Small World Connection

We had visitors to our village last week. Although we introduced them as our friends, it was actually the first time we had even met them face to face. The Nitza family, now living in Gaborone, Botswana, is from Fort Wayne, Indiana. They moved here to Africa in August after Amy received a Fulbright Scholarship to do research and work at the University of Botswana.

Ted made the connection with me through a blog entry posted on Fort Wayne Observed regarding a lesson I did with the Palala Boys Club on baseball, with donations from the Wildcat Baseball League. Ted grew up in Fort Wayne and played Wildcat, and it just so happened that he and his family were going to be moving to Africa ... just across the border from us. What a small world!

We had a wonderful time with their family and we were very excited that the connection was made. They spent just a short time in our village, but they were able to catch a glimpse of what our lives are like as Peace Corps Volunteers in rural South Africa.



We took a walk and they got to see some of the village while meeting many of the children. The local kids loved seeing the photos Ted was taking.



Hope (above) and Eden (below) quickly made friends with some of the kids near our house.



This was the first time that many of the children in the village had ever seen white children before.



Trey (above) also took part in the fun, and got a little dirty along the way :)



All in all it was a wonderful visit, and we wish the Nitzas the best of luck during their time in Botswana. If you would like to read more about what they are doing, visit their blog at nitzafamily.blogspot.com. They have also posted an entry about their visit to our village: http://nitzafamily.blogspot.com/2008/10/ft-wayne-meets-ft-wayne-in-south-africa.html.