If You Were Going to South Africa What Would You Like to Know?

by Lisa-Jo | Jan 8, 2015 | Q&A, South Africa, Take Action | 15 comments

So a week from today we’ll be arriving in South Africa.

Me, and my nine-year-old son, Jackson, along with Crystal from Money Saving Mom and her friend Joy. We’ll be trading snow for mid-summer sunshine.

If you’re wondering what I’m talking about just click here to read my “the secret’s out of the bag” post from Monday.

We leave DC on Wednesday afternoon and arrive a day later on Thursday afternoon in South Africa. And because this trip is for you all and to thank you all for making a veggie garden, playground, water point and community center possible for 250 orphans and vulnerable kids we’d LOVE to be sort of like roving reporters on your behalf.

So today, won’t you spend a moment thinking what you wish you could ask or see if you were going with us.

And then click here to leave it in a comment. (If you’ve ever left a comment my blog should remember you and hopefully not ask you to fill out your name again. I know that reading on a phone can make forms super annoying. But this one is worth it, eh?)

I have LOVED reading the hundreds of replies I got to my first, “Behind the Blog” newsletter. I’ve spent days reading them and trying to reply to as many as possible.

So let’s keep the conversation going.

You click here and leave a comment and then Crystal and I will do our best to get your questions answered and share a post with all the discoveries and answers we can possibly pull together during our time there.

So go ahead, pretend you’re standing under the 90 degree sun in front of a room full of kiddos and mamas, meeting the brave people who run after school programs and clinics and trainings in Maubane, South Africa — what would you love to learn?

I’m all ears.

15 Comments

Cherise Castille on January 8, 2015 at 10:01 am

I’m excited for your trip! I would love to know what the young women and mothers need us to pray for. What are the burdens a on their hearts, the issues they struggle with every day, the hurts they feel? Not just physical needs, although if that is the most important to them, I will be happy to pray for it too.
Deena on January 8, 2015 at 11:19 am

I will be praying for your trip. It will be exciting to see the news. Shalom
Amy Tilson on January 8, 2015 at 12:08 pm

I would love to know about the garden – crops that thrived/failed, composting, how the soil will be changing, what will they be trying next, what did they love/not love, how they get their kids to eat veggies ;), all that gardening kind of stuff. Oh how I wish I could see/smell/hear/touch it all!
Anna on January 8, 2015 at 12:31 pm

Tell them THANK YOU. The mamas and teachers and everyone else, Thank you for pushing forward through the hard and taking care if the kids that are yours and the kids that aren’t, for loving these little souls no matter what.
- AineMistig on January 9, 2015 at 11:55 pm
  
  Yes! Please, I agree! Tell them THANK YOU!
Deena on January 8, 2015 at 2:35 pm

I would love to see what they do day-in and day-out. Just living blessings and trials. Things like watching you drink tea with sweet ladies there would thrill my heart!
Bobbie Jo on January 8, 2015 at 6:14 pm

Thank you for the opportunity to help these families and interact with them through you! I would ask them: What are their dreams? What makes them excited for the day?
Melinda on January 8, 2015 at 11:53 pm

I want to meet more of the mamas. Individual stories and how they are doing. This may sound weird, but I want to sit at their feet and learn from their wisdom. I feel like we have so “much” here, that I would be blessed in learning from those who have “less.” I hope that makes sense.
Melanie Ewert on January 9, 2015 at 2:55 am

I’d love to hear their perspective on what “blessing” looks like in their life. Please thank them for allowing us to be a small of their lives.
Jennifer on January 9, 2015 at 5:26 am

Kid questions :
What is your favorite food?
Where would you like to go if you could go anywhere in the world?
What do you want to be when you grow up?
What do you thank God for?
Do you have a favorite prayer or blessing?
Caregivers :
What are your dreams for the kids?
What makes you smile?
Jennifer on January 9, 2015 at 10:26 am

Hi Lisa Jo:

I would love to know more about their gardens. What can they grow? How do they sustain them, especially in regards to pests and the heat. What veggies and fruits are native to their gardens? What jobs do the kiddos have to help in the gardens? And then in the kitchen…I would love to see more pictures of their community kitchen in action. I so enjoyed the picture you posted a few months back. How do they use it to serve others in the community?

Prayers for your upcoming travels for all of you.
Jennifer :)
- AineMistig on January 9, 2015 at 11:53 pm
  
  I agree — I’d love to see the community kitchen in action!
Lina on January 9, 2015 at 12:36 pm

I would want to know two things: How do they keep Hope alive? and What can we do to help from here in the US?

Thanks Lisa Jo! How awesome that you get to do this!!!

God Bless. Be Well, Lina
AineMistig on January 9, 2015 at 11:52 pm

I’d really like to know what the day-to-day life is like for the Moms and their kids, their families. How they live, and how the garden, playground, and all of these things impacted how they live. A personal story would be awesome.

We get such tunnel vision in the US, and don’t realize that how we do things (wash clothes, dishes, get milk, cook, etc.) isn’t how the whole world does them. I’d like to know how these Moms “do things” — how they do “this holy work!”

That’s what I would want to know most.
giuliana on January 11, 2015 at 5:23 pm

with all my heart i would go to an orphanage with A.D.S. affected childrens and help with whatever i can do.i love southafrica.and i have this desire within my heart since years