God is doing amazing things here; we just have to be willing to be a part of it

Hello friends,
Last week had been a week that flew by and yet a week that was full of events you can't imagine. There are times when I will find my self thinking; well, there aren't to many more off the wall experiences for me to go through in this little part of rural South Africa. Then, a week like last week comes along and shows me how naive I really am.
After receiving some sobering news on Monday morning, I headed off to K2, one of our care center's to see some of my students. After heading back to the car, I noticed one of our youth girls walking up with a friend. She was in obvious pain and was walking very slowly. I went up to here and put my arm around her as she started to weep. I tried to rush through my mind what should be done. I drove her to the clinic and had a female friend, Jayme, meet me there to help with the situation. After some initial testing, the clinic said we should take her to the hospital. Now, I have been to clinics in different parts of South Africa and they are nothing to write home about. However, when we entered the emergency room at the government hospital in Nelspruit, the conditions where just crazy. People everywhere siting in chairs and lying on gurneys. Some of the people sitting in chairs had IV's in their arms with the bag of fluids balanced on their heads! After some time, a large number of people involved in a traffic accident arrived. I saw an ambulance chasing lawyer coming to see the people just as often as the doctors.
After some initial testing on the young girl, we waited for four hours with no results. As we waited I received a text message from a friend who said his wife saw me in the hospital. He was upstairs in ward ten and had been there all night. He had very serious kidney stones and was lying in a small bed with paint peeling off the walls and small bugs running along his face at night. After we visited him, I went down and waited for news on our youth in emergency. We had been told she had been admitted, however there was no bed available for her. She was told she would have to spend the night in the E.R. on a bed with no blanket or food. I had to drive to a friends house to get a blanket for her. After some time of talking to the doctor with Lynn and Jayme, they released her and was sent home with us. She was still very sick after two days and we took her back to the clinic. diagnosis; Pregnant; grade 11, 18 years old. Needs HIV test.
Later in the week I was driving with a couple of my students; girls. They were talking is Swati which i know bit's and pieces of. Through out their conversation I heard the name of another girl that I work with and the word "pregnant." Grade 10, 16 years old. Needs HIV test.
Another one of our youth, who is HIV positive was also found to be pregnant this week. 16 years old.
Three girls in one week found to be pregnant. All three I know, two of these girls I know fairly well, and work very closely with one of them. It was a very tough week.
On Friday, at Masoyi meeting, I asked for prayers for the young girls in Masoyi and broke down. I would ask that you continue to pray for the young girls in Masoyi and the women on this continent.
As we drove back from the meeting, I noticed an old women and man walking down the road. The man could barely stand and the women with him was struggling to keep him up. It was pension day in the community and it is required that this man be physically present to pick up his check. He lives a very long distance from the pension office. We stopped and drove them home. As we were driving, a women I work with asked them some questions about their situation. The women explained that they were brother and sister and that she was helping her brother (who has some mental disabilities) get his check. The women explained that she was in her 50's and HIV positive. She was very disciplined with her treatment and looked healthy. She explained she was taking care of four of her grandchildren; all orphans two of which where young mothers, and one we saw was noticeably pregnant. After the week I had, I would usually have become so much more worn down and angry at the situation. However, God was so present in this situation. He filled my heart with joy and showed my that he had put this man and women on the side of the road for our paths to cross. We can now register this family with Masoyi Home Based Care. We can start to have volunteers care for these orphans and our young mothers coordinator has said she will do an assessment of the young mothers! It was the good Samaritan right in front of me. We had the choice to pass or to stop and God showed us how if we are willing to take time, he can provide so much more opportunity.
That night I spent the night in the community with one of my Students, Mxolisi. We had great talks about his life; when his mother passed away, when his uncle was beaten and robbed, and how he had just met his 16 year old half sister a month ago. I met his amazing grandmother, full sister, Aunt, and cousins who he lives with. They were so gracious and so welcoming. You could get a sense of their loneliness as they were so grateful to have a guest enter their home. We broke boundaries that night as his grandmother said (through translation from Mxolisi) "thank you for not showing racism. I can see that you really love people." God is doing amazing things here; We just have to be willing to be a part of it.
I truly take for granted all of the experiences that happen in my life every week here. Although this week was filled with more events then usual, God continues to show up; I just need to open my eyes and ears to see it and hear it.

June 25th

Well hello everyone,
I hope you are all keeping well. I don't know if anyone is reading this anymore after me lengthy intervals between posts. Just in case it has been a while for you, I am still in South Africa. However I now know when I will be returning home; June 25 I will land on Canadian soil. It is a mixture of emotions to say the least. I am nervous to come home and nervous to leave Africa behind. However, I am bound and determined to make future plans about my life based on what is right for me. I do not want Canada to sway me in one direction and Africa to sway me in another. I need to start making decisions based on what is right for me. In no way am I saying that my time in Africa was not the right decision. On the contrary, it was the best decision and it will be the year that will look back on the most I am sure. I know that Africa will always be apart of my future. In what way, for how long, and when I will return is still to be decided.
On another note I have meet with visitors over the past two months which I have yet to write about. During the first two weeks in March, I had the unbelievable blessing of having my parents enter into my African life. It was an awesome time. I have tried to express to them (and have failed miserably) how much it meant to me to have them here. As you all know my parent are freaking amazing and I love them very much. We had an amazing time traveling through the community meeting my friends and family in Masoyi. I think they really enjoyed their time. We then spent three night in the Kruger National Park and we were very blessed to see all of the Big 5 except for a leopard. We then travelled to Mozambique for an amazing time on the Beach's of Bazaruto island. We had a great time and had talks that I will take with me for the rest of my life.
The pictures of our time together is on the left hand side of my blog.
After my time with my parents (which flew by!) I headed up to Zambia. I had an amazing time with the team from my church which included many friends. I want to thank that team once again from allowing me to be a part of your time up there. How is your ipOd working Chels? I had great laughs with Chels, Stan, Dauna, Rich, Jeremy, Jayne, and many more. After three days with them, I travelled down to Lusaka, the capital of Zambia and spent 10 days with my amazing Uncle Dave. He works for Athletes in Action and they had a team in Zambia to train South East African employees who are interested in being apart of AIA. We had a great time and they gave me the opportunity to share with the guys on a program that we run here with Hands. We had a great time with the guys, going to the markets, and watching a wild soccer game! Memories I will hold onto for the rest of my life! I love ya Uncle Dave.
So, that was March and April (although a lot more has happened within work and I promise to update again soon for those of you who are still with me).
I love you all and thank you for your continued support!!!
P.S. I, along with my friends Marc and Jed built a hockey net out of pcp pipe and a mosiquito net. I think Don Cherry would be proud. You can see the pictures of us at www.heubner.blogspot.com

Quick Note from Zambia

Hi Everyone,
Sorry my posts are lacking but haven't felt very inspired lately. I had a great time with my parents a few weeks back and I am now in Zambia. I had a great time seeing the WKC team for a couple days. I had a blast with them. I am now in Lusaka with my Uncle Dave and a Athletes in Action team. It has been a good time to get into another African country. I might head back to Ndola for a few days and hang out with Levy who runs the youth project in Masoyi. He is Zambian and might be coming here for a few days.
Just thought I would check-in on my birthday!
Hope you are all well,
Dan

As The Dude says, "Strikes and Gutters"

hello,
I'm back. After a long stint of no posts, I am back again. A lot has transpired over the past month or so. After my last post (bit of a downer no doubt) I am still here. After Inkosinathi passed away I was in rough shape. I didn't know if I could continue to live or work in Africa. At the funeral, his family was amazing. The family let me and Emily be apart of activities that are usually only done with family members. It was very special. At the end, after we had finished a meal, Inkosinathi's grandmother and I had an amazing conversation. By the end, she had told me she considered me one of her son's because of the way that I had treated her grandson. I told her that I had a grandmother at home in Canada (love you grandma) but I now considered her my grandmother in Africa. We both wept and gave each other an enormous hug. It was truly amazing how God was able to bring us together and find hope in one another. I have grown an amazing relationship with Inkosathi's family. I even spent New Years eve with them at a huge gospel concert. I was truly the only white guy out of about 30,000 black Africans; truly an experience to remember.

I have also been back to work for a good 4 weeks. I had taken a crazy trip to the University of Limpopo with three of my students trying to get them registered. Two of the kids didn't have the requirements; however with some upgrading this year, one of the students, Gugu, did pass! However, because her marks were on two separate statements (her high school marks and her upgraded marks) the school would not recognize her eligibility!! We had left at 3:00 am to get to the school on time to write her acceptance test and I was not going down with out a fight! I spoke with close to a dozen school officials and climbed the bureaucratic ladder. I told one guy he would have to call security because I wasn't leaving his office until he helped us. He then put me in touch with the Dean of admissions. We even stayed the night in temporary housing they provided for students who had traveled long distances so I could speak to the dean. The housing was unbelievable; the dorms were horrific! They were dilapidated with holes in the walls and paint peeling off. One of my students Stanley and I stayed in a room together. When we returned from supper, we found an old woman in Stanley's bed and an old man in Mine!!! We had to find another room with a dim florescent light and two old cots with a grungy old mattress. The wash house had pipes missing and rusted toilets. It was crazy. After my long hard fight, including a trip to the Limpopo education department, we were told to go back to Mpumalanga (where we stay) to get the marks combined.
Since then, I have been to the Mpumalanga education department about 4 times. The man who does the combinations for matriculation does not seem to know the rules. After Laura and I showed him the work I had done and the rules I had found on the net and explained them to him, as of today, he is excepting Gugu's marks!!! The fight was long and exhausting but it has paid off. Gugu will now be eligible for university! Today was a good day. I guess it wouldn't be a fight if it wasn't long and exhausting. However, today I felt like we are starting to win the fight.

P.S. Below is a video of our new guard Dog up at the farm. Our farm was broken into just after Christmas and a few expensive things were taken. We are hoping this vicious beast will protect us.

Video and pics of Buhle (Beauty): The new vicious rottweiler guard dog

Getting stuck in the Fence