MCGILL IN AFRICA: Welkom to Richmond!

We have arrived!

Leah and I arrived in Richmond Saturday, February 16^th. We were greeted by the kind people of Hope In Richmond. Hope In Richmond is a nonprofit organization focused on the growth and development of the small farming community of Richmond, South Africa.

They have provided everything from sewage pumps, medical care, sanitary bathrooms, and a sports/community center. They have now brought in Grassroot Soccer to start HIV education in the community.

Roughly 9,000 people live in Richmond. Three hundred are white farmers who live several kilometers away from town. The rest of the population is split between blacks and colored, all who live in the township, less than a kilometer away from town. Leah and I live in the small two street town with about four other older community members. We live in a very peaceful quiet community. I wake up early for an hour morning run and usually never see a car or person in the street.

Richmond has no formal HIV education or sex education in the schools. Leah and I will use the next few weeks to identify potential coaches within the Richmond community townships to introduce and teach Grassroot Soccer HIV education within the schools. There are three schools in Richmond; a Primary School , a Middle School, and a High School. The Primary has about 100 students in our age range, Middle 490, and High School 500. We have encountered one problem. Once we introduced ourselves to the community and put up fliers about the organization, everyone seemed to be eager and were jumping at the opportunity to learn more about HIV. The problem is our curriculum is designed for children and we only will be taking 20 coaches on our staff. We will have to turn away many applicants therefore Leah and I wanted to provide an alternative HIV education course not involved with Grassroot Soccer. We have decided to take on a side project to teach basic HIV education to adults. We plan to train Richmond’s three HIV Outreach workers, to hold monthly HIV education courses for adults in the community.

Leah and I live in a three bedroom guest house owned by Johan, a local farmer. The other night Johan and his family were kind enough to invite us out for a braai, BBQ. Johan owns about 24,000 acres of the Karoo desert. He drove us all throughout his land in search for turtles, lamb, springbok, and Kudu. We ended just in time to sit and enjoy the colorful African sunset. Dinner consisted of Chicken Liver, Lamb, Springbok, syrup sweet potatoes, fried potatoes, and rice. Mmmm delicious!

Our house is very quaint. Antiques all over, flower patterns, and the best I have a crib in my bedroom. Haha and I also have a pink bike. My Mom is probably dying laughing right now imagining me riding around on a pink bike. Here are a few pictures of the house.

Some may have no idea who that baby is pictured above. Pictured above is my little godchild Cooper. Cooper was born just before Christmas. Cutie. Alright back to the house… Bad part about the house, we have no showers. I currently bathe with a bucket, very old-fashioned. If there is no work, I wander over to the soup kitchen for 3:00 feeding. Around 2:00 the children come running with their cups in hand. I usually will bring out a soccer ball to play with or I try and teach them some of my old St. Joan of Arc playground games. At 3:00 the children line up for feeding. Once prayer is said, jelly sandwiches and juice is distributed to all the children. On a given day anywhere from 100-250 kids will come for food.

I am adjusting to the quiet life in Richmond and I am looking forward to introducing Richmond to Grassroot Soccer. Below enjoy a few more photos of Richmond.

Cheers