the hills

This picture speaks for itself! My favorite show of all time is the hills and this week we’ve been watching it everyday. It makes me very happy, it’s drama-full and just a typical reality show. Good times with the friends I love.

Check out the show

oh family.

For the last couple of months I’ve been realizing that a lot of times in life we take for granted what we have around us as a whole. In my own personal life for example I’ve taking for granted the people that surround me. Even the strangers that walk down the street, the woman that works in the local grocery store or even the person standing behind me in line. I’ve been feeling lately that I take for granted a lot of times the family of people that surround me. That God has placed every person on earth and that God allows us to all be his beautiful family. I’ve been trying to not take for granted this opportunity and even though I sometimes go out of my way to say hello it’s always worth every awkward stare.

I’ve also realized how thankful I am for my family and the friends that I have in my life NOW. I wouldn’t trade them for anything. And they not only teach me different things but they accept me for being who I am.

I am so blessed to have a God that surrounds me with HIS beautiful people and that even though I take that for granted sometimes my God allows me to restore that.

oh the holidays.

When your living a country where it’s warm for the holidays you tend to forget that it’s Christmas or even the holiday season.  Today while shopping with some friends at a brand new store I had that thought process going through my head. They opened a new store in Qwa-Qwa today called the Game store. It’s the most Americanized store in South Africa by far that I’ve ever seen. The best part of the whole experience of going to the new store was that it was set up exactly like Sam’s Club. I worked in a Sam’s Club store before I moved out here to South Africa. My facial expressions, my reactions and just flat out being so excited to the new store was all culture shock. It made me laugh,  smile, miss home just a little bit and couldn’t believe that I was in South Africa for about an hour.

Being in the store though made me forget how crazy it is at home when it  is the holiday season. When I think of the holiday season I think of Christmas lights, stores being packed all the time, lights everywhere and just plain out craziness. People tend to forget what Christmas is all about and for  the first time in my life I’ve realized what Christmas is all about. I guess that’s what happens though when your about 9,000 miles across the ocean from family, snow, Christmas trees; you tend to think beyond all of that.

I must say though I love the fact that it’s so sunny and beautiful out during the holidays (oh how I love South Africa)

Mme

Mme in South Africa is the word for mother. The woman and her baby in this picture are my family in South Africa. They are the Moloi family and they are part of the South African Thrive Africa staff team. The reason why I chose to write a whole blog on Janet today is because she is such a big part of my life here in South Africa. She teaches me everything I know and teaches me how to be a better woman. She is my South Africa mother. I love every moment with her and love that she’s so opened about everything. She’s not afraid to teach me things in my life that I must know and she loves talking to me about boys, finances, TV shows, religion, the list could go She makes my heart happy and will always be part of my family.  I love that I have so  many different women in my life that help inspire me to always be  a better woman then I am. They push me to go beyond just settling for less but push me to go beyond, way beyond all things. Janet is a person that not only is my mme but she really is a person that I can look back in my life and say that she helped make me into the woman I am today. I love her and she makes me smile so much. I must say that Janet’s WHOLE entire family is a part of who I am as well. They are ALL my family.

I love you Janet, my mme and this blog is dedicated to you.

left a mark in my heart.

When you meet somebody for the first time you never know whats going to happen after that first time. It’s the feeling of meeting somebody new and getting excited about where that first time ends up being a friend-ship down the road. The ministry I am on staff with runs two different internships throughout the year each year.The two internships are a year-long internship and also a summer-long internship.

This morning marked the last day of the year-long internship for our interns. They flew out this morning to return back to their homes and to start their lives after the internship.  I was a part of the year-long internship program last year and today marks my one year anniversary which still blows my mind that it has been a WHOLE YEAR. As I said good-byes this morning to each one of this years interns I realized how much of a mark they have left in my heart. They have not only been interns with Thrive Africa but they have been people that have been apart of this season of my life as friends, as family. Watching them grow, watching them pour into each other’s lives, pouring into my personal life was beyond what words can say about this group of interns.

I’ve always hated saying good-byes to people but the best part of this whole good-bye part this morning was just knowing how much they’ve changed and how lucky I am to have had them in this season of my life. I knew saying good-bye that God has huge plans for each and every one of them individually. Whether their plans are going to school, being out on the mission field but beyond what they do as individuals this day marks the day of their lives starting.

I have a challege for those of you who read my blog :this next month of December be praying for the interns as they start their lives and as they start new beginnings but also be praying for Thrive Africa’s 2010 interns. Will you join me in that? I know you will be joining me in praying for them individually and as a whole intern group. As you pray for the 2010 interns pray for their hearts as they begin to prepare to come out here. Pray that they will gain passion for: the whole year, having opened hearts to everything new that they will be experiencing and pray that they will be excited about this next chapter in their story book. I’m very excited for this new season of all new people and to see how my next chapter of my book is just beginning as well.

I’ve saved the best part of this blog for last though and that is…..

YOU PERSONALLY GET TO BE APART OF EVERY SECOND.

quote of the week.

“In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build my hopes on a foundation consisting pf confusion, misery and death.”

–Anne Frank

South Africa Made A Stand

I got this article and picture from this site: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091201/ts_afp/healthaidssafrica

PRETORIA (AFP) – South African President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday unveiled a dramatic expansion in treatment for pregnant women and babies with HIV, sealing a turnaround in the AIDS fight in the world’s worst-affected country.

Zuma said that all babies with HIV will receive treatment at public facilities from next April, while women will receive care earlier in their pregnancies in a bid to prevent transmission to newborns.

He also announced that he was preparing to take a HIV test himself, and urged the public to do the same.

His speech cemented a sharp break with past policies, when the previous government of Thabo Mbeki questioned the link between HIV and AIDS and promoted garlic and beetroot instead of medication.

“This decision will contribute significantly towards the reduction of infant mortality over time,” Zuma said in a nationally televised speech to mark World AIDS Day.

An estimated 5.7 million of South Africa’s 48 million people have HIV, including 280,000 children, according to the UN AIDS agency.

Currently anti-retroviral drugs are provided to babies based on how weak their immune system has become.

People with both HIV and tuberculosis will also qualify for expanded treatment, while Zuma said every health facility in the country would be equipped to provide care, which is currently limited to a few centres with special accreditation.

“What does this all mean? It means that we will be treating significantly larger numbers of HIV positive patients. It means that people will live longer and more fulfilling lives,” Zuma said.

“It does not mean that people should not use condoms consistently and correctly during every sexual encounter,” he added.

Speaking with a candor rarely seen among African leaders, Zuma also said that he would receive an HIV test.

“I am making arrangements for my own test. I have taken HIV tests before, and I know my status. I will do another test soon,” he said. “I urge you to start planning for your own tests.”

The tone marks a dramatic change for Zuma himself, who in 2006 said that he had showered to wash away the risk of AIDS after having sex with an HIV-positive woman. At the time, he was head of the National AIDS Council.

The new drive aims to meet the government’s goal of halving the number of new infections by 2011 while providing treatment to 80 percent of the people who need it.

Health ministry spokesman Fidel Radebe said the government did not yet have an estimate of how many people would benefit from the new measures, or for how much the expanded treatment would cost.

South Africa runs the world’s largest anti-retroviral programme, but under the existing scheme nearly one million people are still believed to need treatment.

The United States announced that it would provide South Africa with an additional 120 million dollars to buy more drugs over the next two years, in response to a request by Zuma.

Under Mbeki and his health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, South Africa became an international pariah for defying scientific evidence and stalling the roll-out of anti-retroviral drugs.

A recent Harvard study found that 365,000 people died prematurely because of the delay.

Since Zuma took office in May, he has made repeated public statements about the need to fight the disease — in stark contrast to Mbeki’s silence.

The disease has already taken a staggering toll on South Africa.

An estimated 1.5 million children have been orphaned by AIDS. A new study released last month found that by 2015, that number could rise to 5.7 million — or one-third of the nation’s children.

Again what will WE do together to stop the AIDS/HIV crisis?

Check out ThriveAfrica.org website; WE are making the difference beyond the AIDS/HIV crisis. God’s on the move in South Africa.

World AIDS Day

My Mammabird Alece’s blog (www.gritandglory.com) today was all about World AIDS Day

A quote from her blog has stuck with me so far today, it’s been my facebook status and it will now be my blog post. It’s a quote where it becomes a reality how much AIDS is a crisis and how real people are affected everyday from it. AIDS is not just a sickness that comes and goes; it’s a sickness that we have yet to find a cure for. When swine flu broke out they did everything in their power to try to get a cure for it. Yet we have yet to find a cure for AIDS that’s been around for a while. I’m not passing judgement and I’m not discriminating. I am just being opened to how I feel.

With all that being said this is the quote:

“6,500 Africans are still dying every day of a preventable, treatable disease, for lack of drugs we can buy at any drugstore. This is not about charity; this is about justice and equality.”

What will we do to stop the AIDS crisis?

giving thanks

When you think of Thanksgiving you think of watching football, eating Turkey, hanging out with the family and eathing some more Turkey.  Thanksgiving is beyond all of those things combined. Where I come from Thanksgiving is all about spending time with the family all day. It’s one of the holidays where we shut down my grandmother’s restaurant just to eat Thanksgiving dinner together there. For myself personally Thanksgiving is beyond the Turkey it’s about being thankful that I have a family to celebrate it with.

This year I wasn’t home for Thanksgiving but for the first time ever I felt like I was finally where I was suppose to be. And I was thankful beyond the word for finally being at a place where I can call HOME. I spent my whole  Thanksgiving with people that are beyond family because they make my heart happy in knowing the real me. It wasn’t just about the turkey this year, it was about the people and how much I am so thankful that I have so many great people in my life.

Does your Thanksgiving go beyond the turkey and food..

To show how thankful we all really are we created turkeys with feathers so that we could write what we were thankful for; it’s a tradition here at Thrive that we have a wall of thanks.

This is what our wall of thanks looked like….

I love Thanksgiving and this was by far one of my favorites…

artist of the day

Meet the artist of day : COMMON

He is a rapper that is always on my playlist no matter what type of mood I am in. He is old school type of feel and raps about life. He is a rapper that was around when Hip Hop started to be the music of my generation. I know for fact when i get older I will still be listening to him.

Some of my favorite songs are: Come Close to Me; I Have A Dream; I Used to Love Her

Check him out only on ITUNES