 am to take us to the airport for our 2:30 flight to Gaborone. While we were loading Thembis car the bagman took a look at her car and said " this is a man’s car" and that she shouldnot be driving it. I found this very interesting and rather bold thing for him to say to a strong woman. Sandy told me later to expect more comments such as that. When we got to the airport it was so interesting that the majority of the people were black and East Indian. I saw no whites, except for business men. I actually liked this and I didn’t even mind that people were speaking in so many different languages. This served as a reminder that this dream really did come true! The Jo-burg Airport was huge and I was fascinated with all the shops and stores! I expect I’ll spend some more time at the stores on my way back.Soon after we arrived we headed off to security. This actually didn’t take very long and they were very friendly. The security woman checked me so briskly that I didn’t even get a back massage Oh well!
After that Sandy and I grabbed a quick lunch and got back to the gate where our plane would take off. When we finally got on the plane the sky started to get very dark and the wind turned cold. Soon after this therain came pouring down lashing at the plane windows. This delayed our take off about 15 minutes but I did not mind at all. In fact I fell sound asleep and I did not even hear the plane take off the ground.Actually, I didn’t even wake up till the plane arrived in Gaborone- capitol city of Botswana. When the airport wheelchair was brought to me the man pushing it greeted me by saying “Dumella Mma” and at that point I could have cried because I was so happy.Once we got our bags we were greeted by my supervisor James Amanze, his wife Diana, and another friend Susan Moguara. We sat down and chatted about our trip and Father James and I have agreed that this Wednesday we are going to talk seriously about the things I need to do in my 6 months time here. He told me that he reread the ICS syllabus before I came and has a copy of it saved with him. We will also see about getting a language tutor as well. That’s all great news!!
After about 30 minutes of conversation we all headed over to Sandy’s flat. The drive as just beautiful! Green, green, and more green!Sandy’s flat is perfect for me to live in. There are 2 bedrooms in the back, with a bathtub, and restroom directly across from the rooms. The bathroom is great and I can get into it without any trouble at all. The furniture is all oranges and browns, beiges. There are 2 African batiks hanging in the living room. There is a coffee table in the center of the rom where I do all of my reading and typing. It’s wonderful because it’s exactly my height!
Sandy’s friend who is living with us at the moment is really neat. Her name is Boniswa; she is 29 years old, African born and was adopted by British missionaries and raised in England. She is a nurse working at the AIDS hospital. I enjoy her a lot. After we settled down in the apartment and got freshened up Boniswa, ur neighbor Hilary who’s a PhD studying anthropology, and I, went outto see a music jam session at a place called Botswana Arts & Crafts a few blocks away from the flat. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed getting to know Hilary and Boniswa and many others who we met there. We came back late and slept in the next day.
Please pray that God will use me here and continue to pray for me to be open and availableat all moments.
Tsamaya Sentle (Good-bye; go well as they say in Setswana)
Minda
Well I’m finally here in Botswana, Africa, living in the capitol city Gaborone! I cannot believe that my 6 months has finally begun after all this waiting and planning! This has been a great adventure from the start.
I do apologize, however for the delay in this first update. Wedon’t have internet access in the flat that Sandy and I share, like Ithought we would! So, I have to go to the African Women’s Fellowshipoffice to actually send emails to everybody.
I also discovered yesterday that I had the wrong adapter to plug mycomputer into the wall. Today after church at the Cathedral though, my friend Sandra Zarins wheeled me over to a large store called Riverwalk, where wewere told by some of our new American friends, who just moved here fromWisconsin and live in another part of the apartment complex, that Icould find the 2-3 adapter. We located one that was right for my computer.Success! I found two of them and Ibought them both- just in case I lose one!
My friend, Sandra Zarins, whom I mentioned above, traveled with me. She lives in Gabarone and works for the Anglican Church here. ON Tuesday afternoon her friend, Yuri, drove us to St. Louis and dropped us off at the Airport Quality Inn right near the St. Louis Airport.
Well, I want to quickly back up and let everyone know, if anyone wants to go toSouth Africa now, you have to get a yellow fever vaccination! Mom washelping me with looking up some last minute things and she saw that inorder to get into South Africa at all, even if you are flying on aplane that does not let you off in Senegal (like South AfricanAirlines) that it is now required for everyone to get yellowfever vaccination or they don’t get into the country! This was a rule thatbegan this year. Thank God Mom saw that and saved our trip. So, we got our shots right away the next morning. Whew!!
Back to the story ,the hotel as nice, but the bathroom in our room was very small and the manual chair could not get into it.
In order for me to use the restroom, I had to get out of my chair and walk in. Sandy came in after me pushing the folded wheelchair. Then I got back into the chair by myself once she unfolded it and walked onto the toilet. Learning this stuff was very good for both of us and Sandy told me that I was going to help her become more aware of how many places were un-handicap-accessible that she hadn't even noticed. We had fun as we talked a lot and shared stories about the holidays with our families over dinner. We continued to talk and laugh late into the night.
At my suggestion, which Sandy agreed to, we are going to do morning devotions together once we are settled in her flat. Since Sandy is an earlier riser anyway, she had no problem praying with me in the morning. I need that fellowship. Maybe she does, too.
The next day at about 5 am Yuri came to pick us up and take us to the airport. He understood how difficult it would be for Sandy to push me, the 2 suitcases, the laptop, and the 2 carry-ons. We were so grateful to him for this. Even though our flight was not till 8 am Sandy and I wanted to get through security before the line got too long and the crowd too much. After we got our 2 suitcases taken care of Yuri gave us some extra money for breakfast, which was really cool since we had not eaten anything before we left the hotel.
I was really glad we opted to go early because we got through security with no hassle. Being born without arms and legs means security inspection is rather exciting for me. I’m set aside from the other passengers and I’m always patted down from both front and back. When they rub my back it feels really nice because I practically get a free back massage- how fun that is!! One of the great advantages of being disabled!! It seems so funny that they make such a big deal out of me when I’m the last person on earth that would be a physical threat to anybody!
Sandy says that I’m going to make huge impact on the people in Botswana, simply by making them more aware of the mental and physically handicapped who are around them, butmostly hidden away at home. Even the churches aren’t very wheelchair friendly. At around 8:30 am we boarded the plane to Washington DC. I was the first to be loaded on because it takes a few minutes to swap from my manual wheelchair into the airplane wheelchair. This always takes awhile because the chair I’m put in is wider than the aisles, so they are always getting stuck! But we managed and we settled nicely .
On the plane some of the hosts wanted to know what I was going to do in Botswana. This gave me an opportunity to tell them about the ICS program and that I intend to empower the disabled in their own Christian ministry through art, music, and drama. They really appreciated this and wished me the best in this call to serve. One of the hosts was a man from South India. He and I talked a lot about the disabled and the ICS Major. I liked him very much and he was very encouraging to me.
Once we arrived at Dulles, our 17 hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa was still 5 hours away. So, Sandy and I got some lunch at a Chinese restaurant in the airport and spent more time talking avbout sandy's life, and all the places she has lived before, including Saudi Arabia. I love her aggressiveness and go-for-it attitude.At about 6 pm we boarded our plane to Jo-burg and I was again the first to get on. Once again the airport chair was too wide for the aisle. They really need to design a new way for getting disabled in and out ofthe planes because it really would make travelling for us a lot easier, and for the hosts. It is also difficult to use the bathrooms on the plane because there is not enough room to move around easily.We flew for 17 hours but I felt like it was much longer. Sandy said this was the part she liked the least.
But we finally got there and I could not believe it! I was finally was in Africa- adream I had for several years and not only that, I was finally doing my 6 months abroad. I almost asked Sandy to pinch me because I was so shocked! When we got off the plane in Jo-burg we were greeted by Sandy’s good friend Thembi, from the African Women’s Fellowship. She’d recently moved to Jo- burg with her family. She drove us to a small hotel near to the Jo-burg Airport. Sandy and I kept saying that it was so nice to sleep in actual beds again after 17 long hours on the plane! After we got settled in the hotel room we enjoyed cups of tea (the English influence!) and shared a lovely talk with Thembi. Soon after Thembi left Sandy and I went down for dinner, then went back to our room and went to bed.
That night I spent some serious time with the Lord praising Him for all He has done for me and for all the trials He allowed me to experience to get me to this moment in my life. It hasreally strengthened me and made me more eager to face new challenges. I have also had a great time with Sandy and we are growing in our friendship. I really commend her because traveling with someone like me isn’t easy at all especially someone as old as my Mom. But she has been a wonderful sport and kept an amazing attitude through the whole trip and beyond. For this I praise and thank the Lord for her.
We woke up the next morning to beautiful mountains and blue sky and I was ready to sing “The Hills are alive with the sound of music”. That morning I took a nice long shower –since I won’t have another one like it for 6 whole months!Thembi came at around 11 am to take us to the airport for our 2:30 flight to Gaborone. While we were loading Thembis car the bagman took a look at her car and said " this is a man’s car" and that she shouldnot be driving it. I found this very interesting and rather bold thing for him to say to a strong woman. Sandy told me later to expect more comments such as that. When we got to the airport it was so interesting that the majority of the people were black and East Indian. I saw no whites, except for business men. I actually liked this and I didn’t even mind that people were speaking in so many different languages. This served as a reminder that this dream really did come true! The Jo-burg Airport was huge and I was fascinated with all the shops and stores! I expect I’ll spend some more time at the stores on my way back.Soon after we arrived we headed off to security. This actually didn’t take very long and they were very friendly. The security woman checked me so briskly that I didn’t even get a back massage Oh well!
After that Sandy and I grabbed a quick lunch and got back to the gate where our plane would take off. When we finally got on the plane the sky started to get very dark and the wind turned cold. Soon after this therain came pouring down lashing at the plane windows. This delayed our take off about 15 minutes but I did not mind at all. In fact I fell sound asleep and I did not even hear the plane take off the ground.Actually, I didn’t even wake up till the plane arrived in Gaborone- capitol city of Botswana. When the airport wheelchair was brought to me the man pushing it greeted me by saying “Dumella Mma” and at that point I could have cried because I was so happy.Once we got our bags we were greeted by my supervisor James Amanze, his wife Diana, and another friend Susan Moguara. We sat down and chatted about our trip and Father James and I have agreed that this Wednesday we are going to talk seriously about the things I need to do in my 6 months time here. He told me that he reread the ICS syllabus before I came and has a copy of it saved with him. We will also see about getting a language tutor as well. That’s all great news!!
After about 30 minutes of conversation we all headed over to Sandy’s flat. The drive as just beautiful! Green, green, and more green!Sandy’s flat is perfect for me to live in. There are 2 bedrooms in the back, with a bathtub, and restroom directly across from the rooms. The bathroom is great and I can get into it without any trouble at all. The furniture is all oranges and browns, beiges. There are 2 African batiks hanging in the living room. There is a coffee table in the center of the rom where I do all of my reading and typing. It’s wonderful because it’s exactly my height!
Sandy’s friend who is living with us at the moment is really neat. Her name is Boniswa; she is 29 years old, African born and was adopted by British missionaries and raised in England. She is a nurse working at the AIDS hospital. I enjoy her a lot. After we settled down in the apartment and got freshened up Boniswa, ur neighbor Hilary who’s a PhD studying anthropology, and I, went outto see a music jam session at a place called Botswana Arts & Crafts a few blocks away from the flat. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed getting to know Hilary and Boniswa and many others who we met there. We came back late and slept in the next day.
Please pray that God will use me here and continue to pray for me to be open and availableat all moments.
Tsamaya Sentle (Good-bye; go well as they say in Setswana)
Minda
Minda...so good to hear all the details and know that you are there safe and full of gratitude. Blessings to you and Sandy. Can't wait to hear more. Love, Noel
ReplyDeleteHi Minda! It was so wonderful to read the details of your Botswana experience; keep sharing. Your attitude and spirit is so lovely, I enjoyed reading every word. I hope you will share some details of your goals as you write. It is all so exciting! Do you have a way to take and share pictures? I would love to see some of what you see. Take care of yourself and Sandy, and tell her we are thinking of you both every day. We have one of the Botswana bracelets hanging in Vanessa's room, and I need to put your pictures up near it. Hugs and love and God's blessings on you! Your friends, Shirley and family
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