Safe and Sound

Good Morning,

Recently, the civil servants of South Africa have gone on strike, causing disruptions in health care, public transportation and schools.  While we are determined to complete our project, we understand that the safety of our youth must always come first.

For this reason, we are unable to go work today, as schools have been deemed unsafe by the police.  Children are being sent home for their personal safety.  We have chosen to spend our day working at the Scout Centre again.  There are still a lot of little projects around our temporary home which we would like to complete as a thank you for hosting us these past two weeks.

Please also know that we are working with local South African Scouts, who come from the communities where we are working.  They are helping to ensure our safety, with constant contact with the schools and police.  For the week ahead, we will also be travelling with South African Scouts, not only to ensure our safety, but to share in the Brotherhood of Scouting.

Next week, we plan on leaving for Mafikeng on Sunday, and will eventually end up in Johannesburg.  Regardless of what activities we would like to do, as always, our personal safety will come first and we are prepared to make changes if needed.

Please be aware that while our Internet capabilities to update this blog over these past 2 weeks have been mostly reliable, we are unsure of what Internet access we will have, once leaving the Scout Centre.  We will make our best effort to update the blog, but as we must be flexible, we ask the same of you and please be patient with us, as we are with the Internet.

If you have any questions, please comment on the blog, or if you are a parent, please use your emergency contact information to contact Ross Francis.

Yours in Scouting,

Gillian and Creighton
Patrol Leaders