Goodbye Amy!!

Amy, Amy, Amy...what can I say about Amy? Well, for starters I just have to say that I love this girl so much!! We got to be really close friends, even though we weren't able to hang out that much. We had great conversations and were able to share our hearts with each other, which is so amazing considering the small amount of time we've known each other! I would also say she has a such a huge heart! I don't know how many times she said to me "that just breaks my heart" when talking about somebody else's situation; she really could feel deeply for other people's pain, an amazing gift! She also loved the kids so much! There were a couple kids at the SOS Village that I know a part of her wanted to take home with her! I know she intends to keep in touch with them as best she can. I'm sure they will never forget her!
She was always such a joy to be around, do you see that great big smile on her face in these pics? Yeah, that was pretty much always there! Great sense of humor and I loved how she would just break out in song! KT Tunstall's "Big Black Horse and a Cherry Tree" will always remind me of her....which reminds me I need to download it from Itunes! Anyway, Amy will be so missed! She teased me with saying she would come back to SA either this summer or next, so I pray that we will meet up again! Love you, miss you much, Ames!! Its not the same without you!!

Philip, the movie star!!

Ok, so he's not a star in the movie, but my friend Philip was an extra in the movie, 10,000 BC. He's done commercials before, but this was his first big movie. He went with the group of us to see the movie and afterwards we were all telling him what a star he was and we were so honored to know him, etc, he was a little embarrassed about the attention, we had to really push to have him pose by the sign, but he eventually relented!! So study his face and go to the movie, towards the end he has three, yeah, three close-ups! It was sooo cool to see someone you know up on the big screen!! Philip - we're not worthy, we're not worthy!! =:)

Mary visits Africa!!

So Mary Beiker came to visit me for 11 days and we had such an awesome time!! The first picture is of Mary and one of the kids from Christine Revell Childrens Home. We took two of the kids on an outing her first day here and it was so much fun!! She also went with me to the SOS Children's Village Kindergarten to meet the kids there as well. Then we embarked on non-stop site-seeing!! There's so much to do here and we had a packed itenerary!! We went up Table Mountain, down to Cape Point, went to the Waterfront, Kirstenbosch Gardens, travelled over to Knysna and Plettenberg Bay and went on a safari, fed elephants, saw penguins, had a spa day, went shopping at the market and at the mall! Saw a movie that had one of my friends here, Philip as an extra, he had 3 close-ups though! He went to the movie with us, so that was super cool! We ate tons of fabulous food.....it was just and incredible time!! The only negative was she chickened out on the bungy jump, but most of you are probably saying, "good for you, Mary!"

If this makes you jealous at all (and it should!) come on down!!! I love playing tour guide!!! If you want to see more pics from our adventures, you can check out her blog...... marybeiker.blogspot.com

Goodbye Jessi!!

So Jessi left to go back to Germany on March 26th. She also will be much missed! She always had a great smile and fantastic sense of humor! She has great passion for kids! She also was part of the hospital programme with the Kangaroo Moms, went to the pediatric ward and volunteered at Ubuntu House. Then she went with us to the SOS Village two nights a week! There has always been a full volunteer house since she's been here and it seems they all feed off each others energy, so the house can be pretty crazy! (This is why Bobbi doesn't live there!!) You can see from the second picture that they get a little goofy with the camera sometimes....you wouldn't believe some of the random pics we have of these guys! Jessi was always loads of fun and up for just about anything! I will miss her so much!!! XOXO

Goodbye Gabe (Gabrielle)!!

So Gabe, well, I called her Gabe because that's what she calls herself back home in the US and that's how I knew her before she came; then she gets here and we have a male vol named Gabe as well, so we were supposed to call her "Gabrielle", but I could never quite get there, so she's always Gabe to me......she was here less than 3 months, but its amazing how quickly you can get attached to people!! She left on March 22nd and is sorely missed! You can tell by her pics that she's high energy and lots of fun! She has such a passion for the kids! She took part in the Hospital programme with the Kangaroo Moms and kids in the pediatric ward. She also volunteered at the Ubuntu House, where infants awaiting adoption are cared for. Then she was also part of the team at the SOS Childrens Village. She was so much fun, had a great sense of humor, but then she also has great depth, I will miss conversations with her!! She's just an awesome woman of God!

Love and miss you much, Gabe!