The Reason We Are Here

Even though the weather is about perfect, the flat is cute, the nature incredible, and the office is modern and comfortable... the real reason that we left employment, sold our home and said goodbye to our family for a while, was to come to Africa to assist the young people here. Through the marvelous program of the Perpetual Education Fund, we are able to administer low-low interest loans to ambitious, needy, mostly black, young adults... and the program is bearing wonderful results. The PEF has been available for 4 years in South Africa, and below you will meet some of the recipients and graduates. Our role here is to expand the program here in ZA (currently 837 students) and to help establish PEF in other countries in the southern half of the continent of Africa.

Come meet these great kids!

This is Reenie at her desk with her 'computer trainer' Thabo Motaung, who helps in the office part time and is going to school on a PEF loan to become Microsoft cetified and achieve a certificate in IT.





This is my trusted counterpart in the office, also named Thabo (which means joy in Zulu) last name Lebathoa. He grew up in Johannesburg during apartheid but was originally from Botswana. He is 33, has degrees in law and business and is full time with us in the office to administer much of the day to day detail of the finance end of things. Jim is grateful for his knowledge of the country, the schools and the banks.




This is Caliphonia Jefange Mnisi. She works in our travel office at the Area office making the arrangements for our travel in and out of South Africa (ZA). She is a PEF graduate from Bedfordview who is now married and expecting her second baby. Her husband is on the PEF program and they hope to buy a house closer to Jo-burg someday. She takes two buses and a taxi every morning, requiring 60 minutes to get to the office. She is always there by 7:30 am. The same routine follows at the end of her day.





Currently in the second year of a three year marketing program, Xolani Lubisi is recently engaged to be married and serving part time in the office. He is from Cape Town, which you can often tell by his first name beginning with an X. The language is Xosa, which you may recall is the native language of Nelson Mandella. Xolani's name is pronounced by clicking the tongue inside the cheek while saying -olani. Quite something to try and get used to. Great guy with a great smile.





Here is Didier, pointing to his home city of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). He came to ZA on a temporary visa to begin a PEF program in survey engineering. He has completed the first year of three. The program is very similar to a civil engineering degree. We hope to open the PEF program by June in the DRC, so that many of these folks can stay at home and study in Kinshasa. The holdup has been the banking end. You just would not believe the state of banking in some of these developing nations and people do not generally use banks because they do not have checking, savings and VISA/MC's. We are attempting to find banks that are affiliated with England, Begium or France. They at least have some reserves and some stability. Big challenges when trying to provide big opportunities.




Here are three lovely ladies! From the left is Kagiso Segkatlo who is taking communications courses hoping to get into a TV job, then is Khanysila Sibanyango, a recent book-keeping /accounting graduate who has now gotten a job with a large insurance company. She was making R500/month before her schooling (about $50) and now she earns approx R3000/month (about $300). This is very good earnings for a young person here in ZA. It is part of the PEF program to assist in getting 'better work' following the education. We are mostly successful with this (about 92%) but unemployment is high here, inflation is running at 14%, and I'm sure you in the US are all aware of the global economic situation. You all know the other "girl".




Here is our 'helper" in the office, Thabo, with his wife Ntuthu (pronounced nTootoo) and their 20 month old Thabile. Thabo's family came to SA from the Kingdom of Lesotho and he served a mission for the church in Durban, and his wife is from Cape Town and served a mission in Kenya. As mentioned, Thabo is a PEF student and comes 45 minutes by bus each day to the office and school. They live in Protea Glen, which is one of the many sections of Soweto. Their home is VERY humble by any standards, but they are determined to improve their lot. He is in the Elder's Quorum Presidency and she is the YW President in the Protea Glen Ward. We attended there last Sunday and it was really hot and very, very friendly.




If any of you have studied economics, you may be familiar with the term 'hyper-inflation'. It's what Germany felt in the 20's and 30's, and it is what Zimbabwe is undergoing right now. Here is a photo of someone purchasing three eggs at a price of one hundred billion Zimbabwe dollars. The inflation factor is currently at 250% per month. The money is basically worthless but the government keeps printing higher denominations so it's a joke. However, the people are in a jam because they are paid in this worthless currency and it buys little. They mostly trade and barter now. Sadly, we have had to suspend PEF there because the instructors in the schools have stopped coming to classes, the schools have vitually shut down and the students are trying to repay the loans in their nations currency, only to have worthless dollars to use. What was a $5 payment six months ago, now requires hundreds of millions and to us the exchange amounts to about 30 cents. As a result of this situation in Zimbabwe, there is quite an influx of their people into ZA. We have several in PEF already.





Reenie with Zinhle Masilela, who is a graduate of PEF and is now working in the office in the finance department.




Here is Tafadzwa Tanjani (TJ), with his wife, Brenda. He is from Zimbabwe studying marketing and she is from Cape Town and works as a procurment clerk. Really fun and active young couple.




The students will often come into our office, even once they have gotten their loans approved and are studying, just to check on things or to bring us in their grades. Here is one of our stop in students, Tetslive Lobuongelo (far right). He is very bright and studying engineering at UNISA (University of South Africa). He lives in a tiny flat in Pretoria (soon to be renamed Tswane) with his brother and two other students from their home country of DRC. They all came from a village there that had no electricity, they all served FTM's in the DRC and are now getting educated through PEF in ZA, and all hope to return to help build up the home country and the church there.




This is Vuyokazi Kisten (Marsha). She is our receptionist at the Area Offices. She is really a sweet girl who grew up in Kwa-Zulu Natal, an area which is all Zulu people next to Swaziland. She is married to an "Asian", which over here is anyone with roots from India. Her husband is half East Indian and half Zulu. She is an absolute joy to be around and does an amazing job of keeping guests, appointments and phone calls directed for all 75 people who work in the Africa Southeast Area Office complex.


This is only the beginning. So far, in our first month, we have assisted is processing PEF applications for 31 students with many, many more to come. Reenie and I are headed off to Botswana tomorrow. We hope you will stay tuned to our blog and please leave comments. We love hearing from you however lengthy or brief.


Happy New Year to all we know and miss.