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check out the map for lately added locations.

wccc pictures

there is a lot going on at the wccc. people would pop in every day to “speak Muruti” concerning anything in their lives. he would offer church services and bible studies during the week and on weekends children would come to swim in the pool in the garden and to visit sunday school.

making ginger beer

during church service  (which can last hours, believe me) people would pray each individually

during church service, those poeple possesed by any evil spirit would fall into some kind of trance. the godly power would free them by using the pastor and anoted water as his instrument.

each saturday and sunday, we would be cooking for the people who come to join the chruch services.

me and the kids from sunday school

i just fell in love with her, she is some tyz of mentally disabled and just so lovable and lovely.

tlokweng pictures

today, I invite you to come around for a visit in my village. enjoy:)

my street (the yellow gate indicates the WCCC)

streetsign indicating our center

cooking: lesson 3

Cooking with Mpho

Lesson three: How to become even more African by replacing rice with pappa.

Pappa is truely and African thing. It is simply made and fills up for stomach. Although, if you can afford, you would want some vegetables and fish or meat to accompany, as it doesn’t taste of much itself.

 Incrediants:

maizemeal

water

 

Take warm water, mix with maizemeal. Pour boiled water over and leave it cooking. Soak it until it has got the texture of mashed apple. When done, put some more maizemeal. Cook and soak it. It should be having the constistence of mashed potatoes by now. If you have done it nicely and all the water is vanished, there should be a crispy layer of pappa on the bottom of your pot. Don’t worry – it’s not burned, it actually is a nice chips snacks for your evening tv-show.

 Next time: We serve African breakfast.

joining the church choir

Joining the church choir Last saturday, I have been taught some songs from one of the women of the church choir. We actually ended up in performing one song together the next day during church service.

A week after, the leader of the women only church choir asked me, if I would like to join them. So, I ended up in the church choir and we have been practising all afternoon.

It has been a long time since I last joined a choir. Actually, I skipped my last choir 8 years ago and I had always wanted to start singing again. I might not be the best of a musician, but I just love singing so much.

Also,the church choir is a great new experience. Everyone would sing in her own voice and interprete each song freely. There would always be a song leader to have the solo parts and the others would join. Now, in the beginning, that actually frightens me a bit. Some time I am not quite sure, if I am singing off-tune and I believe, that the other women might just be a bit to polite to mention it.

I hope, that will change in the future, so that they might not feel bad about telling me off, when I mess something up. Besides that, it is beautifully exciting just to sing from my heart.

The church choir actually is a great opportunity to me to participate in the community that gathers regularly in the World Community Counselling Center (WCCC) where I work. They are all highly religious and believe in God as being the one power that expresses himself in all the living creatures in the world. I have never met such a religious community before and singing carries me back to save ground. Because singing I can do, praying is a totally different story.

My chef would take me along in his car every day and we would go places. He would say :“Come meet my daughter.“ and introduce me to other people. I feel highly valued here.

 

psychosocial support in prisons

My week in the prisons The WCCC, where I work and live, is involved in many things. On thing it does is offering psychosocial support in prison. There are four prisons in Botswanas Capital Gaborone that my chef is visiting once a week each: the boys’ prison, the womens’ prison, the first offenders’ one (males only) and the main prison. This week, I accompanied my chef to all of them except the main prison. I wouldn’t get any allowance to go to see the people in the main prison as this is the place where those men stay who commited very bad crimes. Everywhere we go, they would call my chef „Muruti“. This is Setswana and means „pastor“. My chef actually is a pastor and the WCCC a faith based organisation. Muruti would offer church services in the womens’ prison, Bible studies in the First offenders’ and church services as well as Bible studies in the boys prison. Me, myself, I enjoyed the Bible study at the First Offenders’ the most. These prisoners were really friendly and open. All of them would come up to me to say hello. Also, they were active students and intelligent ones, too. The female prisoners and the young boys would still be shy around me. But I really hope, that will change in the future. I really like the way, the „Muruti“ and his „Evangelists“ (his employees) treat the prisoners as human beings. Muruti would call them „my friends“ and emphasis that all the people are valueable, no matter prisoners or free people. Because we are all just people, Martina