New Schedule..

Wednesday:
Today I took the bus to Glynde church for the first time since we've moved to Helen's house. I was a little nervous at first because I h ave never had to figure out public transportation from her house, but because I took that 2 hour walk yesterday I felt more comfortable figuring out the bus stops from here.

Anyways, eventually I made it to Glynde church where there were fewer children than normal, but I really enjoyed observing Ellen, one of the young girls at playgroup. She is from Asia and didn't know English when she arrived in Australia (she's about 3 years old). When I first arrived to help out at play group she was beginning preschool and hadn't had much exposure to English. At first she didn't understand most of what I said, but now after only a month she is able to better understand people speaking English to her and is able to better express her personality. It has truly been an amazing thing to see.

After play group Diane, Sigrid, and Lorinda (she has Sophie and Bethany) had a meeting with Pastor John so I watched Lorinda's kids so she could focus on the meeting. Bethany fell asleep in my arms and Sophie and I sang songs... I loved it! haha. Then Diane dropped me off at Magill.
At Magill I cleaned up after a training session and helped Helene with some office work until El, Helene, and I went to Blair Athol for a central Africa cultural diversity training.

Joe was doing a second cultural diversity training, this time on central Africa. I didn't get quite as much out of this session, but I did find some interesting facts about Africa:
-there are 2.7 million African refugees in the world (29% of all refugees in the world)
-23 of 53 African States are in conflict or suffering civil wars, this is about 45% of the continent

After cleaning up after the training I went with Helene back to her house and had dinner with the Schulz family. Jeremy, Simon, and I went to the young adult group from Glynde church. There were a few new and different faces, it was really good.


Thursday:
Today I woke up early and had a interesting trip to Ingle Farm. The public transportation is really, really bad in Adelaide and it took me a hour and 45 minutes to get across the city... during the bus ride we got on these fast tracks where the bus driver doesn't need to steer or control the speed. It is kind of scary because it looks like two slabs of cement (similar to what train tracks look like) but it doesn't look like the bus is actually connected to anything.

Anyways, because the buses were not on time it took much longer than it should have to get to Ingle Farm- good thing I left early! When I got there I helped set up for the Afghani women group and waited around until they strolled in. There were only a few women there this week because they were a funeral in their community. The translator told me that in their community you can miss all the weddings in the world, but you never miss funerals.

The topic this week is how to feed your children and how to get a healthy meal plan. The women had never heard of the food pyramid because it is a relatively new western thing. So, the women all got a copy of the food pyramid, information about hidden sugars, what to feed children, when to use toothpaste, etc.

After the session I went on a walk then Kathlene, who is in charge of home visiting, dropped me off at my first home. It was a really good experience. I met with the mum and we talked about forming goals and finding ways to reach them. There is no routine in the house and due to depression there is little being done at all. We made goals like: the kitchen table will be cleaned off this week (it is piled high), and she will prepare dinner on Mondays and Wednesdays with a little help from her husband (she doesn't know how to cook), the mum will get out of bed at a decent hour, and start the day off writing an affirmation about herself each morning. These are a lot of goals based on her past, but I'm looking forward to encouraging her and working alongside her on her journey to getting well and taking her life over.

I then joined Kathlene for two more house visits. One of the visits was very, very difficult to see. The young family is in major debt, but using what money they do have for things like tvs and computers. Which is not a good thing, but the thing that is most heart wrenching is that the baby is not having her needs met. Kathlene and I chatted after the visit and decided that we needed to report the baby to the abused/neglected hot line. My heart aches for that child, and I would love to put her in my purse on my way out. It was really hard to leave the 5 month, helpless baby there.

After we returned to Ingle Farm I looked up the bus route and started to find my way home. I got a scenic tour of Adelaide because I got on the right bus, it was just going the wrong direction. haha. The minute I sat down I knew I was going the wrong direction, but it was too late and I figured I'd eventually get to the city, and I did!

When I got back I hung out for a while and then went on a long walk in the opposite direction than my walk yesterday. I now know how to walk to the city. I returned, watched a little tv with Hil and El, then skyped for a while. It was nice.