{Sheela’s News} March 2007

Dear Friends,

Greetings from gloriously sunny Pretoria! After all the uncertainty of the past year, it is great to be settled and sure that this is where I’m meant to be. Let me fill you in on what the last seven weeks have been like…

ARRIVING...
I stepped out of Oliver Tambo International Airport and into intense heat. Exhausted, I was grateful to get to my new home – a beautiful house in a peaceful suburb of Pretoria. I was sharing it with Martie and her daughter René (both work with OM), and they instantly made me feel at home. I spent the first week settling in there, as well as in the Southern Africa Area office, where AIDSLink is based.

TRAINING...
A week after arriving in Pretoria, I was back on a plane – this time to Cape Town where the Christian AIDS Bureau of Southern Africa (CABSA) was training new facilitators. CABSA’s workshops provide HIV/AIDS awareness, as well as presenting a challenge to Christians to be channels of hope in the pandemic. The intensive five-day training included two evaluations of our facilitation skills, and a two-hour written exam.

One of the highlights of that time was the opportunity of meeting so many diverse and inspiring people who were working one way or another to battle HIV/AIDS. I had fun sharing a hut with Alejandra, an OMer from Argentina, Haingo, a doctor from Madagascar, and Puleng, a South African health-worker. Another highlight was that the training took place in gorgeous Simon’s Town. Though we didn’t have much time to enjoy the surroundings, it was nice to take occasional walks along the beach when we were on information overload.

After the training, I spent a wonderful four days with a friend from college, who now works with a ministry to the homeless in Cape Town. We had a great time walking in the mountains and on the beaches, and just chilling out and catching up. It was the break I’d needed for some time. Some photos of my time in Cape Town are on my blog.

SETTLING IN…
The long commute from home to work began to take its toll on my energy levels. As much as I loved living with Martie and René, it became necessary to move somewhere else. Two weeks ago, I moved into a flat five minutes away from the OM South Africa office. I share it with Ruth, from PNG who works with AIDS Hope. We get on really well together, and this whole arrangement has been such a blessing to me, especially as the commute to the Area office is much shorter.

Life has settled into some semblance of a routine. Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays are spent in the office, working with Rose. I work from home on Wednesdays, and on Fridays, I’ve started spending the first half of the day at the Mohau Centre, a home for children with HIV. Although the staff at Mohau are very competent, ‘play’ is a unfamiliar concept, so Belinda (from AIDS Hope) and I go in to play with the toddlers and preschoolers.

UP NEXT…
Rose and I will be going to do ‘Channels of Hope’ workshops in Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore over April. We’d really appreciate prayer for this time. Even though we are scheduled to go in three weeks’ time, only Cambodia has been confirmed so far.

PRAISE GOD FOR…

• How quickly I’ve settled. It feels like I’ve been here forever – but in a good way!
  
• His provision – the flat, the finance to be here, good relationships, etc.
• Good health – on the whole my energy levels have been great so far! I’m learning to pace myself.

PLEASE PRAY...
For the time in Southeast Asia (April 4 – May1)

• For Rose and I was we prepare the presentations
• For those in the three locations who are organising the events
• That God will even now prepare the hearts of those who will attend, that what we say will really speak into their lives and challenge them to be involved in their communities in the fight against the pandemic.

Thank you so much for your friendship. I’m so conscious that I could not be here without your love, support and prayer. It is always wonderful to hear from you. Be blessed!

Hugs,
Sheela