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.