First Day In Cape Town

The AIAIA 2024 delegation has arrived safely in Cape Town. We settled in Sunday evening and have a very busy first day with our friends and families. We began our day by celebrating Eucharist at the Botanical Gardens, located at the foot of Table Mountain. Our time this morning allowed us to focus more clearly as to our hopes, dreams and, and prayers for the next two weeks.

We were hosted for a Welcome Luncheon at JLZWANE Memorial Church, located in the township of Guguletu, a black township with a population of 450,000. We heard from many of the young leaders and their excitement and determination around several new initiatives. In addition to the distribution of urgent food parcels, there is a growing interest and effort being placed in food production. We also heard from several of the fifteen women who have recently completed their training to be employed as plumbers. Unemployment is at an all time high throughout all of South Africa.

We completed the afternoon at a local long term care facility. It is always an honor and a pleasure to spend time pampering the elderly young at heart with hand massages and seeing their joy in receiving a new cap and brightly colored scarf. The photo is of an elderly woman named Letitia. I had originally met her at a local senior center a number of years ago, and had lost track of her as her health declined in recent years. Today, we had an amazing homecoming when we managed to find one another in a large nursing home after several years of missing one another. Amidst big smiles and warm hugs, Letitia felt confident that we would meet again the next time I returned to South Africa. Who doesn’t love an unexpected homecoming?😇

Please keep the AIAIA delegation in your thoughts and prayers. Our first day home with our South African cousins mirrored the words of the writer Carolyn Joy Adams, “Your life is a sacred journey; it is about change, growth, discovery, movement, transformation, continuously expanding your vision of what is possible, stretching your soul, learning to see clearly and deeply, listening to your intuition, taking courageous risks, embracing challenges at every step along the way….
You are on the path, exactly where you are meant to be right now…
And from here, you can only go forward, shaping your life story into a magnificent tale of triumph, of healing, of courage, beauty, wisdom, power, dignity, and love…

#fooddistribution #nonprofit #education #southafrica #capetown #aiaia #arminarminafrica #jlzwaane #heathcare #guguletu #tablemountain #bongokuhle_hlongwane