Africa Mission & Travel Tips

I teamed up with some friends to visit Ten Thousand Homes in White River, Mpumalanga, South Africa (ZA), in August (2014).

On the way to ZA, we had a lay over in Heathrow Airport in London and decided to take a quick trip to Windsor Castle. St. George's Cathedral is inside the grounds and I got to see many historical figure's resting place (I love history). We got to eat fish and chips and mushy peas, pose with a telephone booth, and see where the royal family lives; typical tourist things. We climbed a tower and could see River Thames and Eton. Over all an awesome day trip. I look forward to seeing London one day.

Ten Thousand Homes has an amazing mission to build and fix homes for people. They are also heavily involved in different communities where they partake in feeding programs, bible study, church, and relationship building. Many people do not believe in Christ there, they still practice voodoo and believe in superstitions.

While visiting and helping I learned that most of the kids are orphans, mainly due to their parents dying of AIDS. Only some of the kids get taken in by other relatives or a group in a community. A lot of the time, kids are raising kids. It was very sad to witness, and very eye opening.

We got to visit one of the better children's hospitals and that one didn't have much color on the walls and barely had any toys. We learned that some kids get dropped off and are never picked back up.

Their food mainly consists of pap (corn starch) and offal (intestines). Water is delivered and stored in tanks- you're lucky if you get your own tank- and that water has to last you for the week. The water has to be boiled so you don't get sick.

The kids love to be loved on, and love on you in return. They are very friendly and want to interact and play with you. I picked up a few words in their language while I was there. They also love taking pictures and looking at themselves (they don't have mirrors).

While working at the zoo I added Kruger Park to my bucket list and being so close to it in White River we got to go before we headed back to Texas. It was AMAZING! We were there when babies were abundant. There's a golf course within the park where you play around crocodiles, warthogs, etc.

How to help:

If you would like to help by funding Ten Thousand Homes in their mission click here. If you would like to travel to TTH and help first hand click here.

I absolutely loved being a part of this mission. The people I got to work with and the kids I got to see will stick with me forever. I hope you get to experience it one day.

Shoot me an email if you have questions or would like to hear more details about my trip :)

xoxo