Never A Dull Moment

That's right folks, expect the un-expected here in Fort Beaufort. Yesterday I was stuck for an hour in the car with a murderer, was proposed to and learned how to make fried chicken, all in one day! How's that for excitement? Here's a re-run of yesterday's events:
6:00am- I woke up to a cool, overcast day. Finally got up out of bed and got myself ready for the day.
7:00am- Went into the house, got some breakfast, consisting of Rice krispies and milk.
7:30am- Went back out to the flat to start my schoolwork. I must say it was one of the earliest times I've ever started my schoolwork. It feels pretty good to get an early start!
9:15am- Chugging along, doing great, then Mark shows up at the door of the flat, and this is where the day begins. He told us that there was a woman out in the shack, who had a 2 year old kid with her. She said she couldn't take care of her son anymore, and she wanted to put him up for adoption. To add to that, she's 5 months pregnant, but she doesn't have the 500 rands for the abortion she would like to get. All down her neck, her arms and chest looked badly burned from something, but I never asked what.
9:30am- Gwen arrives home with Mama Ndika, and add more to the pot thats starting to cook. While they were at Spar, they saw a 13 year old kid (who looks like he's only 7 or 8) out behind the building. They asked him why he wasn't in school. They took him to the car, from which he jumped out and ran away. Thinking there was nothing they could do to get him back, they proceeded to get their chicken. A man who had seen the proceedings and how they were trying to  help him, brought the boy back to them in the store. Mama Ndika held on to the boy's hand for the rest of the time to make sure he didn't run again. So here they all were, A 5month pregnant woman and her 1 and a half year old son, Mark, Gwen, Mama Ndika, and this young boy, all sitting out in the shack.
10:00am- We all get into the Condor (Gwen, Mama Ndika, the lady, her son and the 13 year old), and head into town to see what could be done for everyone.
10:30am- We went to the boy's school to try to find out any info. about him. We picked up another boy who was at the school which turned out to be his cousin. We drove to the house where this boy lives, which is with his aunt, who looks like she's about 80, but she just had a baby about a year ago. I waited in the car with the woman and the boy, while everyone else went into the house. Finally, everyone came back out, and the aunt got in the car as well. We were getting pretty full in the Condor by that time! We went back to the school, this time with the aunt, and this time I went in to the office for some excitement. The vice principal was who we dealt with the majority of the time. He spoke to the aunt in Africaans so the rest of us didn't really know what he was talking about. He explained to us in English the details of the boys family. After a bit more talk, we tried to see if he could write his name, but he wouldn't do anything, so we assumed he couldn't. The poor kid looked scared the whole time. When we left the school, we had to run to the iKhaya Levangeli to let in Busisiwe, so she could start preparing for the young men's supper. We were planning to go to the social workers from there, but Gwen ended up getting the youngest kids, while everyone else stayed at the place to help with supper preparations. When  Gwen got back she bought stuff for sandwiches, which I made, then we ate. They finally left to go the the social workers, and it was only me and Busisiwe. We got along quite well, with very little trouble communicating. By the time a few guys showed up, everything was basically ready. Mark had his word in the Gospel at about 4:15, and we ate right after. It was fried chicken, curried rice, potato salad, colesaw and soup. It was really good! When everyone had their share, we started the clean up. Gwen had gotten back with everyone except the boy and his aunt, who they had dropped off home. While I was drying the dishes outside with another lady, Impendulo, a guy who comes out regularly to the meetings came and sat down on the chair beside where I was drying the dishes. I didn't pay any attention to him, only answering when he asked me a question (like how old I was). I was tempted to give him a towel and tell him to start drying since he was just sitting there doing nothing, but I refrained. When Mama Ndika sent him to fill a jug with water, his friend Quanele (also a regular), came and sat in his place. When Impendulo came back he said something out loud in Xhosa. i never paid any mind to it, until the lady told me what he said. He had just said that he was going to marry me next year. I laughed and said "ya right." I was getting pretty tired by that point, I'd been going steady all day, and was starting to feel the effects. I went home with Gwen, who dropped off Busisiwe and Mama Ndika, then took the woman and her son back to their house. It was only 6:00 or so when we got home, but I put on my pj's anyway. We were still talking about the days events, when Mama Ndika sent a message to Gwen that said "Call me right now." Gwen quickly phoned her back. We knew something was wrong when Gwen starting saying things like, "Oh my dear" and "Your joking." When she got off the phone, we were shocked to learn what she'd heard. Apparently, the pregnant lady with the 2 year old son, was a murderer. She had killed an elderly lady for her pention, and had been in jail for a number of years. To try to get out of prison, she'd soaked herself in Parofin (kerosene) and lit herself on fire, thats why she was all scarred. She apparently has a gang of guys too, that would do her bidding. We were greatly appalled to learn of this, thinking of what could have happened. We were so thankful to think that God was in control! Elaine was a little freaked out for the rest of the evening, and we locked up the flat with greater caution that night! Whew, what a day!