Getting started

Sunday 8th January

Church at 10 this morning which was so refreshing and we were given such a lovely welcome by LIV Church. We had the rest of the day off so a girl called Iona and I went into one of the clusters and found some children to play with. There were 3 girls and a tiny boy who couldn't have been older than 1 and a half! It was so amazing to see how well the 3 girls got on as they are all sisters in their home. After we’d played with them for a couple of hours we took them back to their house where their mother  (mumma Pumzie) invited us in and we talked about cooking and what we had been making with the food and she gave us advice on how to use samp and we told her how to make apple crumble. The culture here is so different to home but it is amazing to see such a different way of life. I am enjoying myself here more than I ever thought was possible, everyone is so kind and you’ll never walk past someone without stopping for a conversation even if you’ve never met them before!

Monday 9th January

Devotions at 8 this morning which was just worship and welcoming new people on the village. Then we had team building activities in our barracks. Our first challenge was to go round the village finding eggs however in your pair, one person was blind but could talk and the other could see but couldn't talk. Each pair had a clue of where to go on the village and in my pair I could see and Rachael could talk and I had to lead her up the hall to the finance ladies office then without talking get her to ask one of the kids how to ask for an egg in Zulu which she then had to repeat to get the egg. After both teams had their eggs had to come up with team names and a song and dance. Then we did variations of egg and spoon races before we had our first bootcamp! After which Iona and I went back to play with the kids from yesterday as they wanted to play with us again. Very tiring day, yet I still stayed up ridiculously late chatting with people.

Tuesday 10th January

Very tired when waking up! We had our first teaching at 8am this morning with the title ‘A mustard seed yes’. Afterwards we got told our groups that we would be in during activities on the village and exercise groups. Then we did an obstacle race on one of the kids junglejims before we had some lunch. Then we did 60 second challenges before our first try of insanity. Jono was nice and gave us the easiest video however it was not easy at all… It was 40 minutes of non stop cardio and muscle focused exercise and safe to say everyone was very sweaty and tired afterwards. Then I went and played tennis with Iona, Lara and Danny before showering and having dinner and an early night!

Wednesday 11th January

Another early start for another 8am teaching this morning before going out onto the village to help where help was needed. I went to one of our leaders house to help make personalised invitation cards to be delivered to all the girls 13 and above to a programme the village run called Beloved on a Saturday which I will hopefully be helping out with. After that I helped to make dinner before coming for some wifi. 

First few days

Thursday 5th January

After having a relaxing day yesterday it was time for us to get thrown into the deep end. At 5.30 my alarm went off and I got up to go and help set up the multipurpose hall that we are having the conference in. I was helping set up the sound desk that they have and over my 6 months here I plan on becoming more involved with the sound for Church and Monday devotions. 

8.30 and the conference was underway with worship to kick it off. We sung in English as well as Zulu before Baba Smith (the original founder of LIV village) came and spoke about visions, the vision for LIV and future visions. After a tea break the Pastor of the village Pastor Ann came and gave a talk on the Agreement. Then Gogo Smith (Titch’s wife) came and shared stories and testimonies with us. After lunch we each chose an elective to go to. I chose one on Culture of Honour where someone spoke on the differences between performing for people to get love and honouring because you know you are loved.

Then we all went and sat in the sun (27℃) and used a bit of wifi. Then some of the older boys on the village asked us if we wanted them to give us a little tour of the village so most of us went and saw the cluster of houses and many of the younger children (who are all SO cute and always want to hold your hand and ask many questions), we saw the horses, the playing fields, the gym and the school. We also met some of the mothers on the village who were very welcoming. After a relaxed evening meal filled with laughter, I went to the gym with some others and did a small workout before going to use the wifi again and calling home to say hi.

There is so much joy on this village and everyone is so happy and positive, something very different then back home. It is so refreshing to see someone you’ve never met and for them to come up and say hi and have a long conversation with them about their work on the village and everyone is saying how excited they are to have us LIV4Change students here! I know I am just as excited as they are to be here and can’t wait to get stuck in!

Friday 6th January

Up at 5.50 this morning to go on run around the village with two of the girls from my barrack which as so nice, until it started raining… After a quick shower and some breakfast we headed back to the multipurpose hall for the second day of the conference where we had worship then heard from Jono and Chester. We were then given a cooked lunch by the students training in the culinary school. After lunch we looked in the LIV shop on site where they sell their merchandise and then we were taken on an extended tour (two and a half hours!) by Leon, one of the guys helping with the LIV4Change students. After a really yummy dinner we chilled for a bit and one of the guys Danny and I had a little jamming sesh him on the guitar and me on the ukulele. Today we also had the former Irish rugby player Brian O’Driscoll visit today.  Something i haven't mentioned yet is the amazing wildlife. So far I have seen birds with tails the length of a 30 cm ruler called mouse birds, loads of frogs, geckos, multicoloured locusts, cockroaches but luckily no snakes so far! 

Saturday 7th January

We have been given the whole day off today which is lovely to just relax and settle in more before next week starts!

I have arrived at LIV!

After saying a tearful goodbye to my family, I went through security and anxiously to meet 19 of the other volunteers I was flying with. One by one more people arrived until everyone was there and we went to the gate and boarded the 11 hour and 5 minute overnight flight to Johannesburg. Once arriving in Durban we met Jono (the volunteer co-ordinator) It felt amazing to finally get here after 4 months of planning. It was a quick 20 minute drive from the airport to LIV Village and we were taken straight to our accommodation which is called the Barracks, 3 brand new big spacious areas with rooms off of the room. The LIV4Change volunteer group is using Barracks 1 and 3 and i am in 3 with 11 girls and 4 guys. We were assigned our rooms and then spent half an hour chatting cooling down (it is so hot and humid here!) and starting to unpack. Then we had our orientation where Jono talked us through living situations, the children on the village and other important notices for us to be aware of during our time on the village. We then made ourselves dinner before unpacking more before meeting for prayer at 7pm. As we are a new group in new buildings, we went round and anointed the buildings, doors and prayed over them for whatever people felt the holy spirit was leading them to. After a much needed shower and a quick game of cards it was bed time for some much needed rest. However, going to sleep knowing that there was a mosquito in my room I was not looking forward to this morning…

I woke up at 7.45 this morning and felt surprisingly awake, and with no bites!! I made myself a cup of Rooibos tea and some toast and we all had breakfast together before getting dressed and meeting the other volunteers at the multipurpose hall where I am sitting now (as it is where the wifi is!). We have been given today to rest and recover which is lovely and as today is quite cool and a bit drizzly. We have a tour of the village later and will be getting our itinerary for the next month. 

That’s all from me so far! Lots of Love Lucy xox