My absolute favorite part of this trip so far has been our stay in Denilton. Our very first stop, and the place where we spent two days was with a absolutely wonderful stro
ng and influential woman Cynthia at her organization, Youth With A Vision. Some children live here as orphans, and others are are part of the organization to become strong independent adults. The organization started with all young girls, teaching them that they have a voice to say no. She told us many girls don't even know what abuse is because they are so used to it as an everyday occurrence. The first day we were there we were invited to worship with them and they filled the open room with beautiful music. They then cooked lunch for us and the children all gave us performances and we were told more details about the organization. We learned about the 300 children they feed each day and the other programs the have for young mothers, peer educators and some other programs for boys. I felt bad that they were so accommodating of us when we wanted to help them. On the second day we were given long flat metal sticks to chop down grass, when we cleared the area we ate lunch and played a match of soccer with some of the balls a few people bought for the kids. As we left a few of the older girls wrote me letters in my journal, and I realized that many of them think my name is "Happy" which i really enjoy. Many of their names have meanings like happiness, good opportunity (Thubelinie, in picture) and praise. As we traveled to other places people continue to call me Happy, even once they learn that it is actually Abby, I plan on writing some of the girls when I get back and I might ask them how they say Happy in Zulu. I am very excited to start our work with olive leaf tomorrow I am sure I will have an equally rewarding experience to the one I had at youth with a vision... but that seems nearly impossible at this point.
ng and influential woman Cynthia at her organization, Youth With A Vision. Some children live here as orphans, and others are are part of the organization to become strong independent adults. The organization started with all young girls, teaching them that they have a voice to say no. She told us many girls don't even know what abuse is because they are so used to it as an everyday occurrence. The first day we were there we were invited to worship with them and they filled the open room with beautiful music. They then cooked lunch for us and the children all gave us performances and we were told more details about the organization. We learned about the 300 children they feed each day and the other programs the have for young mothers, peer educators and some other programs for boys. I felt bad that they were so accommodating of us when we wanted to help them. On the second day we were given long flat metal sticks to chop down grass, when we cleared the area we ate lunch and played a match of soccer with some of the balls a few people bought for the kids. As we left a few of the older girls wrote me letters in my journal, and I realized that many of them think my name is "Happy" which i really enjoy. Many of their names have meanings like happiness, good opportunity (Thubelinie, in picture) and praise. As we traveled to other places people continue to call me Happy, even once they learn that it is actually Abby, I plan on writing some of the girls when I get back and I might ask them how they say Happy in Zulu. I am very excited to start our work with olive leaf tomorrow I am sure I will have an equally rewarding experience to the one I had at youth with a vision... but that seems nearly impossible at this point. 
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