In Joburg

We made it to Joburg (as Johannesburg is called). 15 hours is a long flight though it didn't seem that bad...esp. with Jim's global upgrades. Met almost all of our team. Good group of people to spend a week building together.
Here are some statistics about Lesotho. According to the Lesotho Bureau of Statistics, in 2001 life expectancy was estimated at 48 years for men and 56 for women. Recent statistics show a drop since then to just 36 years. One tragic consequence of Lesotho's decreasing life expectancy is an increase in the number of orphans and widows in Lesotho. As of December 2010, the Lesotho Bureau of Statistics stated that currently there are 221,400 orphans (12% of general population) and that "everyday at least one child becomes an orphan in Lesotho."
Tomorrow we travel to Lesotho - a 4-6 hour drive depending on what we read and who we talk to.

Ready to go

As last time, I thought it would be good to show the strange collection of items we are taking:  tools, work  gloves, dust mask,  children's books, hockey sacks, a frisbee, camelback, snacks, and yes, my running shoes.  Supposedly our hotel in Johannesburg has a fitness center. The description of our hotel in Teyateyaneng, where we will be building in Lesotho, is "It is a fine place if you're just looking for sleep, but you will have to bring the atmosphere with you."
Hopefully, not a problem with our group.