Hawu!

...means "Goodness!" or "Oh my!"
I don't have too much time here today and I had a pretty big update last time, so I just thought I'd say a quick hello.
I met with Vincent at the Dream Centre on Tuesday afternoon to see how things are going with Zanele's children. It's really going to take a while, but I am still hopeful that by the time I leave, they will be at a better place. Also, we're trying to organize a schedule to get the patients more active, and to have them taken outside by volunteers once in a while. The Dream Centre has been a little bit strange for me to visit since Zanele's death. When we first met Zanele (Rebecca and I), she was quite ill, already in isolation and staying in bed a lot. I guess we always knew the inevitable was approaching. So since then, I have been finding myself hanging around more of the healthier patients (Mabongi, Nsiki, and a few others). I know that's really kind of horrible, because more often than not, it is the sicker patients that really need someone to talk to. But I don't think I can handle dealing with someone else I am close with, dying. It is somewhat selfish of me, and I realize and fully accept that, but I am trying to do productive things with the healthier patients (like making friendship bracelets and other crafts).
Yesterday we took all the little kids to uShaka Sea World. It was soooo much fun!!!! They had such a good time, even Wandile (the little one). When Mike was around, he had taken to calling Wandile "Rhino" because he is always running into things. I quite like the nickname. Anyways, he was having so much fun! He was glued to the walls of the aquariums and loved the penguins too! He's also the cutest little thing when he is in the bathtub. I think he loves it so much because he never gets bathed, but now the volunteers bath him in the morning as soon as we get there. It's kinda gross because he smells so bad, but we've gotten kind of used to it!
And, after yesterday's conversation on religion, I found an interesting excerpt in "I write what I like" that I thought I'd share:

"...do organized churches necessarily have a divine origin or should one view them as mancreated institutions probably in the same category as soccer clubs?
The existence of a multiplicity of denominations convinces me of the uselessness of organized worship in investigating man's duty to God. Churches have tended to complicate relition and theology and make it a matter to be understood only by specialists. Churches have tended to drive away the common man by immersing themselves in bureacracy and institutionalisation...In my view the truth lies in my ability to incorporate my vertical relationship with God into the horizontal relationships with my fellow men..
I can reject all Churches and still be Godly."

It goes on, but I haven't the time to type it ALL out here.

Quick shoutouts:
ARDEN!!!! --- who turns the big ONE YEARS OLD on Saturday!!!!! I think she's even WALKING now!!!!
Hafize -- who's bday it is on Saturday as well!
Abbas -- because he keeps complaining that he never gets shoutouts, when in actuality, he never really does anything to get a shoutout! Jeez! But he has been quite funny lately so there. Shoutout to Rabba.
:)

South Africa -- Part Three should be up soon. Go to www.ofoto.com, login name reshmapatel@hotmail.com and password "reshma".

Lots of love to all,
Resh.