Clermont Clean-up!

Painted on the wall outside Clermont community centre.

Again it was an early start - no Sunday lie-ins here! We were at Clermont township teaching Sunday school at 8.30am, and 24 children turned up for Zulu singing, and a 'life-lesson' based on the theme we used at Happy's on Friday, of  'making the best of any situation you are in'.

For the rest of Sunday we spent our time 'cleaning up at Clermont'. Jude, Char and the other volunteers had organised a community work day. This was to give the community centre a 'face lift' - cleaning the building inside and outside, removing rubble from behind the building, and removing rubbish from all areas surrounding the building.

One thing I have noticed here in South Africa is the amount of litter, literally everywhere. On the roadsides, in the gutters, and especially in all of the townships, piles and piles of rubbish.
Dustbin men, or if I'm being politically correct, refuse collectors, hardly ever visit the townships so rubbish piles up. The locals are unable to take their rubbish to the tips as most don't drive, and even if they do, they can't afford transport. Animals peck amongst the rubbish, children play barefoot amongst the rubbish...to a 'clean-freak' like me..it makes my toes curl, and I think of all the diseases these children have probably got ( and then they cough and sneeze on me.....).

My jobs today involved cleaning the windows, which firstly meant I had to go and collect my own water from the standpipe...and then get it back without spilling too much of it....cleaning the chairs.....doing lunch for what seemed like hundreds of kids.....and helping to attach a metal dustbin to a post so it didn't get nicked - if things aren't bolted down here, you won't see them again!!

It stopped raining for the day, so we were able to complete this work in sunshine which was a blessing as  Clermont is surrounded by mud and would have been a nightmare in the rain!!

The evening was spent writing and reading emails and downloading photos, and reflecting on the last two weeks.....two weeks...how quick has the time gone??!

Tomorrow we start the journey home. Our first flight is 16.55 from Durban and is just a hop to Joberg...we then have  just over ten hours on a flight to Madrid, and then another hop over to the UK, and, all being well, and luggage arrival permitting etc etc....we should arrive back in the UK for 10.05am on Tuesday.........
And I get to see whether Chris has fixed the cooker....and meet the new lodger.....

Did I say 'new lodger'...yes I did...it's amazing what happens when you leave home......

I was going to be narked that Chris had taken in a 'waif and stray'...but then I read back through some of my blogs and thought that actually......I'm meant to be learning from my experiences here, and learning about giving and sharing, and compassion, and if someone from one of our churches in a different part of the UK has asked for help for their son who is moving to Newbury, then we should help......I'm still gonna hit Chris  (hard)though, coz his timing is pants!