Ronda and Her Good Job

That title up there sounds like the title of a children's book... and I'd like to think a children's book with such a title would be all about adventure. Here's a little story about the day Keri and I went to visit Ronda.
First off, I have to say.. when I think of Ronda... I think of taking a big red crayon and drawing a big red heart around her. Right before I left Austin, I realized that certain people represent calm for me.... they represent a place for me to go, to sit, when I need to hash out the not so good, and celebrate the highs. My PCV friends are calms for me. And Ronda is one of my good PCV friends. I'm so glad I got to see her home and work before we all start finishing up our time here.
Ronda lives in Makotse village just south of Polokwane and just down the road from the town of Lebowakgomo. Keri and I left Makhado (Louis Trichardt) in the morning, stopped at Wimpy to get takeaway coffee, and then drove south. Our first stop was at one of the Polokwane taxi ranks. Yeah, yeah, it sounds crazy... it was crazy... but that taxi rank was where we found two very important things we were in search of... 1)traditional material for the African quilt I'm making when I get home and some for skirts MmaDiapo is making me... and 2)Cool Time, the icy, sweet, sweet, plastic bag full of frozen Guava flavored goodness. This taxi rank was Keri's stompin' ground when she was at one of her 5 sites.... so she's an old hand at tracking down some Cool Time.
Keri with her Cool Time.
We drove into Ronda's village around 4 and met her on the road. After unpacking our car we spent the next several hours before bedtime catching up, telling stories, laughing, drinking wine, and eating the yummy coconut curry she treated us to for supper. Here's Ronda with her house. The whole building used to be the office her organization was in, but they have since moved. The house is still divided, with partitions, the way it was when it was an office so Ronda has rooms for everything she needs. There's a kitchen, her bedroom, the living area, a storage room, and a wash room... complete with buckets and the "shower" she's rigged up for herself.
And like a lot of volunteers, when it's night and you've locked everything up... if you need to pee you just rely on the chamber pot. At Ronda's that was an option, but when it's light, you can make your way through the maze of mealies to her pit toilet. The door is wired shut, so when I went to pee, and tried to unwire it and not have the whole door fall off, I wasn't too smooth. I ended up peeing with the door open. Not so bad... a nice view AND no one can see you through the forest of mealie stalks.
This is a project Ronda has been working on during her time at Makotse Women's Club. Hydroponics. A couple thousand tomato plants in their own pots set up so that they'll eventually grow up and over lines that have been strung up above them. Here's Ronda with Mac and Spencer the two guys overseeing the gardening aspect of it all. Very impressive! When the plants start producing the project will become an income generating activity for the Women's Club... they would like to eventually have contracts with ShopRite or other big stores.
When Ronda was giving us a tour of the hydroponics project we passed by some of the carers that work for her organization. They all wanted a photo... so we all took a photo.
And here we are in front of Ronda's office, the Makotse Women's Club of Makotse, Limpopo Province, South Africa.
Good Job, Ronda! I'm proud of you and I know you have forever made a difference in your community.