Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Seventh day: Saturday, July 2nd
Matt- As to provide the perfect contrast to being 1.25 miles underground, today we flew in gliders! Brian noticed a flier advertising glider rides for only R100 = $14. We figured, heck, TIA, lets do it! Half an hour away, we met Mark who was the glider pilot. Each one of us paid and signed our lives away for a second day in a row. I figured that if anything happened, I could at least put the glider down myself. Flying something without an engine has to be twice as easy as flying something with an engine right! This assumption may seem counterintuitive, but after going up I proved to be right. Jeff, a member of our team was leaving to fly home today. He went up first so he could hurry back to Joburg before the Big Engine Plane left. I was second. All gliders I’ve seen before are towed up into the air by another airplane; here, they used a winch to essentially slingshot the glider into the air. The initial climb attitude was absolutely crazy. Any normal prop would stall at such a pitch after liftoff. We were launched 400 meters into the air. Mark, the pilot, was quick to allow me to take over. I was flying with a joystick instead of a yoke and only 6 instruments instead of a dashboard full. Gliding revolves around finding thermals and using them to climb. When no thermals can be found, the flight is short and you gradually float back to the ground. This glider could fly for 30km and only drop 1… a much better glide slope than my Cessna back home. In the Cessna’s credit… these guys all talked about how gliding is for enjoyment and engines are just for transportation. I sure “enjoy” being able to climb whenever I want! Pa will appreciate this part. It was a perfectly blue, cloudless day with few thermals to be found. The highest I got was 450 meters. I put the glider into a few 60-degree banks to try and ride the thermals I thought I found. We put the glider into a 2G rollercoaster and he let me see what a stall in a glider is like. It was another great experience – soaring above South Africa in a perfectly noise-free glider. I may have to get my type rating some day!
Sixth day: Friday, July 1st
Matt- I woke up bright and early to a beautiful South African morning. There are lies in that last sentence. It was neither bright nor beautiful. I was still pitch black out and freezing cold. Those of us who opted to go to the mine this morning had to be ready to go at a quarter to six. This was the earliest I’ve been up in a while and it wasn’t exactly easy rolling out of bed. We were told to wear shorts because the depths of the mines were humid and hot – hard to believe when you’re standing outside in sub-freezing weather shivering (in shorts)! The plan for the day was to drive to a local South African gold mine where we would be allowed to explore its deepest depths… and maybe even find some of our own gold! We departed the village around 6:00am; when we arrived about 20 minutes later, it was still dark. We received a quick tutorial and introduction to the mines by one of Brian’s friends who managed there, and who was allowing us this great opportunity. We learned about the South African gold mining industry, the economics of the process, about revenue and profits, and how exactly gold is mined. The process begins along a “reef” which is essentially a line of gold underground. Small explosions slowly etch away at the reef and the rubble is taken out and processed. Gold is not visible before being processed, it is simply too small. Rich, black carbon deposits mark the presence of gold. These carbon deposits must be chemically treated to extract and purify the hidden gold specs. Often these deposits are marked my “fool’s gold,” a yellow, lustrous rock – you can guess how it got its name. The lesson only served to build up excitement. I wanted to get underground and get there quickly. Before jumping down the mine, however, we were instructed to fill out a little bit of paperwork. As usual, the paperwork was only there to verify that.., “if a giant rock lands on your head and you die, your family won’t sue us.” We signed our lives away in a hurry.
We were led to a changing room and outfitted with a variety of mining gear.Brian’s contact led us to William, who was to be our official tour guide. Soon I found myself being corralled into a massive elevator and dropping toward the center of the earth. We continued downward for about 5 minutes, and traveled 2 whole kilometers. This is about 1.25 miles. The elevator stopped, the doors opened, and immediately it resembled something off a movie. There was gray rock surrounding you from every direction. Bracing, chicken wire, and lights hanging on strings lined the tunnel. Trolleys were moving on the tracks, carrying tons of rubble away from the primary excavation sites.
We began following William down the main tunnel. The ceiling was at least 12 feet high and there would have been enough room for our at least 5 people to walk side by side if the pathway wasn’t constantly being cut in half by moving trolleys. The lights were spaced further and further apart and it began looking more and more like a mine. The ventilation blew a constant breeze on our faces, shielding us from the inescapable heat that would soon follow. It was very welcome, and later sorely missed. In no time, we arrived at a large door that was the entrance to the unventilated part of the mine we were to soon explore…
After opening the door, a wall of heat and humidity hit us. The reason it was closed off was so that the ventilation in the main tunnels wasn’t diluted by flowing into all of these smaller excavation tunnels. It was immediately a single file tunnel. We could still walk standing straight up, but it began getting more and more cramped. The floor began becoming less defined. We were soon walking not on flat, carved out ground, but on a mess of large rocks. The floor moved beneath our feet as the rocks settled into the ground as we stepped on them. The ceiling began creeping lower and lower until we were reduced to a crawl. It was at this point anyone who was even mildly claustrophobic would have died. Support structures stood in our way and hung low, blocking progression ever few yards. I alternated between an all out crawl and three-limbed semi-shuffle. If it weren’t for the knee pads and the hard hat, all that would be left of my knees and head would be bloody pulps, I’m sure they literally saved my life multiple times.We reached a small area where we could sit down as a group and rest. We learned our final destination, the explosion site, was only forty meters away and we headed off. We reached the final destination and everyone was happy again to be able to sit down This was where the raw mining was done, this was the heart of the operation. A crew of about 5 was performing various duties, hard at work. Some were putting up new bracing and some were bringing bracing. One man was operating what looked like a hammer drill on steroids. It was hooked up to a water hose that we’d followed all the way down. The drill had a 6-foot bit on it and a pneumatic arm. Using water pressure, the miner would blast a 6 foot hole in the wall, about an inch in diameter, with the super hammer drill. The pneumatic arm was wedged against the ground and used to move the drill up and down while in use so as to prevent wedging the bit inside 6 feet of rock. These holes that were being drilled were stuffed with dynamite, or magnum as it is called here, and used to advance these underground tunnels. Mondays are for blasting, Tuesdays and Wednesdays for grouping the rubble into accessible piles, and Thursdays and Fridays for getting the rubble to the trolleys. Bracing is extremely important at every point.
.
Each of us stuffed our pockets with chunks of fool’s gold and black carbon deposits we drilled out of the wall. The walk back was treacherous. Most of the energy we’d saved up for the voyage down was gone. Going back seemed to go quicker, however, as each of us was ready to breath crisp, oxygen-rich air. We scurried back out as quickly as we could. Just as we began believing the tour was complete, William surprised us with another adventure… we got to go to the top of the mining shaft. We rode an elevator 1000 feet into the air, and climbed a flight of stairs to reach the top. It seemed like we could see all of South Africa from the top of the shaft. It was quite the experience… one I will remember for the rest of my life.
We were led to a changing room and outfitted with a variety of mining gear.Brian’s contact led us to William, who was to be our official tour guide. Soon I found myself being corralled into a massive elevator and dropping toward the center of the earth. We continued downward for about 5 minutes, and traveled 2 whole kilometers. This is about 1.25 miles. The elevator stopped, the doors opened, and immediately it resembled something off a movie. There was gray rock surrounding you from every direction. Bracing, chicken wire, and lights hanging on strings lined the tunnel. Trolleys were moving on the tracks, carrying tons of rubble away from the primary excavation sites.
We began following William down the main tunnel. The ceiling was at least 12 feet high and there would have been enough room for our at least 5 people to walk side by side if the pathway wasn’t constantly being cut in half by moving trolleys. The lights were spaced further and further apart and it began looking more and more like a mine. The ventilation blew a constant breeze on our faces, shielding us from the inescapable heat that would soon follow. It was very welcome, and later sorely missed. In no time, we arrived at a large door that was the entrance to the unventilated part of the mine we were to soon explore…
After opening the door, a wall of heat and humidity hit us. The reason it was closed off was so that the ventilation in the main tunnels wasn’t diluted by flowing into all of these smaller excavation tunnels. It was immediately a single file tunnel. We could still walk standing straight up, but it began getting more and more cramped. The floor began becoming less defined. We were soon walking not on flat, carved out ground, but on a mess of large rocks. The floor moved beneath our feet as the rocks settled into the ground as we stepped on them. The ceiling began creeping lower and lower until we were reduced to a crawl. It was at this point anyone who was even mildly claustrophobic would have died. Support structures stood in our way and hung low, blocking progression ever few yards. I alternated between an all out crawl and three-limbed semi-shuffle. If it weren’t for the knee pads and the hard hat, all that would be left of my knees and head would be bloody pulps, I’m sure they literally saved my life multiple times.We reached a small area where we could sit down as a group and rest. We learned our final destination, the explosion site, was only forty meters away and we headed off. We reached the final destination and everyone was happy again to be able to sit down This was where the raw mining was done, this was the heart of the operation. A crew of about 5 was performing various duties, hard at work. Some were putting up new bracing and some were bringing bracing. One man was operating what looked like a hammer drill on steroids. It was hooked up to a water hose that we’d followed all the way down. The drill had a 6-foot bit on it and a pneumatic arm. Using water pressure, the miner would blast a 6 foot hole in the wall, about an inch in diameter, with the super hammer drill. The pneumatic arm was wedged against the ground and used to move the drill up and down while in use so as to prevent wedging the bit inside 6 feet of rock. These holes that were being drilled were stuffed with dynamite, or magnum as it is called here, and used to advance these underground tunnels. Mondays are for blasting, Tuesdays and Wednesdays for grouping the rubble into accessible piles, and Thursdays and Fridays for getting the rubble to the trolleys. Bracing is extremely important at every point.
.
Each of us stuffed our pockets with chunks of fool’s gold and black carbon deposits we drilled out of the wall. The walk back was treacherous. Most of the energy we’d saved up for the voyage down was gone. Going back seemed to go quicker, however, as each of us was ready to breath crisp, oxygen-rich air. We scurried back out as quickly as we could. Just as we began believing the tour was complete, William surprised us with another adventure… we got to go to the top of the mining shaft. We rode an elevator 1000 feet into the air, and climbed a flight of stairs to reach the top. It seemed like we could see all of South Africa from the top of the shaft. It was quite the experience… one I will remember for the rest of my life.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Fifth Day: Thursday, June 29th
Cassie -The day began at the usual time- 7(ish) am. Each of us sat down at the table for our varied breakfast of cereal, fruit, and most importantly (to me, anyway)- coffee.
We all stumbled out into the brisk temperatures, geared up in our long-sleeved shabby sweaters ready for paint and mortar, and hour by hour chipped away at the task before us. Only what I had personally considered to be maybe a few days away from putting the finishing touches on house two at Restoring Hope, our daily and even hourly progress was clearly visible. Each tile laid, each wall painted, each hole puttied... you could just feel us getting closer to being to let six new people move in to this beautiful house.
So... that's exactly what we did. Mortared, painted, puttied, and repeat. It seemed like we worked for only a few short hours when the day had come to its close.
That night we were treated to the Ocean Basket, a local seafood restaurant. And while the Ocean Basket was quite the marvelous treat, I think we can all agree that nothing anywhere here in SA holds a candle to Lois's cooking.
One more day down here in this divine place they call South Africa.
We all stumbled out into the brisk temperatures, geared up in our long-sleeved shabby sweaters ready for paint and mortar, and hour by hour chipped away at the task before us. Only what I had personally considered to be maybe a few days away from putting the finishing touches on house two at Restoring Hope, our daily and even hourly progress was clearly visible. Each tile laid, each wall painted, each hole puttied... you could just feel us getting closer to being to let six new people move in to this beautiful house.
So... that's exactly what we did. Mortared, painted, puttied, and repeat. It seemed like we worked for only a few short hours when the day had come to its close.
That night we were treated to the Ocean Basket, a local seafood restaurant. And while the Ocean Basket was quite the marvelous treat, I think we can all agree that nothing anywhere here in SA holds a candle to Lois's cooking.
One more day down here in this divine place they call South Africa.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Fourth Day: Wednesday, June 29th
Larry- We finished the priming of the house and completed the second coat on the onside of the house. We sprayed all the shelves for all the cabinets. Paint, paint & more paint. Matt, Tim, Casey, Kinzie and Casey prepped the space where the brick was going to be placed, by plowing and digging up the dirt. We almost had a near disaster when Kinzie hit one of the wires but thankfully she only dug into the coating of the wires. Rosina, Vicki & Kinzie carried bricks to home and brick was placed between the houses and we have started placing bricks behind the home also.
Kinzie- Today was a day full of work. Other than the obvious, work with the home, me, my mom, Taylor, Louie, Rosina, Lerato & Monika went to the girl's Christian school to watch Dieketsang and Motshidis', two orphans at RHI, recital and be honored for making the honor roll at their school. Both made "supevisors honor roll" which means they both recieved a 80% or higher on their books they have to fill out for school work. Also in their ceremony they honored a girl for being the first girl at their school to go to college. Sadly, here in Africa even students with astounding grades still do not make it to college because they either can't afford it or they aren't accepted. Because many people here do not have an education, they have to settle for factory jobs or jobs were you get paid very little, they may even only get paid $10 a day. In these past few days we have all really learned to be happy with everything we have, because some of the people here have nothing.
Kinzie- Today was a day full of work. Other than the obvious, work with the home, me, my mom, Taylor, Louie, Rosina, Lerato & Monika went to the girl's Christian school to watch Dieketsang and Motshidis', two orphans at RHI, recital and be honored for making the honor roll at their school. Both made "supevisors honor roll" which means they both recieved a 80% or higher on their books they have to fill out for school work. Also in their ceremony they honored a girl for being the first girl at their school to go to college. Sadly, here in Africa even students with astounding grades still do not make it to college because they either can't afford it or they aren't accepted. Because many people here do not have an education, they have to settle for factory jobs or jobs were you get paid very little, they may even only get paid $10 a day. In these past few days we have all really learned to be happy with everything we have, because some of the people here have nothing.
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| Rosina, Dieketsang & Lerato |
Third Day: Tuesday, June 28th
Kinzie: We woke up bright and early to a great day full of suprises and new experiances. We were informed by Lois that today we would be going to the Thabong Hospice Daycare in which the childreen who attend this day care have parents who are currently dying of TB, Aids or HIV.
On the drive there we watched the scenery change from Welkom's standard nice neighborhoods to Thabongs poverty stricken neighborhoods. While driving we all noticed the strange "auto parts stores" on the sides of the roads in which seemingly unusable auto parts were being sold to customers. We also noticed many small cars with at least six passangers in them. We came to realize that here in Welkom/Tahbong 70% of the people dont have cars, so in order to get somewhere they were forced to hitchhike. As we passed the run down neighborhoods we began to truly understand the enormity of the problem here in Africa. we arrived at the daycare and cautiously walked in, not knowing what to expect.
We walked into a bare white room with six children in it. We were informed that four of the kids decided to stay home with their parents for the day. We got down to buisness right away. Amber and Rosina, two people who co-founded RHI, soon began playing games with the children. Even though the children there spoke little English, if any, they all ignored this barrier and smiled and seemed to really soak in all the love that Amber and Rosina gave them.
I have come to realize, through the orphans at RHI and all the children i have interacted
with, that Love is all they need. All these children knew well what was happening to their
parents, or what has happened, and they really cherish all the love they recieve from someone. I am already greatly changed by these children here.
On the drive there we watched the scenery change from Welkom's standard nice neighborhoods to Thabongs poverty stricken neighborhoods. While driving we all noticed the strange "auto parts stores" on the sides of the roads in which seemingly unusable auto parts were being sold to customers. We also noticed many small cars with at least six passangers in them. We came to realize that here in Welkom/Tahbong 70% of the people dont have cars, so in order to get somewhere they were forced to hitchhike. As we passed the run down neighborhoods we began to truly understand the enormity of the problem here in Africa. we arrived at the daycare and cautiously walked in, not knowing what to expect.
We walked into a bare white room with six children in it. We were informed that four of the kids decided to stay home with their parents for the day. We got down to buisness right away. Amber and Rosina, two people who co-founded RHI, soon began playing games with the children. Even though the children there spoke little English, if any, they all ignored this barrier and smiled and seemed to really soak in all the love that Amber and Rosina gave them.
I have come to realize, through the orphans at RHI and all the children i have interacted
with, that Love is all they need. All these children knew well what was happening to their
parents, or what has happened, and they really cherish all the love they recieve from someone. I am already greatly changed by these children here.
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| Children @ RHI: Lerato & Tumi |
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| The children in daycare & Rosina |
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| Meredith, Me & Monika |
And if you were wondering about the progress of the home...
Jeff: We started off the day fixing doors. We had to plane the doors to make them fit. Westarted priming our inside. The paint sprayer sprayed...then clogged.. Then sprayed again. It was around lunch when we got the sprayer fixed. We were able to prime around 75% of the interior. While we were spraying, others worked on. Louie O'Tool, another perskn who works constantly with RHI and came to Africa to work at The Pines in 2008, built closet cubes then painted them. We primed all the doors. Brian bought a tub to set up soon!
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| Kinzie paints the trim |
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| Cassie & Matt prep for bricks |
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| I paint cabinet |
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Second day: Monday, June 27th
Don -
We filled the trenches in, put the water pipes in then filled it in. I hung 3 doors. We did a little bit of mudding (plastering) on the walls. Then they moved the roofing joints back to put the soffits on. The boys (Matt (20) , a brother of the team members who has been here for a month, Taylor (20), Matt's college friend who came to Africa with him, Jeff and Larry) painted the entire house with primer and then with the top coat, which is a grey-ish brown color. We got a lot done in one day, especially for the small amount of people we had working on it. We enjoyed getting to know the kids and the girls played with Monika (6) during the day while the others attended private school.
We filled the trenches in, put the water pipes in then filled it in. I hung 3 doors. We did a little bit of mudding (plastering) on the walls. Then they moved the roofing joints back to put the soffits on. The boys (Matt (20) , a brother of the team members who has been here for a month, Taylor (20), Matt's college friend who came to Africa with him, Jeff and Larry) painted the entire house with primer and then with the top coat, which is a grey-ish brown color. We got a lot done in one day, especially for the small amount of people we had working on it. We enjoyed getting to know the kids and the girls played with Monika (6) during the day while the others attended private school.
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| Liam & Monika, an orphan @ RHI |
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| Tim, Louie & Taylor |
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| Cassey, Monika, & Kinzie |
Monday, June 27, 2011
Our First Day: Sunday, June 26th
Cassie -
Today was our first 'real' day here in Welkom, South Africa. We started out our day with a much appreciated later wake up time. However, and maybe much to our surprise, the morning also greeted us with 40 degree temperatures. Because of this, I am 100% certain that God has an awesome sense of humor- He created a place now called South Africa a couple hundred miles away from the hottest desert in the world that actually shows a seasonal change in winter, which include temps we Iowans consider COLD.
Fortunately, we all fared well on our trip into church. Our small service was led by Louis O'Tool, a member of another missionary family here in SA. We sang songs and on our first Sunday here, we were also very fortunate to learn many of the children's names that attended church, lived at RHI, or were the Niehoff's neighbors. From the church, Brian Niehoff gave us a tour of Thabong. In Thabong, we went to many various places, but the one's that stuck out the most in our minds were the small children's cemetery, the 'landfill', and the goldmine. The cemetery exhibited hundreds of graves marked by bottles, stuffed animals, or other things of seemingly questionable significance- it was explained that many couldn't afford headstones for their small children, so their graves were marked by things they could remember their children by.
After the tour, we were welcomed back to the Niehoff's by Louis's absolutely phenomenal lunch. When I knew I was going to South Africa, I didn't expect to eat much more than meager meals full of native foods. You can imagine my surprise when I walked into a warm home, greeted by the scent of garlic bread! Spaghetti casserole, salad, garlic bread and a fantastic dessert- peanut butter bars! It was too wonderful to describe accurately using only words.
Following lunch, we lounged in the Niehoff's living room (the six of us plus Brain, Lois, their two children Liam (3) and Lindie (1) and then Matthew Donahue and Taylor Hircock, two more med students living with the Niehoffs). We took advantage of the downtime and got to know each other a little bit better. A game of 'Settlers of Catan' concluded the evening, and some of our competitive sides were exposed (cough cough... Brian... Matthew... cough).
Overall, I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we went to bed with a heart of gratitude for everything we had, excitement for everything we were going to do, and amazement by what we were doing.
Today was our first 'real' day here in Welkom, South Africa. We started out our day with a much appreciated later wake up time. However, and maybe much to our surprise, the morning also greeted us with 40 degree temperatures. Because of this, I am 100% certain that God has an awesome sense of humor- He created a place now called South Africa a couple hundred miles away from the hottest desert in the world that actually shows a seasonal change in winter, which include temps we Iowans consider COLD.
Fortunately, we all fared well on our trip into church. Our small service was led by Louis O'Tool, a member of another missionary family here in SA. We sang songs and on our first Sunday here, we were also very fortunate to learn many of the children's names that attended church, lived at RHI, or were the Niehoff's neighbors. From the church, Brian Niehoff gave us a tour of Thabong. In Thabong, we went to many various places, but the one's that stuck out the most in our minds were the small children's cemetery, the 'landfill', and the goldmine. The cemetery exhibited hundreds of graves marked by bottles, stuffed animals, or other things of seemingly questionable significance- it was explained that many couldn't afford headstones for their small children, so their graves were marked by things they could remember their children by.
After the tour, we were welcomed back to the Niehoff's by Louis's absolutely phenomenal lunch. When I knew I was going to South Africa, I didn't expect to eat much more than meager meals full of native foods. You can imagine my surprise when I walked into a warm home, greeted by the scent of garlic bread! Spaghetti casserole, salad, garlic bread and a fantastic dessert- peanut butter bars! It was too wonderful to describe accurately using only words.
Following lunch, we lounged in the Niehoff's living room (the six of us plus Brain, Lois, their two children Liam (3) and Lindie (1) and then Matthew Donahue and Taylor Hircock, two more med students living with the Niehoffs). We took advantage of the downtime and got to know each other a little bit better. A game of 'Settlers of Catan' concluded the evening, and some of our competitive sides were exposed (cough cough... Brian... Matthew... cough).
Overall, I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we went to bed with a heart of gratitude for everything we had, excitement for everything we were going to do, and amazement by what we were doing.
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| The Childrens' Cemetary in Thabong |
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| A typical home in Thabong. |
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| Thabong fruit market |
Traveling to Africa: Friday, June 24th- Saturday, June 25th
Vicki -
I had heard about the poverty, the crime, and the orphaned children of South Africa, but soon our Point of Grace Church missionary team would have an opportunity to see this first hand. Me and my daughter, Kinzie left home at 4:05 am for the Des Moines Airport for a 1 1/2 hour flight to Atlanta, Georgia. There would be an 11 hour layover in Atlanta. To pass the time, we took the Atlanta airport MARTA train to the downtown area to explore. We returned to the airport at 5 pm and by 8 pm, our airplane departed. We arrived in Johannesburg the evening of the following day. As we entered Welkom, we saw barren streets with few vehicles venturing out into the night. There were no large intersections, stores and restaurants were closed, and only one gas station appeared open as we drove through town at only 10 pm. The homes had barred windows, and gates and fences surrounded each home. Being the winter time for Africa, the temperature ranges from 40-60 degrees. Our layered pajamas and blankets kept us warm throughout the night.
I had heard about the poverty, the crime, and the orphaned children of South Africa, but soon our Point of Grace Church missionary team would have an opportunity to see this first hand. Me and my daughter, Kinzie left home at 4:05 am for the Des Moines Airport for a 1 1/2 hour flight to Atlanta, Georgia. There would be an 11 hour layover in Atlanta. To pass the time, we took the Atlanta airport MARTA train to the downtown area to explore. We returned to the airport at 5 pm and by 8 pm, our airplane departed. We arrived in Johannesburg the evening of the following day. As we entered Welkom, we saw barren streets with few vehicles venturing out into the night. There were no large intersections, stores and restaurants were closed, and only one gas station appeared open as we drove through town at only 10 pm. The homes had barred windows, and gates and fences surrounded each home. Being the winter time for Africa, the temperature ranges from 40-60 degrees. Our layered pajamas and blankets kept us warm throughout the night.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Introductions
You are invited to follow our Point of Grace's missionary team to follow our groups adventure as we witness the joy & heartbreak of working with and for the people of Welkom, South Africa. Now here are some sneak peaks into the six members of our team, who will be in Africa for two weeks.
Cassie: a 18 year old Army soldier and was ADM Homecoming Queen. She went to Army basic combat training in January, and then went to complete training in Civil Affairs. While at ADM she participated in just about every sport/activity offered at one time or another. She will attend college in the fall.
Don: a retired 73 year old father of 3 and grandfather of 5. During the winter time he migrates to Phoenix, Arizona and comes back to Iowa in the summer. He enjoys woodworking and building anything from wood.
Jeff: a 43 year old father of 2 who are 26 and 18. He lives in Urbandale, Iowa and works for a national trucking company and does sales in 5 states around the Midwest. In his free time he rides motorcycles, jetskies and skeet shoots.
Kinzie: a 16 year old junior at Waukee High School. She has participated in activities including Speech Team, dance, choir, newspaper and yearbook during this past year. She lives in Urbandale and enjoys writing, swimming and volunteering for various charities.
Larry: a 50 plus father of Cassie and clinic manager for Mercy Clinics. He has done different forms of construction all his life members in various forms of construction trades, and designed and built current home and cabin. He loves living on a small farm; baling hay, driving tractors-skid-loaders, & making 4 wheeler trails through our timber.
Vicki: a fifty plus wife, mother of 2 and grandmother of 1. She has a son who is in the Air National Guard and is the mother of Kinzie. She has been a member of POG for 7 years. She enjoys spending time with family, boating and camping in the family RV.
Cassie: a 18 year old Army soldier and was ADM Homecoming Queen. She went to Army basic combat training in January, and then went to complete training in Civil Affairs. While at ADM she participated in just about every sport/activity offered at one time or another. She will attend college in the fall.
Don: a retired 73 year old father of 3 and grandfather of 5. During the winter time he migrates to Phoenix, Arizona and comes back to Iowa in the summer. He enjoys woodworking and building anything from wood.
Jeff: a 43 year old father of 2 who are 26 and 18. He lives in Urbandale, Iowa and works for a national trucking company and does sales in 5 states around the Midwest. In his free time he rides motorcycles, jetskies and skeet shoots.
Kinzie: a 16 year old junior at Waukee High School. She has participated in activities including Speech Team, dance, choir, newspaper and yearbook during this past year. She lives in Urbandale and enjoys writing, swimming and volunteering for various charities.
Larry: a 50 plus father of Cassie and clinic manager for Mercy Clinics. He has done different forms of construction all his life members in various forms of construction trades, and designed and built current home and cabin. He loves living on a small farm; baling hay, driving tractors-skid-loaders, & making 4 wheeler trails through our timber.
Vicki: a fifty plus wife, mother of 2 and grandmother of 1. She has a son who is in the Air National Guard and is the mother of Kinzie. She has been a member of POG for 7 years. She enjoys spending time with family, boating and camping in the family RV.
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