Hi Everyone, It was great to see our latest addition to our family Gunner Dayton Van Sickle. He sure is cute. We were able to skype with the new parents Beau and Tina
over the internet at the hospital. Thanks Lyndsey for setting up the skype. Beau and Tina have kept us up to date with pictures of baby Gunner and we got a live video of him.
CONGRATULATIONS To Beau and Tina on the birth of Gunner Dayton 6lbs 7ozs Sept 4
Life in the Township
If you drive into a township in South Africa. You will see Xhosa people. There are also many other tribes of people but, we mostly work with the Xhosa people. As
you continue driving through the township. You will see droves of people walking. Very few of the people there have cars and if they do have cars. The cars aren't in very
good shape. Sometimes you will see in a day 7 or 8 different cars that are being pushed by people because they either ran out of gas or they just quit running. They
have a hard time having enough money to fix up there cars or buy enough gas to get where they need too.
You see donkey's, goats, cows walking around town and in people's yards eating grass. When you ask the Xhosa people who they belong too. No one seems to know.
They are a very friendly people. They will always say hello and shake your hand. If its a mama she will give you a great big hug. They are wonderful kind people. The men wear long pointed shoes. long sleeved shirts and colorful ties. The women mostly wear long colorful skirts, blouses and sweaters. Sometimes they wear aprons. If they are
married they will wear a 1/2 blanket around there waist to show they are married and a doek on there head. It shows respect to there inlaws. You will see many ladies
walking down the street with a baby tied on there back. The baby can be a couple weeks old up to 2 to 3 years old.
There's alot of honking that goes on in the township because taxis are always looking for riders. All the honking use to bother Elder Van Sickle when we first came here.
Then he found a way to cure that. Every time anyone honks he honks back and says, I sure do have a lot of friends don't I. At around 2:00 during the weekdays all the
children will be coming home from school. They will be wearing colorful uniforms. The schools here are struggling. There is a lot vandalism holes in the
walls, broken desks. The government doesn't keep the schools up.so they are in a shambles. They are really run down. There is not enough desks so sometimes 2 and 3
kids sit at one desk. In the summertime you will see many young boys coming back from the bush. There faces will be painted red. The family and relatives come to
celebrate them coming back from the bush. They have a braai and they slaughter a cow and they cook up a lot of food. He goes there to become a man. He stays there
anywhere from two to three months depending on the tribe.There are a lot of other traditions they do at the bush.
The people of the township life span average is 46 years old. Because of them being poor and not having good clinics, hospitals, and a shortage of medicine. There are
a lot of aids and tuberculosis There also seems to be a lot of people die of cancer because they never get any treatment. There diets aren't very good they just eat what
they can afford. Which is a lot of rice and potatoes or just bread. You will see alot of kids playing in the streets. Some times they kick a ball. It is either a real ball or
a bunch of plastic bags tied together in a ball. You will see the children rolling tires down the street. They keep them in control by using a board in each hand to hold the
tire upright.you will also see homemade little wire cars and home made wooden soap box cars that they push each other in. There are a lot of funerals in the township
So many people die of simple things that could be taken care of but because they are poor they can't afford a regular hospital. Some people only eat bread everyday.
When there is a funeral going on you will see a big tent in front of the house to accomadate all the relatives and friends that come. Because of the desperate situation
they are in there is a lot of stealing that goes on. They can't afford to have there garbage taken. So they throw it in the near by fields.Which makes it very unhealthy.
The unemployment is very high because of lack of education and no opportunities. We are so blessed as members of the church to have the programs in the church
we have. The career workshop teaches people how to interview for jobs, how to apply for jobs, How to dress and etc. The self employment class teaches people
how to start there own business and write a business plan. Pef helps them be able to go to school and get a education. We know these are inspired progams we
have seen them help many people. We are so thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the happiness it brings to our life. Love Elder and Sister Van Sickle
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