IST Reflections

Three brief thoughts on our IST in Port Elizabeth.

We went to see a factory and watched work on their assembly line. I enjoyed this very much. It was part of our focus on socio-economic issues and I found it helpful to see factory workers in action and I have a better idea of the difficulties that they might face.
While I understand the need for probationers to get together and I value much of what we did, I find it very tiring and have come back to circuit depleted. I might just be too old for this!
The difference between the conditions in the townships in the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape is marked. There we found roads with potholes, piles and piles of rubbish lying around and tap water limited to a trickle because of damaged pipes. I can't say that there is no litter on this side - there is and the wind makes it difficult to keep our church grounds tidy - but there are not piles of dumped black bags which just accumulate. Stuff is regularly tidied up.

And now, I'm happy to be back at home, although next week sees all the ministers off again for the district retreat.