world cup renovations.

So, the weather SERIOUSLY needs to kick into gear here! It's winter, which means it's "cold" according to South African standards, but I find it to be pretty nice. In the mornings and at night it can get pretty chilly, but during the day I'm normally fine in short sleeves, because it's really nice and sunny. For the past few days, however, it has been drizzling and really gross weather, so we couldn't take the kids outside at all. So sad. I hope it gets nice again soon!

When I was in Pretoria on Monday, I passed the stadium where the World Cup is going to be held! (Dan, I tried to take a picture of it for you!) It is so crazy what is going on here for the World Cup. There are flags EVERYWHERE, and there is so much construction. In the airport, they are working right now to double its size, and they are also doubling the size of all of the highways and most big roads by adding another lane! There are construction workers everywhere.

What really gets me, though, is the fact that they are rebuilding the township houses that are right along the sides of the road, to make it look better to the tourists. Townships, for those of you who don't know, are ghettos left over from apartheid. White South Africans made all the black South Africans live in these ghettos because they didn't believe that the blacks were as good as the whites. It was a horrible situation that was only legally abolished about 20 years ago or so. Many people still live in the townships, however, which means that many people still live in terrible situations. Some of the townships line the highways, so the government, in an effort to make them not look so bad, is literally constructing mansions in place of the shacks that lined the road. They are leaving the rest of the township as is.

I just can hardly wrap my mind around that. On Saturday, I have the opportunity to visit a township called Soweto, and I am also able to visit Nelson Mandela's house. I can't wait to experience it, and I will definitely let you all know how it goes!

Just be praying for the people who live in these townships, and for those who face prejudice every day. Even here at the baby house I have experienced this prejudice, for any white babies we ever receive are adopted locally within a few weeks, while we have many, many black babies waiting to be adopted. Please pray for peace and restoration.

All to Him,
Emily