Rhyndinas in South Africa: Mom and Dad Rhyne Visit South Africa

I know it has been a long time since my last post and there is an explanation which I will get to in a future post. For now, the focus is my parents' recent visit to South Africa.

In 2 1/2 weeks, we toured Johannesburg/Pretoria, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, Chobe National Park in Botswana and finally Cape Town. The schedule didn't allow much time for rest (we were all tired at the end), but we had an amazing time. And of course, there are so many highlights that it's impossible to cover everything in pictures and words. Instead, I'm going to share one of my favorite excursions and let some pictures tell the rest of the story!

I consider myself fairly reflective about life. But what I learned on a tour of Kliptown, Soweto reminded me about the value of seeing your life reflected through someone else's perspective.

On my birthday, we were invited by a few friends at USAID to take a tour of the poorest part of Soweto. Kliptown is just a few kilometers from downtown Johannesburg, but it has no electricity or plumbing. One faucet at the end of the "street" serves 1800 families. Our tour guide, Thulani Madondo, lives in Kliptown and runs an organization called the Kliptown Youth Program which serves one hot meal a day six days a week to local children. In addition, they offer after school programs...everything from tutoring and mentoring to sports, music, dance and more. We were treated to a special dance and drum performance. (Thulani has been nominated for a CNN Hero award. He's a top 10 finalist and if enough people vote for him, he'll get US$250,000 to help him and the children of Kliptown. If you'd like to vote for him, just go here: http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cnn.heroes/index.html)

While touring the area, Thulani took us to the home where he grew up. Homes in Kliptown are one-room shacks with a corrugated tin roof. While telling us about life in Kliptown (75% unemployment, 30% HIV infection rate), he stopped talking and turned to me to say, "Jim, you are so lucky to have your parents. Very few people in my community have two parents, much less parents who are still alive at 73 and 76. It is a gift you have been given."

I must say that I guess I have taken it for granted to have parents. My life experience hasn't allowed me to consider any alternative. I even knew all of my grandparents. So I just want to take this opportunity to acknowledge Thulani for providing a reflective moment about my parents. It is indeed a gift...but more than just having parents...I am so grateful to have parents who want to experience new things, enjoy life and who are willing to share those experiences with me and Andrew. (The same goes for Andrew's parents who will be joining us here in December.) Thank you, Mom and Dad for your love, generosity and being part of my life. Love you lots.

Hope you all enjoy a few of the pictures from the adventures we had.