Quite a day!

I won't attempt to write anything to explain how amazing today has been! I think the pictures speak for themselves and I ask that you take a moment to ask our singers about it in person. They have a lot to say about it...

Here are some of the youngest and newest orphans.

With several hundred orphans, here is only a small bit of their laundry.

This is Mama Rosie who began the orphange in Kalitshaye township. She also began several other outreach ventures such as a hospice center for residents and orphans who are HIV+. She was able to begin only through the help of SPS alums Juliet and Jessica Thompson.

St. George's Capetown

We spent a long, hot day in St. George's Cathedral to sing for Sunday services. For Evensong, we were joined by the cathedral choir. Conducting for this service was easily one of the highlights of my musical career. (Because I was so busy, most of the pictures ended up on other's cameras)

Guateng Youth Choir Concert

Stay tuned for video footage of our final concert in Guateng province with the Guateng Youth Choir. (They take a long time to edit and upload!) GYC consist of singers aged 19-30. Their choir was completely amazed and overwhlemed by our singers and I'm so proud! Our audience also consisted of residents of a local nursing home, which our tour bus picked up and drove to the concert. Every time I think our choir has done its best, they do something even better!

I'm also amazed at what good travelers we have with us! There is so little complaining and everyone is willing to give their all for the group. What a relief!

On Sunday, we have a long day, singing both Sunday Eucharist and Evensong at St. George's Cathedral. http://www.stgeorgescathedral.com/index.html

The Cradle of Humankind

Lion Cubs

Here are a few pictures of our Braai (BBQ) and a game that our guide Johan made us play to see who could spit antelope droppings the furthest. (It was surprising how many kids were willing to put animal droppings in their mouths and no one went to the hospital because of it!)

Krugersdorp

Once again, internet is virtually non-existant. The hotel let me use the one computer in their office...it took 20 minutes to just load my email page! I think they have a rhino transerring all of the information back to civilization! I apologize, but I'm not able to load any of our amazing picures on the blog with this computer.

We spent yesterday traveling to the game reserve, stopping to visit the governmet buildings in Pretoria where Nelson Mandela was inaugurated. We arrived at the reserve just in time for lunch, relaxation, swimming, and a safari drive where we saw lions eating a recently killed animal about 10 feet from our jeep. We also saw giraffes, zebras, rhinos, and several varieties of deer. We ended the day with a South African Braai, or BBQ where we all sat around a fire called a Boma.

This morning, we were greeted by three small lion cubs who were just transfered to our hotel grounds on the reserve and some students got to feed them with a bottle! Then it was off to the Cradle of Humankind to crawl through the caves where the oldest human remains were found.

We're enjoying some more freetime this afternoon before our concert back in Pretoria this evening with the Guateng Youth Choir.

Tomorrow we're off to Cape Town...

Tribal Dancing and Singing

After a long day in Soweto, we joined a South African choir to learn about tribal dancing, singing, and clothing. Needless to say, they put us to shame, but they were gracious hosts and our uncoordinated students and I gave it our all!

Today, we visited the Prinshof school for the blind and were amazed at what the students could do. After a long day of sightseeing in Pretoria, we gave a joint concert with their choir and another high school choir, the Duke of Cornwall singers. Our students sang beautifully and completely blew away the other choirs. The evening ended with a joint meal and an impromptu dance which was difficult to end!

Pictures to come...

Having a great time!!

Sorry for the delayed post. I was told there was no internet in our hotel--also no one brought the correct power adapter. I've finally been able to get onto the internet and have so much to share!

All of our students are well and have had life changing experiences in the past two days! Both nights, I have had several students tell me that it was the best night of their lives.

After the almost 30 hour trip, we woke up on Tuesday morning to hit the ground running, beginning with a tour of Soweto, where the anti-apartheid movement began.


We first visited the Regina Mundi Church, the only church to stay open in Soweto during apartheid, and the site of many political rallys, protests, and deaths. We started singing and a class of school children wandered in and sang for us.